Nature contents: 22 November 2012

Can't view this email? Click here to view in your browser.     Volume 491 Number 7425      nature •Visit Nature homepage •Subscribe to Nature •View Table of Contents The science that matters. Every week.                       DAVIDS BIOTECHNOLOGIE - Antibodies directly from the manufacturer. Your custom made polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies made in Germany since 1996. Save your budget this year and get your antibodies later. Visit us at www.davids-bio.de.             Jump to the content that matters to you View Table of Contents ▶ ▼ News & Comment   ▼ Biological Sciences   ▼ Chemical Sciences   ▼ Physical Sciences   ▼ Earth & Environmental Sciences   ▼ Careers & Jobs       This week's highlights     Specials - Outlook: Physical sciences take on cancer     Despite a huge worldwide cancer research effort, the rates of surviving many forms of the disease have barely changed. Now, intensified collaborations between oncologists and physical scientists are bringing fresh perspectives to that effort. Interdisciplinary teams are starting to bear fruit in the form of mathematical and computer models, nanomedicine and high-tech diagnostics. ▼ more       Physical Sciences More Physical sciences ▼   Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation   Makemake is thought to be the third largest dwarf planet in our Solar System, a little smaller than Pluto and Eris, but until now its size and albedo were known only approximately. Now an opportunity has arisen for a much closer look at Makemake, as it passed between us and a distant star. The resulting spectroscopic data confirm that Makemake is smaller than Pluto and Eris, and the occultation light curves rule out the presence of global Pluto-like atmosphere on Makemake.       Biological Sciences More Biological sciences ▼   An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa   An advanced stone-tool technology has been discovered at Pinnacle Point in South Africa, dating back to around 70,000 years ago. Previously discovered signs of such activity have been a more flickering presence, seeming to appear and disappear, but these tools seem to have persisted for more than 10,000 years. The technology is dominated by heat-treated stone bladelets suitable for use as components of composite tools and advanced projectile weapons. The authors speculate that weapons made using such bladelets may have been pivotal to the success of modern humans as they left Africa and encountered Neanderthals.     Biological Sciences More Biological sciences ▼   Aberrant light directly impairs mood and learning through melanopsin-expressing neurons   Disruption of the body's circadian clock by exposure to irregular light cycles can affect sleep-wake patterns and cause sleep deprivation, which are often associated with mood alterations and cognitive disruptions. This study in mice shows that irregular light schedules can directly affect mood and cognitive function, independent of sleep and circadian rhythms. The aberrant light effects are dependent on melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells, and administration of antidepressant drugs restores learning ability, suggesting that the depressive effect precedes learning impairment.       Podcast & Video     In this week's podcast: dry spells spell bad news for forests, brain cells whisper to their neighbours, and DNA gets a new alphabet.         News & Comment Read daily news coverage▶ ▲top             THIS WEEK           Editorials                   Nature's sexism ▶     The editors of this publication need to improve how we reflect women's contributions to science. For this, we must inject an extra loop into our thinking.             Too much to ask ▶     A market-based malaria-control programme may not be perfect, but it deserves to continue.             Water wars ▶     Environmental protections must not wait until a population is about to disappear.             World View                   How resilient is your country? ▶     Extreme events are on the rise. Governments must implement national and integrated risk-management strategies, says Erwann Michel-Kerjan.             Seven Days                   Seven days: 16–22 November 2012 ▶     The news in brief: World Bank warning on climate change; NIH moves to enforce open-access policy; and BP receives record fine for Deepwater Horizon spill.           NEWS IN FOCUS           Drug-pollution law all washed up ▶     EU initiative to clean up waterways faces tough opposition.             