Table of contents
Volume 460 Number 7254 pp435-544
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Editorials
Growing pains p435
The fledgling European Research Council is struggling against the constraints imposed by the European Commission. It needs to be completely independent.
doi:10.1038/460435a
Beyond the pristine p435
Earth's disturbed ecosystems have much more to offer than many would give them credit for.
doi:10.1038/460435b
The carbon count p436
Scientists need better Earth-monitoring tools to see whether climate policies are working.
doi:10.1038/460436a
Research Highlights
Biophysics: Skink or swim? p438
doi:10.1038/460438a
Astronomy: Reionizers spotted p438
doi:10.1038/460438b
Cell biology: Spindle sandwich p438
doi:10.1038/460438c
Physics: Scattered showers p438
doi:10.1038/460438d
Cancer biology: Doing more with less p438
doi:10.1038/460438e
Neuroscience: Knowledge rewards p438
doi:10.1038/460438f
Evolution: Safe sex for primroses p439
doi:10.1038/460439a
Bioenergetics: Winter wrecked p439
doi:10.1038/460439b
Physics: Jet stream p439
doi:10.1038/460439c
Palaeontological genetics: Untraceable Etruscans p439
doi:10.1038/460439d
News
Red tape strangles basic research grants p440
European Research Council finds itself mired in bureaucracy.
Natasha Gilbert
doi:10.1038/460440a
Cuts bite in California p441
University faces hard times as budget gets squeezed.
Erika Check Hayden & Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/460441a
Insuring against climate p442
Negotiators push for policies to help weather natural disasters.
Jeff Tollefson
doi:10.1038/460442a
US Congress revives hydrogen vehicle research p442
House vote is set to put programme back on the road.
Jeff Tollefson
doi:10.1038/460442b
Psychiatry manual revisions spark row p445
US psychiatrists divided by claims of secrecy and scientific overreach.
Heidi Ledford
doi:10.1038/460445a
Regulators face tough flu-jab choices p446
Rich countries' pandemic strategies may cause vaccine shortages elsewhere.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/460446a
Scientists strive to boost US–Cuban collaboration p447
Breaking the barriers proves to be a slow process.
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/460447a
Cash boost for mapping the human brain p449
doi:10.1038/460449a
ExxonMobil invests in algae for biofuel p449
doi:10.1038/460449b
Italian court sidesteps stem-cell challenge p449
doi:10.1038/460449c
Copernicus honoured in periodic-table addition p449
doi:10.1038/460449d
Jupiter takes a hit p449
doi:10.1038/460449e
Nominate Japan's best mentors p449
doi:10.1038/460449f
News Features
Ecology: Ragamuffin Earth p450
A small group of ecologists is looking beyond the pristine to study the scrubby, feral and untended. Emma Marris learns to appreciate 'novel ecosystems'.
doi:10.1038/460450a
Environment: The globe's green avenger p454
Maurice Strong has shaped how nations respond to planetary crises. Ehsan Masood meets the man whose successes — and failures — laid the groundwork for the current climate talks.
doi:10.1038/460454a
Correspondence
Outrage at high price paid for a fossil p456
Elwyn L. Simons, Friderun Ankel-Simons, Prithijit S. Chatrath, Richard S. Kay, Blythe Williams, John G. Fleagle, Daniel L. Gebo, Christopher K. Beard, Mary Dawson, Ian Tattersall & Kenneth D. Rose
doi:10.1038/460456a
Peer review and impact statements vital to UK research p456
David Delpy
doi:10.1038/460456b
Time running out to deal with banks of greenhouse gases p457
Jeff Cohen
doi:10.1038/460457a
Petitioning for a revised statement on climate change p457
S. Fred Singer, Hal Lewis, Will Happer, Larry Gould, Roger Cohen & Robert H. Austin
doi:10.1038/460457b
Indigenous people defend rainforest as well as their rights p457
Glenn H. Shepard
doi:10.1038/460457c
Essay
The incredible shrinking venture capital p459
Venture funding is declining quickly and is unlikely to bounce back. But less money means lower expectations — good news for smaller science start-ups, says John Browning.
