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2013/12/31

Nature contents: 02 January 2014

 
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  Volume 505 Number 7481   
 

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This week's highlights

 
 

Physical Sciences

More Physical sciences
 
Spread in model climate sensitivity traced to atmospheric convective mixing
 

Uncertainties in predicted climate sensitivity — the magnitude of global warming due to an external influence — range from between 1.5 and 5ºC for a doubling of atmospheric CO2. Steven Sherwood and colleagues find that half of the uncertainty in climate sensitivity is down to convective mixing in the troposphere, which influences cloud cover. Models suggest that climate sensitivity will exceed 3º C rather than the currently estimated lower limit of 1.5º C, thereby constraining model projections towards more severe future warming.

 
 
 

Biological Sciences

More Biological sciences
 
The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains
 

Recent excavations in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia have yielded a wealth of hominin fossils from a site that has been occupied for perhaps 250,000 years. Now a high-quality genome sequence has been determined from a 50,000-year-old toe bone — a proximal toe phalanx — excavated from the east gallery of Denisova Cave in 2010. The analysis reveals that the woman’s parents were closely related — possibly half-siblings or an uncle and niece — and that such mating among close relatives was not uncommon among her recent ancestors.

 
 
 

Chemical Sciences

More Chemical sciences
 
DNA-mediated nanoparticle crystallization into Wulff polyhedra
 

The crystallization processes of nanoparticles are far more complicated — and less well understood — than those of atoms. Chad Mirkin and colleagues now show that despite the presence of charged biomolecules and huge interparticle distances, DNA-mediated assembly of nanoparticles can follow a pathway that mimics atomic crystallization: very slow cooling, over several days, of solutions of DNA-modified nanoparticles below the melting temperature of the system produces single crystals with the expected equilibrium structure. This approach has the potential to create single microcrystals with useful properties with practical applications in photonics and catalysis.

 
 
 
   
 
   
 
 
News & Comment Read daily news coverage top
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

THIS WEEK

 
 
 
 
 

Editorial

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

The greater good ▶

 
 

Governments, funding agencies and universities must all do their bit to ensure that research is appropriately assessed and rewarded.

 
 
 
 
 
 

World View

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Emerging powers need a more-inclusive science ▶

 
 

Fast-growing economies can learn from the West's mistakes and couple social and 'hard' sciences to address their own societal needs, says Colin Macilwain.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Seven Days

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Seven days: 2 January 2014 ▶

 
 

This week in science: Europe launches star-mapping mission, GSK to phase out physician fees, and geneticist Janet Rowley dies.

 
 
 
 
 
 

NEWS IN FOCUS

 
 
 
 
 

Triple-threat method sparks hope for fusion ▶

 
 

The secrets to its success are lasers, magnets and a big pinch.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Water risk as world warms ▶

 
 

First comprehensive global-impact project shows that water scarcity is a major worry.

 
 
 
 
 
 

X-ray source left without home ▶

 
 

No plans to build next-generation accelerator despite large investment by US agency.

 
 
 
 
 
 

What to expect in 2014 ▶

 
 

Nature takes a look at what is in store for science in the new year.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Feature

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Behaviour and biology: The accidental epigeneticist ▶

 
 

By studying disadvantaged children, Richard Tremblay has traced the roots of chronic aggressive behaviour back as far as infancy. Now he hopes to go back further.

 
 
 
 
 
 

COMMENT

 
 
 
 
 

Resources: Track flows to manage technology-metal supply ▶

 
 

Recycling cannot meet the demand for rare metals used in digital and green technologies, says Andrew Bloodworth. A more holistic approach is needed.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Books and Arts

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Culture: Top tickets for 2014 ▶

 
 

It promises to be a heady year for science in culture: fans can steep in the sumptuous world of colour, unpeel the upside of failure, explore neural pathways, revisit the First World War, mend a rip in space-time, go pterosaur-spotting and traverse a mammoth-ridden nation. Daniel Cressey investigates.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Physics: Chasing universes ▶

 
 

