Volume 434 Number 7037 pp1053-1164封面故事：智能设计
很少有科学家有时间考虑智能设计的概念。这个概念的前提是，科学知识不能完全解释自然界，而且永远不能。生物系统太复杂，化石记录的周期性爆炸太大，物种之间的差异太大，单用自然选择是不能解释的。按照这些观点，智能设计的鼓吹者认为，地球上一定有一种智能创造者在指导生命。这样的提法对神学来说是没有问题的，但对科学来说却不是。然而智能设计正受到美国大学校园中学生们的青睐，一些大学还有这方面的课程。智能设计在大学中的存在是否正在使这一运动合法化？对此科学家们应当做什么？请看Geoff Brumfiel从意识形态的前沿领域发回的报道。
地震发生区域的预测
2004年9月28日上午美国太平洋时间10:15，一次6.0级地震袭击了美国加州San Andreas断层上的Parkfield。这是受到最密集监测的地震活跃地区之一，所以这次地震是验证关于地震预测理论的一个机会。来自“瑞士地震研究局”的Danijel Schorlemmer 和 Stefan Wiemer分析了此次大地震前几十年微型地震的规模分布，发现这些数据能够对最终的地震区域做出准确预测。这种方法也许能通过预测地震区域来改进对受到严密监测的断层的危险评估，但地震发生的时间仍然是不能预测的。
睡眠时间的控制
我们当中有许多人每晚需要8小时睡眠，但有少数人只睡3、4小时也可以。睡眠时间的多少似乎具有家族特点，说明其中有遗传成分。碰巧的是，作为基因筛选理想模型的果蝇也喜欢睡觉，当其睡眠被剥夺时，其表现会受到影响。对9000种发生突变的果蝇进行基因筛选，得到一种睡眠很少的果蝇（Minisleep），其睡眠时间只有野生果蝇的1/3，而其表现水平却不受任何影响。这些果蝇是相当正常的，尽管其寿命比正常果蝇稍微短一些。研究表明，这种果蝇的表现型是由Shaker基因的任何功能丧失引起的，该基因为神经可激发性中所涉及的一个钾通道编码。在本研究报告发表之前，由于修饰基因的影响，科学家对这种果蝇为什么睡眠少的认识比较模糊。这项研究工作表明，也许有可能通过袭击正确的分子目标来延长清醒时间或促进恢复性睡眠。
HIV感染初期的防治
本期两篇论文为我们了解HIV感染的早期阶段提供了新的线索。HIV逐渐感染和破坏血液中抗病的CD4+ T细胞，但在最初感染阶段也会引起肠道等粘膜表面中的CD4+ T细胞的损失。现在，对感染了“猴免疫缺陷病毒”（SIV）的猴子所做的研究表明，该病毒能感染和杀死记忆CD4+ T细胞，这是一个T-细胞亚组，负责记忆以前的感染。Mattapallil等人发现，SIV在感染几天内能感染大约50％的记忆CD4+ T细胞。另一个小组研究表明，除了通过直接感染杀死CD4+ T细胞外，该病毒还诱发未被感染的细胞来通过自杀自我毁灭。这些发现具有临床意义，它强调说明需要在感染初期减少病毒量。
SGR1806-20的伽马射线大爆发
去年12月27日，“人马座”一个名为SGR1806-20的软伽马射线中继器发生一次巨大的爆发，被称为曾经记录到的最明亮的爆炸。SGR一类的天体是X-射线恒星，零星发射低能伽马射线脉冲。它们被认为是磁星，即具有由磁耗散提供动力的可观测到的射线发射的中子星。本期Nature上有5篇论文报告了对这一事件的最初观测和跟踪观测。所获数据是非常引人注目的，例如，在1/5秒内，那次伽马射线大爆发所释放的能量跟太阳在25万年内所释放的能量一样多。如此大的能量可由一个磁星上灾难性的全球壳层坍塌和磁重接来解释。这次大爆发所释放的能量是以前仅有的两次SGR大爆发的能量的100倍，这对天文学家和对该恒星本身来说也许都是一生才有一次的事件。
室温下发生核聚变的又一证据
在桌面尺度上重现核聚变（这是一个产生太阳热能的过程）的很多方法都已被尝试过了，但都未能令人信服。请记住那次臭名昭著的冷聚变事件。不久前，与声致发光相关的聚变仍然存在争议。现在，加州大学洛杉矶分校实验室的研究人员称，他们获得在一个简单的室温环境中发生核聚变的明确证据。他们报告说，轻微加热一种热电晶体（一种受热后会带电的材料），会引起周围的氘气电离。这些离子轰击一个含氘的固体靶，轰击所用的能量能使一个很大的中子信号被检测到，这是科学界所接受的关于氘聚变的标准。这一“晶体聚变”体系不是一个可行的能源，但也许可用作成像技术所需的一种便携式中子发生器。
