Peer Reviewed

Simple templating technology allows researchers to stamp out materials that mimic the adhesive properties of gecko toes

Toyohashi Tech researchers (Japan) develop magnonic crystal-based ultra-high sensitive magnetic fields sensors for monitoring heart and brain activity and room temperature.

A nanoparticle-infused film brings innovative lighting and display technologies closer to reality.

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Disease: Novel therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis; Neuroscience: Coloured judgement

Rising demand for the dominant form of renewable energy worldwide – wood – could drive yet more acquisitions of land in developing countries where food insecurity is rising and land rights are weak, say researchers at the International Institute for Environment and Development.

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Fossils: The earliest-known Acheulian hand-axes; Astrophysics: Black holes buddy-up in galaxy formation; Biology: Links between genetic and metabolic risk factors Cancer: Therapy goes viral; Astrophysics: Twinkle, twinkle, low-mass star and more

Summaries of newsworthy articles: Guiding light for glasses-free 3D display; Laser-induced condensation of water in air

Summary of newsworthy article: Mutation clue to neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring of old dads

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in association with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and AusAID have launched a project to assess influenza risks in light of recent policy changes in Southeast Asia that encourage small poultry farmers to concentrate their production activities in specific zones.

Combined with fluorescence labeling, new approach produces 3D images at unprecedented depth and levels of spatial detail

Summaries of newsworthy article: Long-term effects of combat on amygdala

From probes that read nerve responses to a vaccine which targets all dengue viruses, the latest edition of Asia Research News features all the cutting-edge science from across Asia.

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Neuroscience: Animals in the amygdala; Genetics & Nature: Working towards 1001 Arabidopsis genomes; Geoscience: Cold ocean on early Mars; Cell Biology: Controlling the balance of metabolic responses

The ability to control how magnetic vortices gyrate together has potential application in magnetic devices

Guidance signals prevent neurons from making bad connections by triggering a mechanism that causes growing axons to shrivel and retract

Stress management is both trainable and beneficial, writes Robert Epstein in this month’s Scientific American Mind. Furthermore, preventive and proactive approaches seem to be the most effective when it comes to dealing with stress.

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Infectious disease: Bacteria fight against dengue; Atmospheric science: Studying clouds in a CLOUD chamber; Comment: Antibiotics may be damaging beneficial bacteria permanently; Fossils: Marsupials and placental mammals split 160 million years ago and more

Summary of newsworthy paper: Global climates: In the heat of battle

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Harvesting wet energy; Stem cells from Parkinson’s disease patients; Rearranging the bird tree of life

Summary of newsworthy article: Chemistry beyond the bench

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Geoscience: 3.4-billion-year-old sulphur-metabolizing microbes; ; Cell Biology: A system to study cells with cancer stem cell properties; Climate Change: Cryptic biodiversity crash; Climate Change: Calcifiers cover up; Geoscience: Evolution of plants influenced river shape

Adding neutrons to synthetic atoms can drastically alter the shape of their nuclei and affect their stability

Electronic screens based on new energy-efficient technology could become more affordable thanks to the substitution of expensive metal components with copper ones

The observation and manipulation of single molecules by scanning tunneling microscopy is opening new frontiers in nanoscience

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Ageing: Keeping old mice young at heart; Stem cells: Bolstering bone density; Wheat can’t stand the heat

A one-pot synthesis provides a simpler and faster route to highly efficient solar cells

The transmission quality of an optical fiber can now be tested without the need to take measurements at both ends

Summaries of newsworthy papers: A great nanoscale resolution; Punishment as a defence mechanism; Engineering on-chip quantum devices; Semiconductor prodigies outperform their parents; King penguin chicks prove cool customers

Summaries of newsworthy articles: Cities: Better, Greener, Smarter; Science of Health: Stamping out vaccine fears early

Summary of newsworthy article: Synthetic biologists design suicidal bacteria to fight infection