Nature contents: 30 October 2014

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Volume 514 Number 7524      nature •Visit Nature homepage •Subscribe to Nature •View Table of Contents The science that matters. Every week.               Benefit from Advances in Tissue Clearing Methods Imaging deeply into intact tissue has long been a microscopy challenge. It requires multiphoton excitation to image deeper than near the surface of a tissue. An alternate strategy has been to use a "clearing" method to reduce or remove the light obstructing opaque molecules from a tissue. Join us at Neuroscience 2014, booth #2501, and reserve your place for the tissue clearing methods seminar: www.zeiss.com/neuroscience       Jump to the content that matters to you View Table of Contents ▶ ▼ News & Comment   ▼ Biological Sciences   ▼ Health Sciences   ▼ Physical Sciences   ▼ Earth & Environmental Sciences   ▼ Careers & Jobs       This week's highlights     Specials - Outlook:Rice     Since its domestication some 8,000 years ago, rice has played a part in building civilizations, shaping societies and most of all feeding the world. This Nature Outlook takes a look at the latest research — spanning gene engineering, plant breeding and new cultivation techniques — aimed at increasing rice yields at a time when population growth, shortage of space and climate change threaten crop shortages. ▼ more       Biological Sciences More Biological sciences ▼   Calcisponges have a ParaHox gene and dynamic expression of dispersed NK homeobox genes   The simple body plan of sponges belies the complexity of their genomes, which contain a variety of transcription factors involved in body patterning in more complex creatures, such as Antennapedia class genes that in bilaterians (animals with distinct anterior and posterior ends) include Hox, ParaHox and NK. A study of the genomes of calcisponges shows that they contain at least one ParaHox gene, evidence to support the 'ghost locus' hypothesis that Hox and ParaHox genes were present in the earliest common animal ancestor, but subsequently lost in some sponge lineages.       Physical Sciences More Physical sciences ▼   Stochastic transport through carbon nanotubes in lipid bilayers and live cell membranes   Synthetic analogues of biological membrane channels that match the latter's high efficiency and exquisite selectivity for transporting ions and molecules could find many applications. This study reports the development of short (10-nm-long) single-wall carbon nanotubes that can spontaneously insert into lipid bilayers and live cell membranes to form channels with useful and tuneable transport properties. These carbon-nanotube channel-forming molecules or porins offer a promising biomimetic nanopore platform for developing cell interfaces, studying transport in biological channels, and creating chemical sensors.           Speed. Resolution. Clarity. Accuracy. The Hamamatsu NanoZoomer Series delivers all of this and more. The ultimate digital whole-slide scanner and virtual microscopy tool, the NanoZoomer delivers reliable, robust scanning 24/7/365. Features include high sensitivity, fast scanning, flexible fluorescence capabilities, and a Z-stack feature to accommodate thicker tissue samples.             Earth & Environmental Sciences More Earth & Environmental sciences ▼   Centennial-scale changes in the global carbon cycle during the last deglaciation   The underlying processes responsible for a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at the last glacial termination, between 23,000 and 9,000 years ago, remain uncertain. Now an analysis of carbon dioxide and methane records from a West Antarctic ice core shows that although gradual variations in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide during the last glacial termination are linked to changes in Antarctic temperature, the concentration underwent three abrupt, centennial-scale changes related to sudden climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere.     Podcast & Video     In this week's podcast: the most highly cited papers of all time, NASA's plans to fetch an asteroid need a rethink, and we profile the first lady of science writing.         News & Comment Read daily news coverage▶ ▲top               THIS WEEK           Editorials                   Pillars of reform ▶     The Chinese government’s planned overhaul of its core research-funding system is vital if the country is to achieve its potential on the global scientific stage.             Call to action ▶     Time to ramp up science’s contribution to controlling the Ebola outbreak.             