海洋对气候变化的影响
在上个冰期，冰向北大西洋的大量排放，使该地区8次出现寒冷多风气候。这些寒潮袭击事件（或称Heinrich事件）对北大西洋的气候和环流有很大影响，但它们对该地区以外的影响仍然不确定。现在，对海藻生长和沉积的分子示踪材料所做的一个分析表明，每次事件都与遥远的南极洲周围的南大洋中的浮游生物的疯狂生长在时间上大致巧合。了解南大洋是怎样对这些扰动产生响应的，有助于我们了解海洋在气候变化中所扮演的角色。
大西洋金枪鱼的保护
大西洋金枪鱼是关于渔业资源保护的一场国际辩论的焦点。去年夏天，西大西洋金枪鱼资源崩溃了，一些保护工作者说，除非“保护大西洋金枪鱼国际委员会”采取更严格的措施，否则这里的金枪鱼资源将不会恢复。本期Nature发表了一个对金枪鱼进行电子标记的研究项目的结果，读之让人感到担忧。结果表明，西大西洋被标记的金枪鱼会自由越过国际渔业资源边界进入东大西洋，在那里，它们易被欧洲渔民捕捞；西大西洋被标记的金枪鱼来自墨西哥湾和地中海两地的产卵场。
鸟类是怎样辨别亲人的
能够将亲人与非亲人区分开来的能力对很多群居动物来说是很重要的。那么这些动物是怎样来可靠识别亲人的呢？对群居的长尾山雀所做的一项研究显示，简单的叫声被用作声音标签来识别近亲。这些叫声（尤其是颤鸣叫声）是亲缘关系的有效指示器，因为雏鸟还在鸟巢中的时候就从其父母那里学会了它们。
细胞形成特定图案的本领
多细胞生物（也包括一些单细胞生物）能够形成预先确定的图案。图案的形成是发育过程的关键，也关系到组织工程和生物材料的设计。Basu等人描述了一个新的合成多细胞体系，在该体系中，细胞被基因编程，根据细胞－细胞通信在一个表面上形成图案。由细菌中具有明确定义的简单部分可形成遗传线路，这些线路将转录调节与细胞－细胞间信号元素融合在一起。这些线路将大量未分异的细胞转变成预先编程的二维图案，这些图案有的像靶心，有的像椭圆，有的像心脏，有的像苜蓿。
与“真性多血症”有关的突变
“真性多血症”（一种血液病，经常与白血病有关）中骨髓异常的基础终于被识别出来了。80％以上患者在JAK2酶中有一个突变，这种异常刺激红血球在需要的时候（如血液流失时）生产。这种突变的酶是组成酶，永久性地在“on”的位置。同样的JAK2突变也存在于其他几种骨髓增生性疾病中。将JAK2及其调节作为可能的药物作用目标，有可能开发出与Glivec类似的新的定向疗法，后者目前正在被用来治疗慢性骨髓性白血病。
本期目录：
Editorials
Dealing with design p1053
The idea of intelligent design is being promoted in schools and universities in the United States and Europe. Rather than ignoring it, scientists need to understand its appeal and help students recognize the alternatives.
doi: 10.1038/4341053a
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New accountability in China p1053
A Chinese funding agency has a new constitution, supporting better selection. Will it spread?
doi: 10.1038/4341053b
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Top of pageNews
Turkish government accused of hijacking boosted science budget p1055
Research spending tripled as part of bid for EU membership.