John Browning
doi:10.1038/460459a
Books and Arts
Great inventions of life p460
A book setting out the ten greatest transformations delivered by evolution contains surprises but neglects crucial innovations such as proteins and embryos, Lewis Wolpert finds.
Lewis Wolpert
doi:10.1038/460460a
Digesting evolution p461
Randolph M. Nesse reviews The Evolution of Obesity by Michael L. Power & Jay Schulkin
doi:10.1038/460461a
Mathematical memories p461
Jennifer Rohn reviews The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
doi:10.1038/460461b
Reflecting the impossible p462
Richard Taylor reviews Virtual Worlds: M. C. Escher and Paradox
doi:10.1038/460462a
Correction p462
doi:10.1038/460462b
News and Views
Ecology: Production in pristine lakes p463
An investigation of lakes in Sweden has delivered results that run counter to the idea that primary production is generally limited by the availability of nutrients. There are lessons for limnologists in this.
Jonathan J. Cole
doi:10.1038/460463a
See also: Editor's summary
Quantum mechanics: Hidden context p464
The idea that physical phenomena might be described by a more down-to-earth theory than quantum physics has met with resistance from many physicists. Indeed, it seems that nature is not as simple as we would like.
Boris Blinov
doi:10.1038/460464a
See also: Editor's summary
Materials science: Soft particles feel the squeeze p465
It's hard to fit in when you're different — especially if you're a large particle trying to squeeze into an array of smaller ones. But some soft, polymeric particles simply shrink to fit the space available.
Daan Frenkel
doi:10.1038/460465a
Cancer: Three birds with one stone p466
The core domain of the p53 protein has been found to affect microRNA processing — its third known antitumour activity. Most cancerous p53 mutations affect this domain and may abolish all tumour-suppressor functions.
Franck Toledo & Boris Bardot
doi:10.1038/460466a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 years ago p467
doi:10.1038/460467a
Geomorphology: Landscape texture set to scale p468
Why, in many landscapes, does ridge–valley spacing show such regularity? The combination of high-resolution data and an elegant model offers a solution to this long-standing puzzle, for some cases at least.
Kelin X. Whipple
doi:10.1038/460468a
See also: Editor's summary
Bioengineering: Cellular control in two clicks p469
If complex tissues are to be engineered, synthetic materials will be needed that provide cells with precisely located molecular cues. A method that attaches such cues to specific areas of a gel could be the answer.
Jason A. Burdick
doi:10.1038/460469a
Infectious diseases: An ill wind for wild chimps? p470
Simian immunodeficiency virus is associated with increased mortality in a subspecies of chimpanzee living under natural conditions in East Africa. This is worrying news for the chimpanzee populations involved.
Robin A. Weiss & Jonathan L. Heeney
doi:10.1038/460470a
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Distinctive chromatin in human sperm packages genes for embryo development p473
During spermiogenesis, canonical histones are largely exchanged for protamines, and whether the rarely retained nucleosomes have any function has been unclear. Here, high-resolution genomic approaches are used to localize the nucleosomes retained in mature human sperm; they are found to be significantly enriched at developmentally important genes and to have distinctive patterns of histone modifications.
Saher Sue Hammoud, David A. Nix, Haiying Zhang, Jahnvi Purwar, Douglas T. Carrell & Bradley R. Cairns
doi:10.1038/nature08162
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (402K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Argonaute HITS-CLIP decodes microRNA–mRNA interaction maps p479
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNAs that are ubiquitous, potent regulators of gene expression; however, as miRNA activity requires base pairing with only 6–8 nucleotides of messenger RNA, predicting target mRNAs is a major challenge. By using a method known as HITS-CLIP, combined with bioinformatic analysis, it has now been possible to demonstrate how the in vivo interactions between miRNAs and the mRNA targets can be validated.