Andrew Liddle contemplates an accomplished explication of the multiverse.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Books in brief ▶

 
 
 
 
 
 

Correspondence

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Online education: Targeted MOOC captivates students Carolyn King, Andrew Robinson, James Vickers | Floods: Storm-surge impact depends on setting Thomas Spencer, Susan M. Brooks, Iris Möller | Research ethics: Whistle-blowers have a tough time Don Soeken | Reproducibility: Nature's readers comment online

 
 
 
 
 
 

Obituary

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Frederick Sanger (1918–2013) ▶

 
 

Double Nobel-prizewinning genomics pioneer.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Royal Society Medals and Awards. Call for nominations open!
The 2014 Royal Society's medals, awards and prize lectureships provide an opportunity for you to celebrate excellence in science among the scientific community. We urge you to nominate scientists who have made outstanding achievements in all scientific areas.
Full details of all awards can be found here.

 
 
 
 
Biological Sciences top
 
 
 
 
 
 

RESEARCH

 
 
 
 
 

Latest Online

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Developmental biology: Tethered wings ▶

 
 

Ginés Morata, Gary Struhl

 
 
 
 
 
 

CNVs conferring risk of autism or schizophrenia affect cognition in controls ▶

 
 

Hreinn Stefansson, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Stacy Steinberg et al.

 
 

Rare copy-number variants (CNVs) conferring risk of schizophrenia or autism affect fecundity of carriers in Iceland, and carriers of these CNVs who do not suffer disease or have not been diagnosed with intellectual disability show phenotypes in brain structure and cognitive abilities between those of non-carrier controls and patients with schizophrenia.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Patterning and growth control by membrane-tethered Wingless ▶

 
 

Cyrille Alexandre, Alberto Baena-Lopez, Jean-Paul Vincent

 
 

Replacement of the wingless (wg) gene in Drosophila with one that expresses a membrane-tethered form of Wg results in viable flies with normally patterned appendages of nearly the right size; early wg transcription and memory of signalling ensure continued target-gene expression in the absence of Wg release, even though the spread of Wg could boost cell proliferation.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Architecture of the large subunit of the mammalian mitochondrial ribosome ▶

 
 

Basil J. Greber, Daniel Boehringer, Alexander Leitner et al.

 
 

Cryo-electron microscopy combined with chemical crosslinking and mass spectrometry is used to determine the structure of the large subunit of the mammalian mitoribosome; this structure provides detailed structural insight, particularly of the molecular architecture of the polypeptide exit site, which has been structurally remodelled during evolution, presumably to help facilitate the membrane insertion of the highly hydrophobic proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Immunological and virological mechanisms of vaccine-mediated protection against SIV and HIV ▶

 
 

Mario Roederer, Brandon F. Keele, Stephen D. Schmidt et al.

 
 

The analysis of multiple SIV vaccine regimens in macaques leads to the identification of a key two-amino-acid signature that confers resistance to neutralizing antibodies; a similar mechanism of immune escape is shown to operate in HIV and may explain the limited efficacy seen in HIV vaccine trials.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Cell death by pyroptosis drives CD4 T-cell depletion in HIV-1 infection ▶

 
 

Gilad Doitsh, Nicole L. K. Galloway, Xin Geng et al.

 
 

Quiescent CD4 T cells in lymphoid tissues are shown to die after HIV-1 infection by caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis, a highly inflammatory form of programmed cell death; caspase 1 inhibitors, which are safe for human use, can rescue the cell death in vitro raising the possibility of new therapeutics targeting the host instead of the virus.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Trapping the dynamic acyl carrier protein in fatty acid biosynthesis ▶

 
 

Chi Nguyen, Robert W. Haushalter, D. John Lee et al.

 
 

A highly specific chemical crosslinking method is used to trap a complex between an acyl carrier protein and a fatty acid dehydratase during fatty acid biosynthesis; subsequent X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations techniques enable the detailed study of this complex.

 
 
 
 
 
 

The genome of the recently domesticated crop plant sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) OPEN ▶

 
 

Juliane C. Dohm, André E. Minoche, Daniela Holtgräwe et al.

