Correspondence |
Featured
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Research Highlights |
Particle physics: Dazzling dysprosium
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News & Views |
Surprise in the strong regime
The finding that the normal phase of an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms in the strongly interacting regime is close to a Fermi liquid isn't quite what theorists expected for these systems.
- Yong-il Shin
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News |
Bacteria buzzing in the seabed
Nanowires growing from bacteria might link up distant chemical reactions in sediments.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
Upside-down differentiation and generation of a ‘primordial’ lower mantle
For the first billion years or so of the Earth's history, there may have been whole-mantle convection, but after this period differentiation of the Earth's mantle has been controlled by solid-state convection. Many trace elements — known as 'incompatible elements' — preferentially partition into low-density melts and are concentrated into the crust, but half of these incompatible elements should be hidden in the Earth's interior. It is now suggested that a by-product of whole-mantle convection is deep and hot melting, resulting in the generation of dense liquids that sank into the lower mantle.
- Cin-Ty A. Lee
- , Peter Luffi
- & John Hernlund
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Letter |
TCR–peptide–MHC interactions in situ show accelerated kinetics and increased affinity
T lymphocytes, which are an integral part of most adaptive immune responses, recognize foreign antigens through the binding of antigenic peptide–major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) molecules on other cells to specific T-cell antigen receptors (TCRs). Using single-molecule microscopy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer, the kinetics of TCR–pMHC binding are now measured in situ, revealing accelerated kinetics and increased affinity when compared with solution measurements.
- Johannes B. Huppa
- , Markus Axmann
- & Mark M. Davis
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Research Highlights |
Condensed matter: Cutting it fine
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Research Highlights |
Chemistry: Tie the knot
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Research Highlights |
Quantum chemistry: Never too cold
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Research Highlights |
Physical chemistry: Surface designers
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Letter |
Coherently wired light-harvesting in photosynthetic marine algae at ambient temperature
- Elisabetta Collini
- , Cathy Y. Wong
- & Gregory D. Scholes
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Letter |
A ground-based near-infrared emission spectrum of the exoplanet HD 189733b
Infrared spectroscopy can probe the conditions and compositions of exoplanet atmospheres. Previous results relied on space-based telescopes that do not provide spectroscopic capability in the 2.4–5.2 μm spectral region. Here, ground-based observations of the dayside emission spectrum for HD 189733b are reported between 2.0–2.4 μm and 3.1–4.1 μm; an unexpected feature at around 3.25 μm is found that is difficult to explain with models that assume local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, and is assigned to methane.
- Mark R. Swain
- , Pieter Deroo
- & Thomas Henning
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Letter |
Experimental evidence for a frustrated energy landscape in a three-helix-bundle protein family
The primary sequence of a protein defines its free-energy landscape and thus determines the rate constants of folding and unfolding, with theory suggesting that roughness in the energy landscape leads to slower folding. However, obtaining experimental descriptions of this landscape is challenging. Landscape roughness is now shown to be responsible for the slower folding and unfolding times observed in the R16 and R17 domains of α-spectrin relative to the similar R15 domain.
- Beth G. Wensley
- , Sarah Batey
- & Jane Clarke
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Research Highlights |
Organic chemistry: Methylene magic
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News |
Why spider webs glisten with dew
Two driving forces acting on wet spider silk help it to capture water.
- Janet Fang
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Books & Arts |
Q&A: Peter Atkins on writing textbooks
The success of Peter Atkins's classic textbook Physical Chemistry led him to trade research for full-time writing and teaching in the 1980s. In the first of a series of five interviews with authors who each write science books for a different audience, Atkins explains how the rewards for textbooks can be great, but the effort needed can affect your research.
- Nicola Jones
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News & Views |
Nanothermal trumpets
The thermal process known as Joule heating, which often plagues electronic devices, has been turned to good use: making devices that can produce sound as well as reproduce music and speech.
- Rama Venkatasubramanian
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News |
America pushes to overhaul chemical safety law
Congress to consider stronger regulation.
