Peer Reviewed

Summaries of newsworthy papers: Get Attached, The pain of exclusion, Feeling blue about brainpower

Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and Singapore’s Agency for Science Technology and Research announce the second Keystone Symposia conference on “Biofuels” in Singapore from 1-6 March 2011.

Researchers at NIMS have succeeded in the batch fabrication of suspended structures (cantilevers and bridges) of single crystal diamond for nano/micro electromechanical systems.

Researchers have succeeded in controlling the few-particle quantum state of a semiconductor quantum dot, and changing its correlation energies.

Summaries of newsworthy articles: Infectious Disease: Flu factories; Science Agenda: A political wish list; TechnoFiles: Don’t worry about who’s watching; Forum: Diplomacy’s meltdown; Computer Science: Rise of the robo scientists; And finally…The Science of Health: Curing the common cold.

Summary of newsworhty papers: Genomics: Digital DNA; Genetics: The genetics of impulsivity; Genomes: Functional elements on the fly

As expected, the Republican Party won the U.S. midterm elections by a landslide. No one is boasting foresight at this point, but it was obvious that the Republican Party would gain much momentum this time.　

This year marks the 1300th anniversary of the transfer of the national capital to Heijo-kyo in Nara. Also, the regular exhibition of Shosoin, the treasure storehouse built in the eighth century at Todai-ji Temple in Nara, was held at the Nara National Museum until November 11th.

On October 11, 2010, the computer shogi (Japanese chess) system Akara 2010 played a game against the then women’s Osho champion Ichiyo Shimizu with no handicap and defeated her in 86 moves.

The conservation of biodiversity calls for protecting precious living organisms. But it is difficult to explain the true significance of biodiversity conservation.

Researchers at National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) have successfully developed two types of novel proton conducting oxide electrolytes for SOFCs, moving towards the commercialization of SOFCs.

The Road to Invisible Antennas

Summaries of newsworthy papers - Newsmaker of the Year: In the eye of the storm; Method of the Year: Optogenetics; Biotechnology: Measuring personal haplotypes; Geoscience: How debris flows grow; And finally…Genetics: Variant associated with narcolepsy.

A research group at the National Institute for Materials Science have successfully developed a novel nanoferroelectric by a solution-based bottom-up nanotechnology.

Mathematical equations can now resolve whether electron transport in nanostructures follows classical or quantum mechanical behavior

Fear responses of zebrafish are controlled by brain structures of previously unknown function

Theoretical physicists are working to unlock the secrets of a new class of matter known as topological insulators and topological superconductors.

A total of three I²R scientists have been conferred IEEE fellow status since 2002

• A*STAR’s IMRE houses some of the world’s leading experts in SPM which was built for the physical sciences but is now widely adopted by biologists • SPM studies can help engineer novel techniques to reduce friction between surfaces at the molecular level and further miniaturise electronics.

Summaries of newsworthy papers - Genetics: A bumper crop of enhancers, Biochemistry: How to make Taxol, Cancer: A variegated picture of leukaemia, Materials science: Atom-by-atom spectroscopy, And finally… Crystals with pleats.

The Malaysian pharmaceutical industry has been urged to invest more actively in research into the production of nature-based pharmaceuticals at the International Conference on Natural Products, Penang.

Community-run tap water systems in China’s remote Guizhou province have enabled families to develop new income-generating activities and boost a faltering economy.

Treating and reusing water from sinks and baths has helped many small farming families in the Middle East deal with an extreme water shortage. This, in turn, has significantly boosted their incomes.

Highly effective yet simple BioSand Filters are providing clean water in more than 300,000 homes around the world.

Cutting-edge computer modelling and consultation with local communities allowed Bolivia’s Agua Sustentable to find political solutions to potentially disastrous clashes over water.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received another strong boost to achieve further internationalization with the award of South East Asia's first Erasmus Mundus (EM) Mobility Grant of nearly €1.4 million by the European Commission.

Researchers at RIKEN have linked a specific type of cellular stress to neuronal cell death leading to brain damage. The findings overturn existing assumptions on the role of a key neuronal protein in cellular stress response, opening up new avenues for research on a range of neurodegenerative diseases.

Summaries of newsworthy papers - Neuroscience: Synaptic loss in a mouse model for Alzheimer’s disease; Methods: Peering deep into the lung; Nanotechnology: Tissue engineering—how nanotechnology fits in; Geoscience: Heatwaves and soil moisture; Nature: The origin of Saturn’s rings

Linking silicon and carbon double bonds into an extended network with bulky molecules produces air-stable and photo-responsive crystals

The toolbox for imaging DNA now comes with an artificial DNA fluorescent base that can be ‘switched off’