Truant particles turn the screw on supersymmetry ▶     Physicists hoping for signs of radically new particles get no joy from Large Hadron Collider.             Hunt for life under Antarctic ice heats up ▶     UK and US teams to drill into ancient subglacial lakes.             Fresh start for global disease fund ▶     But shake-up raises doubts over the future of a major malaria-control programme.             Lab astrophysics aims for the stars ▶     Earth experiments deployed to understand data from space.             Private labs caught in budget crunch ▶     Biomedical-lab closure highlights plight of independent research institutes that rely heavily on federal grants.             Features                   The science of cities: Life in the concrete jungle ▶     Ecologists are exploring how people, buildings, wildlife and pollution interact in the world's cities.             Chemical biology: DNA's new alphabet ▶     DNA has been around for billions of years — but that doesn't mean scientists can't make it better.           COMMENT           Physics: Make nanotechnology research open-source ▶     To drive innovation at the nanoscale, the patent thicket must be chopped down, argues Joshua M. Pearce.             Physics: Let US physics commit to collaboration ▶     A joined-up funding system is needed to enable the United States to make long-term pledges to major international projects, says Barry Barish.             Books and Arts                   Philosophy: Creative resilience ▶     Michael Shermer sifts through a study of the science of randomness and our responses to it.             In Retrospect: The Origin of Life ▶     Clifford P. Brangwynne and Anthony A. Hyman celebrate the first book to plausibly suggest how life began.             Books in brief ▶             Anatomy: The bird stripped bare ▶     Alison Abbott enjoys an exquisite tour of skeletal ornithology.             Correspondence                   Hurricane Sandy: Flood defence for financial hubs James H. Vance | Tropical forests: Tightening up on tree carbon estimates Rosa C. Goodman, Oliver L. Phillips & Timothy R. Baker | Research landscape: Global science can bolster diplomacy Lindsay Chura | Insomnia: Medicalization of sleep may be needed Sam Fleishman | African spiny mouse: Real skin shedding meets mythology Andrew C. Walls, Vanessa E. Johnson & Scott A. Norton           Correction                   Correction ▶                         Experimental & Molecular Medicine (EMM) Co-published with NPG from 2013! In January 2013, Nature Publishing Group will co-publish Experimental & Molecular Medicine (EMM), an official journal of the Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (KSBMB). EMM seeks to highlight the improved clinical benefits for human health from experimental and translational research performed using specific molecular tools. Discover more about EMM               Biological Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Biochemistry: Another aspect of nature's ingenuity ▶     Joe Chappell             Plant ecology: Forests on the brink ▶     Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht             Olfaction: Intimate neuronal whispers ▶     Kazumichi Shimizu & Mark Stopfer             Autism-related deficits via dysregulated eIF4E-dependent translational control ▶     Christos G. Gkogkas, Arkady Khoutorsky, Israeli Ran, Emmanouil Rampakakis, Tatiana Nevarko et al.     Mice lacking 4E-BP2, an eIF4E repressor, display increased translation of neuroligins; the mice also show autism-related behaviours and alterations in hippocampal synaptic activity, and these are reversed by normalization of eIF4E activity or neuroligin 1 levels.             An early age increase in vacuolar pH limits mitochondrial function and lifespan in yeast ▶     Adam L. Hughes & Daniel E. Gottschling     Vacuolar acidity in yeast is shown to decline with age, and preventing this decrease suppresses mitochondrial dysfunction and extends the lifespan of yeast.             Convergent acoustic field of view in echolocating bats ▶     Lasse Jakobsen, John M. Ratcliffe & Annemarie Surlykk     Studying six vespertilionid bat species of different sizes to investigate the reason why smaller bats have higher frequency echolocation calls, a model is put forward that the size/frequency range is modulated by the need to maintain a focused, highly directional echolocation beam.             