Code share ▶     Papers in Nature journals should make computer code accessible where possible.             World View                   Developed nations must not fear sending Ebola help ▶     The anxiety and stigma associated with Ebola are hampering Australia's willingness and ability to help with the control efforts in Africa, argues Tim Inglis.             Seven Days                   Seven days: 24–30 October 2014 ▶     The week in science: China launches its first round-trip lunar mission; skydiver leaps from record heights; and EU leaders agree on landmark climate deal.             NEWS IN FOCUS           Gas-spewing Icelandic volcano stuns scientists ▶     Sulphur-rich eruption defies preparations for an ashy blast.             ‘Forgotten’ NIH smallpox virus languishes on death row ▶     World Health Organization lacks resources to witness destruction of stocks.             Coastal havoc boosts jellies ▶     Five-year Chinese study suggests that human activity made gelatinous outbreaks worse.             Pet dogs set to test anti-ageing drug ▶     Trials would study extension of lifespan in domestic setting.             China opens translational medicine centre in Shanghai ▶     First of five linked institutes aims to capitalize on basic-research investments.             Geneticists tap human knockouts ▶     Sequenced genomes reveal mutations that disable single genes and can point to new drugs.             Features                   The top 100 papers ▶     Nature explores the most-cited research of all time.             The Ebola questions ▶     Scientists know a lot about the virus that causes Ebola — but there are many puzzles that they have yet to solve.             COMMENT           Human spaceflight: Find asteroids to get to Mars ▶     Asteroid retrieval is a distraction, says Richard P. Binzel. Better steps to interplanetary travel abound.             Bibliometrics: Is your most cited work your best? ▶     John P. A. Ioannidis and colleagues asked the most highly cited biomedical scientists to score their top-ten papers in six ways.             Books and Arts                   Autoimmunity: When the body betrays ▶     Tilli Tansey surveys a magisterial, historically rich biography of autoimmunity.             Books in brief ▶     Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.             Mathematics: Constructor of a marvellous canon ▶     George Szpiro weighs up a life of John Napier, who gifted science with logarithms.             Correspondence                   Lab animals: Can GM marmoset use be justified? Patrick Bateson, C. Ian Ragan | Sustainability: Call to coordinate actions Norichika Kanie, Casey Stevens | Emissions: Exempt green tech from trade rules John A. Mathews | Medical research: Engage more cohort patients in research Patricia Lucas, Maggie Leggett, Simon Denegri | Climate policy: Translating public action into policy Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Andrew P. Kythreotis             Correction                   Correction ▶                 Biological Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Origins of life: RNA made in its own mirror image ▶     Sandip A. Shelke, Joseph A. Piccirilli             Plant science: Leaf veins share the time of day ▶     María C. Martí, Alex A. R. Webb             Synaptic, transcriptional and chromatin genes disrupted in autism ▶     Silvia De Rubeis, Xin He, Arthur P. Goldberg et al.     Whole-exome sequencing in a large autism study identifies over 100 autosomal genes that are likely to affect risk for the disorder; these genes, which show unusual evolutionary constraint against mutations, carry de novo loss-of-function mutations in over 5% of autistic subjects and many function in synaptic, transcriptional and chromatin-remodelling pathways.             Genetic and epigenetic fine mapping of causal autoimmune disease variants ▶     Kyle Kai-How Farh, Alexander Marson, Jiang Zhu et al.     Genome-wide association studies combined with data from epigenomic maps for immune cells have been used to fine-map causal variants for 21 autoimmune diseases; disease risk tends to be linked to single nucleotide polymorphisms in cell-type-specific enhancers, often in regions adjacent to transcription factor binding motifs.             The contribution of de novo coding mutations to autism spectrum disorder ▶     Ivan Iossifov, Brian J. O’Roak, Stephan J. Sanders et al.     