Volume 434 Number 7029 pp1-122封面故事：亮度幻觉
对亮度或表面反照率的认识，是视觉意识学科中一个存在激烈争论的领域。到达我们眼睛的光的多少，是照射到一个目标上的光、该目标所反射的光、以及干涉介质的效应的总和。目前所争论的问题是，大脑在计算表面反照率时，是否会将这些不同因素清楚表述为一组重叠层。本期封面图片所示为迄今开发的最大的亮度幻觉之一，它反映了分层图像表述在亮度感知中能够扮演的重要角色。但难以相信的是，两个相对的图像上的数字内的质地是一样的。正是周围环境使得一个看起来是黑的，另一个看起来是白的。若想了解对这种幻觉的更吸引人的解释，请看该论文“补充信息”中的Quick Time影片。
“约阿施石碑”及耶稣之弟埋骨盒为赝品
以色列文物局断定，据说能证实《圣经》中关于“所罗门王圣殿”的记述的“约阿施石碑”以及刻有“James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”（即“詹姆士，约瑟夫之子，耶稣之弟”）字样的一个埋骨盒是伪造的。Haim Watzman对用来检验这些物品真实性的法医学领域进行了考查，这些所谓的真品对考古学这一神秘的学科、以及对范围更广的地缘政治学和地缘宗教学都曾产生重大影响。
印度洋海啸预警系统是否应开发
在亚洲灾难性的海啸发生之后的几个星期，人们对在印度洋开发一个海啸预警系统普遍给予支持。这个提议是值得称道的，但Keith Alverson认为，该提议是被误导的，因为下一次大型海啸不大可能在印度洋发生。相反，一个海啸预警系统应在一个全球海洋观测系统的背景下来开发，后者被定期用于相关灾害如“暴潮”的预报，同时还能为大范围的用户提供有用数据。
量子计算的准确性
量子计算将有可能使计算机的计算能力大大超过今天的计算机，但仍然存在很多障碍。大规模量子计算所存在的一个问题是，提高所需量子装置的准确性有困难。令人鼓舞的是，新的研究工作表明，现有实验装置原则上有足够大的准确性。这种乐观所依据的是为研制能够处理容错量子计算的大型量子计算机而开发的一种新型“架构”的性能。该架构也有不足的一面：以这种方式来应对“不准确的”装置需要数量巨大的资源，从而导致所获得的体系复杂到不可行的程度，不过如果量子资源的供应变得与今天的数字资源差不多的话，故事也许不会到这里就算结束了。
生物多样性完好率指数
“世界可持续发展峰会”制定了到2010年大大减小生物多样性损失速度的目标。因为尚没有大家认同的度量朝这一 目标前进速度的方法，所以CSIR Environmentek （设在南非比勒陀利亚的环境研究机构）的R. J. Schoels 和R. Biggs现在提出了一个“生物多样性完好率指数”，该指数也许能填补这一空白。该指数关注大群体物种在种群数量层次上发生的变化，而不是关注物种的灭绝，后者难以去证实，所提供的预警也太晚。该方法显示，大多数生物多样性存在于正式保护的区域之外，已经用于农业、采矿和人类定居的区域的生物多样性管理是减缓生物多样性损失的关键。
银行系中心的独特射电源
一个具有独特性质的瞬时射电源已在我们银行系中心附近被发现。其强大的射电爆发、时钟一样的规则性和不寻常的时间尺度意味着，那里的温度超过几万亿度。这样高的温度反过来又意味着，从该射电源所有部分发射出的辐射是“相干的”，即它几乎全部是一个波长。这些性质综合起来，使它成为到目前为止我们还不知道的射电源类型，尽管它也许不会长时间如此“独特”。该发现之所以成为可能，是因为一个新的观测策略，即低频宽场成像，该方法预计今后将会发现更吸引人的光源。
最强烈的声致发光
被称为“单泡声致发光”（SBSL）的现象自近15年前发现以来一直是人们深入研究的重点，科学家预测，在极端压缩下，空腔内温度会达到极端值。有些人曾有争议地提出，这样的条件甚至有可能导致发生核聚变。由于在典型SBSL光谱中缺乏特征谱线，因此难以确定气泡内在发生什么。但是现在，Flannigan 和 Suslick利用浓硫酸作为介质，并对其进行声学处理，获得了迄今所见到过的最强烈的声致发光。该声致发光实验提供了大量光谱信息，最重要的是，提供了温度高达15,000K的证据，表明坍缩的气泡有一个炽热的等离子核。
南半球的气候变化