Inhibition dominates sensory responses in the awake cortex ▶     Bilal Haider, Michael Häusser & Matteo Carandini     Visual responses during wakefulness are dominated by inhibition, and this inhibition shapes visual selectivity by restricting the temporal and spatial extent of neural activity.             Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought ▶     Brendan Choat, Steven Jansen, Tim J. Brodribb, Hervé Cochard, Sylvain Delzon, Radika Bhaskar et al.     Analysis of data from forest plants worldwide shows that margins between threshold xylem pressures at which plants suffer damage and the lowest xylem pressures experienced are small, with no difference between dry and wet forests, providing insight into why drought-induced forest decline is occurring in both arid and wet forests.             Non-synaptic inhibition between grouped neurons in an olfactory circuit ▶     Chih-Ying Su, Karen Menuz, Johannes Reisert & John R. Carlson     Olfactory receptor neurons of fruitflies are shown to communicate with one another through ephaptic interactions with significant impact on olfactory behaviour; the results indicate that ephaptic effects may be more widespread than previously appreciated.             An alternative route to cyclic terpenes by reductive cyclization in iridoid biosynthesis ▶     Fernando Geu-Flores, Nathaniel H. Sherden, Vincent Courdavault, Vincent Burlat, Weslee S. Glenn et al.     Iridoids are a large family of bicyclic natural products that possess anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial activities; here the essential cyclization step in their biosynthesis is identified, opening up the possibility of production of naturally occurring and synthetic variants of iridoids for use in pharmacy or agriculture.             A prefrontal cortex–brainstem neuronal projection that controls response to behavioural challenge ▶     Melissa R. Warden, Aslihan Selimbeyoglu, Julie J. Mirzabekov, Maisie Lo, Kimberly R. Thompson et al.     High-speed tracking of effortful responses and neuronal activity in rats during a forced swim test identifies medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons that respond during escape-related swimming but not normal locomotion, and optogenetics shows that mPFC neurons projecting to the brainstem dorsal raphe nucleus, which is implicated in depression, modulate this behavioural response to challenge             Fucose sensing regulates bacterial intestinal colonization ▶     Alline R. Pacheco, Meredith M. Curtis, Jennifer M. Ritchie, Diana Munera, Matthew K. Waldor et al.     FusKR, a fucose-sensing two-component system, has been identified in enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, linking fucose utilization and virulence factor gene expression and providing insight into how sensing of a host signal can facilitate bacterial colonization.             Somatic copy number mosaicism in human skin revealed by induced pluripotent stem cells ▶     Alexej Abyzov, Jessica Mariani, Dean Palejev, Ying Zhang, Michael Seamus Haney et al.     A whole-genome and transcriptome analysis of 20 human induced pluripotent stem-cell lines shows that reprogramming does not necessarily add de novo copy number variants to what is already present in the somatic cells from which they originated.             Flickering gives early warning signals of a critical transition to a eutrophic lake state ▶     Rong Wang, John A. Dearing, Peter G. Langdon, Enlou Zhang, Xiangdong Yang, Vasilis Dakos et al.     Critical transitions in experimental and theoretical systems can be anticipated on the basis of specific warning signs, with ‘critical slowing down’ being the best studied; long-term data from a real system, a Chinese lake, now show that a flickering phenomenon can be observed up to 20 years before the critical transition to a eutrophic state.             DNA-repair scaffolds dampen checkpoint signalling by counteracting the adaptor Rad9 ▶     Patrice Y. Ohouo, Francisco M. Bastos de Oliveira, Yi Liu, Chu Jian Ma & Marcus B. Smolka     DNA damage or replication stress induces the activation of checkpoint kinases, pausing the cell cycle so that DNA repair can take place; checkpoint activation must be regulated to prevent the cell-cycle arrest from persisting after damage is repaired, and now the Slx4–Rtt107 complex is shown to regulate checkpoint kinase activity by directly monitoring DNA-damage signalling.             