Family-based exome sequencing in a large autism study has identified 27 high-confidence gene targets and accurately estimates the contribution of both de novo gene-disrupting and missense mutations to the incidence of simplex autism, with target genes in affected females overlapping those in males of lower but not higher IQ; targets also overlap known targets for intellectual disability and schizophrenia, and are enriched for chromatin modifiers, FMRP-associated genes and embryonically expressed genes.             Long-term phenotypic evolution of bacteria ▶     Germán Plata, Christopher S. Henry, Dennis Vitkup     A comparative analysis of bacterial growth and genetic phenotypes using hundreds of genome-scale metabolic models reveals a two-stage evolutionary process that consists of a rapid initial phenotypic diversification followed by a slow long-term divergence.             CEACAM1 regulates TIM-3-mediated tolerance and exhaustion ▶     Yu-Hwa Huang, Chen Zhu, Yasuyuki Kondo et al.     CEACAM1 functions as a novel heterophilic ligand for TIM-3 and is necessary for TIM-3-mediated tolerance, which has marked consequences for inflammation, infection and cancer.             Control of plant stem cell function by conserved interacting transcriptional regulators ▶     Yun Zhou, Xing Liu, Eric M. Engstrom et al.     Here, plant HAM proteins are shown to physically interact with the transcription factor WUSCHEL and the related WOX proteins, with this interaction driving downstream transcriptional programs and determining the activities of stem cells.             Modelling human development and disease in pluripotent stem-cell-derived gastric organoids ▶     Kyle W. McCracken, Emily M. Catá, Calyn M. Crawford et al.     The in vitro generation, from pluripotent stem cells, of three-dimensional human gastric organoids (hGOs) that contain a physiological gastric epithelium comprising both progenitor and differentiated cell types, and have expected functional characteristics is described, as is modelling the pathophysiological response of the human stomach to Helicobacter pylori using these hGOs.             Promoterless gene targeting without nucleases ameliorates haemophilia B in mice ▶     A. Barzel, N. K. Paulk, Y. Shi et al.     Promoterless recombinant adeno-associated virus is used without nucleases to target the human coagulation factor IX gene to the liver-expressed albumin locus in haemophilia B mice, with an on-target integration into ∼0.5% of the albumin alleles in hepatocytes; stable F9 plasma levels at 7–20% of normal were obtained, leading to normal coagulation times in treated factor-IX-deficient mice.             Calcium transient prevalence across the dendritic arbour predicts place field properties ▶     Mark E. J. Sheffield, Daniel A. Dombeck     In vivo evidence for the existence of regenerative dendritic events in place cell dendrites of awake, behaving mice suggests an active role for dendritic spikes in building the representation of space in the hippocampus.             Structure and mechanism of the tRNA-dependent lantibiotic dehydratase NisB ▶     Manuel A. Ortega, Yue Hao, Qi Zhang et al.     Structural and biochemical studies show that the biosynthesis of the food preservative nisin involves the tRNA-dependent glutamylation of serine and threonine.             A cross-chiral RNA polymerase ribozyme ▶     Jonathan T. Sczepanski, Gerald F. Joyce     Here, a cross-chiral RNA polymerase is developed—an RNA enzyme that can catalyse the templated polymerization of activated mononucleotides that are of the opposite handedness—shedding light on how RNA-based life could have emerged.             Tissue-specific clocks in Arabidopsis show asymmetric coupling ▶     Motomu Endo, Hanako Shimizu, Maria A. Nohales et al.     A detailed analysis of Arabidopsis leaf tissues using two new versatile techniques reveals that within vasculature tissue circadian clocks have characteristics distinct from those in other tissues, and that the vasculature clocks affect circadian clock regulation in other tissues; indicating that plants, like mammals, have a dual clock system.             Articles and Letters                   Three new Jurassic euharamiyidan species reinforce early divergence of mammals ▶     Shundong Bi, Yuanqing Wang, Jian Guan et al.     Three new euharamiyidan species from the Jurassic period of China are described, cementing the alliance with multituberculates and showing that the initial divergence between groups of extant mammals—monotremes on the one side, marsupials and placentals on the other—goes back to the Triassic period.             Mesenchymal–endothelial transition contributes to cardiac neovascularization ▶     Eric Ubil, Jinzhu Duan, Indulekha C. L. Pillai et al.     