Sung Wook Chi, Julie B. Zang, Aldo Mele & Robert B. Darnell
doi:10.1038/nature08170
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,043K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
Liquid water on Enceladus from observations of ammonia and 40Ar in the plume p487
Jets of water ice from surface fractures near the south pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus produce a plume of gas and particles. The source of the jets may be a liquid water region under the ice shell. Here, ammonia is reported to be present in the plume, providing strong evidence for the existence of at least some liquid water.
J. H. Waite Jr, W. S. Lewis, B. A. Magee, J. I. Lunine, W. B. McKinnon, C. R. Glein, O. Mousis, D. T. Young, T. Brockwell, J. Westlake, M.-J. Nguyen, B. D. Teolis, H. B. Niemann, R. L. McNutt Jr, M. Perry & W.-H. Ip
doi:10.1038/nature08153
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (222K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Asymmetric auroral intensities in the Earth's Northern and Southern hemispheres p491
It is commonly assumed that the aurora borealis (Northern Hemisphere) and the aurora australis (Southern Hemisphere) are mirror images of each other. Here, observations are reported that clearly contradict this common assumption: intense spots are seen at dawn in the Northern summer Hemisphere, and at dusk in the Southern winter Hemisphere.
K. M. Laundal & N. Østgaard
doi:10.1038/nature08154
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (455K)
See also: Editor's summary
State-independent experimental test of quantum contextuality p494
The question of whether quantum phenomena can be explained by classical models with hidden variables is the subject of a long-lasting debate. One feature of classical models that is thought to be in conflict with quantum mechanics is non-contextuality, with experiments undertaken with photons and neutrons seeming to support this. However, these tests required the generation of special quantum states and left various loopholes open. Here an experiment is performed with trapped ions that overcomes these problems and cannot be explained in non-contextual terms.
G. Kirchmair, F. Zähringer, R. Gerritsma, M. Kleinmann, O. Gühne, A. Cabello, R. Blatt & C. F. Roos
doi:10.1038/nature08172
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (459K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Blinov
Near-field focusing and magnification through self-assembled nanoscale spherical lenses p498
Cup-shaped molecules of calix[4]hydroquinone self-assemble on a surface into a lens shape; these lenses are shown to generate near-field magnification beyond the diffraction limit, enabling the resolution of features of the order of 200 nanometres. Such spherical nanolenses provide new pathways for lens-based near-field focusing and high-resolution optical imaging at very low intensities, which are useful for, among other things, bio-imaging and near-field lithography.
Ju Young Lee, Byung Hee Hong, Woo Youn Kim, Seung Kyu Min, Yukyung Kim, Mikhail V. Jouravlev, Ranojoy Bose, Keun Soo Kim, In-Chul Hwang, Laura J. Kaufman, Chee Wei Wong, Philip Kim & Kwang S. Kim
doi:10.1038/nature08173
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,398K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Formation of evenly spaced ridges and valleys p502
Ridges and valleys in many landscapes are uniformly spaced, but no theory has predicted this fundamental topographic wavelength. A characteristic length scale is now derived from equations of mass conservation and sediment transport; it is found to be directly proportional to the valley spacing in models of landform evolution, and to the measured valley spacing at five study sites in the USA.
J. Taylor Perron, James W. Kirchner & William E. Dietrich
doi:10.1038/nature08174
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (639K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Whipple
Light limitation of nutrient-poor lake ecosystems p506
Lake ecosystem productivity, defined by the rate of biomass synthesis, is believed to be limited by nutrient availability. However, the comparison of several small unproductive lakes along a water colour gradient now shows that coloured terrestrial organic matter controls the key process for new biomass synthesis through its effects on light attenuation, suggesting that light is the more important limiting factor.
Jan Karlsson, Pär Byström, Jenny Ask, Per Ask, Lennart Persson & Mats Jansson
doi:10.1038/nature08179
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (243K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Cole
Partial penetrance facilitates developmental evolution in bacteria p510
Individuals with exactly the same genetic make-up can differ from one another in their development and resulting phenotype when the genome contains a mutation — a phenomenon called 'partial penetrance'. Exploration of the genetic and stochastic factors controlling the proportion of abnormal 'twin' spores in mutant populations of the bacterium Bacillus subtilus now reveals how mutations affecting DNA replication and cell division may act in synergy to significantly increase the penetrance of twin sporulation.
