Volume 455 Issue 7210, 11 September 2008

A new series of essays looks back at scientific meetings that had world-changing consequences.

Beneath cancer's daunting complexity lies a simplicity that gives grounds for hope.

Medical researchers hurry to hit deadline for megaproject cash.

Europe's air quality comes under scrutiny.

In the second of our election-themed podcasts available online, Nature looks at where US biomedical research might head after November's presidential election. Excerpts from our panel discussion:

Rajendra Pachauri keeps post, but working groups gain fresh leadership.

Death of research monkeys slammed as morally wrong.

Coastal restoration hit by hurricane.

Genomic analysis reveals multiple mutations in tumours.

$400-million endowment edges Broad Institute towards independence.

Palaeontologists in Argentina are exploring a trove of fossils that is rewriting evolutionary history. Rex Dalton reports.

The Large Hadron Collider is the latest attempt to move fundamental physics past the frustratingly successful 'standard model'. But it is not the only way to do it. Geoff Brumfiel surveys the contenders attempting to capture the prize before the collider gets up to speed.

Proteins with 'zinc fingers' designed to bind almost any DNA sequence will soon be available to any lab that wants them — from two very different sources. Helen Pearson reports on a revolution in designer biology.

A bold attempt to synthesize the effects of geography on the world's population through maps highlights some interesting paradoxes, explains Yi-Fu Tuan.

Medical students still learn about skin diseases from hundreds of wax models that also record early cancer research and the ravages of syphilis, reports Alison Abbott.

François de Rose chaired the meeting that founded Europe's premier facility for experimental nuclear and particle research. Here he relives the five days of drama that changed the world of physics.

Evidence points to the existence of a hitherto uncharacterized type of hormone that controls different aspects of plant growth and interaction. The hunt for that hormone is heating up.

Observations of a long-lasting γ-ray burst, one that has the brightest optical counterpart yet discovered, challenge theoretical understanding of these bursts but may enhance their usefulness as cosmic probes.

The genetic factors that contribute to schizophrenia can vary, making it difficult to pinpoint which DNA changes are the main culprits. Large genome-wide studies provide the most reliable clues yet.

Quantum entanglement comes in a rich variety of types and families if more than two particles are involved. Experiments with photons are opening up fresh ways to systematically study multi-particle entanglement.

Founder of noble-gas chemistry.

Long duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs) release copious amounts of energy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and provide a window into the process of black hole formation from the collapse of massive stars. Observations of the extraordinarily bright prompt optical and γ-ray emission of GRB 080319B shows that the prompt emission stems from a single physical region, implying an extremely relativistic outflow that propagates within the narrow inner core of a two-component jet.

Shoot branching is regulated by hormones. Branching mutants in several plant species suggests the existence of a plant hormone that is released from the roots and prevents excessive shoot branching. This paper reports on one of two studies that show that a class of chemical compounds called strigolactones found in root exudates are reduced in the branching mutants and that external application of these chemicals inhibits shoot branching in the mutants. It is proposed that strigolactones or related metabolites are the sought after class of hormones.

Shoot branching is regulated by hormones. Branching mutants in several plant species suggests the existence of a plant hormone that is released from the roots and prevents excessive shoot branching. This paper reports on one of two studies that show that a class of chemical compounds called strigolactones found in root exudates are reduced in the branching mutants and that external application of these chemicals inhibits shoot branching in the mutants. It is proposed that strigolactones or related metabolites are the sought after class of hormones.

Very massive stars shed much of their mass in violent precursor eruptions as luminous blue variable stars before reaching their most likely end as supernovae. The nineteenth century eruption of η Carinae is the prototype of these events, for which some high speed ejecta has been seen. This paper reports observations of much faster material with speeds up to 3,500–6,000 km s⁻¹, reaching farther from the star than the fastest material in earlier reports.

This paper reports the formation of a Mott insulator of a repulsively interacting two-component Fermi gas in an optical lattice. It is identified by three features: a drastic suppression of doubly occupied lattice sites, a strong reduction of the compressibility inferred from the response of double occupancy to an increase in atom number, and the appearance of a gapped mode in the excitation spectrum. The results pave the way for further studies of the Mott insulator, including spin-ordering and ultimately the question of d-wave superfluidity.