This study shows that cardiac injury induces cardiac fibroblasts to undergo mesenchymal–endothelial transition and acquire an endothelial-cell like fate, a process mediated, in part, by a p53-dependent mechanism — use of a small molecule activator of p53 increases mesenchymal–endothelial transition, leading to reduced scarring and better preservation of heart function.             Crystal structure of the PRC1 ubiquitylation module bound to the nucleosome ▶     Robert K. McGinty, Ryan C. Henrici, Song Tan     The crystal structure of the PRC1 ubiquitylation module bound to its nucleosome core substrate is determined, revealing how a histone-modifying enzyme achieves substrate specificity by recognizing nucleosome surfaces distinct from the site of catalysis, and uncovering a unique role for the ubiquitin E2 enzyme in substrate recognition.             Stochastic transport through carbon nanotubes in lipid bilayers and live cell membranes ▶     Jia Geng, Kyunghoon Kim, Jianfei Zhang et al.     Short carbon nanotubes spontaneously insert into lipid bilayers and live cell membranes to form channels with useful and tunable transport properties that make them a promising biomimetic nanopore platform for developing cell interfaces, studying nanofluidic transport in biological channels, and creating stochastic sensors.             Calcisponges have a ParaHox gene and dynamic expression of dispersed NK homeobox genes ▶     Sofia A. V. Fortunato, Marcin Adamski, Olivia Mendivil Ramos et al.     A study of the genomes of calcisponges shows that they contain at least one ParaHox gene, adding weight to the ‘ghost locus’ hypothesis that Hox and ParaHox genes were present in the earliest animal ancestor, but subsequently lost in some sponge lineages.             Non-equivalent contributions of maternal and paternal genomes to early plant embryogenesis ▶     Gerardo Del Toro-De León, Marcelina García-Aguilar, C. Stewart Gillmor     A functional assessment of paternal gene activation in Arabidopsis confirms that paternal genome activation does not occur in one early discrete step, shows that maternal and paternal genomes do not make equivalent contributions to early plant embryogenesis, and uncovers an unexpectedly large effect of hybrid genetic background on paternal gene activity.             Oncogene ablation-resistant pancreatic cancer cells depend on mitochondrial function ▶     Andrea Viale, Piergiorgio Pettazzoni, Costas A. Lyssiotis et al.     KRAS mutations are a driver event of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; here, a subpopulation of dormant tumour cells, relying on oxidative phosphorylation for survival, is shown to be responsible for tumour relapse after treatment targeting the KRAS pathway.             Conditional tolerance of temperate phages via transcription-dependent CRISPR-Cas targeting ▶     Gregory W. Goldberg, Wenyan Jiang, David Bikard et al.     The Staphylococcus epidermidis CRISPR-Cas system can prevent lytic infection but tolerate lysogenization by temperate phage through a transcription-dependent DNA targeting mechanism.             Rapid fucosylation of intestinal epithelium sustains host–commensal symbiosis in sickness ▶     Joseph M. Pickard, Corinne F. Maurice, Melissa A. Kinnebrew et al.     Systemic exposure to Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands during sickness is shown to induce fucosylation of the small intestine in mice; some of the fucose is shed into the intestinal lumen, where it provides nourishment for the microbiota.             Enhanced neonatal Fc receptor function improves protection against primate SHIV infection ▶     Sung-Youl Ko, Amarendra Pegu, Rebecca S. Rudicell et al.     A mutation in VRC01, a broadly neutralizing, HIV-1-specific antibody, confers enhanced binding to the neonatal Fc receptor, increasing the antibody half-life in the serum and localization in mucosal tissues, where it provides superior protection against rectal simian HIV-1 infection in macaques.             Synergistic blockade of mitotic exit by two chemical inhibitors of the APC/C ▶     Katharine L. Sackton, Nevena Dimova, Xing Zeng et al.     Simultaneous disruption of two different protein–protein interactions within the (APC/C–Cdc20)–substrate complex can synergistically inhibit APC/C-dependent proteolysis and mitotic exit.             Transcriptional interference by antisense RNA is required for circadian clock function ▶     Zhihong Xue, Qiaohong Ye, Simon R. Anson et al.     The transcriptions of frq sense and antisense RNAs are mutually inhibitory and form a double negative feedback loop required for robust and sustained circadian rhythmicity: antisense transcription inhibits sense expression by causing chromatin modifications and premature transcription termination.             