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Volume 502 Issue 7473, 31 October 2013

Peak waste�, the date when global production of solid waste reaches its maximum, is a useful pointer to the time that humankind will be having its greatest impact on the global environment. Precisely when it will happen is difficult to predict, but writing in a Comment piece in this issue, Daniel Hoornweg, Perinaz Bhada-Tata and Chris Kennedy calculate that on current socioeconomic trends, peak waste will not occur this century. This means that unless we reduce population growth and material consumption rates, the planet will have to bear an increasing waste burden. Hoornweg et al. prescribe population stabilization, better-managed cities consuming fewer resources and greater equity and use of technology as the means to bring peak waste forward. Cover: Nir Elias/REUTERS

Editorial

  • Proposals to bring hydrofluorocarbons under the auspices of the Montreal Protocol provide a simple test of the international community’s commitment to tackling climate change.

    Editorial

    Advertisement

  • Online discussion is an essential aspect of the post-publication review of findings.

    Editorial
  • A half-century of Doctor Who has shown the dramatic possibilities of science in the arts.

    Editorial
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World View

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Research Highlights

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Seven Days

  • The week in science: PubMed pilots online commenting, NASA laser communications set transmission record, and Greenland lifts ban on uranium mining.

    Seven Days
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News

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Correction

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News Feature

  • Can the Southern African Large Telescope live up to its potential?

    • Linda Nordling
    News Feature
  • Diane Orihel set her PhD aside to lead a massive protest when Canada tried to shut down its unique Experimental Lakes Area.

    • Hannah Hoag
    News Feature
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Comment

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Books & Arts

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Correspondence

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Obituary

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News & Views

  • A study reveals that increasing aridity alters the balance of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in dryland soils, providing insight into how global climate change will affect soil fertility and ecosystem services. See Letter p.672

    • David A. Wardle
    News & Views
  • Crystal structures of the complete RNA polymerase I complex are now revealed. The structures link the opening and closing of this enzyme's DNA-binding cleft to the control of transcription. See Articles p.644 & p.650

    • Joost Zomerdijk
    News & Views
  • The ability to control individual electrons in an electronic conductor would pave the way for novel quantum technologies. Single electrons emerging from a sea of their fellows in a nanoscale electrode can now be generated. See Letter p.659

    • Christian Flindt
    News & Views
  • The dynamics of chemical reactions in solution are described by Kramers' theory, but the parameters involved have eluded direct measurement. A study of protein folding reveals how this problem can be overcome. See Letter p.685

    • Benjamin Schuler
    • Jane Clarke
    News & Views
  • A comprehensive search identifies a global dearth of data on the generation, treatment and use of wastewater. Remedying this situation will help policy-makers to better legislate for the management of this precious resource.

    • Blanca Jiménez Cisneros
    News & Views
  • Photosynthetic algal symbionts of corals produce sulphur substances that are involved in the regulation of ocean temperatures. In a twist to the tale, it emerges that coral animals produce the same compounds. See Letter p.677

    • Graham Jones
    News & Views
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Article

  • Immunofluorescence imaging and computational modelling are used to study the spatial distribution of different cell types within the haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche; findings show that quiescent HSCs associate specifically with small arterioles that are preferentially found in the endosteal bone marrow and are essential in maintaining this quiescence.

    • Yuya Kunisaki
    • Ingmar Bruns
    • Paul S. Frenette
    Article
  • RNA polymerase (Pol) I transcribes ribosomal RNA that is critically required for ribosome assembly, and the enzyme is a major determinant of protein biosynthesis and cell growth; here the crystal structure of the complete 14-subunit Pol I from yeast is determined, providing insights into its unique architecture and the possible functional roles of its components.

    • Carlos Fernández-Tornero
    • María Moreno-Morcillo
    • Christoph W. Müller
    Article
  • The crystal structure of the complete 14-subunit RNA polymerase (Pol) I from yeast is determined, providing insights into its unique architecture and the possible functional roles of its components.

    • Christoph Engel
    • Sarah Sainsbury
    • Patrick Cramer
    Article
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Letter

  • Four reconstructions of North American ice-sheet history are tested using oxygen isotope records from the Gulf of Mexico in a water-mixing model; the one based on ice physics is the best match to the isotopic data and to the observed Last Glacial Maximum fall in sea level due to melting of the Laurentide ice sheet.

