News Feature in 2012

Ten people who mattered this year.

The more that microcircuits are shrunk, the hotter they get. Engineers are on the hunt for ways to cool off computing.

Crabs invading the Antarctic continental shelf could deal a crushing blow to a rare ecosystem.

Fierce rivals have joined forces in the race to teleport information to and from space.

For decades, one design has dominated nuclear reactors while potentially better options were left by the wayside. Now, the alternatives might finally have their day.

In this special issue, Nature examines the end of the 1997 Kyoto climate treaty — and the path ahead.

More than ever, nations are powering themselves from abundant supplies of fossil fuels.

Commitments made under the Kyoto climate treaty expire at the end of 2012, but emissions are rising faster than ever.

With nations doing little to slow climate change, many people are ramping up plans to adapt to the inevitable.

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

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

Fully fledged quantum computers are still a long way off. But devices that can simulate quantum systems are proving uniquely useful.

Jonathan Tilly defied decades of dogma by suggesting that women can make new eggs throughout their lives. Now some of his critics are taking a second look.

Researchers are racing to determine how shrinking glaciers in the Andes will affect the water supply of millions of people.

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences was set up to breed a new generation of numerical talent. Now it is spreading across the continent.

Sequencing DNA from individual cells is changing the way that researchers think of humans as a whole.

An impoverished African nation was making promising strides in medicine — before the government clamped down on its foreign partnerships.

From genes to hormone levels, biology may help to shape political behaviour.

Researchers say that some chemicals have unexpected and potent effects at very low doses — but regulators aren't convinced.

In a special issue, Nature examines the changing global landscape of research.