Volume 467 Issue 7317, 14 October 2010

Local action can curb habitat loss and counter global pessimism on biodiversity.

A fitting end for the satellite that shed light on the age, shape and fabric of the Universe.

Freely provided working code — whatever its quality — improves programming and enables others to engage with your research, says Nick Barnes.

The week in science.

Science could face budget constraints and ideological challenges in a post-midterm Congress.

Research programmes in the United States seem to be heading for a cliff, no matter who wins in Congress.

Supporters call for Congress to pass stem-cell bill and NIH budget boost during post-election session.

Open scepticism of global warming could rule next Congress.

Funding dispute leaves space programme on autopilot.

Treatment-outcome studies and key health reforms face Republican antipathy and legal challenges.

Upcoming meeting will set out global conservation targets.

Synthesis method scoops prize for first time in five years.

Thousands to get personalized medicine in Britain's National Health Service.

Pledges fall short for fight against AIDS, TB and malaria.

Barack Obama promised a new era of integrity and openness for American science. Government scientists are now asking what has changed.

More than 100 cold-war era research reactors run on uranium pure enough to be used in a nuclear weapon. But switching to safer fuel isn't easy.

…why scientific programming does not compute.

Fundamental research must not be hampered by an international agreement on sharing the benefits from national biodiversity, says David Schindel.

Daniel S. Greenberg sets out five things that the White House and Capitol Hill can and should accomplish between now and the 2012 election.

Climate policy should be viewed as protection against uncertain future risks, says Martin L. Weitzman.

The paid participants in phase I clinical trials need more protection, finds Meredith Wadman.

Sculptor Conrad Shawcross captures the fundamentals of physics and music, finds Martin Kemp.

Incisive thinker who influenced a generation of evolutionary biologists.

Astronomers would be expected to recognize comets easily when they see them, not least because of the objects' bright tails. But when planetary accidents try to fool them, their job is no longer that simple. See Letters p.814 & p.817

The T-cell receptor on the surface of T cells requires antigen recognition to function. Structural studies reveal that its predecessor, the pre-T-cell receptor, is much more independent. See Letter p.844

Reliable forecasts of sea-level rise depend on accurately modelling the dynamics of polar ice sheets. A numerical framework that better reflects ice-sheet basal drag adds greater realism to such models.

In certain types of gastrointestinal cell, mutations in the protein KIT give rise to gastrointestinal stromal tumours. Why are other cell types that express KIT not affected? The answer lies with a second protein. See Letter p.849

Organic aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. In forests, such particles can occur in solid form — a finding that will lead to a re-evaluation of how they are formed, and their properties and effects. See Letter p.824

Phylogenetic methods of evolutionary biology can be used to study socio-political variation mapped onto linguistic trees. The range of political complexities in Austronesian societies offers a good test case. See Article p.801

The Ndc80 complex is a key component of kinetochore that mediates direct interaction with spindle microtubules. These authors present a cryo-electron microscopy reconstruction of Ndc80 bound to microtubules. They find that Ndc80 uses a novel microtubule recognition mode coupling tubulin binding to self-oligomerization of the complex, and present a mechanistic model for the formation of high-affinity kinetochore–microtubule attachments during cell division.

Galaxies in the early Universe might grow through the accretion of cold, primordial, low-metallicity gas. If such gas is funnelled to the centre of a galaxy, it will result in the central region having an overall lower metallicity than outer regions. These authors report such 'inverse' metallicity gradients in three rotationally supported, star-forming galaxies at redshift ∼3, and conclude that the central gas has been diluted by the accretion of primordial gas.

The peculiar object P/2010 A2, discovered in January 2010, is in an asteroidal orbit in the inner main asteroid belt and was given a cometary designation because of the presence of a trail of material. These authors report observations of P/2010 A2 by the Rosetta spacecraft. They conclude that the trail arose from a single event, an asteroid collision that occurred around 10 February 2009.

Asteroidal disruption, through high-velocity collisions or rotational spin-up, is believed to be the primary mechanism for the production and destruction of small asteroids. These authors report observations of P/2010 A2 — a previously unknown inner-belt asteroid with a peculiar, comet-like morphology — that reveal an approximately 120-metre-diameter nucleus with an associated tail of millimetre-sized dust particles. They conclude that it is most probably the evolving remnant of a recent asteroidal disruption in February/March 2009.

Laser cooling has not yet been extended to molecules because of their complex internal structure. At present, the only technique for producing ultracold molecules is to bind ultracold alkali atoms to produce bialkali molecules. These authors experimentally demonstrate laser cooling of the polar molecule strontium monofluoride, reaching temperatures of a few millikelvin or less. The technique should allow the production of molecules at microkelvin temperatures for species that are chemically distinct from bialkalis.

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles can scatter radiation and act as cloud condensation nuclei, and thereby influence the Earth's radiation balance. It is generally assumed that SOA particles are liquid, but these authors show that they can adopt an amorphous solid state under ambient conditions. The findings challenge traditional views of the kinetics and thermodynamics of SOA formation and transformation in the atmosphere.