News & Views                   Evolutionary developmental biology: Ghost locus appears ▶     James O. McInerney, Mary J. O'Connell             Structural biology: Enzyme–chromatin complex visualized ▶     Jürg Müller, Christoph W. Müller             Cardiac biology: Cell plasticity helps hearts to repair ▶     Toru Miyake, Raghu Kalluri             Immunology: Starve a fever, feed the microbiota ▶     Seth Rakoff-Nahoum, Laurie E. Comstock             Origins of life: RNA made in its own mirror image ▶     Sandip A. Shelke, Joseph A. Piccirilli             Plant science: Leaf veins share the time of day ▶     María C. Martí, Alex A. R. Webb             Corrigendum                   Corrigendum: Immune clearance of highly pathogenic SIV infection ▶     Scott G. Hansen, Michael Piatak, Abigail B. Ventura et al.             Research Highlights                   Evolution: Lizards adapt quickly to invaders | Mycology: Teamwork helps yeast to infect | Cancer: Tumours linked to cellular rubbish | Biotechnology: Paper-based gene tools         NEWS & COMMENT           Call to action | Developed nations must not fear sending Ebola help | The Ebola questions | Coastal havoc boosts jellies | Pet dogs set to test anti-ageing drug | China opens translational medicine centre in Shanghai | Autoimmunity: When the body betrays | Books in brief | Lab animals: Can GM marmoset use be justified? | Medical research: Engage more cohort patients in research | ‘Forgotten’ NIH smallpox virus languishes on death row | Geneticists tap human knockouts             More Biological Sciences ▶                 The Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nature Genetics, and Nature Reviews Cancer present: NUCLEAR REPROGRAMMING AND THE CANCER GENOME 2014 October 31- November 2, 2014 Ramada Plaza, Guangzhou, China Click here for more information or to register for this conference. ht         Health Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Synaptic, transcriptional and chromatin genes disrupted in autism ▶     Silvia De Rubeis, Xin He, Arthur P. Goldberg et al.     Whole-exome sequencing in a large autism study identifies over 100 autosomal genes that are likely to affect risk for the disorder; these genes, which show unusual evolutionary constraint against mutations, carry de novo loss-of-function mutations in over 5% of autistic subjects and many function in synaptic, transcriptional and chromatin-remodelling pathways.             The contribution of de novo coding mutations to autism spectrum disorder ▶     Ivan Iossifov, Brian J. O’Roak, Stephan J. Sanders et al.     Family-based exome sequencing in a large autism study has identified 27 high-confidence gene targets and accurately estimates the contribution of both de novo gene-disrupting and missense mutations to the incidence of simplex autism, with target genes in affected females overlapping those in males of lower but not higher IQ; targets also overlap known targets for intellectual disability and schizophrenia, and are enriched for chromatin modifiers, FMRP-associated genes and embryonically expressed genes.             Modelling human development and disease in pluripotent stem-cell-derived gastric organoids ▶     Kyle W. McCracken, Emily M. Catá, Calyn M. Crawford et al.     The in vitro generation, from pluripotent stem cells, of three-dimensional human gastric organoids (hGOs) that contain a physiological gastric epithelium comprising both progenitor and differentiated cell types, and have expected functional characteristics is described, as is modelling the pathophysiological response of the human stomach to Helicobacter pylori using these hGOs.             Articles and Letters               &nnbsp;   Mesenchymal–endothelial transition contributes to cardiac neovascularization ▶     Eric Ubil, Jinzhu Duan, Indulekha C. L. Pillai et al.     This study shows that cardiac injury induces cardiac fibroblasts to undergo mesenchymal–endothelial transition and acquire an endothelial-cell like fate, a process mediated, in part, by a p53-dependent mechanism — use of a small molecule activator of p53 increases mesenchymal–endothelial transition, leading to reduced scarring and better preservation of heart function.             Oncogene ablation-resistant pancreatic cancer cells depend on mitochondrial function ▶     Andrea Viale, Piergiorgio Pettazzoni, Costas A. Lyssiotis et al.     KRAS mutations are a driver event of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; here, a subpopulation of dormant tumour cells, relying on oxidative phosphorylation for survival, is shown to be responsible for tumour relapse after treatment targeting the KRAS pathway.             