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Volume 484 Issue 7392, 5 April 2012

Editorial

  • Two papers in Nature this week highlight the extent to which human activity is influencing global climate, and underline the need for continued scrutiny of the problem.

    Editorial

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  • Scientists must find ways to improve academic efficiency if they are to keep their independence.

    Editorial
  • Celebrity missions to the deep ocean won't make up for cuts to marine science.

    Editorial
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World View

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Research Highlights

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Seven Days

  • The week in science: Errors — and resignations — announced in ‘faster-than-light’ neutrino experiment; new rules for US biosecurity research; and cuts to science in Spanish and Canadian budgets.

    Seven Days
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News

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Correction

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News Feature

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging is growing from showy adolescence into a workhorse of brain imaging.

    • Kerri Smith
    News Feature
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Comment

  • Fixing inefficiencies at academic institutions will strengthen — not jeopardize — teaching and research, says Thomas Marty.

    • Thomas Marty
    Comment
  • Counterproductive financial incentives divert time and resources from the scientific enterprise. We should spend the money more wisely, says Paula Stephan.

    • Paula Stephan
    Comment
  • How can we know whether funding models for research work? By relentlessly testing them using randomized controlled trials, says Pierre Azoulay.

    • Pierre Azoulay
    Comment
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Books & Arts

  • Andrew Robinson discovers gems in a grand overview of ancient Egypt and the life of a pioneer in Egyptology.

    • Andrew Robinson
    Books & Arts
  • Alison Abbott enjoys the story of a cell biologist whose incendiary life was shaped by revolution.

    • Alison Abbott
    Books & Arts
  • Henry Nicholls reflects on how the 'phenotypes' of natural history museums are adapting to change.

    • Henry Nicholls
    Books & Arts
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Correspondence

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Obituary

  • Crystallographer who pioneered methods of X-ray imaging and modern computing.

    • Janos Kirz
    • Jianwei Miao
    Obituary
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News & Views

  • The complexity in patterns of human mobility, migration and communication has been difficult to unpack. Researchers have now come up with a simple theory that captures the intricacy of such phenomena. See Letter p.96

    • Dirk Brockmann
    News & Views
  • A reconstruction of temperature from proxy records shows that the rise in global mean temperature closely resembled, but slightly lagged, the rise in carbon dioxide concentration during the last period of deglaciation. See Article p.49

    • Eric W. Wolff
    News & Views
  • The brain's parietal cortex seems to orchestrate decision-making without single neurons performing 'solos'. Rather, decision-specific motifs emerge as highly organized sequences of short-lived neuronal activity. See Article p.62

    • Eduardo Dias-Ferreira
    • Rui M. Costa
    News & Views
  • Lasers are often described in terms of a light field circulating in an optical resonator system. Now a laser has been demonstrated in which the field resides primarily in the atomic medium that is used to generate the light. See Letter p.78

    • Vladan Vuletic
    News & Views
  • Certain drugs that are used to treat cancer affect blood-vessel formation in tumours. But it seems that these antiangiogenic drugs can reduce the efficiency of other anticancer agents and increase the tumours' aggressiveness.

    • Oriol Casanovas
    News & Views
  • Whole-genome sequences from a marine fish that has adjusted to life in fresh water give hints about general genetic mechanisms that drive the evolution of adaptations to new environmental niches. See Article p.55

    • Hopi E. Hoekstra
    News & Views
  • By harnessing the quantum nature of light and guiding the light through a network of circuits integrated in a glass chip, it is possible to mimic fundamental particles undergoing a quantum walk.

    • Jonathan C. F. Matthews
    • Mark G. Thompson
    News & Views
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Correction

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Article

  • A reference genome sequence for threespine sticklebacks, and re-sequencing of 20 additional world-wide populations, reveals loci used repeatedly during vertebrate evolution; multiple chromosome inversions contribute to marine-freshwater divergence, and regulatory variants predominate over coding variants in this classic example of adaptive evolution in natural environments.

    • Felicity C. Jones
    • Manfred G. Grabherr
    • David M. Kingsley
    Article Open Access
  • A genome-wide analysis determines the contribution of DNA breaks and nuclear interactions to the formation of random versus recurrent translocations; whereas random translocations follow nuclear interaction profiles, the frequency of recurrent translocations is directly proportional to the amount of DNA damage at translocation partners.

    • Ofir Hakim
    • Wolfgang Resch
    • Rafael Casellas
    Article
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Letter

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Corrigendum

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Feature

  • Public and private institutions have added new rules to ensure transparency and reveal conflicts of interest. For many, following the rules has become harder.

    • Sarah Kellogg
    Feature
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Q&A

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Futures

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