These authors test whether patterns of seismicity and the stabilities of potentially relevant hydrous phases are consistent with a wet lithosphere. They show that there is nearly a one-to-one correlation between the dehydration of minerals and seismicity at depths less than ∼250 km, but no correlation at greater depths. They conclude that subducting slabs must be essentially dry by 400-km depth and thus do not provide a pathway for significant amounts of water to enter the mantle transition zone or the lower mantle.

This very large genome-wide association study identifies hundreds of new genetic variants influencing adult height in at least 180 loci enriched for genes involved in skeletal growth defects. The results show that the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant, that many loci have multiple independently associated variants and that associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes.

To facilitate their proper segregation, duplicated meiotic chromosomes are physically joined by crossovers. Crossover formation begins with the introduction of meiosis-specific double-strand breaks. These authors identify a new gene in Caenorhabditis elegans, xnd-1, that is required for crossover distribution on both the X and the autosomal chromosomes. Preliminary data suggest that xnd-1 does this by regulating acetylation of histone H2A on lysine 5.

The pre-T-cell antigen receptor mediates early T-cell development and differentiation. These authors report its structure and explain how the head-to-tail dimeric arrangement allows the interaction of the pre-Tα domain with any variable β domain, and provides the basis for ligand-independent signalling.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) are believed to arise in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). These authors show that the transcription factor ETV1 is required for ICC development and promotes the development of GIST. KIT, which is often activated by mutations in GIST, cooperates with ETV1 in the transformation of ICCs, in part by promoting ETV1 stabilization. Thus, a normal developmental lineage factor is switched into a tumour-promoting factor by a cooperating oncogene.

During infection, Bacillus anthracis secretes two potent toxins called lethal factor and oedema factor. Using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system, these authors show that these toxins interact with the Rab11/Sec15 exocyst, which is involved in endocytic recycling. This interaction may explain vascular leakage during infection.

Entry of herpes simplex virus-1 into cells requires cellular receptors for both envelope glycoprotein B and envelope glycoprotein D. These authors show that the interaction of non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIA with envelope glycoprotein B is important for entry of herpes simplex virus-1.

Apoptotic cells discharge ATP and UTP, which act as 'find-me' signals for phagocytes that in turn engulf dying cells before potentially harmful cellular contents are released. These authors show that the release of ATP and UTP is exclusively by means of the plasma membrane channel pannexin 1, which is opened specifically by caspase activity.

The proteasome is a multi-protein complex that enzymatically degrades proteins. Proteolysis occurs in a barrel-shaped 20S core particle comprising three interconnected cavities, including a pair of antechambers in which substrates are held before degradation. These authors demonstrate that substrates interact actively with the antechamber walls and that the environment in this compartment is optimized to maintain the substrates in unfolded states so as to be accessible for hydrolysis.

Prolific authors and journal editors share how to get manuscripts noticed, approved and put in print.

Embracing the unknowns of scientific research is easier when your job has certainty, says Claire Thompson.

Biotechnology, space science and nanotechnology play key parts in Belgium's science agenda.

Belgium offers numerous opportunities for foreign researchers.

A dream job.

What makes a Nobel laureate tick? What advice can they offer? And who's asking?

Arno Penzias, Robert W. Wilson and Pyotr L. Kapitsa won the Nobel Prize in Physics 1978. Penzias and Wilson's share was for discovering the existence of cosmic background radiation.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1974 was awarded to Christian de Duve, Albert Claude and George E. Palade for their discoveries concerning the organization of the cell.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2007 was won by Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for discoveries that led to the development of knockout mice.

Together with mentor Martinus J.G. Veltman, Gerardus 't Hooft's Nobel Prize in Physics 1999 was won for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in atoms.

The Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 was awarded to David J. Gross, H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek for their discovery of how quarks interact within protons.

John Mather and George Smoot's discovery of the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation won the Nobel Prize in Physics 2006.

Paul J. Crutzen shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995 with Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work on formation and decomposition of ozone.

Peter Agre shared theNobel Prize in Chemistry 2003 with Roderick MacKinnon. Agre's half was awarded for his discovery of a water channel protein in cell membranes.

John Mather and George Smoot won the Nobel Prize 2006 in Physics for their work on cosmic background radiation. Smoot measured the temperature variation (anisotropy).

Harold Kroto shares the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996 with Robert F. Curl Jr. and Richard E. Smalley for the discovery of buckminster fullerenes.

The annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have evolved over the years, reflecting changes in both science and society.

International meetings and exchanges are creating a universal, globe-spanning culture of science with widespread ramifications.

The goals of science have not changed since the early days of the Lindau meeting, yet the way they are pursued has.

What happens when the spotlight shines on the young scientists?

In acknowledgement of the 60th Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates, Naturelooks at the hard work, inspiration and ultimate recognition associated with a life dedicated to scientific enquiry, and how these can be passed to the next generation.