Articles and Letters                   Zero-valent sulphur is a key intermediate in marine methane oxidation ▶     Jana Milucka, Timothy G. Ferdelman, Lubos Polerecky, Daniela Franzke, Gunter Wegener et al.     Methane oxidation under anaerobic conditions coupled to sulphate reduction is thought to be carried out by a consortium of methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulphate-reducing Deltaproteobacteria; here it is shown that ANME alone can mediate the reaction and that the associated bacteria perform disulphide disproportionation, a new microbial sulphur transformation.             Hippocampal–cortical interaction during periods of subcortical silence ▶     N. K. Logothetis, O. Eschenko, Y. Murayama, M. Augath, T. Steudel et al.     Simultaneous electrophysiological recordings in hippocampus and neural-activity-triggered whole-brain imaging in the monkey show that most of the cerebral cortex is activated during the fast hippocampal oscillations (ripples), whereas most diencephalic, midbrain and brainstem regions are inhibited; this may function to optimize information transfer from hippocampus to cortex during off-line memory consolidation.             Novel Foxo1-dependent transcriptional programs control Treg cell function ▶     Weiming Ouyang, Will Liao, Chong T. Luo, Na Yin, Morgan Huse et al.     The results of a series of genetic experiments indicate that Foxo1 has a pivotal, Foxp3-independent role controlling regulatory T-cell function.             DAXX envelops a histone H3.3–H4 dimer for H3.3-specific recognition ▶     Simon J. Elsässer, Hongda Huang, Peter W. Lewis, Jason W. Chin, C. David Allis et al.     The crystal structures of the histone chaperone DAXX histone-binding domain bound to a histone H3.3–H4 dimer are described; DAXX wraps around the H3.3–H4 dimer and alters its conformation.             An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa ▶     Kyle S. Brown, Curtis W. Marean, Zenobia Jacobs, Benjamin J. Schoville, Simen Oestmo et al.     This study shows that a highly advanced stone tool technology (microlithic) appears earlier than originally thought; this microlithic technology persisted over a vast time span (~11,000 years), and was part of an even longer-lived (>100,000 years) advanced technology of complex heat treatment.             Aberrant light directly impairs mood and learning through melanopsin-expressing neurons ▶     Tara A. LeGates, Cara M. Altimus, Hui Wang, Hey-Kyoung Lee, Sunggu Yang et al.     Mice subjected to an aberrant daily light cycle that still maintain the circadian timing system are shown to exhibit increased depression-like behaviours and disruptions in synaptic plasticity and cognitive function.             Synaptic amplification by dendritic spines enhances input cooperativity ▶     Mark T. Harnett, Judit K. Makara, Nelson Spruston, William L. Kath & Jeffrey C. Magee     Dendritic spines operate as high-impedance input structures that amplify local synaptic depolarization to enhance electrical interaction among coactive inputs.             Progressive degeneration of human neural stem cells caused by pathogenic LRRK2 ▶     Guang-Hui Liu, Jing Qu, Keiichiro Suzuki, Emmanuel Nivet, Mo Li et al.     Investigation of neural cells from post-mortem human brains and differentiated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells shows that the LRRK2 mutation (G2019S) associated with familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease correlates with abnormalities at the nuclear envelope.             Mitochondrial Atpif1 regulates haem synthesis in developing erythroblasts ▶     Dhvanit I. Shah, Naoko Takahashi-Makise, Jeffrey D. Cooney, Liangtao Li, Iman J. Schultz et al.     Atpif1, a mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor, was identified as a zebrafish anemic mutant, pinotage, providing an important link in our understanding of the relationship between mitochondrial homeostasis and haem synthesis and identifying a gene that may have a role in human iron, haem and mitochondrial diseases.             BTB-ZF factors recruit the E3 ligase cullin 3 to regulate lymphoid effector programs ▶     Rebecca Mathew, Michael P. Seiler, Seth T. Scanlon, Ai-ping Mao, Michael G. Constantinides et al.     The E3 ubiquitin ligase cullin 3 is shown to bind BTB-zinc finger transcription factors to direct the ubiquitination of nuclear chromatin-associated factors to control transcription and cell-fate decisions in B- and T-cell populations.             