我们关于上个冰期期间地球气候的观点可以说是“以北半球为中心的”，甚至可以说是“以格陵兰冰芯为中心的”。这是可以理解的，因为从该地区获取的数据很多。这些数据为我们描绘了一个高度不稳定的气候，特点是缓慢变冷，突然变暖，这已成为那个时期的气候模板。但我们对南半球气候是否也是不稳定知之甚少：由Cruz等人挖掘出的新数据表明，情况不是这样的。新发现的、使我们对南半球气候有这种了解的材料，是来自巴西南方的一个年代被准确测定的石笋的一个时间长达116,000年的氧同位素记录。这里的气候变化的主要推动力是由地球轨道移动所引起的阳光的季节变化，千年尺度的气候变化没有在来自北半球的记录中那样明显。
帮助他人的好处
雄性野火鸡形成伙伴关系是为了吸引雌性，然而每组雄性中只有一只被认为是要交配。那么为什么其他受其支配的雄性要在没有好处的情况下为它帮忙？这一看起来似乎无私的体系成为教科书中关于亲缘选择的一个范例：雄性被当成是兄弟，所以帮人者能够从帮助其同胞中间接受益。但关于有合作性雄性伙伴关系的鸟类中亲缘选择的一个已发表的试验对此提出疑问，该试验表明，在相似组中的雄性（长尾侏儒鸟）是不相关的。一项新的研究工作恢复了火鸡作为一个（明显的）利他主义者的声誉。对亲缘关系和生殖成功所做的遗传测量证实，尽管帮人者不生殖，但它们的间接收获远远补偿了其帮助他人所付出的代价。不过，似乎比较清楚的是，合作性求偶行为在不同种类鸟中的演化是很不相同的。
氢化酶体与线粒体的关系
氢化酶体是厌氧原生生物和真菌中的简单细胞器，它们是双膜的，产生ATP和氢，于是有人提出，它们是线粒体的厌氧衍生物。另一种观点认为，线粒体和氢化酶体起源于同一祖先，即一种兼性厌氧细菌。在纤毛虫Nyctotherus ovalis（生活在蟑螂内脏中）体内发现的一种新型氢化酶体，为氢化酶体起源于一种“善意的”厌氧线粒体的观点提供了新的支持。这一“缺少的环节”（对氢化酶体是独特的，但正像线粒体一样）保持其自己的基因组。它还有需氧生活方式特有的一种电子运输链的残留部分。
与SCAN-1病变有关的一种修复缺陷
对被称为SCAN-1（spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy-1）的疾病的分子基础所做的一项研究，首次在一种神经退化疾病中发现了染色体单链断裂的修复中的一个缺陷。该疾病是由于酪氨酰磷酸二酯酶发生了突变，但其在复制期间在双链断裂的修复中的已知功能似乎不大可能引起所观察到的病变。这项新的研究工作显示出这种酶在人体细胞中的第二种功能，即修复由有丝分裂后的神经细胞中的氧化压力造成的染色体断裂，正是这种机制才可能引起SCAN-1的症状。
本期目录：
Editorials
Why Harvard needs Summers p1
The head of Harvard University leaves much to be desired in terms of tact and demonstrable respect for those who disagree with him. But the university should stick with him, at least for the time being.
doi: 10.1038/434001a
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In pursuit of balance p1
Sunbelt states that have boomed economically should eventually earn a larger slice of the research pie.
doi: 10.1038/434001b
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Top of pageNews
NIH workers see red over revised rules for conflicts of interest p3
Employees complain revamped ethical guidelines go too far.