 
 

A full genome sequence is presented of sugar beet Beta vulgaris, the first plant belonging to Caryophyllales to have its genome sequenced; spinach was sequenced to enable inter-clade comparisons, and intraspecific variation was analysed by comparative genomics of a progenitor of all beet crops and additional sugar beet accessions.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Glutamine methylation in histone H2A is an RNA-polymerase-I-dedicated modification ▶

 
 

Peter Tessarz, Helena Santos-Rosa, Sam C. Robson et al.

 
 

A description of a new histone modification, methylation of glutamine, on histone H2A in yeast and human cells.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Aprataxin resolves adenylated RNA–DNA junctions to maintain genome integrity ▶

 
 

Percy Tumbale, Jessica S. Williams, Matthew J. Schellenberg et al.

 
 

This study shows that aprataxin, encoded by a gene mutated in the neurodegenerative disorder AOA1, can remove the 5′ AMP from RNA–DNA junctions; this RNA–DNA damage response promotes cell survival.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Sequence variants in SLC16A11 are a common risk factor for type 2 diabetes in Mexico ▶

 
 

A risk haplotype for type 2 diabetes is identified with four amino acid substitutions in SLC16A11, which is present at ∼50% frequency in Native American samples and ∼10% in east Asian samples, but is rare in European and African samples; SLC16A11 may alter hepatic lipid metabolism, causing an increase in triacylglycerol levels.

 
 
 
 
 
 

RecA bundles mediate homology pairing between distant sisters during DNA break repair ▶

 
 

Christian Lesterlin, Graeme Ball, Lothar Schermelleh et al.

 
 

RecA bundles are shown to be important for the pairing of homologous loci that have segregated to opposite ends of the cell during DNA double-strand break repair in vivo in Escherichia coli.

 
 
 
 
 
 

RNA viruses can hijack vertebrate microRNAs to suppress innate immunity ▶

 
 

Derek W. Trobaugh, Christina L. Gardner, Chengqun Sun et al.

 
 

Here it is proposed that RNA viruses can adapt to use the antiviral properties of microRNAs to limit viral replication and suppress innate immunity in particular cell types, and this restriction can lead to exacerbation of disease severity.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments ▶

 
 

Amy E. Zanne, David C. Tank, William K. Cornwell et al.

 
 

This large comparative phylogenetic study across angiosperms shows that species that are herbaceous or have small conduits evolved these traits before colonizing environments with freezing conditions, whereas deciduous species changed their climate niche before becoming deciduous.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis contributes to biology and drug discovery ▶

 
 

Yukinori Okada, Di Wu, Gosia Trynka et al.

 
 

A genome-wide association study meta-analysis of more than 100,000 subjects of European and Asian ancestries reveals 42 new risk loci for rheumatoid arthritis, with follow-up studies identifying 98 biological candidate genes that are either already being targeted by drugs or could be in the future.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Species coexistence and the dynamics of phenotypic evolution in adaptive radiation ▶

 
 

Joseph A. Tobias, Charlie K. Cornwallis, Elizabeth P. Derryberry et al.

 
 

Increased trait differences among sympatric lineages of ovenbirds are explained by their greater evolutionary age compared with allopatric lineages.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Selection and evaluation of clinically relevant AAV variants in a xenograft liver model ▶

 
 

Leszek Lisowski, Allison P. Dane, Kirk Chu et al.

 
 

Chimaeric human–murine adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids are described that transduce human primary hepatocytes more efficiently than currently used AAV vectors; the novel vectors may be good clinical candidates.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Intranasal epidermal growth factor treatment rescues neonatal brain injury ▶

 
 

Joseph Scafidi, Timothy R. Hammond, Susanna Scafidi et al.

 
 

Diffuse white matter injury is common in very preterm infants; here, enhanced epidermal growth factor receptor signalling in oligodendrocyte precursor cells in a mouse model of such injury is shown to increase cellular and functional recovery.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Landscape of genomic alterations in cervical carcinomas ▶

 
 

Akinyemi I. Ojesina, Lee Lichtenstein, Samuel S. Freeman et al.

