Volume 491 Issue 7425, 22 November 2012

A market-based malaria-control programme may not be perfect, but it deserves to continue.

Environmental protections must not wait until a population is about to disappear.

Extreme events are on the rise. Governments must implement national and integrated risk-management strategies, says Erwann Michel-Kerjan.

The news in brief: World Bank warning on climate change; NIH moves to enforce open-access policy; and BP receives record fine for Deepwater Horizon spill.

EU initiative to clean up waterways faces tough opposition.

Physicists hoping for signs of radically new particles get no joy from Large Hadron Collider.

UK and US teams to drill into ancient subglacial lakes.

But shake-up raises doubts over the future of a major malaria-control programme.

Earth experiments deployed to understand data from space.

Biomedical-lab closure highlights plight of independent research institutes that rely heavily on federal grants.

Ecologists are exploring how people, buildings, wildlife and pollution interact in the world's cities.

DNA has been around for billions of years — but that doesn't mean scientists can't make it better.

To drive innovation at the nanoscale, the patent thicket must be chopped down, argues Joshua M. Pearce.

A joined-up funding system is needed to enable the United States to make long-term pledges to major international projects, says Barry Barish.

Michael Shermer sifts through a study of the science of randomness and our responses to it.

Clifford P. Brangwynne and Anthony A. Hyman celebrate the first book to plausibly suggest how life began.

Alison Abbott enjoys an exquisite tour of skeletal ornithology.

Magnetic particles have been made that undergo synchronized oscillations when suspended in liquid in a rotating magnetic field. This discovery links the fields of nonlinear dynamics and materials science. See Letter p.578

The discovery of stone tools dating to 71,000 years ago at a site in South Africa suggests that the humans making them had developed the capacity for complex thought, and passed this knowledge down the generations. See Letter p.590

Spectroscopic analysis reveals that, at low temperatures, hydrophobic molecules dissolved in water strengthen the hydrogen bonding between nearby water molecules. But at high temperatures, the reverse can be true. See Letter p.582

Researchers have coaxed cultured embryonic stem cells to develop into eggs that then give rise to normal offspring. The discovery should help to decode the molecular basis of gamete formation and might lead to treatments for infertility.

Exposure to abnormal light–dark cycles causes depression-like behaviour and learning deficits in mice. The defects seem to occur independently of disturbances to sleep and other processes regulated by the biological clock. See Letter p.594

The identification of a sea-floor microorganism that single-handedly conducts anaerobic oxidation of methane changes our picture of how the flux of this greenhouse gas from the ocean to the atmosphere is regulated. See Article p.541

Cold and ultracold molecules provide fertile grounds for scientific discoveries. A method of cooling polyatomic molecules has been demonstrated that will allow researchers to explore the vast potential of these entities. See Letter p.570

Methane oxidation under anaerobic conditions coupled to sulphate reduction is thought to be carried out by a consortium of methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulphate-reducing Deltaproteobacteria; here it is shown that ANME alone can mediate the reaction and that the associated bacteria perform disulphide disproportionation, a new microbial sulphur transformation.

Simultaneous electrophysiological recordings in hippocampus and neural-activity-triggered whole-brain imaging in the monkey show that most of the cerebral cortex is activated during the fast hippocampal oscillations (ripples), whereas most diencephalic, midbrain and brainstem regions are inhibited; this may function to optimize information transfer from hippocampus to cortex during off-line memory consolidation.

The results of a series of genetic experiments indicate that Foxo1 has a pivotal, Foxp3-independent role controlling regulatory T-cell function.

The crystal structures of the histone chaperone DAXX histone-binding domain bound to a histone H3.3–H4 dimer are described; DAXX wraps around the H3.3–H4 dimer and alters its conformation.

The icy dwarf planet Makemake has projected axes of 1,430 ± 9 and 1,502 ± 45 km and a V-band geometric albedo larger than Pluto’s but smaller than Eris’s, with no global Pluto-like atmosphere.

A general method of cooling polyatomic molecules to ultracold temperatures is reported; the optoelectrical cooling technique removes kinetic energy via a Sisyphus effect, effectively causing the molecules to continually ‘climb’ a hill of potential energy.