Meredith Wadman
doi: 10.1038/434003a
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Physicists miss out on critical points as magazines vanish p4
Conspiracy theories circulate about issues "lost" on their way to Los Alamos.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi: 10.1038/434004a
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Fossil finders in tug of war over analysis of hobbit bones p5
Famous Indonesian skeletons given back to original discovery team.
Rex Dalton
doi: 10.1038/434005a
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France lays plans for premier cancer centre in Toulouse p5
Europe's largest cancer centre to be built on site of massive explosion.
Alison Abbott
doi: 10.1038/434005b
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Japanese call for more bite in animal rules p6
Activists battle researchers over upcoming animal-welfare law.
David Cyranoski
doi: 10.1038/434006a
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Agency to bring fast-breeder reactor out of mothballs p6
Japanese nuclear energy prototype back on track after 1995 accident.
Ichiko Fuyuno
doi: 10.1038/434006b
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Protest letter accuses health agency of biodefence bias p7
US biologists warn that funding patterns threaten public health.
Erika Check
doi: 10.1038/434007a
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Pasteur researchers win fight to stay in city centre p7
Mediator report says move to commercial zone isn't needed.
Declan Butler
doi: 10.1038/434007b
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news in brief p8
doi: 10.1038/434008a
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Top of pageNews Features
US science policy: Upstart states p10
The United States has a settled arrangement for distributing its research budget around the country, and the same states have dominated it for decades. But, as Emma Marris discovers in Florida, the have-nots have had enough.
doi: 10.1038/434010a
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Antiquities fraud: Reality check p13
They were highly prized artefacts with inscriptions that dated back to biblical times. The only problem was they were fake. Haim Watzman unearths the authentication work that has rocked Israel's archaeology community.
doi: 10.1038/434013a
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Top of pageCorrespondence
How volunteering for an MRI scan changed my life p17
Discovering a serious problem not only causes shock but can have financial implications.
doi: 10.1038/434017a
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Coping with unsuspected findings in volunteers p17
Michael Phillips
doi: 10.1038/434017b
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Solid evidence for bubble fusion? p17
Ross Tessien
doi: 10.1038/434017c
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India must cooperate on tsunami warning system p17
Costas Synolakis
doi: 10.1038/434017d
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Ethics and ethnoflora p18
Tony Miller and Miranda Morris
doi: 10.1038/434018a
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Biologists do not pose a threat to deep-sea vents p18
Paul Tyler, Christopher German and Verena Tunnicliffe
doi: 10.1038/434018b
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Making sure corrections don't vanish online p18
Eun-Hee Shim and Vishwas Parekh
doi: 10.1038/434018c
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Top of pageCommentary
Watching over the world's oceans p19
A quick technological fix is not the best response to the December tsunami.
doi: 10.1038/434019a
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Top of pageBooks and Arts
Primate viewing p21
Chimpanzee behaviour shows remarkable regional variation.
Tetsuro Matsuzawa reviews The Cultured Chimpanzee: Reflections on Cultural Primatology by William McGrew
doi: 10.1038/434021a
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Science in court p22
Sheila Jasanoff reviews Laws of Men and Laws of Nature: The History of Scientific Expert Testimony in England and America by Tal Golan
doi: 10.1038/434022a
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Sizing up the world p22
Stephen Senn reviews Measurement Theory and Practice: The World Through Quantification by David J. Hand
doi: 10.1038/434022b
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Museum: A medical history p23
doi: 10.1038/434023a
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Top of pagePhysics detective
Schr?dinger's mousetrap p25
Part 7: Lessons from the past.
Nicola Spaldin
doi: 10.1038/434025a
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Top of pageNews and Views
Coupling and cross-presentation p27
Studies of cultured cells have revealed how the immune system may use intercellular pores to convey information that is important in initiating antiviral responses and in limiting the spread of infections.
William R. Heath and Francis R. Carbone
doi: 10.1038/434027a
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Astronomy: Blasts from the radio heavens p28
There is no coherent explanation for newly observed salvos of radio waves emanating from a direction near the Galactic Centre. Are they from a new type of stellar object? The search is on for similar radio emitters.