Tamara Grüner
doi: 10.1038/4341055a
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Satellite tags give fresh angle on tuna quota p1056
Stocks of prized bluefin in danger of collapse.
Rex Dalton
doi: 10.1038/4341056a
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Physicists look to crystal device for future of fusion p1057
Desktop apparatus yields stream of neutrons.
Mark Peplow
doi: 10.1038/4341057a
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US experts draw up guidelines for stem-cell research p1058
Ethics committees should ban primate chimaera experiments.
Erika Check
doi: 10.1038/4341058a
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Link to infection raises hope of preventing child leukaemia p1058
Radiation, chemicals and power lines are not significant.
Roxanne Khamsi
doi: 10.1038/4341058b
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Corporate culture nets big bucks for university heads p1059
Do fat salaries reward wrong type of leadership?
Emma Marris
doi: 10.1038/4341059b
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Climate change blamed for rise in hay fever p1059
Rachael Williams
doi: 10.1038/nature03682
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news in brief p1060
doi: 10.1038/4341060a
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Top of pageNews Features
Intelligent design: Who has designs on your students' minds? p1062
The intelligent-design movement is a small but growing force on US university campuses. For some it bridges the gap between science and faith, for others it goes beyond the pale. Geoff Brumfiel meets the movement's vanguard.
doi: 10.1038/4341062a
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Quantum physics: The philosopher of photons p1066
From meeting the Dalai Lama to national media star, Anton Zeilinger is on a mission to bring physics to a wider audience. Quirin Schiermeier listens in.
doi: 10.1038/4341066a
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Top of pageCorrespondence
A drug is effective if better than a harmless control p1067
Valid trials can still be held, as with HIVNET 012, when ethics rules out a placebo group.
Brooks Jackson and Thomas Fleming
doi: 10.1038/4341067a
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DNA barcoding does not compete with taxonomy p1067
T. Ryan Gregory
doi: 10.1038/4341067b
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Nice planet, shame about the human race p1067
Randall D. Kamien and Madhuri Kaul
doi: 10.1038/4341067c
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Top of pageBooks and Arts
Seeing sense p1069
A look back at work that established the link between eye and brain.
Charles G. Gross reviews Brain and Visual Perception: The Story of a 25-Year Collaboration by David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel
doi: 10.1038/4341069a
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Recovered history p1070
Jon Agar reviews When Computers Were Human by David Alan Grier
doi: 10.1038/4341070a
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Theatre: Artistic differences p1071
Robin Clark reviews
doi: 10.1038/4341071a
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Top of pageEssay
Concept
Predicting with unpredictability p1073
Random numbers: from stone casting to computers to radioactive decay, the generation of random sequences has always preoccupied mankind.
Gianpietro Malescio
doi: 10.1038/4341073a
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Top of pageNews and Views
Astrophysics: A certain flare p1075
Giant flashes from soft -ray repeaters are spectacular but rare events — only three have ever been observed in our Galaxy. The suspicion is that we have been missing some from farther afield.
Davide Lazzati
doi: 10.1038/4341075a
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Evolutionary biology: Animal roots and shoots p1076
DNA sequence data from neglected animal groups support a controversial hypothesis of deep evolutionary history. Inferring that history using only whole-genome sequences can evidently be misleading.
Martin Jones and Mark Blaxter
doi: 10.1038/4341076a
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Technology: Warm fusion p1077
A device that could fit in your lab-coat pocket uses nuclear fusion, and just a little heat, to produce neutrons. The advantages in simplicity and portability over conventional neutron generators could be considerable.
Michael J. Saltmarsh
doi: 10.1038/4341077a
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100 and 50 years ago p1079
doi: 10.1038/4341079a
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HIV: Viral blitzkrieg p1080
It takes years for AIDS to develop from the damage inflicted on the immune system by HIV or its simian counterpart. Surprisingly, as many as half of the body's memory T cells may die at a very early stage of infection.