 
 

Whole-exome sequencing and analysis of 115 cervical carcinoma–normal paired samples, in addition to transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing for a subset of these tumours, reveal novel genes mutated at significant levels within this cohort and provide evidence that HPV integration is a common mechanism for target gene overexpression; results also compare mutational landscapes between squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Structure of a Naegleria Tet-like dioxygenase in complex with 5-methylcytosine DNA ▶

 
 

Hideharu Hashimoto, June E. Pais, Xing Zhang et al.

 
 

The Tet family of dioxygenase enzymes convert 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine, which has an effect on gene expression; here the structure of NgTet1, a Tet-like protein with the same activity as mammalian Tet1, is determined, showing that NgTet1 uses a base-flipping mechanism to access 5-methylcytosine.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Articles and Letters

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains ▶

 
 

Kay Prüfer, Fernando Racimo, Nick Patterson et al.

 
 

A complete genome sequence is presented of a female Neanderthal from Siberia, providing information about interbreeding between close relatives and uncovering gene flow events among Neanderthals, Denisovans and early modern humans, as well as establishing substitutions that became fixed in modern humans after their separation from the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans.

 
 
 
 
 
 

A molecular marker of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria ▶

 
 

Frédéric Ariey, Benoit Witkowski, Chanaki Amaratunga et al.

 
 

A molecular marker is required to monitor artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites in southeast Asia; here mutations in K13-propeller are associated with artemisinin resistance in vitro and in vivo and also cluster in Cambodian provinces where resistance is prevalent.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Structural basis for Ca2+ selectivity of a voltage-gated calcium channel ▶

 
 

Lin Tang, Tamer M. Gamal El-Din, Jian Payandeh et al.

 
 

X-ray crystal structures of a voltage-gated Na+ channel mutated to be highly Ca2+ selective provide a framework for understanding the mechanisms of ion selectivity and conductance in vertebrate voltage-gated Ca2+ channels.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Low investment in sexual reproduction threatens plants adapted to phosphorus limitation ▶

 
 

Yuki Fujita, Harry Olde Venterink, Peter M. van Bodegom et al.

 
 

Plant life-history traits, notably plant investments in growth versus reproduction, can explain the impact of nitrogen:phosphorus stoichiometry on plant species richness; compared with plants in nitrogen-limited communities, plants in phosphorus-limited communities (in which endangered plant species are more common) invest little in phosphorus-intense activity such as sexual reproduction and have conservative leaf traits.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans ▶

 
 

Maanasa Raghavan, Pontus Skoglund, Kelly E. Graf et al.

 
 

Draft genomes of two south-central Siberian individuals dating to 24,000 and 17,000 years ago show that they are genetically closely related to modern-day western Eurasians and Native Americans but not to east Asians; the results have implications for our understanding of the origins of Native Americans.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Prefrontal parvalbumin interneurons shape neuronal activity to drive fear expression ▶

 
 

Julien Courtin, Fabrice Chaudun, Robert R. Rozeske et al.

 
 

Single-unit recordings and optogenetic manipulations in mice undergoing auditory fear conditioning show that fear expression is related to the phasic inhibition of prefrontal cortex (PFC) parvalbumin interneurons; inhibition disinhibits PFC projection neurons and synchronizes their firing, leading to fear expression.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Divergent angiocrine signals from vascular niche balance liver regeneration and fibrosis ▶

 
 

Bi-Sen Ding, Zhongwei Cao, Raphael Lis et al.

 
 

Divergent angiocrine signals from liver sinusoidal endothelial cells elicit regeneration after immediate injury and provoke fibrosis after chronic insult.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Antibacterial membrane attack by a pore-forming intestinal C-type lectin ▶

 
 

Sohini Mukherjee, Hui Zheng, Mehabaw G. Derebe et al.

