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.
Six Great White Spot (GWS) events have been observed in the atmosphere of Saturn since 1876. These giant convective storms occur roughly once every Saturnian year (equal to 29.5 Earth years). The sixth GWS erupted in December 2010 and has been the subject of intense observation. Two papers in this issue present the details of some of these observations. Sánchez-Lavega et al. report that the storm developed at northern latitudes in the peak of a weak westward jet during early northern springtime. The storm head moved faster than the jet and triggered a disturbance that circled the planet. Numerical simulations show that Saturns winds extend without decay deep down into the weather layer. Fischer et al. report that the storm reached a width of 10,000 kilometres within three weeks. Its lightning flash rates are an order of magnitude greater than those seen in previous storms, peaking at more than 10 flashes per second. In the cover image, taken on 25 February 2011, the clouds have formed a tail that wraps around the planet. Image: C. Porco and CICLOPS (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI).
A consortium of researchers, advocates and clinicians announces here research priorities for improving the lives of people with mental illness around the world, and calls for urgent action and investment.
A model based on geophysical data from the Indian Ocean suggests that a mantle-plume head may once have coupled the motions of the African and Indian tectonic plates, and determined their respective speeds. See Article p.47
Copper is vital to most cells, but too much is lethal. The structure of a protein that pumps copper ions out of the cytosol provides insight into both the pumping mechanism and how certain mutations in the protein cause disease. See Article p.59
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) get a bad press, as evidenced by the notable trend in the use of dietary and cosmetic antioxidants. New work suggests, however, that ROS might have a role in mitigating certain cancers. See Letter p.106
Springtime on Saturn came in with a bang last December, when a massive storm erupted in its north temperate zone. This rare event has been observed in unprecedented detail from the ground and from space. See Letters p.71 & p.75
Acetaldehyde, a reactive metabolite of ethanol, can damage DNA unless properly processed. A biochemical pathway involved in Fanconi anaemia seems to be essential for protection against such damage. See Article p.53
Monitoring technologies and genetic engineering are producing a growing array of animal models for psychiatric disorders, but researchers are still learning how best to use them.
Before you can tackle the overwhelming task of huge writing projects, you must first put aside some widely held myths, say Maria Gardiner and Hugh Kearns