The design and operation of a microfluidic system formed in a synthetic hydrogel which captures the main attributes of transpiration in plants is reported. The microfluidic 'synthetic tree' has a root system that enables the continuous extraction of liquid water from a subsaturated vapour into negative pressures in the liquid phase, stabilization and flow of liquid water at large negative pressures through the 'trunk' and continuous heat transfer with the evaporation of liquid water at negative pressures through an analagous leaf system.

A literature and database search for forest carbon flux estimates finds that in forests between 15 and 800 years of age net ecosystem productivity, the net carbon balance of the forest, is usually positive. These results demonstrate that old forests can continue to accumulate carbon, contrary to the long-standing view that old forests are carbon-neutral.

Experimental phase equilibria carried out on material from four main explosive events at Vesuvius are used to show that the reservoirs that fed the eruptive activity migrated from 7–8 km to 3–4 km depth between the 79 AD (Pompei) and 472 AD (Pollena) events. If data from the 18.5 kyr-old Pomici di Base event and the 1944 Vesuvius eruption are included, the total upward migration of the reservoir amounts up to 9–11 km. Reservoir migration, and the possible influence on feeding rates, should accordingly be integrated into the parameters used for defining expected eruptive scenarios at Vesuvius.

This paper reports the construction of mathematical models for how host-parasite co-evolution might affect diversity at different nutrient levels. Using the example of T7 phage and Escherichia coli, it was shown that many results are insensitive to the biological details of the interaction, but peculiarities of the model system can be predicted and experimentally verified.

Marine bacterial populations are controlled through grazing protists in a process known as bacteriovory. The relative importance of different groups of protists in this process was analysed. Surprisingly, a large proportion of presumably photosynthetic protists were shown to be mixotrophs, they can derive a significant amount of their biomass through grazing. These results are important for future consideration of the impact of protists on the marine food web and the carbon cycle.

Traditionally, 'metacognition' has been thought to be the purview of primates, but it is now shown that rats may compute and use estimates of their own confidence when making difficult perceptual decisions. The paper finds correlates of task difficulty and predictors of trial-by-trial outcome in the activity of orbitofrontal cortex, which may be most parsimoniously explained as a representation of subjective confidence.

The genetics of schizophrenia and other mental disorders are complex and poorly understood, and made even harder to study due to reduced reproduction resulting in negative selection pressure on risk alleles. Two independent large-scale genome wide studies of thousands of patients and controls by two international consortia confirm a previously identified locus, but also reveal novel associations. In this study, de novo (spontaneous) copy number variants are reported on chromosomes 1 and 15.

The genetics of schizophrenia and other mental disorders are complex and poorly understood, and made even harder to study due to reduced reproduction resulting in negative selection pressure on risk alleles. Two independent large-scale genome wide studies of thousands of patients and controls by two international consortia confirm a previously identified locus, but also reveal novel associations. In this study, deletions were reported on chromosomes 1 and 15, as well as a greater overall frequency of copy number variation in the genome.

Genome-wide RNAi screen in human cells identifies host factors that regulate replication of the West Nile virus. Some of these factors are shown to relevant for dengue virus as well.

Conditional knockout of the protease furin in CD4⁺ T cells is shown to result in impaired peripheral tolerance and autoimmune disease. Furin deficiency compromises TGF-β release and T_reg function, and is associated with inherently more aggressive effector T cells.

The centromere of a chromosome contains regions of heterochromatin that have diverse roles during chromosome segregation. This paper demonstrates that during mitosis in fission yeast, the main function for centromeric heterochromatin is to recruit cohesin. In contrast, during meiosis, the most important function for heterochromatin is to recruit the cohesin protector shugoshin to centromeres. This function is conserved in human cells.

This month, all eyes in the high-energy-physics community will be on the long-awaited launch of CERN's new particle collider. But US budget cuts and an uncertain job market mean the field has little else to celebrate. Eric Hand reports.

New NCAR director faces tough decisions early on.

FDA fellowship attempts to attract top talent.

I loathe the uprooting – but I look forward to the replanting.

Transport issues.

Synthetic tree shows how plants transport water against gravity.