Research Highlights                   Cancer: Tumours linked to cellular rubbish         NEWS & COMMENT           Call to action | Developed nations must not fear sending Ebola help | Pet dogs set to test anti-ageing drug | China opens translational medicine centre in Shanghai | Autoimmunity: When the body betrays | Medical research: Engage more cohort patients in research | ‘Forgotten’ NIH smallpox virus languishes on death row | Geneticists tap human knockouts             More Health Sciences ▶               Physical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Solution-processed, high-performance light-emitting diodes based on quantum dots ▶     Xingliang Dai, Zhenxing Zhang, Yizheng Jin et al.     The insertion of an insulating layer into a multilayer light-emitting diode (LED) based on quantum dots and produced by depositing the layers from solution increases the performance of the LEDs to levels comparable to those of state-of-the-art organic LEDs produced by vacuum deposition, while retaining the advantages of solution processing.             Turbulent heating in galaxy clusters brightest in X-rays ▶     I. Zhuravleva, E. Churazov, A. A. Schekochihin et al.     Analysis of X-ray data of galaxy clusters shows that turbulent heating of the intracluster medium is sufficient to counteract the radiative energy losses from the medium.             The expanding fireball of Nova Delphini 2013 ▶     G. H. Schaefer, T. ten Brummelaar, D. R. Gies et al.     High spatial resolution is needed to study the early development of a nova; here measurements of the angular size and radial velocity of Nova Delphini 2013 reveal early structures in the ejected material and a geometric distance to the nova of about 4.5 kiloparsecs from the Sun.             Articles and Letters                   Spatially resolved magnetic field structure in the disk of a T Tauri star ▶     Ian W. Stephens, Leslie W. Looney, Woojin Kwon et al.     Measurements of polarized 1.25-mm continuum emission from the accretion disk of the T Tauri star HL Tau show that the magnetic field inside the disk cannot be dominated by a vertical component, and that a purely toroidal field also does not fit the data; this suggests that the role of the magnetic field in the accretion of a T Tauri star is more complex than the current theoretical understanding.             Possible planet formation in the young, low-mass, multiple stellar system GG Tau A ▶     Anne Dutrey, Emmanuel Di Folco, Stéphane Guilloteau et al.     Investigation of the triple stellar system GG Tau A reveals gas fragments within the central cavity between the Keplerian outer ring orbiting the entire system and the stars themselves; gas flow from this outer ring appears capable of sustaining the inner disk surrounding component star GG Tau Aa beyond the accretion lifetime, leaving time for planet formation to occur.             Quantum tomography of an electron ▶     T. Jullien, P. Roulleau, B. Roche et al.     Quantum tomography of individual electrons, which in principle yields complete knowledge of their quantum states, is demonstrated by initially preparing them in a well-controlled quantum state called a leviton.             Room-temperature magnetic order on zigzag edges of narrow graphene nanoribbons ▶     Gábor Zsolt Magda, Xiaozhan Jin, Imre Hagymási et al.     In graphene nanoribbons of ‘zigzag’ edge orientation, the edges host unpaired electron spins that couple to generate long-range magnetic order (switching from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic inter-edge configuration as the ribbon width increases) under ambient conditions, enhancing the prospects for graphene-based spintronic devices.             Stochastic transport through carbon nanotubes in lipid bilayers and live cell membranes ▶     Jia Geng, Kyunghoon Kim, Jianfei Zhang et al.     Short carbon nanotubes spontaneously insert into lipid bilayers and live cell membranes to form channels with useful and tunable transport properties that make them a promising biomimetic nanopore platform for developing cell interfaces, studying nanofluidic transport in biological channels, and creating stochastic sensors.             