Feed aggregator
Water and climate: Recognize anthropogenic drought
Water and climate: Recognize anthropogenic drought
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524409a
Authors: Amir AghaKouchak, David Feldman, Martin Hoerling, Travis Huxman & Jay Lund
California's current extreme drought must be a lesson for managing water in a warmer, more densely populated world, say Amir AghaKouchak and colleagues.
History of science: The crucible of change
History of science: The crucible of change
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524412a
Author: Philip Ball
Philip Ball gets to grips with a revolutionary history of the scientific revolution.
Digital privacy: Subverting surveillance
Digital privacy: Subverting surveillance
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524413a
Author: Anthony King
Anthony King tours a playful exhibition that probes covert data collection and tracking.
Science fiction: Cosmology boot camp
Science fiction: Cosmology boot camp
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524414a
Author: John Gilbey
John Gilbey goes on the road in the US far west to refine the science in his fiction.
Food production: Cut food waste to help feed world
Food production: Cut food waste to help feed world
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524415a
Author: Don Gunasekera
Climate-proofing farms to help feed the world's expanding population needs to be complemented by global measures to cut food losses and waste (see Nature523, 396–397;10.1038/523396a2015).Roughly one-third of the food produced annually for human consumption — around
Neuroanatomy: Forgotten findings of brain lymphatics
Neuroanatomy: Forgotten findings of brain lymphatics
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524415b
Authors: Éva Mezey & Miklós Palkovits
Antoine Louveau and colleagues describe lymphatic vessels in the central nervous system (Nature523, 337–341;10.1038/nature144322015), suggesting that “the unique location of these vessels may have impeded their discovery to date”. However, these findings are not without precedent.
Europe: Lifelong learning for all in biomedicine
Europe: Lifelong learning for all in biomedicine
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524415c
Authors: Cath Brooksbank & Claire Johnson
Cross-disciplinary and team-based modern research is overwhelming established mechanisms for maintaining professional competency. This calls for a change to personnel training that is not limited to professors (see C. E.Leiserson and C.McVinneyNature523, 279–281;10.1038/523279a2015).
History: Physicist's death changed war policy
History: Physicist's death changed war policy
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524415d
Author: Min-Liang Wong
Just over 100 years ago, on 10 August, the 27-year-old British physicist Henry Moseley was killed in the First World War at the battle of Gallipoli. His work on the X-ray spectra of atoms had already explained the basis of Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table of
Offsets: Conservation served by flexibility
Offsets: Conservation served by flexibility
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524415e
Authors: Jared J. Hardner, Raymond E. Gullison & Porter P. Lowry II
The debate over whether national protected areas are eligible for biodiversity-offset funding should factor in the different challenges and contexts for countries seeking to conserve their biodiversity (see M.Maronet al. Nature523, 401–403;10.1038/523401a2015).Offsets that
Yoichiro Nambu (1921–2015)
Yoichiro Nambu (1921–2015)
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524416a
Author: Michael S. Turner
Visionary theorist who shaped modern particle physics.
Know your network
Know your network
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nj7566-507a
Author: Peter Fiske
Seek and cultivate professional relationships to advance your career, says Peter Fiske.
Trade talk: Impact assessor
Trade talk: Impact assessor
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nj7566-508a
Author: Monya Baker
Arie Meir describes his route from a PhD in biophysics to a leadership position assessing projects for the philanthropic arm of Google.
Under an uncaring sky
Under an uncaring sky
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524510a
Author: William Meikle
Ill met by starlight.
Questioning evidence of group selection in spiders
Questioning evidence of group selection in spiders
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature14595
Authors: Lena Grinsted, Trine Bilde & James D. J. Gilbert
arising from J. N. Pruitt & C. J. Goodnight Nature514, 359–362 (2014); doi:10.1038/nature13811Any field study showing convincing evidence of group selection would be a significant contribution to the field of evolutionary biology. Pruitt and Goodnight
Group selection versus group adaptation
Group selection versus group adaptation
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature14596
Author: Andy Gardner
arising from J. N. Pruitt & C. J. Goodnight Nature514, 359–362 (2014); doi:10.1038/nature13811Pruitt and Goodnight describe how the ratio of aggressive versus docile females varies among naturally occurring colonies of the social spider Anelosimus
Pruitt & Goodnight reply
Pruitt & Goodnight reply
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature14597
Authors: Jonathan N. Pruitt & Charles J. Goodnight
replying to L. Grinsted, T. Bilde & J. D. J. Gilbert Nature524, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14595 (2015); A. Gardner Nature524, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14596 (2015)In Pruitt and Goodnight we provided experimental evidence that group selection has contributed
Materials science: Superlattice substitution
Materials science: Superlattice substitution
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524418a
Authors: Daniel Vanmaekelbergh
What happens if some of the particles of a superlattice — an array of identical nanoscale crystals — are replaced with foreign ones? It emerges that the properties of superlattices can be radically altered in this way. See Letter p.450
Particle physics: Positrons ride the wave
Particle physics: Positrons ride the wave
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524422a
Authors: Philippe Piot
Experiments reveal that positrons — the antimatter equivalents of electrons — can be rapidly accelerated using a plasma wave. The findings pave the way to high-energy electron–positron particle colliders. See Letter p.442
Photonics: A stable narrow-band X-ray laser
Photonics: A stable narrow-band X-ray laser
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/524424a
Authors: Linda Young
An atomic laser operating at the shortest wavelength yet achieved has been created by bombarding a copper foil with two X-ray pulses tuned to slightly different energies. The results may lead to ultrastable X-ray lasers. See Letter p.446
The disruption of multiplanet systems through resonance with a binary orbit
The disruption of multiplanet systems through resonance with a binary orbit
Nature 524, 7566 (2015). doi:10.1038/nature14873
Authors: Jihad R. Touma & S. Sridhar
Most exoplanetary systems in binary stars are of S-type, and consist of one or more planets orbiting a primary star with a wide binary stellar companion. Planetary eccentricities and mutual inclinations can be large, perhaps forced gravitationally by the binary companion. Earlier work on single planet systems appealed to the Kozai–Lidov instability wherein a sufficiently inclined binary orbit excites large-amplitude oscillations in the planet’s eccentricity and inclination. The instability, however, can be quenched by many agents that induce fast orbital precession, including mutual gravitational forces in a multiplanet system. Here we report that orbital precession, which inhibits Kozai–Lidov cycling in a multiplanet system, can become fast enough to resonate with the orbital motion of a distant binary companion. Resonant binary forcing results in dramatic outcomes ranging from the excitation of large planetary eccentricities and mutual inclinations to total disruption. Processes such as planetary migration can bring an initially non-resonant system into resonance. As it does not require special physical or initial conditions, binary resonant driving is generic and may have altered the architecture of many multiplanet systems. It can also weaken the multiplanet occurrence rate in wide binaries, and affect planet formation in close binaries.