S. R. Kulkarni and E. Sterl Phinney
doi: 10.1038/434028a
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Evolutionary biology: The hydrogenosome's murky past p29
The evolution of specialized cellular powerhouses called hydrogenosomes has long confounded biologists. The discovery that in some cases they have their own genome sheds some much-needed light on the issue.
Michael W. Gray
doi: 10.1038/434029a
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Atmospheric chemistry: The decay of organic aerosols p31
The chemistry of organic aerosols has been somewhat neglected on the assumption that they are eliminated from the atmosphere mainly by rainfall. Laboratory studies indicate that a rethink is called for.
Euripides G. Stephanou
doi: 10.1038/434031a
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Biodiversity: An index of intactness p32
The global community is committed to reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity, but how can progress be measured? A novel system to tackle the problem may also identify key factors behind the changes.
Georgina M. Mace
doi: 10.1038/434032a
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Sonoluminescence: Cavitation hots up p33
Gas inside collapsing bubbles can become very hot and, as a result, emit light. It turns out that temperatures of more than 15,000 kelvin can be reached — as hot as the surface of a bright star.
Detlef Lohse
doi: 10.1038/434033a
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100 and 50 years ago p33
doi: 10.1038/434033b
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Cell cycle: Cyclin guides the way p34
The main enzymes that drive cell division can work on numerous substrates, but how is their specificity ensured? Regulatory subunits show the way, using various tricks to guide enzymes to their targets.
Curt Wittenberg
doi: 10.1038/434034a
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Correction p35
doi: 10.1038/434035a
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research highlights p36
doi: 10.1038/434036a
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Top of pageBrief Communications
Physiology: Postprandial cardiac hypertrophy in pythons p37
This snake can synthesize fresh heart muscle to cope with extra metabolic demand.
Johnnie B. Andersen, Bryan C. Rourke, Vincent J. Caiozzo, Albert F. Bennett and James W. Hicks
doi: 10.1038/434037a
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Synaesthesia: When coloured sounds taste sweet p38
Gian Beeli, Michaela Esslen and Lutz J?ncke
doi: 10.1038/434038a
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Top of pageArticles
Quantum computing with realistically noisy devices p39
E. Knill
doi: 10.1038/nature03350
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (332K) | Supplementary information
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A biodiversity intactness index p45
R. J. Scholes and R. Biggs
doi: 10.1038/nature03289
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (172K)
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Top of pageLetters to Nature
A powerful bursting radio source towards the Galactic Centre p50
Scott D. Hyman, T. Joseph W. Lazio, Namir E. Kassim, Paul S. Ray, Craig B. Markwardt and Farhad Yusef-Zadeh
doi: 10.1038/nature03400
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Plasma formation and temperature measurement during single-bubble cavitation p52
David J. Flannigan and Kenneth S. Suslick
doi: 10.1038/nature03361
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Self-directed self-assembly of nanoparticle/copolymer mixtures p55
Yao Lin, Alexander B?ker, Jinbo He, Kevin Sill, Hongqi Xiang, Clarissa Abetz, Xuefa Li, Jin Wang, Todd Emrick, Su Long, Qian Wang, Anna Balazs and Thomas P. Russell
doi: 10.1038/nature03310
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Mesozoic Alpine facies deposition as a result of past latitudinal plate motion p59
Giovanni Muttoni, Elisabetta Erba, Dennis V. Kent and Valerian Bachtadse
doi: 10.1038/nature03378
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Insolation-driven changes in atmospheric circulation over the past 116,000 years in subtropical Brazil p63
Francisco W. Cruz, Jr, Stephen J. Burns, Ivo Karmann, Warren D. Sharp, Mathias Vuille, Andrea O. Cardoso, José A. Ferrari, Pedro L. Silva Dias and Oduvaldo Viana, Jr
