Nanomaterials: Droplets surf graphene waves

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526478b

Tiny particles of liquid move quickly across thin layers of carbon by 'surfing' waves that ripple through the sheets.Angelos Michaelides at University College London and his colleagues used computer simulations to investigate how liquids move across graphene — a layer of carbon one atom

Prosthetics: Bionic touch lights up neurons

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526478c

A thin, flexible device can sense a wide range of pressures and produces signals that stimulate nerve cells in a dish.Zhenan Bao of Stanford University in California and her collaborators embedded carbon nanotubes in a rubbery polymer and attached that material to a flexible

Ecology: Caffeine keeps bees coming back

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526478d

Caffeine-infused nectar tricks honeybees into changing their foraging behaviour in ways that may benefit the plant.Many plants produce the bitter-tasting caffeine to deter herbivores, but also rely on bees to spread their pollen for reproduction. To look at caffeine's effect on pollinators, Margaret Couvillon

Animal behaviour: Electric eels use shocks to sense

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526479a

Electric eels send out strong zaps to track moving prey by their electrical conductivity, enabling the eels to strike with remarkable precision.Electric eels (Electrophorus electricus; pictured) are known to use electricity to stun their prey, and have electrical sensors (pictured in

Agroecology: Wild flowers are a pesticide source

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526479b

Commonly used insecticides have been found on wild flowers as well as on crops.Neonicotinoid pesticides applied to the seeds of some crops end up in the nectar and pollen of adult plants, so the chemicals are a suspected cause of the global decline in

Medical technology: Cheap MRI uses small magnets

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526479c

A technique for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could provide fast brain scans at a fraction of the cost of conventional machines.Most MRI scanners require large magnets to generate a strong enough magnetic field to penetrate soft tissue. A team led by Matthew Rosen at

Evolution: Village-dog DNA hints at origins

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526479d

DNA from free-roaming 'village dogs' shows greater genetic diversity than that of pure-bred dogs, and could help to settle debates about where dogs were domesticated.Humans domesticated dogs from wolves more than 15,000 years ago, but researchers disagree about whether that happened in Europe, East

The week in science: 16–22 October 2015

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/526480a

Canada gets a new premier; Arctic drilling is cancelled; and two new Ebola cases identified in Guinea.

US astronomers rally to end sexual harassment

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/526483a

Author: Alexandra Witze

Community takes action in wake of Geoffrey Marcy case.

Why biomedical superstars are signing on with Google

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/526484a

Author: Erika Check Hayden

Tech firm’s ambitious goals and abundant resources attract life scientists.

Cuba forges links with United States to save sharks

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/526488a

Author: Jeff Tollefson

Improved diplomatic relations feed a budding environmental partnership.

Atmospheric chemistry: China’s choking cocktail

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526497a

Author: Markku Kulmala

Cleaning up city and indoor air will require a deeper understanding of the unprecedented chemical reactions between pollutants, says Markku Kulmala.

Bacteriology: Pathogens in perspective

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526502a

Author: Andrew Jermy

Andrew Jermy travels with Hugh Pennington on the arc of humanity's long, troubled relationship with microorganisms.

Books in brief

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526503a

Author: Barbara Kiser

Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.

Q&A: The nanomaterials designer

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526504a

Author: Elizabeth Gibney

Ali Yetisen's research includes using nanotechnology and biosensors to make environmentally responsive materials for clothes, tattoos, accessories and contact lenses — materials that could be the future of fashion. Here, Yetisen, who works at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in Cambridge, talks about mimicking the diffraction in butterfly wings, transforming gowns, and what fashion designers and materials scientists can learn from each other.

Climate policy: US environmentalists must turn out to vote

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526506a

Author: Nathaniel Stinnett

Nico Stehr rightly argues that democracy is crucial in the fight against global warming, attributing the inadequate response of most democracies to an overall lack of public engagement (Nature525, 449–450;10.1038/525449a2015). Our findings at the Environmental Voter

Emissions: Dutch government appeals climate law

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526506b

Authors: Hanna Schebesta & Kai Purnhagen

The Dutch government lodged an appeal last month against The Hague District Court's ruling on 24 June that required it to make more-drastic cuts to the country's greenhouse-gas emissions (see K.PurnhagenNature523, 410;10.1038/523410d2015). The government's appeal seems to

Interdisciplinarity: less vague please

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526506c

Author: Gabriele Bammer

The term 'interdisciplinarity' is used to cover a diversity of practices (see Nature525, 305;10.1038/525305a2015). What is crucial for one kind of interdisciplinarity may be immaterial to another.Without specificity and differentiation, it is impossible to identify factors essential for

Interdisciplinarity: resources abound

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526506d

Author: Rick Szostak

There is growing international consensus on best practice in interdisciplinary research (see Nature525, 305;10.1038/525305a2015). This has been spurred by various online initiatives.Transdisciplinarity-net, sponsored by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, offers a toolkit of useful research strategies

Research funding: Deposited grants buy time in Brazil

Nature 526, 7574 (2015). doi:10.1038/526506e

Author: João Ricardo Mendes de Oliveira

Academics who are paralysed by Brazil's political and financial crisis should take heart (see Nature526, 16–17;10.1038/526016a2015). Funds approved for 2014 by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, the country's most important funding agency, were fully