Voyager: Outward bound

Nature 497, 7450 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497424a

Author: Alexandra Witze

Ed Stone has spent 36 years guiding the twin Voyager spacecraft through the Solar System. Next stop, interstellar space.

The big fat truth

Nature 497, 7450 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497428a

Author: Virginia Hughes

More and more studies show that being overweight does not always shorten life — but some public-health researchers would rather not talk about them.

Overtaken by events

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497535a

Despite the small number of entries, the genomics X prize is to be commended for attempting to push the boundaries of DNA sequencing technology.

Still less equal

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497535b

Japan’s government must stick by its promise to help women’s careers to prosper.

Without borders

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497536a

Increasing scientific globalization is welcome, but could compromise national efforts.

Tell fans definitive calls are an impossible goal

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497537a

Author: Nic Fleming

The electronic eyes that will watch football goal lines this summer may settle arguments, but they still depend on probability, says Nic Fleming.

Geology: Gemstones from the deep

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497538a

The precious stones jade and ruby can be used to identify the sites of ancient collisions of tectonic plates.Robert Stern at the University of Texas at Dallas and his colleagues suggest that these two substances could be called “plate tectonic gemstones”. Jadeitite, a type

Neuroscience: Bee exploration mechanism

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497538b

Honeybees orient using similar molecular pathways to many vertebrates.Gene Robinson and Claudia Lutz at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign identified a protein in honeybees (Apis mellifera) similar to the transcription factor Egr1, which is expressed in the brains of vertebrates such

Genomics: Irish-famine pathogen decoded

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497538c

Researchers have sequenced the genome of the microorganism that devastated the Irish potato crop in the 1840s — the first time the genome of a historical plant pathogen has been decoded.Kentaro Yoshida at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, UK, and his colleagues identified the

Human evolution: Footprints reveal hominin size

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497538d

Fossil footprints indicate that hominins were already as large as modern humans by 1.52 million years ago.Undamaged fossil skeletons from that time are rare, and so determining characteristics such as the size and walking speed of human ancestors has been challenging. Brian Richmond and

Chemistry: Metabolites, cell by cell

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497538e

Single-cell measurements are revealing how individual yeast cells react to environmental and genetic challenges.Advances in mass spectrometry, which identifies individual compounds in complex mixtures, have given researchers the chance to compose cell-by-cell portraits of metabolism. Renato Zenobi at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Robotics: Artificial insect eyes

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497539a

A multi-lens artificial eye that can adapt to light mimics the eyes of arthropods such as the fruitfly.Whereas human eyes — and most cameras — use a single lens, the compound eyes of arthropods have hundreds of light-sensing structures that are arranged in a

Palaeontology: Fossil arthropod with scissor hands

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497539b

A marine arthropod with long, three-pronged claws has been described from 505-million-year-old fossils.David Legg at Imperial College London named the creature Kootenichela deppi after Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, Canada, where the fossils were found; chela, the Latin for claw; and

Zoology: Sea and sky comes at a cost

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497539c

The energetic cost of using wings for both flying and swimming probably forced penguins out of the air.Kyle Elliot at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, Robert Ricklefs at the University of Missouri in St Louis and their colleagues attached data recorders to

Condensed-matter physics: Neatly trapped exotic matter

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497539d

An exotic form of matter, in which many atoms share a single quantum-mechanical state, has been trapped in a new and useful way.Bose–Einstein condensates are usually created in traps bounded by an electric field that varies gradually across the sample, producing a 'fuzzy' edge

Environment: Nuclear power saves lives

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). doi:10.1038/497539e

Highly read on pubs.acs.org 20 April–20 MayNuclear power might have prevented almost two million air-pollution-related deaths around the world, an analysis of historical data suggests.Former NASA scientist James Hansen, who left the agency in early April to devote his time to climate

Seven days: 24–30 May 2013

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497540a

The week in science: Spanish scientists rise against budget cuts, US submersible returns to research, and Shaw prizes announced.

Tepid showing for genomics X prize

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497546a

Author: Erika Check Hayden

Challenge may be too hard and commercially unnecessary.

Japan aims high for growth

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497548a

Author: David Cyranoski

Innovation in science is at the heart of government plans to boost the economy.

Neuroscience: Method man

Nature 497, 7451 (2013). http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/497550a

Author: Kerri Smith

Karl Deisseroth is leaving his mark on brain science one technique at a time.