Nature is the international weekly journal of science: a magazine style journal that publishes full-length research papers in all disciplines of science, as well as News and Views, reviews, news, features, commentaries, web focuses and more, covering all branches of science and how science impacts upon all aspects of society and life.
28 Jul
Producing enough food for the world's population in 2050 will be easy. But doing it at an acceptable cost to the planet will depend on research into everything from high-tech seeds to low-tech farming practices.
28 Jul
The Canadian government should rethink its decision to change the way census data are collected.
28 Jul
Geology38, 711–714 (2010) 10.1130/G30829.1Fossil burrows in ocean sediments from the Precambrian–Cambrian period about 540 million years ago are ubiquitous in the fossil record, but the creatures that created these Treptichnus burrows (pictured, left) remained a mystery.
28 Jul
Phys. Rev. Lett. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.031301 (2010)The mass of the elusive neutrino is less than 0.28 electronvolts — the lowest upper limit predicted so far — according to Shaun Thomas and his colleagues at University College London.Neutrinos are abundant in
28 Jul
Geophys. Res. Lett. doi:10.1029/2010GL042496 (2010)Rapid loss of floating sea ice is contributing a tiny amount, 50 micrometres, to the current annual global sea-level rise of around 3 millimetres.Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, UK, and his colleagues
28 Jul
J. Am. Chem. Soc. doi:10.1021/ja104691j (2010)Poorly soluble drugs and other chemicals can be dissolved in liquid by packaging them inside micelles — soluble molecular assemblies that often assume hollow spherical or floral shapes. Heat can rattle these structures apart,
28 Jul
J. Ecol. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2010.01690.x (2010)Unlike most tundra plant species, Arctic evergreen shrubs seem to be resilient to climate change. James Hudson and Greg Henry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver were surprised to find that increases of 1–1.3
28 Jul
J. Neurosci.30, 9659–9669 (2010) 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5443-09.2010Brain signals in monkeys have been decoded and used to reconstruct three-dimensional arm movements, raising the possibility of future neuroprosthetic devices that people who are paralysed could use to control robotic arms for
28 Jul
Geophys. Res. Lett. doi:10.1029/2010GL043622 (2010)Towering more than 40 metres high, the Douglas firs, coast redwoods and giant sequoias of the North American Pacific coast stand out as some of the world's tallest trees, according to a map charting the
28 Jul
Science doi:10.1126/science.1193748 (2010)After 15 years of failed attempts to develop an effective anti-HIV vaginal gel, a clinical trial has shown that one containing an antiretroviral drug can cut HIV infection in women by more than 50% if used consistently.
28 Jul
Astrophys. J.718, 331–339 (2010) 10.1088/0004-637X/718/1/331On 19 March 2010, scientists discovered a rare astronomical object called a magnetar. For 20 days, SGR J1833-0832 emitted weak bursts of X-rays — and then fell silent.Magnetars are neutron stars surrounded
28 Jul
Curr. Biol. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.06.059 (2010)In an unusual display of visceral prowess, the tobacco hawkmoth caterpillar crawls by sliding its gut forwards; the rest of its body and legs then follow on behind.Michael Simon at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts,
28 Jul
A neuroscientist explores what brain imaging can reveal about deliberative and intuitive decision-making.When you pick a dish from a menu, do you select it for its taste or its calculated nutritional benefits? The decision-making processes of intuition and deliberation can be considered as, respectively,
28 Jul
The week in science.
28 Jul
Scientists call for impartial funding and open data as BP and government agencies contract researchers.
27 Jul
Clinical trials hint that treatment strategy is not a dead end.
27 Jul
Moon-crater survey could improve Solar System surface-dating methods.
28 Jul
Reactome array study should not have been published, says ethics committee.
27 Jul
Energy department launches initiative to commercialize artificial photosynthesis.
28 Jul
A proposal to let nations opt out of growing European-approved GM varieties is under fire from all sides.
28 Jul
Could publishing a paper make you a spy?
27 Jul
Next phase of the US Protein Structure Initiative enlists biologists to help crack tough human receptors.
28 Jul
The News story 'Animal rights "terror" law challenged' (Nature 466, 424; 2010) incorrectly implied that the targets of harassment by animal-rights activists were all researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, were also targeted.
28 Jul
World hunger remains a major problem, but not for the reasons many suspect. Nature analyses the trends and the challenges of feeding 9 billion by 2050.
28 Jul
Plant breeders are turning their attention to roots to increase yields without causing environmental damage. Virginia Gewin unearths some promising subterranean strategies.