doi: 10.1038/nature03365
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Water-rich basalts at mid-ocean-ridge cold spots p66
Marco Ligi, Enrico Bonatti, Anna Cipriani and Luisa Ottolini
doi: 10.1038/nature03264
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Kin selection and cooperative courtship in wild turkeys p69
Alan H. Krakauer
doi: 10.1038/nature03325
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Disruptive coloration and background pattern matching p72
Innes C. Cuthill, Martin Stevens, Jenna Sheppard, Tracey Maddocks, C. Alejandro Párraga and Tom S. Troscianko
doi: 10.1038/nature03312
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An anaerobic mitochondrion that produces hydrogen p74
Brigitte Boxma, Rob M. de Graaf, Georg W. M. van der Staay, Theo A. van Alen, Guenola Ricard, Toni Gabaldón, Angela H. A. M. van Hoek, Seung Yeo Moon-van der Staay, Werner J. H. Koopman, Jaap J. van Hellemond, Aloysius G. M. Tielens, Thorsten Friedrich, Marten Veenhuis, Martijn A. Huynen and Johannes H. P. Hackstein
doi: 10.1038/nature03343
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Image segmentation and lightness perception p79
Barton L. Anderson and Jonathan Winawer
doi: 10.1038/nature03271
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Cross-presentation by intercellular peptide transfer through gap junctions p83
Joost Neijssen, Carla Herberts, Jan Wouter Drijfhout, Eric Reits, Lennert Janssen and Jacques Neefjes
doi: 10.1038/nature03290
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (356K) | Supplementary information
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CD4+ T-cell help controls CD8+ T-cell memory via TRAIL-mediated activation-induced cell death p88
Edith M. Janssen, Nathalie M. Droin, Edward E. Lemmens, Michael J. Pinkoski, Steven J. Bensinger, Benjamin D. Ehst, Thomas S. Griffith, Douglas R. Green and Stephen P. Schoenberger
doi: 10.1038/nature03337
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Two pathways converge at CED-10 to mediate actin rearrangement and corpse removal in C. elegans p93
Jason M. Kinchen, Juan Cabello, Doris Klingele, Kelvin Wong, Richard Feichtinger, Heinke Schnabel, Ralf Schnabel and Michael O. Hengartner
doi: 10.1038/nature03263
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Phospholipase C1 controls surface expression of TRPC3 through an intermolecular PH domain p99
Damian B. van Rossum, Randen L. Patterson, Sumit Sharma, Roxanne K. Barrow, Michael Kornberg, Donald L. Gill and Solomon H. Snyder
doi: 10.1038/nature03340
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Cyclin specificity in the phosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase substrates p104
Mart Loog and David O. Morgan
doi: 10.1038/nature03329
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Defective DNA single-strand break repair in spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy-1 p108
Sherif F. El-Khamisy, Gulam M. Saifi, Michael Weinfeld, Fredrik Johansson, Thomas Helleday, James R. Lupski and Keith W. Caldecott
doi: 10.1038/nature03314
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Nutrient control of glucose homeostasis through a complex of PGC-1 and SIRT1 p113
Joseph T. Rodgers, Carlos Lerin, Wilhelm Haas, Steven P. Gygi, Bruce M. Spiegelman and Pere Puigserver
doi: 10.1038/nature03354
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Corrigendum : Drosophila dFOXO controls lifespan and regulates insulin signalling in brain and fat body p118
Dae Sung Hwangbo, Boris Gershman, Meng-Ping Tu, Michael Palmer and Marc Tatar
doi: 10.1038/nature03446
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Top of pageNaturejobs
Prospects
Fighting urban myths p119
Paul Smaglik
doi: 10.1038/nj7029-119a
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Career View
Graduate Journal: A hard day's night p120
Tobias Langenhan
doi: 10.1038/nj7029-120a
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Nuts & Bolts p120
Deb Koen
doi: 10.1038/nj7029-120b
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Movers p120
doi: 10.1038/nj7029-120c
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Top of pageFutures
A modest proposal... p122
...for the perfection of nature.
Vonda N. McIntyre
doi: 10.1038/434122a
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