R. Paul Johnson and Amitinder Kaur
doi: 10.1038/4341080a
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Behavioural ecology: Cue for kin p1080
Tim Lincoln
doi: 10.1038/4341080b
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Obituary: Maurice R. Hilleman (1919?2005) p1083
Reinhard Kurth
doi: 10.1038/4341083a
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Research highlights p1084
doi: 10.1038/4341084a
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Top of pageBrief Communications
Nanotechnology: High-speed integrated nanowire circuits p1085
Inexpensive sophisticated circuitry can be 'painted' on to plastic or glass substrates.
Robin S. Friedman, Michael C. McAlpine, David S. Ricketts, Donhee Ham and Charles M. Lieber
doi: 10.1038/4341085a
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Earth science: Microseismicity data forecast rupture area p1086
Danijel Schorlemmer and Stefan Wiemer
doi: 10.1038/4341086a
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Top of pageBrief Communications Arising
Fisheries: Decline of Pacific tuna populations exaggerated? pE1
John Hampton, John R. Sibert, Pierre Kleiber, Mark N. Maunder and Shelton J. Harley
doi: 10.1038/nature03581
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Fisheries: Decline of Pacific tuna populations exaggerated? pE2
Ransom A. Myers and Boris Worm
doi: 10.1038/nature03582
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Top of pageArticles
Reduced sleep in Drosophila Shaker mutants p1087
Chiara Cirelli, Daniel Bushey, Sean Hill, Reto Huber, Robert Kreber, Barry Ganetzky and Giulio Tononi
doi: 10.1038/nature03486
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Massive infection and loss of memory CD4+ T cells in multiple tissues during acute SIV infection p1093
Joseph J. Mattapallil, Daniel C. Douek, Brenna Hill, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Malcolm Martin and Mario Roederer
doi: 10.1038/nature03501
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An exceptionally bright flare from SGR 1806?20 and the origins of short-duration -ray bursts p1098
K. Hurley, S. E. Boggs, D. M. Smith, R. C. Duncan, R. Lin, A. Zoglauer, S. Krucker, G. Hurford, H. Hudson, C. Wigger, W. Hajdas, C. Thompson, I. Mitrofanov, A. Sanin, W. Boynton, C. Fellows, A. von Kienlin, G. Lichti, A. Rau and T. Cline
doi: 10.1038/nature03519
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Top of pageLetters to Nature
An expanding radio nebula produced by a giant flare from the magnetar SGR 1806?20 p1104
B. M. Gaensler, C. Kouveliotou, J. D. Gelfand, G. B. Taylor, D. Eichler, R. A. M. J. Wijers, J. Granot, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, Y. E. Lyubarsky, R. W. Hunstead, D. Campbell-Wilson, A. J. van der Horst, M. A. McLaughlin, R. P. Fender, M. A. Garrett, K. J. Newton-McGee, D. M. Palmer, N. Gehrels and P. M. Woods
doi: 10.1038/nature03498
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A giant -ray flare from the magnetar SGR 1806?20 p1107
D. M. Palmer, S. Barthelmy, N. Gehrels, R. M. Kippen, T. Cayton, C. Kouveliotou, D. Eichler, R. A. M. J. Wijers, P. M. Woods, J. Granot, Y. E. Lyubarsky, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, L. Barbier, M. Chester, J. Cummings, E. E. Fenimore, M. H. Finger, B. M. Gaensler, D. Hullinger, H. Krimm, C. B. Markwardt, J. A. Nousek, A. Parsons, S. Patel, T. Sakamoto, G. Sato, M. Suzuki and J. Tueller
doi: 10.1038/nature03525
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Repeated injections of energy in the first 600 ms of the giant flare of SGR 1806?20 p1110
Toshio Terasawa, Yasuyuki T. Tanaka, Yasuhiro Takei, Nobuyuki Kawai, Atsumasa Yoshida, Ken'ichi Nomoto, Ichiro Yoshikawa, Yoshifumi Saito, Yasumasa Kasaba, Takeshi Takashima, Toshifumi Mukai, Hirotomo Noda, Toshio Murakami, Kyoko Watanabe, Yasushi Muraki, Takaaki Yokoyama and Masahiro Hoshino