 
 

Secreted C-type lectins protect the intestinal epithelium from Gram-positive bacteria; this study shows that for the C-type lectin RegIIIα, bacterial killing occurs in a two-step process whereby the lectin first binds to bacterial peptidoglycans then oligomerizes on the bacterial membrane to form a permeabilizing pore.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Structural basis for recognition of synaptic vesicle protein 2C by botulinum neurotoxin A ▶

 
 

Roger M. Benoit, Daniel Frey, Manuel Hilbert et al.

 
 

Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) is considered the most toxic substance known but is also used as a therapeutic drug for a growing number of diseases and conditions; researchers have now obtained a high-resolution crystal structure of the receptor-binding domain of the BoNT/A in complex with the luminal domain of synaptic vesicle protein 2C (SV2C), one of its receptors, allowing the identification of a peptide that can inhibit complex formation.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Coupled GTPase and remodelling ATPase activities form a checkpoint for ribosome export ▶

 
 

Yoshitaka Matsuo, Sander Granneman, Matthias Thoms et al.

 
 

Two proteins are identified in yeast that regulate the timing of pre-ribosome export from the nucleus; Nug2 binds pre-60S particles until they are ready for export, at which time Nug2 is replaced by the export adaptor Nmd3, enabling the export machinery to recognise the pre-ribosome that is ready to be transferred to the cytoplasm.

 
 
 
 
 
 

N6-methyladenosine-dependent regulation of messenger RNA stability ▶

 
 

Xiao Wang, Zhike Lu, Adrian Gomez et al.

 
 

The mRNAs of higher eukaryotes are extensively modified internally with N6-methyladenosine, but the specific functional role of this modification has been unclear; here this modification on mRNA is shown to be recognized by several proteins, the modification and its recognition serve to regulate the RNA’s lifetime.

 
 
 
 
 
 

News & Views

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Malaria: Resistance nailed ▶

 
 

Christopher V. Plowe

 
 
 
 
 
 

Archaic humans: Four makes a party ▶

 
 

Ewan Birney, Jonathan K. Pritchard

 
 
 
 
 
 

Cell biology: The beginning of the end ▶

 
 

Judith Campisi

 
 
 
 
 
 

Developmental biology: Tethered wings ▶

 
 

Ginés Morata, Gary Struhl

 
 
 
 
 
 

Corrigendum

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Corrigendum: Primary forests are irreplaceable for sustaining tropical biodiversity ▶

 
 

Luke Gibson, Tien Ming Lee, Lian Pin Koh et al.

 
 
 
 
 

NEWS & COMMENT

 
 
 
 
 

What to expect in 2014 | Behaviour and biology: The accidental epigeneticist | Culture: Top tickets for 2014 | Books in brief | Online education: Targeted MOOC captivates students | Frederick Sanger (1918–2013)

 
 
 
 
 
 

More Biological Sciences ▶

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8th annual Salk Institute, Fondation IPSEN, and Nature Symposium on Biological Complexity: Genes and Physiology
January 29-31, 2014
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
La Jolla, CA, USA
Click here for more information or to register for this conference today!
 
 
 
 
Chemical Sciences top
 
 
 
 
 
 

RESEARCH

 
 
 
 
 

Latest Online

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Asymmetric synthesis from terminal alkenes by cascades of diboration and cross-coupling ▶

 
 

Scott N. Mlynarski, Christopher H. Schuster, James P. Morken

 
 

A single-flask, catalytic enantioselective conversion of terminal alkenes into a number of chiral products is described: this tandem diboration/cross-coupling reaction works on a broad range of substrates, requires small amounts of commercially available catalysts, and provides products in high yield and high selectivity.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Articles and Letters

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

DNA-mediated nanoparticle crystallization into Wulff polyhedra ▶

 
 

Evelyn Auyeung, Ting I. N. G. Li, Andrew J. Senesi et al.

 
 

Very slow cooling, over several days, of solutions of complementary-DNA-modified nanoparticles through the melting temperature of the system produces nanoparticle assemblies with the Wulff equilibrium crystal structure, thus showing that DNA hybridization can direct nanoparticle assembly along a pathway that mimics atomic crystallization.