Structure and mechanism of a bacterial sodium-dependent dicarboxylate transporter ▶     Romina Mancusso, G. Glenn Gregorio, Qun Liu & Da-Neng Wang     The cytosolic concentration of citrate partially depends on its direct import across the plasma membrane by the Na+-dependent citrate transporter (NaCT); here the X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of NaCT is reported, which, along with transport-activity studies, suggests how specific conformational changes facilitate substrate translocation across the cellular membrane.             News & Views                   Palaeoanthropology: Sharpening the mind ▶     Sally McBrearty             50 & 100 Years Ago ▶             Reproductive biology: Stem cells bear eggs ▶     Sihem Cheloufi & Konrad Hochedlinger             Circadian rhythms: Depression brought to light ▶     Lisa M. Monteggia & Ege T. Kavalali             Microbiology: A piece of the methane puzzle ▶     Samantha B. Joye             Biochemistry: Another aspect of nature's ingenuity ▶     Joe Chappell             Plant ecology: Forests on the brink ▶     Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht             Olfaction: Intimate neuronal whispers ▶     Kazumichi Shimizu & Mark Stopfer             Research Highlights                   Biodiversity: More creatures under the sea | Bioengineering: Injectable gels spring into shape | Microbiology: Ancient origin for gut microbiome | Neurodegeneration: Parkinson's protein spreads | Zoology: Aphids borrow plant plumbing | Neuroscience: Faces warp as brain area is zapped         NEWS & COMMENT           Too much to ask | Water wars | Drug-pollution law all washed up | Fresh start for global disease fund | Private labs caught in budget crunch | The science of cities: Life in the concrete jungle | Chemical biology: DNA's new alphabet | In Retrospect: The Origin of Life | Books in brief | Anatomy: The bird stripped bare | Tropical forests: Tightening up on tree carbon estimates Rosa C. Goodman, Oliver L. Phillips & Timothy R. Baker | Insomnia: Medicalization of sleep may be needed Sam Fleishman | African spiny mouse: Real skin shedding meets mythology Andrew C. Walls, Vanessa E. Johnson & Scott A. Norton             More Biological Sciences ▶                         nature.com webcasts Macmillan Science Communication, Exclusive partner of Nature Publishing Group, Publisher of Nature and Scientific American presented a custom webcast in September 2012 on: The Power of Flow Cytometry in Microbiology Applications Register and watch the webcast online Free online www.nature.com/webcasts Sponsored by: BD Biosciences               Chemical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Biochemistry: Another aspect of nature's ingenuity ▶     Joe Chappell             Autism-related deficits via dysregulated eIF4E-dependent translational control ▶     Christos G. Gkogkas, Arkady Khoutorsky, Israeli Ran, Emmanouil Rampakakis, Tatiana Nevarko et al.     Mice lacking 4E-BP2, an eIF4E repressor, display increased translation of neuroligins; the mice also show autism-related behaviours and alterations in hippocampal synaptic activity, and these are reversed by normalization of eIF4E activity or neuroligin 1 levels.             DNA-repair scaffolds dampen checkpoint signalling by counteracting the adaptor Rad9 ▶     Patrice Y. Ohouo, Francisco M. Bastos de Oliveira, Yi Liu, Chu Jian Ma & Marcus B. Smolka     DNA damage or replication stress induces the activation of checkpoint kinases, pausing the cell cycle so that DNA repair can take place; checkpoint activation must be regulated to prevent the cell-cycle arrest from persisting after damage is repaired, and now the Slx4–Rtt107 complex is shown to regulate checkpoint kinase activity by directly monitoring DNA-damage signalling.             Articles and Letters                   DAXX envelops a histone H3.3–H4 dimer for H3.3-specific recognition ▶     Simon J. Elsässer, Hongda Huang, Peter W. Lewis, Jason W. Chin, C. David Allis et al.     The crystal structures of the histone chaperone DAXX histone-binding domain bound to a histone H3.3–H4 dimer are described; DAXX wraps around the H3.3–H4 dimer and alters its conformation.             Linking synchronization to self-assembly using magnetic Janus colloids ▶     Jing Yan, Moses Bloom, Sung Chul Bae, Erik Luijten & Steve Granick     Colloidal Janus spheres in a precessing magnetic field are shown to self-assemble into in-motion microtubes dynamically selected on the basis of synchronization rather than static energy minimization.             