doi: 10.1038/nature03573
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Detection of a radio counterpart to the 27 December 2004 giant flare from SGR 1806?20 p1112
P. B. Cameron, P. Chandra, A. Ray, S. R. Kulkarni, D. A. Frail, M. H. Wieringa, E. Nakar, E. S. Phinney, Atsushi Miyazaki, Masato Tsuboi, Sachiko Okumura, N. Kawai, K. M. Menten and F. Bertoldi
doi: 10.1038/nature03605
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Observation of nuclear fusion driven by a pyroelectric crystal p1115
B. Naranjo, J.K. Gimzewski and S. Putterman
doi: 10.1038/nature03575
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Increased productivity in the subantarctic ocean during Heinrich events p1118
Julian P. Sachs and Robert F. Anderson
doi: 10.1038/nature03544
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Electronic tagging and population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna p1121
Barbara A. Block, Steven L. H. Teo, Andreas Walli, Andre Boustany, Michael J. W. Stokesbury, Charles J. Farwell, Kevin C. Weng, Heidi Dewar and Thomas D. Williams
doi: 10.1038/nature03463
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Learned kin recognition cues in a social bird p1127
Stuart P. Sharp, Andrew McGowan, Matthew J. Wood and Ben J. Hatchwell
doi: 10.1038/nature03522
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A synthetic multicellular system for programmed pattern formation p1130
Subhayu Basu, Yoram Gerchman, Cynthia H. Collins, Frances H. Arnold and Ron Weiss
doi: 10.1038/nature03461
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Dynamics of Drosophila embryonic patterning network perturbed in space and time using microfluidics p1134
Elena M. Lucchetta, Ji Hwan Lee, Lydia A. Fu, Nipam H. Patel and Rustem F. Ismagilov
doi: 10.1038/nature03509
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IKK limits macrophage NF-B activation and contributes to the resolution of inflammation p1138
Toby Lawrence, Magali Bebien, George Y. Liu, Victor Nizet and Michael Karin
doi: 10.1038/nature03491
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A unique clonal JAK2 mutation leading to constitutive signalling causes polycythaemia vera p1144
Chloé James, Valérie Ugo, Jean-Pierre Le Couédic, Judith Staerk, Fran?ois Delhommeau, Catherine Lacout, Lo?c Gar?on, Hana Raslova, Roland Berger, Annelise Bennaceur-Griscelli, Jean Luc Villeval, Stefan N. Constantinescu, Nicole Casadevall and William Vainchenker
doi: 10.1038/nature03546
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Peak SIV replication in resting memory CD4+ T cells depletes gut lamina propria CD4+ T cells p1148
Qingsheng Li, Lijie Duan, Jacob D. Estes, Zhong-Min Ma, Tracy Rourke, Yichuan Wang, Cavan Reilly, John Carlis, Christopher J. Miller and Ashley T. Haase
doi: 10.1038/nature03513
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Clathrin is required for the function of the mitotic spindle p1152
Stephen J. Royle, Nicholas A. Bright and Leon Lagnado
doi: 10.1038/nature03502
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Top of pageNaturejobs
Prospects
A question of age p1159
Paul Smaglik
doi: 10.1038/nj7037-1159a
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Regions
Thinking big Texas p1160
Diane Gershon
doi: 10.1038/nj7037-1160a
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Career View
Graduate Journal: Leaving the family p1162
Jason Underwood
doi: 10.1038/nj7037-1162a
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Scientists & Societies p1162
Geoff Davis
doi: 10.1038/nj7037-1162b
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Movers p1162
doi: 10.1038/nj7037-1162c
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Top of pageFutures
The Affinities p1164
Be careful how you describe yourself.
Robert Charles Wilson
doi: 10.1038/4341164a
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