 
 
 
 
 

NEWS & COMMENT

 
 
 
 
 

Triple-threat method sparks hope for fusion | Books in brief

 
 
 
 
 
 

More Chemical Sciences ▶

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Physical Sciences top
 
 
 
 
 
 

RESEARCH

 
 
 
 
 

Latest Online

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Quantum physics: An atomic SQUID ▶

 
 

Charles A. Sackett

 
 
 
 
 
 

Dislocations in bilayer graphene ▶

 
 

Benjamin Butz, Christian Dolle, Florian Niekiel et al.

 
 

Basal-plane dislocations, identified as fundamental defects in bilayer graphene by transmission electron microscopy and atomistic simulations, reveal striking size effects, most notably a pronounced buckling of the graphene membrane, which drastically alters the strain state and is of key importance for the material’s mechanical and electronic properties.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Asymmetric synthesis from terminal alkenes by cascades of diboration and cross-coupling ▶

 
 

Scott N. Mlynarski, Christopher H. Schuster, James P. Morken

 
 

A single-flask, catalytic enantioselective conversion of terminal alkenes into a number of chiral products is described: this tandem diboration/cross-coupling reaction works on a broad range of substrates, requires small amounts of commercially available catalysts, and provides products in high yield and high selectivity.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Tunable symmetry breaking and helical edge transport in a graphene quantum spin Hall state ▶

 
 

A. F. Young, J. D. Sanchez-Yamagishi, B. Hunt et al.

 
 

Applying a very large magnetic field to charge-neutral monolayer graphene produces a symmetry-protected quantum spin Hall state with helical edge states whose properties can be modulated by balancing the applied field against an intrinsic antiferromagnetic instability.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Resonant Auger decay driving intermolecular Coulombic decay in molecular dimers ▶

 
 

F. Trinter, M. S. Schöffler, H.-K. Kim et al.

 
 

Intermolecular Coulombic decay transfers excess energy to neighbouring molecules, which then lose a low-energy (and, hence, genotoxic) electron; here the process is experimentally confirmed to be site-selective and highly efficient, possibly enabling more targeted radiation therapy.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Site- and energy-selective slow-electron production through intermolecular Coulombic decay ▶

 
 

Kirill Gokhberg, Přemysl Kolorenč, Alexander I. Kuleff et al.

 
 

Intermolecular Coulombic decay driven by resonant Auger decay can be used to produce low-energy electrons selectively from chosen molecular or atomic sites and with tunable energies, with possible applications in radiation therapy.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Articles and Letters

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Strong neutrino cooling by cycles of electron capture and β decay in neutron star crusts ▶

 
 

H. Schatz, S. Gupta, P. Möller et al.

 
 

Cycles of electron capture and β decay involving neutron-rich nuclei at a typical depth of about 150 metres are found to cool the outer crust of a neutron star by emitting neutrinos while also thermally decoupling the surface layers from the deeper crust; this mechanism has been studied in other astrophysical environments, but has not hitherto been considered in neutron stars.

 
 
 
 
 
 

A featureless transmission spectrum for the Neptune-mass exoplanet GJ 436b ▶

 
 

Heather A. Knutson, Björn Benneke, Drake Deming et al.

 
 

The transmission spectrum of the Neptune-mass exoplanet GJ 436b is shown to be featureless, implying that the planet has either a hydrogen-poor atmosphere or a high cloud layer.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Clouds in the atmosphere of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b ▶

 
 

Laura Kreidberg, Jacob L. Bean, Jean-Michel Désert et al.

 
 

The transmission spectrum of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b is observed to be featureless at near-infrared wavelengths and its atmosphere must contain clouds to be consistent with the data.

 
 
 
 
 
 

DNA-mediated nanoparticle crystallization into Wulff polyhedra ▶

 
 

Evelyn Auyeung, Ting I. N. G. Li, Andrew J. Senesi et al.