Water structural transformation at molecular hydrophobic interfaces ▶     Joel G. Davis, Kamil P. Gierszal, Ping Wang & Dor Ben-Amotz     Spectroscopic measurements now reveal that at low temperatures, the water in hydrophobic hydration shells has greater tetrahedral order and fewer weak hydrogen bonds than the surrounding bulk water; this structure disappears at higher temperatures and around alcohol chains longer than 1 nanometre.             Structure and mechanism of a bacterial sodium-dependent dicarboxylate transporter ▶     Romina Mancusso, G. Glenn Gregorio, Qun Liu & Da-Neng Wang     The cytosolic concentration of citrate partially depends on its direct import across the plasma membrane by the Na+-dependent citrate transporter (NaCT); here the X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of NaCT is reported, which, along with transport-activity studies, suggests how specific conformational changes facilitate substrate translocation across the cellular membrane.             News & Views                   Physical chemistry: Water's response to the fear of water ▶     Huib J. Bakker             Microbiology: A piece of the methane puzzle ▶     Samantha B. Joye             Biochemistry: Another aspect of nature's ingenuity ▶     Joe Chappell           NEWS & COMMENT           Chemical biology: DNA's new alphabet | In Retrospect: The Origin of Life             More Chemical Sciences ▶               Physical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Computational materials science: Substitution with vision ▶     Gus L. W. Hart             A canonical stability–elasticity relationship verified for one million face-centred-cubic structures ▶     Sascha B. Maisel, Michaela Höfler & Stefan Müller     First-principles calculations on a huge configuration space of four different binary alloy systems reveal that stiffness and heat of formation are negatively and linearly correlated.             Articles and Letters                   Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation ▶     J. L. Ortiz, B. Sicardy, F. Braga-Ribas, A. Alvarez-Candal, E. Lellouch et al.     The icy dwarf planet Makemake has projected axes of 1,430 ± 9 and 1,502 ± 45 km and a V-band geometric albedo larger than Pluto’s but smaller than Eris’s, with no global Pluto-like atmosphere.             Sisyphus cooling of electrically trapped polyatomic molecules ▶     Martin Zeppenfeld, Barbara G. U. Englert, Rosa Glöckner, Alexander Prehn, Manuel Mielenz et al.     A general method of cooling polyatomic molecules to ultracold temperatures is reported; the optoelectrical cooling technique removes kinetic energy via a Sisyphus effect, effectively causing the molecules to continually ‘climb’ a hill of potential energy.             Revealing the quantum regime in tunnelling plasmonics ▶     Kevin J. Savage, Matthew M. Hawkeye, Rubén Esteban, Andrei G. Borisov, Javier Aizpurua & Jeremy J. Baumberg     Two gold nanostructures with controllable subnanometre separation are used to follow the evolution of plasmonic modes; the distance at which quantum tunnelling sets in is determined, and a quantum limit for plasmonic field confinement is estimated.             Linking synchronization to self-assembly using magnetic Janus colloids ▶     Jing Yan, Moses Bloom, Sung Chul Bae, Erik Luijten & Steve Granick     Colloidal Janus spheres in a precessing magnetic field are shown to self-assemble into in-motion microtubes dynamically selected on the basis of synchronization rather than static energy minimization.             Lower satellite-gravimetry estimates of Antarctic sea-level contribution ▶     Matt A. King, Rory J. Bingham, Phil Moore, Pippa L. Whitehouse, Michael J. Bentley et al.     A new model of glacial isostatic adjustment used in conjunction with GRACE satellite data suggests that ice loss from Antarctica is contributing 0.19 millimetres per year to global mean sea level, which is substantially less than previous GRACE-based estimates.             