Nature 2008 №7174 (Vol. 451, 03 January)

Editorials
Election fireworks p1
Reliable policy research is an underrated planning tool in developing countries.News
Budget blow to US science p2
Physics takes a hit despite earlier promises.Airgun ban halts seismic tests p3
Whales sink plan for survey off the Canadian coast.Iowa and after p4
The presidential hopefuls have their say.Free journal-ranking tool enters citation market p6
Database offers on-the-fly results.Debate heats up over food from cloned animals p7Sociologist to head Turkey�s university board p7California petition to limit vehicle emissions rejected p7Disgraced cloner seeks licence in comeback bid p7Physicist takes the helm of Italy's research council p7Illinois picked as site for carbon-capture plant p7Capacity building: The road from Rio p8Geology: The next land rush p12As countries race to file claims to areas of the sea floor before a United Nations deadline, geologists and geophysicists are getting caught up in the frenzy. Daniel Cressey reports.Top of page
Correspondence
Strategies and alliances needed to protect forest from palm-oil industry p16Illegal mining could revive Xinjiang's coalfield fires p16Slow development impedes the uptake of diagnostics p16Top of page
Books and Arts
Keeping pace with change p17
A textbook covering all aspects of evolution puts the spotlight on the molecular motor that drives it.See also: Editor's summary
Split world p18
Anton Zeilinger reviews Decoherence and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition by Maximilian SchlosshauerDendrites p18Natural History: Drawing conclusions p19The greening of genomics p19Invertebrate Neurobiology p19News and Views
Down's syndrome: Paradox of a tumour repressor p21See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 Years Ago p22Magnetism: Freedom for the poles p22See also: Editor's summary
Aquaculture: The price of lice p23
Wild salmon stocks in Canadian coastal waters are being severely affected by parasites from fish farms. So intense are these infestations that some populations of salmon are at risk of extinction.Neuroscience: Love hangover p24
In many species, males have developed strategies to safeguard their genetic material from dilution by that of competing males. Fruitflies achieve this by altering the behaviour of their partners.See also: Editor's summary
Carbon cycle: Sources, sinks and seasons p26
Changes in the phasing of seasonal cycles of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mark the time when a region becomes a source or a sink of CO
2. One study of such changes prompts thought-provoking conclusions.See also: Editor's summary
Optics: Watch your back p27
A proposal for transporting photons invisibly between two unconnected points in space seems worthy of a Star Trek plot. But it is in principle wholly realizable, and could open up new vistas — literally.Obituary: Alan J. Southward (1928–2007) p28
Marine biologist: a pioneer of marine ecosystem time series.News and Views Q&A
Astronomy: Extrasolar planets p29
Hundreds of planets are known to orbit stars other than the Sun, and unprecedented observations of their atmospheres and structures are being made. It's an invaluable opening for understanding the planets' diverse natures, the formation of our Solar System, and the possibility of habitable planets beyond our home.Letters
A young massive planet in a star–disk system p38Magnetic monopoles in spin ice p42Three-dimensional atomic-scale structure of size-selected gold nanoclusters p46Net carbon dioxide losses of northern ecosystems in response to autumn warming p49Vertical structure of recent Arctic warming p53Effects of acoustic waves on stick–slip in granular media and implications for earthquakes p57Sparse optical microstimulation in barrel cortex drives learned behaviour in freely moving mice p61Behavioural report of single neuron stimulation in somatosensory cortex p65TRPC channel activation by extracellular thioredoxin p69Trisomy represses ApcMin-mediated tumours in mouse models of Down's syndrome p73NUMB controls p53 tumour suppressor activity p76Poly(ADP-ribose)-binding zinc finger motifs in DNA repair/checkpoint proteins p81Non-fermentative pathways for synthesis of branched-chain higher alcohols as biofuels p86Distinct domains of tRNA synthetase recognize the same base pair p90Structure of a tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase splicing factor bound to a group I intron RNA p94Structure of the sulphiredoxin–peroxiredoxin complex reveals an essential repair embrace p98Dissecting a circuit for olfactory behaviour in Caenorhabditis elegans p102Gene-specific control of inflammation by TLR-induced chromatin modifications p102Regions
Argentina's pivotal moment p494Career View
PartnershipsAs the year comes to a close, I've started to reflect on the events of the past 12 months.When Britney Spears comes to my lab p106