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Seven days: 27 January–2 February 2012
Thu, 02/02/2012 - 06:00Seven days: 27 January–2 February 2012
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/482010a
The week in science: sequencing stock rebounds after takeover bid for Illumina; drug companies and nations team up against neglected diseases; and turmoil at the Global Fund.
Categories: Literature
Genomics ace quits Japan
Thu, 02/02/2012 - 06:00Genomics ace quits Japan
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/482018a
Author: David Cyranoski
Yusuke Nakamura blames government inertia for his move to the United States.
Categories: Literature
Japan plans to merge major science bodies
Thu, 02/02/2012 - 06:00Japan plans to merge major science bodies
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/482019a
Author: Ichiko Fuyuno
Drive to save money could increase bureaucracy.
Categories: Literature
Marine ecology: Attack of the blobs
Thu, 02/02/2012 - 06:00Marine ecology: Attack of the blobs
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/482020a
Author: Mark Schrope
Jellyfish will bloom as ocean health declines, warn biologists. Are they already taking over?
Categories: Literature
Vaccine development: Man vs MRSA
Thu, 02/02/2012 - 06:00Vaccine development: Man vs MRSA
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/482023a
Author: Maryn McKenna
For decades, Robert Daum has studied the havoc wreaked by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Now he thinks he can stop it for good.
Categories: Literature
The low-level nuclear threat
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00The low-level nuclear threat
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482005a
Europe is making a good start on learning about the health risks of low-dose radiation with a programme to share cold-war data and set research priorities. But the effort needs to be global.
Categories: Literature
Poles apart
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Poles apart
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482005b
Protecting the Arctic from pollution requires a binding agreement like the Antarctic Treaty.
Categories: Literature
Damage limitation
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Damage limitation
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482006a
Spider webs are designed to cope with stress and disruption, favouring repair over rebuilding.
Categories: Literature
Global health hits crisis point
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Global health hits crisis point
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/482007a
Author: Laurie Garrett
The Global Fund's drive to ensure sustainability and efficiency means that it may not be able to meet its commitments to combat disease, says Laurie Garrett.
Categories: Literature
Restoration ecology: New wetlands don't measure up
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Restoration ecology: New wetlands don't measure up
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482008a
Wetland restoration may be falling short of its goals, with restored or created wetlands lagging behind reference ones in terms of carbon storage and native species richness and abundance.In many parts of the world, humans have destroyed more than half of the wetlands and
Categories: Literature
Cancer genetics: Genome shatters in brain cancer
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Cancer genetics: Genome shatters in brain cancer
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482008b
Cancer is usually attributed to a slow accumulation of genomic changes, but a few cancers result instead from a single catastrophic event that causes massive reshuffling of the genome. Researchers have discovered these major changes, called chromothripsis, in a type of medulloblastoma — a common
Categories: Literature
Psychology: 'Brightness' fools the eye
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Psychology: 'Brightness' fools the eye
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482008c
The pupils of the human eye shrink in response to brightness, even when the glow is merely an optical illusion.Bruno Laeng and Tor Endestad at the University of Oslo used infrared eye trackers to monitor the pupils of participants looking at illusions of lightness
Categories: Literature
Evolution: Why animals get bigger over time
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Evolution: Why animals get bigger over time
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482008d
In palaeontology, Cope's rule holds that species evolve larger body sizes over geological time. One possible explanation has been that competition favours bigger bodies. To test this, Pasquale Raia at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy and his colleagues compiled a species tree
Categories: Literature
Gene therapy: An eye for gene repair
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Gene therapy: An eye for gene repair
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482008e
Gene therapy in dogs can reverse retinal defects that lead to blindness in humans.William Beltran and Gustavo Aguirre at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and their group targeted a form of retinitis pigmentosa. This is a common cause of blindness in which mutations
Categories: Literature
Physics: Quantum motion captured
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Physics: Quantum motion captured
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482009a
Even if cooled to a temperature of absolute zero, all objects will retain a fundamental jitter in their physical positions due to quantum 'zero-point' fluctuations. Oskar Painter and his colleagues at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have, for the first time, detected this
Categories: Literature
Genomic medicine: Sequencing diagnoses disease
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Genomic medicine: Sequencing diagnoses disease
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482009b
In a study that shows both its promise and limitations in the clinic, researchers have used genomic sequencing to diagnose the genetic cause of disease in individual children — but succeeded in only a small proportion of them.A team led by David Thorburn at
Categories: Literature
Cancer: Drug drives cancer stem cells
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Cancer: Drug drives cancer stem cells
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482009c
Cancer drugs that attack tumour-sustaining blood vessels may spur proliferation of the stem cells that contribute to the disease.One such drug, bevacizumab, fails to prolong the survival of patients with advanced breast cancers, and studies have shown that patients on similar drugs often relapse.
Categories: Literature
Geology: Explosion in Death Valley
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Geology: Explosion in Death Valley
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482009d
The volcanic eruption responsible for the giant Ubehebe Crater in California's Death Valley may have occurred more recently than previously thought. This could mean that the risk of similar explosions happening today is higher than anticipated.When magma encounters groundwater, distinctive explosions, such as those
Categories: Literature
Animal behaviour: Hair defence against bed bugs
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Animal behaviour: Hair defence against bed bugs
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482009e
Highly read on http://royalsocietypublishing.org in DecemberHirsute individuals are better able to sense blood-sucking bed bugs crawling on their skin than are their less hairy counterparts.Isabelle Dean and Michael Siva-Jothy at the University of Sheffield, UK, tested the ability of 29 volunteers to
Categories: Literature
Public health: The toxic truth about sugar
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 01:00Public health: The toxic truth about sugar
Nature 482, 7383 (2012). doi:10.1038/482027a
Authors: Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt & Claire D. Brindis
Added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol, argue Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis.
Categories: Literature