News & Views                   Astrophysics: Secret ingredient exposed ▶     Christopher M. Johns-Krull             Materials science: Radicals promote magnetic gel assembly ▶     Christopher B. Rodell, Jason A. Burdick             Research Highlights                   Astronomy: Mysterious signals may be from Earth | Chemistry: Molecular sponges store oxygen | Materials: Sunshine drives graphene machines         NEWS & COMMENT           Code share | Human spaceflight: Find asteroids to get to Mars | Books in brief | Mathematics: Constructor of a marvellous canon | Emissions: Exempt green tech from trade rules             More Physical Sciences ▶               Earth & Environmental Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Articles and Letters                   Centennial-scale changes in the global carbon cycle during the last deglaciation ▶     Shaun A. Marcott, Thomas K. Bauska, Christo Buizert et al.     Carbon dioxide and methane records from a West Antarctic ice core show that although gradual variations in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide during the last glacial termination are linked to changes in Antarctic temperature, the concentration underwent three abrupt, centennial-scale changes related to sudden climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere.             Research Highlights                   Planetary science: Mercury's ice is a recent arrival | Astronomy: Mysterious signals may be from Earth | Glaciology: Channels hint at glacier hardiness         NEWS & COMMENT           Human spaceflight: Find asteroids to get to Mars | Coastal havoc boosts jellies | Emissions: Exempt green tech from trade rules | Climate policy: Translating public action into policy | Gas-spewing Icelandic volcano stuns scientists             More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶               Specials - Nature Outlook: Rice Free Access ▲top               Rice ▶     Chris Woolston           Rice by the numbers: A good grain ▶     Millions of people around the world rely on rice as the bulk of their daily diet. This snapshot of the crop's production, consumption and trade shows an overall surplus, but population growth in future decades may affect the situation, writes Emily Elert.             Agribiotechnology: Blue-sky rice ▶     Rice is a staple food, but production is not keeping pace with the rise in global population. So scientists are dreaming big and aiming high to change the future for this crucial grain.             Biotechnology: Against the grain ▶     Golden rice could help to end a nutritional crisis — but only if researchers can overcome some daunting technical and political hurdles.             Domestication: The birth of rice ▶     From a wild Asian grass to a refined crop that is the staple diet of half the world's population, the domestication of Oryza sativa spans centuries, but the grain's ancestry is hotly contested.             Yield: The search for the rice of the future ▶     Scientists are hoping to make the world's most successful crop even better.             Contamination: The toxic side of rice ▶     Around the world, researchers are looking for ways to rid rice of a troublesome companion.             Agriculture: The next frontier ▶     Africa's newfound taste for an old grain has experienced problems — drought, low yields and costly imports. But new projects are driving the continent towards self-sufficiency.             Perspective: Time to unleash rice ▶     Corporate inefficiency and government meddling are curbing production of the vital crop in the countries that need it most, says Robert Zeigler.         Sponsors           Scientific Data will be attending the American Society of Human Genetics conference on 19th - 21st October. Come and visit us at the Nature booth #1321-1323 to learn more.         Careers & Jobs ▲top               Development hubs: Rust no more ▶     Ohio's investments into research are ushering the state from a manufacturing past into a knowledge-economy future.             Careers related news & comment                   The top 100 papers Richard Van Noorden, Brendan Maher, Regina Nuzzo | Bibliometrics: Is your most cited work your best? John P. A. Ioannidis, Kevin W. Boyack, Henry Small et al. | Sustainability: Call to coordinate actions Norichika Kanie, Casey Stevens | Emissions: Exempt green tech from trade rules John A. Mathews | Medical research: Engage more cohort patients in research Patricia Lucas, Maggie Leggett, Simon Denegri | Seven days: 24–30 October 2014               naturejobs.com Science jobs of the week       Postdoctoral Researcher     University of Utah            Research Associate     King's College London            Senior Research Associate     University of East Anglia (UEA)            PhD Programme in Molecular Cell Biology     University College London (UCL)          No matter what your career stage, student, postdoc or senior scientist, you will find articles on naturejobs.com to help guide you in your science career. 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