Peer Reviewed

The current lack of sustained engagement with Iran harms US interests in a critical region of the world...Direct dialogue with Tehran on specific areas of mutual concern should be pursued.

Richard Mukabana has collected empirical data that dispels the myth that bush clearing can control mosquitoes and has assembled crucial evidence that provides a basis for amending a policy that is not practical or effective in tropical Africa.

The lack of success in learning English among pupils in rural schools has contributed much to the rural-urban divide in Malaysia.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Molecule required for bone repair identified – Nature Genetics, Problems with a potential Alzheimer disease treatment – Nature Neuroscience

The social and economic development of a country is closely linked with the understanding and application of science and technology by its people. Science centres and museums play a vital role in communicating basic scientific information to the people and help them make informed choices.

Climate change: New Antarctic ice core yields detailed climatic insights, Infectious disease: SIV endemic in wild gorillas?, Neuroscience: How to keep a steady eye, Astronomy: Moon’s surface shaped by ‘recent’ gas release? and finally… Chillies and spiders share similar scare tactics

IUBAT practices a seed-model of KBAD providing repayable loans to students enabling them to break out of poverty trap which if extended in wider scale in any society, could lead to community self reliance.

The Environment is a major concern in many Asian countries. ResearchSEA is launching Focus on The Environment to highlight the experts and research related to the Environment.

The possibility of higher concentration of contaminants in buses and air-conditioned buildings pose potential health problems to users and occupants.

The eye can provide a very reliable way of diagnosing cerebral malaria, researchers in Malawi have shown. By looking at the changes to the retina, doctors are able to determine whether an unconscious child is suffering from this severe form of malaria or another, unrelated illness, leading to the most appropriate treatment.

Summaries of newsworthy papers from Nature and Nature Research Journals include: DNA sequencing reveals bacterial evolution in the lab, Kidney disease caused by mutation may be reversible, Benefits of fever, Redefining receptor organization – again.

More than one hundred Nobel laureates have written to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi to express their concern over the death-penalty case of 5 Bulgarian nurses, and a Palestinian doctor, accused of deliberately infecting more than 400 children with HIV in 1998.

The eBario project wins gold medal at Commonwealth Innovation Award. The research project uses innovative application of ICTs with the goal of continually sustaining social and economic programs in a rural community in Sarawak which does not have the basic amenities such as electricity, water and telecommunications.

The hepatitis C virus infection is estimated to affect 170 million people around the world. The researchers aim was to analyse if the new induction therapy with twice-daily IFN-ß is better than once a day CIFN therapy for a period of 6-months for chronic hepatitis C.

An unprecedented look at the prospects for science and technology in the Muslim world is offered in Nature's News section this week.

Having your cake and eating it too, ‘Silver bullet’ strategies due a rethink, Rock-solid support for ‘Snowball Earth’ theory, The benefits of sleeping around, Tiny mirrors chill out, New sonic hedgehog receptor, Maize fungal genome deciphered, ‘Export’ protein structure unveiled, Policing every egg you lay

A research group headed by Takashi Tsuji of the Tokyo University of Science's Tissue Engineering Research Center identified mechanisms behind outbreaks of adult T-cell leukemia.

The research team from a joint research program of Tokyo University of Science (TUS)and the Japan Science and Technology Agency have succeeded in producing hydrogen from water through the use of gallium nitride (GaN) crystals for the first time.

Many meaningful milestones in the human history were in the form of existentialist struggles marked by violence and wars. Civilizations are built with the blood of warriors and the sweat of the laborers. History shows us that before stability is attained, countless innocent lives are lost and personal and public properties are destroyed.

The focus of this paper is on two activities that are related to the management of international river basins. The first of these is a scientific report, which is now more than five years old and focuses on the management of the waters of this region of the Middle East. The second is the Rosenberg International Forum on water policy

It took three years for the US to seriously consider alternate plans when their main plank fell apart. In planning an alternate approach now, can the US be sure that it has a workable plan or will it wait for another three years to decide if there is yet another way out of the likely mess?

Magnetic cooling demonstrated in a gas, A step towards quantum networks, Seeing the benefits of nanoceria, A potential male contraceptive, Towards a complete human ‘epigenome’, Small RNAs drive evolution, Genetic risk for schizophrenia and brain function, Knocking out false positives in interaction proteomics

Should willing individuals be allowed to sell their kidneys? Yes, according to a Viewpoint article in Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology, which argues that failure to regulate kidney sales could be unethical. Abdallah S Daar asserts that the traditional moral arguments against payment for organs are difficult to sustain under close scrutiny.

The compilation of a list of mammals of Borneo has come a very long way. This on-line checklist owed to many previous European travelers, traders, colonial officers, museum collectors, curators and biologists describing those species that are known to us today.

This paper presents accounts of the major developments in the Indian commodity, exchange rate and financial derivatives markets, and outlines the regulatory provisions that have been introduced to minimise misuse of derivatives.

Nuclear forensics, Global cooling preceded life on Earth, DNA degradation link to rheumatoid arthritis, Lampreys, the supreme survival specialists, The conductivity of mantle minerals, Largest avian skull runs rings around agility theory

A new technology that mimics the suspension of white blood cells in blood in the body is reported online this week in Cell Research. The novel joystick-controlled laser traps that the authors use provide valuable new information on how white blood cells engulf bacteria – a crucial part of the body’s defense against infection.

More important than the elections is establishing an electoral culture, and this cannot be fulfilled through spectators. It has to be achieved through actual participation, not necessarily in the highest public domain; it could start at the level of local or municipal councils

Summaries of other newsworthy papers from Nature include Inducing connections between brain sites alters motor function - Nature, The bottom line for silk - Nature Materials, Bittersweet news for neural stem cell grafts - Nature Medicine, TAPping into mammalian interaction proteomics - Nature Methods

This innovation offers versatility and is applicable on virtually all types of materials regardless of it nature or origin such as semi-metals like silicon, silicates, glasses, ceramics as well as non-metals like plastics, woods and shells.