- Brendan Borrell
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News Feature |
Networking: Four ways to reinvent the Internet
The Internet is struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing demands placed on it. Katharine Gammon looks at ways to fix it.
- Katharine Gammon
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Research Highlights |
Material science: Speedy silk imprinting
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News |
Altered microbe makes biofuel
Bacterium could work directly on grass or crop waste.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Letter |
Cleaving carbon–carbon bonds by inserting tungsten into unstrained aromatic rings
The transformation of petroleum-derived feedstocks into useful chemicals often requires controllable cleavage of C–H or C–C bonds. There are many examples of achieving this through the oxidative addition of C–H bonds to metal centres, but analogous transformations of C–C bonds are rare. Here, using a tungsten centre and exploiting the formation of an unusual chelating ligand, a strong C–C bond is cleaved; other metal centres with suitable ancillary ligands could perform the same function.
- Aaron Sattler
- & Gerard Parkin
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News & Views |
Carbon–carbon bonds get a break
As a rule of thumb, carbon–carbon bonds are not easily broken. But a tungsten complex has been found to break a particularly strong carbon–carbon bond, opening up fresh opportunities for organic synthesis.
- Alan S. Goldman
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News Feature |
Planetary science: A whiff of mystery on Mars
The surprising discovery of methane in Mars's atmosphere could be a sign of life there. Researchers are now working out how to find its source, reports Katharine Sanderson.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
High-water-content mouldable hydrogels by mixing clay and a dendritic molecular binder
In the search to reduce our dependency on fossil-fuel energy, new plastic materials that are less dependent on petroleum are being developed, with water-based gels — hydrogels — representing one possible solution. Here, a mixture of water, 3% clay and a tiny amount of a special organic binder is shown to form a transparent hydrogel that can be moulded into shape-persistent, free-standing objects and that rapidly and completely self-heals when damaged.
- Qigang Wang
- , Justin L. Mynar
- & Takuzo Aida
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Research Highlights |
Chemistry: Chase acid, solve maze
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Research Highlights |
Astrophysics: Dusty galaxy
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News & Views |
More ozone over North America
Springtime ozone levels in the lower atmosphere over western North America are rising. The source of this pollution may be Asia, a finding that reaffirms the need for international air-quality control.
- Kathy Law
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News & Views |
Membrane magic
The use of magnetic fields to assemble particles into membranes provides a powerful tool for exploring the physics of self-assembly and a practical method for synthesizing functional materials.
- Jack F. Douglas
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News Feature |
The real holes in climate science
Like any other field, research on climate change has some fundamental gaps, although not the ones typically claimed by sceptics. Quirin Schiermeier takes a hard look at some of the biggest problem areas.
- Quirin Schiermeier
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News |
Pollutants plucked from air with copper
Fortuitous catalyst discovery offers a new way to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
Structural basis for the photoconversion of a phytochrome to the activated Pfr form
Phytochromes regulate numerous photoresponses in plants and microorganisms through their ability to photointerconvert between a red-light-absorbing, ground state (Pf) and a far-red-light-absorbing, photoactivated state (Pfr). The structures of several phytochromes as Pf have been determined previously; here, the three-dimensional solution structure of the bilin-binding domain as Pfr is described. The results shed light on the structural basis for photoconversion to the activated Pfr form.
- Andrew T. Ulijasz
- , Gabriel Cornilescu
- & Richard D. Vierstra
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News |
Bisphenol A link to heart disease confirmed
Second study supports an association between the controversial chemical and cardiovascular problems.
- Brendan Borrell
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News Feature |
Smart grids: The energy storage problem
Renewable energy is not a viable option unless energy can be stored on a large scale. David Lindley looks at five ways to do that.
- David Lindley
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News |
Kepler finds its first planets
Early data hint at discoveries to come in the hunt for Earth-like worlds.
- Eric Hand
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News |
Chemists crack complex compound
Naturalistic approach vindicated as sponge molecule yields to synthesis in the lab.
- Mark Peplow
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