Volume 482 Issue 7384, 9 February 2012

Natural-gas operations could leak enough methane to tarnish their clean image.

History judges some research as unethical, despite approval at the time.

A new strategy for addressing climate change takes a realistic approach to the challenge of making science useful, says Ryan Meyer.

The week in science: hope for drilling breakthrough to Antarctic lake; AstraZeneca’s neuroscience cuts; and how land-grabs threaten Africa’s sustainable development.

Methane leaks during production may offset climate benefits of natural gas.

Space-technology report prioritizes nuclear propulsion.

Game-changing vaccine technologies are needed to strengthen global pandemic defences.

Latest Kavli centre beats legal hurdle to using endowments.

First treatment to tackle protein behind the disease wins approval — but only a small fraction of patients will benefit.

Critics call for tighter checks to stop researchers being funded twice for the same work.

In the 1940s, US doctors deliberately infected thousands of Guatemalans with venereal diseases. The wound is still raw.

Members of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity explain its recommendations on the communication of experimental work on H5N1 influenza.

Yoshihiro Kawaoka explains that research on transmissible avian flu viruses needs to continue if pandemics are to be prevented.

US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity explains recommendation to publish H5N1 work in a form that withholds essential data.

The past decade has seen a revolution in our perception of primates' social brains, says Christian Keysers.

A biography of alchemist John Dee sidesteps his impact on science, suggests Philip Ball.

Brian Switek winds his way through prehistory at Utah's rehoused museum of natural history.

Logic gates are the elementary building blocks of computers. The finding that a single logic gate may drive a refrigerator is a beautiful demonstration that information-processing devices can have useful thermodynamic properties.

An analysis of common genetic variants shows that hereditary factors that influence intelligence in childhood also affect it in old age. Such work could signal the end of the nature–nurture controversy. See Letter p.212

The first Earth-sized planets orbiting a Sun-like star outside the Solar System have at last been detected. The discovery paves the way to finding Earth-like worlds. See Letter p.195

Drugs used to treat African sleeping sickness are outdated, and how they enter cells and exert biological effects is poorly understood. A genome-wide study using RNA interference provides valuable insight. See Letter p.232

Means to access and manipulate X-rays have been developing at a slow pace. But quantum-optical effects in ensembles of nuclei offer a way to tackle the control of this energetic radiation. See Letter p.199

Correctly dismantling a structure can be as challenging as assembling it. The architecture of the yeast proteasome reveals this enzyme's intricate machinery for protein degradation. See Article p.186

A new resource for the analysis of population genomics and quantitative traits, the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel is presented.

An expansion of Porphyromonadaceae in the gut is linked to the pathogenesis and progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in the mouse.

Determination of the proteasome regulatory particle structure by electron microscopy.

A dwarf galaxy companion to NGC 4449 is reported, and is found to be in a transient stage of tidal disruption.

Two exoplanets of Earth’s size have been discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-20.

Electromagnetically induced transparency is achieved with hard X-rays in a two-level system, using cooperative emission from ensembles of iron-57 nuclei in a special geometry in a low-finesse cavity.

A new family of resonators for nanoscale lasers is described that allows the size of the laser cavity to be scaled down without increasing the threshold power required to drive lasing.

To determine the geometric pattern of the supercontinent cycle, a new ‘orthoversion’ model is suggested that matches the geologic evidence better than the traditional ‘introversion’ and ‘extroversion’ models, enabling the calculation of absolute palaeolongitude for the early Earth.

Using a unique and rich data set of lifetime cognitive measures, the contribution of genetics to differences in cognitive ageing is explored.

Induced pluripotent stem cells are shown to be useful for studying phenotypes relevant to familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, even though it can take decades for the disease to manifest in patients.

In embryonic stem cells, the histone demethylase LSD1 occupies the enhancers of active genes and, together with the NuRD complex, decommissions the enhancers during differentiation.

Recurrent histone mutations are linked to paediatric glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of brain tumour.

Five current human African trypanosomiasis drugs are used for genome-scale RNA interference target sequencing screens in Trypanosoma brucei, and reveal the transporters, organelles, enzymes and metabolic pathways that function to facilitate antitrypanosomal drug action.

Determination of the crystal structure of the human A_2A adenosine receptor in complex with an inverse-agonist antibody shows that the allosteric site of the receptor inhibits agonist binding and that the antibody locks the receptor in an inactive conformation.

STIM1-mediated gating of CRAC channels occurs through a mechanism in which ion selectivity and gating are closely coupled, and the residue V102 is identified as a candidate for the channel gate.

Aneuploidy is shown to be induced by pleiotropic stress conditions (especially Hsp90 inhbition) in yeast, leading to stress adaptation.

Genetic interaction profiles of human lysine deacetylases are generated by RNA interference knockdown to reveal the involvement of deacetylases in many critical biological processes, including metabolism, the cell cycle and development.

As more mutations are found across the genome, geneticists are focusing on learning which ones are likely to cause human disease, and how.

As the challenges of analysing genomic data evolve, statistical expertise has become more valuable than ever.

It is difficult to balance the benefits of collaboration and competition, argues Lydia Murray.

Grinding halt.