Nature News highlights: 15 October 2013

Can't view this email? Click here to view in your browser.     15 October 2013       nature news alert • Read Nature's news online • Subscribe to Nature Your weekly update from Nature's global news team.               Brazilian researchers identify the oldest solar twin  Published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, the study offers clues to what our star will be like 4 billion years from now. Chemical forms of metal associated with neurodegenerative diseases influence toxic effects Sign up for FAPESP's free weekly newsletter with the latest developments of Brazilian science         • Featured               Live updates: US government shutdown ▶       The US government shut down on 1 October after Congress failed to agree on a new budget. Most government scientists have been ordered to stay away from work and from scientific conferences. Academic scientists are cut off from key databases and grant monies. The US Antarctic Program has suspended its field season and NASA missions are delayed. NSF-funded telescopes and Department of Energy labs plan to close. LATEST: Lab life during the shutdown at the National Institutes of Health. Read More ▶                 • Latest News               Blood-filled mosquito is a fossil first ▶ 14 October 2013     Insect's bloated abdomen carries traces of blood molecules that are 46-million-years old. Read More ▶             We must preserve Syria's scientific assets ▶ 14 October 2013     Scientist Amal Alachkar talks to Nature about the effects of the civil war on researchers in her home country. Read More ▶             Data-crunch highlights potential transplant drugs ▶ 14 October 2013     Widely prescribed statin could have alternative applications. Read More ▶               • More Stories               Study aims to put IPCC under a lens ▶ 14 October 2013     Social scientists want to examine how climate panel's internal dynamics affect outcomes. Read More ▶             Ozone loss warmed southern Africa ▶ 13 October 2013     Antarctic ozone hole's effects may have spread much wider than thought. Read More ▶             NIH campus endures slow decay ▶ 11 October 2013     Experiments suffer from lack of lab materials and staff during US government shutdown. Read More ▶             Mammals chop up viral RNA to attack infection ▶ 10 October 2013     Two controversial studies suggest antiviral mechanism called RNA interference may exist in vertebrates after all. Read More ▶             Watery asteroid that orbited distant star boosts chances of life outside Solar System ▶ 10 October 2013     Hubble telescope finds oxygen signature of water in ring of debris around dead star. Read More ▶             Diamond drizzle forecast for Saturn and Jupiter ▶ 09 October 2013     Lightning storms create carbon soot that might be compressed into diamonds as it falls through the atmosphere. Read More ▶             Comet expected to survive close Sun encounter ▶ 09 October 2013     Astronomers gear up for ISON's first and only journey out of deep space. Read More ▶             Physicists snatch a peep into quantum paradox ▶ 09 October 2013     Measurement-induced collapse of quantum wavefunction captured in slow motion. Read More ▶             Exotic nuclei held together by another kind of 'magic' ▶ 09 October 2013     Experiments show how massive nucleus gains stability. Read More ▶             Climate change gets clocked ▶ 09 October 2013     Within 35 years, global average temperatures will be hotter than historical extremes. Read More ▶             Seven days: 4–10 October 2013 ▶ 09 October 2013     The week in science: Displaced walruses crowd Alaskan shores, Braille code developer dies, and ALMA observatory finishes antenna construction. Read More ▶             Computer modellers secure chemistry Nobels ▶ 09 October 2013     Researchers honoured for work that led to software simulations of complex biomolecules. Read More ▶               • Newsblog               Read up to the minute coverage of research and science policy. Nobels 2013: Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons takes Peace Prize Russia pins hopes on new space agency chief Live updates: US government shutdown Minister halts Italian stem-cell therapy trial National laboratories prepare to shut down US astronomy organization plans closure of Arizona scopes Nobels 2013: Chemistry prize goes to computer modellers United States suspends Antarctic research season Europe on collision course over e-cigarette legislation Toxicologist denies wrong-doing in asbestos case more...                   Nature Publishing Index 2012 Global  The Nature Publishing Index (NPI) ranks institutions and countries according to the number of primary research articles they publish in the Nature family of journals in a one-year period. The Nature Publishing Index 2012 Global supplement provides league tables and commentary based on articles published between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012. 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