Two gold nanostructures with controllable subnanometre separation are used to follow the evolution of plasmonic modes; the distance at which quantum tunnelling sets in is determined, and a quantum limit for plasmonic field confinement is estimated.

Colloidal Janus spheres in a precessing magnetic field are shown to self-assemble into in-motion microtubes dynamically selected on the basis of synchronization rather than static energy minimization.

Spectroscopic measurements now reveal that at low temperatures, the water in hydrophobic hydration shells has greater tetrahedral order and fewer weak hydrogen bonds than the surrounding bulk water; this structure disappears at higher temperatures and around alcohol chains longer than 1 nanometre.

A new model of glacial isostatic adjustment used in conjunction with GRACE satellite data suggests that ice loss from Antarctica is contributing 0.19 millimetres per year to global mean sea level, which is substantially less than previous GRACE-based estimates.

This study shows that a highly advanced stone tool technology (microlithic) appears earlier than originally thought; this microlithic technology persisted over a vast time span (∼11,000 years), and was part of an even longer-lived (>100,000 years) advanced technology of complex heat treatment.

Mice subjected to an aberrant daily light cycle that still maintain the circadian timing system are shown to exhibit increased depression-like behaviours and disruptions in synaptic plasticity and cognitive function.

Dendritic spines operate as high-impedance input structures that amplify local synaptic depolarization to enhance electrical interaction among coactive inputs.

Investigation of neural cells from post-mortem human brains and differentiated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells shows that the LRRK2 mutation (G2019S) associated with familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease correlates with abnormalities at the nuclear envelope.

Atpif1, a mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor, was identified as a zebrafish anemic mutant, pinotage, providing an important link in our understanding of the relationship between mitochondrial homeostasis and haem synthesis and identifying a gene that may have a role in human iron, haem and mitochondrial diseases.

The interaction between IgE and its receptor FcεRI underlies many allergic responses; here the structure and mechanism of a newly engineered DARPin inhibitor is presented, revealing that it not only blocks the receptor–ligand interaction but also dissociates already-formed complexes.

The E3 ubiquitin ligase cullin 3 is shown to bind BTB-zinc finger transcription factors to direct the ubiquitination of nuclear chromatin-associated factors to control transcription and cell-fate decisions in B- and T-cell populations.

The cytosolic concentration of citrate partially depends on its direct import across the plasma membrane by the Na⁺-dependent citrate transporter (NaCT); here the X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of NaCT is reported, which, along with transport-activity studies, suggests how specific conformational changes facilitate substrate translocation across the cellular membrane.

The desires to pursue personal goals, escape university pressures or get off the grant-writing treadmill convince some US professors to leave the security of a tenured post.

European researchers form support networks abroad.

Identity crisis.

Physics, maths and evolutionary biology are among the scientific disciplines providing cancer research with fresh perspective and therapeutic approaches.

An unlikely duo is trying to make sense of the avalanche of data that confronts cancer scientists, pointing the way towards a new era of research.

Genomic analysis of cancer has yielded vast quantities of data. But Robert Gatenby would rather try to find the basic tenets of the disease.

The way cells physically interact with each other and their environment could help researchers understand the invasion and metastasis of solid tumours.

Traditional chemotherapies can be toxic but nano-sized carriers can keep them out of healthy tissue and take old drugs to new places.

David Agus and Murray Gell-Mann show that the élites of physics and medicine can spur each other to fresh insights.

Software models of complex tissues and disease are yielding a better understanding of cancer and suggesting potential treatments.

Physical scientists are developing tools to spot cancer earlier.

Complex mathematical models are helping researchers understand cancer's evolution and providing clues on how to thwart drug resistance.

Despite a huge worldwide cancer research effort, the rates of surviving many forms of the disease have barely changed. Now, intensified collaborations between oncologists and physical scientists are bringing fresh perspectives to that effort. Interdisciplinary teams are starting to bear fruit in the form of mathematical and computer models, nanomedicine and high-tech diagnostics.