    • Andrew D. Wickert
    • Jerry X. Mitrovica
    • Robert S. Anderson
    Letter
  • Soil samples collected from 224 dryland sites around the world show that aridity affects the concentration of organic carbon and total nitrogen differently from the concentration of inorganic phosphorus, suggesting that any predicted increase in aridity with climate change could uncouple the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in drylands and negatively affect the services provided by these ecosystems.

    • Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
    • Fernando T. Maestre
    • Eli Zaady

    Collection:

    Letter
  • Until now, dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), an important component in the sulphur cycle, has been thought to be produced solely by algae and some plants; however, this study shows that the coral animal also produces DMSP, in addition to that produced by the coral’s algal symbiont, with potential implications for the sulphur cycle and its climatic consequences as corals and their symbionts are affected by global change.

    • Jean-Baptiste Raina
    • Dianne M. Tapiolas
    • Cherie A. Motti
    Letter
  • The magnetosome-associated protein mamP is an iron oxidase that reveals a unique arrangement of a self-plugged PDZ domain fused to two magnetochrome domains, defining a new class of c-type cytochrome exclusively found in magnetotactic bacteria.

    • Marina I. Siponen
    • Pierre Legrand
    • David Pignol
    Letter
  • Here the Kramers diffusion coefficient and free-energy barrier are characterized for the first time through single-molecule fluorescence measurements of the temperature- and viscosity-dependence of the transition path time for protein folding.

    • Hoi Sung Chung
    • William A. Eaton
    Letter
  • A non-oxidative, cyclic pathway—termed non-oxidative glycolysis—is designed and constructed that enables complete carbon conservation in sugar catabolism to acetyl-coenzyme A, and can be used to achieve a 100% carbon yield to fuels and chemicals.

    • Igor W. Bogorad
    • Tzu-Shyang Lin
    • James C. Liao
    Letter
  • Meiotic crossover regulation is proposed to operate as a self-limiting system in which meiotic chromosome structures create an environment that promotes crossovers, which in turn modify chromosome structures to inhibit crossover formation at additional neighbouring sites.

    • Diana E. Libuda
    • Satoru Uzawa
    • Anne M. Villeneuve
    Letter
  • This study reports the first application of Zernike phase contrast (ZPC) electron cryo-tomography to examine cellular processes without the need for labelling or sectioning; the technique is used to visualize the maturation of the cyanophage Syn5 inside its host cell, identifying subcellular compartments and five distinct Syn5 assembly intermediates.

    • Wei Dai
    • Caroline Fu
    • Wah Chiu
    Letter
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Feature

  • Institutions shake off rivalries to build scientific collaborations and hire world-class talent.

    • Paul Smaglik
    Feature
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Q&A

  • Former English teacher pursues app development to help patients with mental illness.

    • Virginia Gewin
    Q&A
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Career Brief

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Futures

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Outlook

  • The ability to look inside the human body without using a scalpel has revolutionized how we diagnose and treat illness and injury. By Brian Owens.

    • Brian Owens
    Outlook
  • Multi-protein inflammasomes are being implicated in a surprising number of diseases, and researchers are keen to find out why.

    • Katharine Gammon
    Outlook
  • Real-time imaging of a patient's body is guiding surgeons and radiologists past healthy tissue to the diseased cells.

    • Jessica Wright
    Outlook
  • From image-analysis software to lens-free microscopes that fit on a mobile phone, new tools are providing pathologists with clearer and more informative images.

    • Katherine Bourzac
    Outlook
  • Many medical images are used once then filed away. This trove of clinical data should be made available to biomedical researchers, says Alan Moody.

    • Alan Moody
    Outlook
  • From magnetically tagged sugar to smoke-sensing surgical knives and beams of high-energy protons, the next wave of imaging technologies will provide a clearer view of the body.

    • Peter Gwynne
    Outlook
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Nature Outlook

  • Since the first X-rays were taken more than a century ago, the ability to see inside the body has been central to the advance of medicine. Progress in precision medical imaging is gathering pace, leading to new Insights in biology, with the potential for more accurate diagnoses and improved treatments.

    Nature Outlook
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