Avigdor Eldar, Vasant K. Chary, Panagiotis Xenopoulos, Michelle E. Fontes, Oliver C. Losón, Jonathan Dworkin, Patrick J. Piggot & Michael B. Elowitz
doi:10.1038/nature08150
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (503K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Increased mortality and AIDS-like immunopathology in wild chimpanzees infected with SIVcpz p515
There are over 40 different simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) with which African primates are naturally infected; two of these have crossed the species barrier to generate human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2). Although SIVs do not generally cause AIDS in primates, AIDS-like disease is now shown to occur in chimpanzee populations in the wild who are naturally infected with SIVcpz, a close relative of HIV-1.
Brandon F. Keele, James Holland Jones, Karen A. Terio, Jacob D. Estes, Rebecca S. Rudicell, Michael L. Wilson, Yingying Li, Gerald H. Learn, T. Mark Beasley, Joann Schumacher-Stankey, Emily Wroblewski, Anna Mosser, Jane Raphael, Shadrack Kamenya, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Dominic A. Travis, Titus Mlengeya, Michael J. Kinsel, James G. Else, Guido Silvestri, Jane Goodall, Paul M. Sharp, George M. Shaw, Anne E. Pusey & Beatrice H. Hahn
doi:10.1038/nature08200
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (726K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Weiss & Heeney
Regulation of the innate immune response by threonine-phosphatase of Eyes absent p520
Innate immunity is stimulated by non-microbial danger signals, as well as by viral or bacterial components. The threonine-phosphatase activity of the protein Eyes absent 4 (EYA4), originally identified as a co-transcription factor, is now shown to stimulate the innate immune response to the undigested DNA from apoptotic cells.
Yasutaka Okabe, Teruyuki Sano & Shigekazu Nagata
doi:10.1038/nature08138
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (690K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Helical extension of the neuronal SNARE complex into the membrane p525
In neurotransmission, synaptic vesicles fuse with the membrane of nerve cells to release neurotransmitter content into the synaptic cleft. This process requires the assembly of several members of the SNARE protein family. Here, the X-ray structure of a neuronal SNARE complex is solved, providing insight into how these proteins assemble.
Alexander Stein, Gert Weber, Markus C. Wahl & Reinhard Jahn
doi:10.1038/nature08156
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (687K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Modulation of microRNA processing by p53 p529
Disruption of the tumour suppressor p53, a transcriptional activator with numerous growth-suppressive targets, is a fundamental event in the development of most cancers. Here, p53 is found to have another function, independent of its role in transcription, enhancing the earliest processing step of precursors for microRNAs that regulate genes affecting cell growth.
Hiroshi I. Suzuki, Kaoru Yamagata, Koichi Sugimoto, Takashi Iwamoto, Shigeaki Kato & Kohei Miyazono
doi:10.1038/nature08199
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (603K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Toledo & Bardot
The CREB coactivator CRTC2 links hepatic ER stress and fasting gluconeogenesis p534
In fasted mammals, circulating pancreatic glucagon stimulates gluconeogenesis in the liver in part through the CREB coactivator CRTC2. The production of glucose by the liver is increased in obesity, reflecting chronic increases in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress that promote insulin resistance. Here, CRTC2 is shown to function as a dual sensor for fasting signals and ER stress, thereby contributing to glucose homeostasis.
Yiguo Wang, Liliana Vera, Wolfgang H. Fischer & Marc Montminy
doi:10.1038/nature08111
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (614K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Corrigendum
Life without a wall or division machine in Bacillus subtilis p538
M. Leaver, P. Domínguez-Cuevas, J. M. Coxhead, R. A. Daniel & J. Errington
doi:10.1038/nature08232
Naturejobs
Careers and RecruitmentBig opportunities in a small world p540
Nanomedicine has started to gather momentum in recent years, and cutting-edge jobs abound for those with the right training. Virginia Gewin takes a closer look.
Virginia Gewin
doi:10.1038/nj7254-540a