News & Views                   Materials science: Synchronized tumbling particles ▶     Sabine H. L. Klapp             Low-temperature physics: A chilling effect for molecules ▶     John F. Barry & David DeMille             Computational materials science: Substitution with vision ▶     Gus L. W. Hart             Research Highlights                   Materials: Catapult from nanotube yarns | Astronomy: Encounter with a rogue planet | Bioengineering: Injectable gels spring into shape         NEWS & COMMENT           Lab astrophysics aims for the stars | Physics: Make nanotechnology research open-source | Physics: Let US physics commit to collaboration             More Physical Sciences ▶               Earth & Environmental Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Plant ecology: Forests on the brink ▶     Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht             Articles and Letters                   Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation ▶     J. L. Ortiz, B. Sicardy, F. Braga-Ribas, A. Alvarez-Candal, E. Lellouch et al.     The icy dwarf planet Makemake has projected axes of 1,430 ± 9 and 1,502 ± 45 km and a V-band geometric albedo larger than Pluto’s but smaller than Eris’s, with no global Pluto-like atmosphere.             Lower satellite-gravimetry estimates of Antarctic sea-level contribution ▶     Matt A. King, Rory J. Bingham, Phil Moore, Pippa L. Whitehouse, Michael J. Bentley et al.     A new model of glacial isostatic adjustment used in conjunction with GRACE satellite data suggests that ice loss from Antarctica is contributing 0.19 millimetres per year to global mean sea level, which is substantially less than previous GRACE-based estimates.             Accelerated disassembly of IgE–receptor complexes by a disruptive macromolecular inhibitor ▶     Beomkyu Kim, Alexander Eggel, Svetlana S. Tarchevskaya, Monique Vogel, Heino Prinz et al.     The interaction between IgE and its receptor FcεRI underlies many allergic responses; here the structure and mechanism of a newly engineered DARPin inhibitor is presented, revealing that it not only blocks the receptor–ligand interaction but also dissociates already-formed complexes.             News & Views                   Microbiology: A piece of the methane puzzle ▶     Samantha B. Joye             Plant ecology: Forests on the brink ▶     Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht             Research Highlights                   Earth science: Volcanoes swell before blasting         NEWS & COMMENT           Water wars | How resilient is your country? | Drug-pollution law all washed up | Hunt for life under Antarctic ice heats up | The science of cities: Life in the concrete jungle | Books in brief | Hurricane Sandy: Flood defence for financial hubs James H. Vance | Tropical forests: Tightening up on tree carbon estimates Rosa C. Goodman, Oliver L. Phillips & Timothy R. Baker             More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶               Special - Nature Outlook: Physical Scientists Take On CancerFree Access ▲top               Physical scientists take on cancer ▶     Lauren Gravitz             Oncology: Getting physical ▶     Physics, maths and evolutionary biology are among the scientific disciplines providing cancer research with fresh perspective and therapeutic approaches.              Megadata: The odd couple ▶     An unlikely duo is trying to make sense of the avalanche of data that confronts cancer scientists, pointing the way towards a new era of research.              Perspective: Finding cancer's first principles ▶     Genomic analysis of cancer has yielded vast quantities of data. But Robert Gatenby would rather try to find the basic tenets of the disease.              Mechanics: The forces of cancer ▶     The way cells physically interact with each other and their environment could help researchers understand the invasion and metastasis of solid tumours.              Nanotechnology: Carrying drugs ▶     Traditional chemotherapies can be toxic but nano-sized carriers can keep them out of healthy tissue and take old drugs to new places.              Perspective: Meeting of minds ▶     David Agus and Murray Gell-Mann show that the élites of physics and medicine can spur each other to fresh insights.              Modelling: Computing cancer ▶     Software models of complex tissues and disease are yielding a better understanding of cancer and suggesting potential treatments.              Diagnostics: Playing detective ▶     Physical scientists are developing tools to spot cancer earlier.              Mathematical modelling: Forecasting cancer ▶     Complex mathematical models are helping researchers understand cancer's evolution and providing clues on how to thwart drug resistance.          Sponsors                     98 days from submission to publication* Scientific Reports is an open access journal publishing technically sound research across all areas of the natural sciences. 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