 
 

Very slow cooling, over several days, of solutions of complementary-DNA-modified nanoparticles through the melting temperature of the system produces nanoparticle assemblies with the Wulff equilibrium crystal structure, thus showing that DNA hybridization can direct nanoparticle assembly along a pathway that mimics atomic crystallization.

 
 
 
 
 
 

News & Views

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Extrasolar planets: Cloudy with a chance of dustballs ▶

 
 

Julianne Moses

 
 
 
 
 
 

Quantum physics: An atomic SQUID ▶

 
 

Charles A. Sackett

 
 
 
 
 
 

Erratum

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Erratum: Exciting Andreev pairs in a superconducting atomic contact ▶

 
 

L. Bretheau, Ç. Ö. Girit, H. Pothier et al.

 
 
 
 
 

NEWS & COMMENT

 
 
 
 
 

Triple-threat method sparks hope for fusion | X-ray source left without home | What to expect in 2014 | Culture: Top tickets for 2014 | Physics: Chasing universes | Books in brief

 
 
 
 
 
 

More Physical Sciences ▶

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earth & Environmental Sciences top
 
 
 
 
 
 

RESEARCH

 
 
 
 
 

Articles and Letters

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Spread in model climate sensitivity traced to atmospheric convective mixing ▶

 
 

Steven C. Sherwood, Sandrine Bony, Jean-Louis Dufresne

 
 

The change in global mean temperature in response to a change in external forcing is highly uncertain; here differences in the simulated strength of convective mixing between the lower and middle tropical troposphere are shown to explain about half of the variance in climate sensitivity, constraining the predicted equilibrium climate sensitivity to an increase of 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Increasing subtropical North Pacific Ocean nitrogen fixation since the Little Ice Age ▶

 
 

Owen A. Sherwood, Thomas P. Guilderson, Fabian C. Batista et al.

 
 

Despite a reduction in nutrient supply to the North Pacific subtropical gyre, it has undergone a recent increase in nitrogen fixation, and here records of nitrogen isotopes preserved in Hawaiian corals show that this is a trend that could be linked to climate change since the end of the Little Ice Age.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Low investment in sexual reproduction threatens plants adapted to phosphorus limitation ▶

 
 

Yuki Fujita, Harry Olde Venterink, Peter M. van Bodegom et al.

 
 

Plant life-history traits, notably plant investments in growth versus reproduction, can explain the impact of nitrogen:phosphorus stoichiometry on plant species richness; compared with plants in nitrogen-limited communities, plants in phosphorus-limited communities (in which endangered plant species are more common) invest little in phosphorus-intense activity such as sexual reproduction and have conservative leaf traits.

 
 
 
 
 
 

News & Views

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

Extrasolar planets: Cloudy with a chance of dustballs ▶

 
 

Julianne Moses

 
 
 
 
 
 

50 & 100 Years Ago ▶

 
 
 
 
 
 

Climate science: Clouds of uncertainty ▶

 
 

Hideo Shiogama, Tomoo Ogura

 
 
 
 
 

NEWS & COMMENT

 
 
 
 
 

Water risk as world warms | Resources: Track flows to manage technology-metal supply | Books in brief

 
 
 
 
 
 

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Careers & Jobs top
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Communication: Spontaneous scientists ▶

 
 

Some think that researchers can improve their communication by flexing their improvisation skills.

 
 
 
     
 
 
 

Leaving academia ▶

 
 

More patents linked to greater chance of leaving academia.

 
 
 
     
 
 
 

Physician–scientists ▶

 
 

MD-PhD holders focus on research less than they used to, according to analysis.

 
 
 
     
 
 
 

NIH seeks models ▶

 
 

NIH aims to use modelling to address trends that threaten size and diversity of biomedical research community.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Careers related news & comment

 
     
 
 
 
 
 

The greater good | Emerging powers need a more-inclusive science Colin Macilwain | Seven days: 2 January 2014 | Online education: Targeted MOOC captivates students Carolyn King, Andrew Robinson, James Vickers | Floods: Storm-surge impact depends on setting Thomas Spencer, Susan M. Brooks, Iris Möller

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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