Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Three developments could help reduce public concern about genetically modified crops: broader criteria to assess their social and environmental impact, an over-arching monitoring body, and greater transparency.
Radioastronomers have gained a small victory in their battle with the telecommunications satellite operator Iridium over their use of an important radiofrequency.
The British government has announced that John Taylor, director of Hewlett Packard's European research centre in Bristol, will be the new Director General of Research Councils.
The British government is considering how to respond to the continuing destruction of genetically modified crop trials by so-called ‘eco-warrior’ environmentalist groups.
More than a dozen scientists received $156,000 from the tobacco industry to write letters and manuscripts to professional journals disputing the carcinogenicity of second-hand smoke.
A leading biomedical research organisation has been harshly criticized by a senior Democrat over a spending bill that aims to boost the budget for the National Institutes of Health by 9.1 per cent next year.
A number of non-US research staff hired by American universities are stranded without visas to enter the country following political stalemate over quotas for overseas-born professionals.
The International Congress of Genetics kicked off this week with an appeal for geneticists to become more involved in discussions about the implications of their work.
John Peoples will retire next year as director of Fermilab, leaving it in solid shape. But with CERN expected to usurp its position at the forefront of high-energy physics, and doubts about government investment, his replacement must find a way of ensuring a secure future for the US lab.
Satellite-based estimates of trends in atmospheric temperature have disagreed with estimates derived from other measurements. By taking into account declines in the orbital height of satellites, re-examination of those satellite data yields results that are in better accord with independent evidence of global warming.
When mammalian cells are under stress they activate the tumour-suppressor gene p53. But how does the cell signal to p53 that it is under attack? A new study implicates the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), which is activated by DNA damage and can bind p53. Damaged cells that don't contain DNA-PK accumulate an inactive form of p53, indicating that DNA-PK is crucial for the activation of p53.
Particle accelerators are an essential tool for exploring fundamental physics. Conventional accelerators need to be huge, because the accelerating voltage they apply is limited to about ten million volts per metre. But a way to achieve much higher voltages has been demonstrated, using a laser to generate plasma waves. The ‘table-top’ accelerator is a step closer to reality.
One of the ways in which external signals such as growth factors can deliver messages to the nucleus is through the secondary messenger diacylglycerol (DAG). DAG activates protein kinase C, which travels into the nucleus and interacts with nuclear targets. A new study shows that PKC can regulate its own activity in the nucleus through a feedback loop — PKC can inhibit the action of DGK-ζ, an enzyme that removes DAG.
When studying populations, how important are intrinsic factors — such as inhibition of reproduction at high population densities — compared with environmental variations? A new study of fluctuations of populations of wild Soay sheep living on two isolated Scottish islands indicates that environmental processes need to be very similar to synchronize the two populations.
In a thermoacoustic refrigerator, sound waves generate a heat flow. A new type of thermoacoustic refrigerator has been designed that uses the gas to be cooled as a working part of the engine, thereby getting around an old theoretical efficiency limit.
Almost 40 years ago, Burnet proposed his theory of clonal selection, whereby antibodies are precommitted to having a certain specificity before they ever come into contact with antigen. But two new papers reinforce previous evidence and show that antibody specificity can change after these early stages of development, in a process known as receptor editing.
The internal combustion engine is inefficient and dirty. Daedalus proposes to solve both problems by filling his engine with foam. That will allow a stratified charge to be delivered to the cylinders, preventing flames from touching the walls. Foam could also be used to encapsulate the exhaust gases, and lubricate the cool-running engine.
It can be easier to understand mathematical procedures when we can see them in, seemingly, three dimensions. Even though we cannot really see all the dimensions in which these attractors exist, they are satisfying to the eye.
Leading off with two chemical reaction stations, this roundup focuses mainly on software, including packages for chemometrics, the design of experiments, data acquisition and analysis, spectroscopy and remote Internet control. compiled by Brendan Horton from information provided by the manufacturers.
