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Temperature determines the geographical distribution of plants and their rate of growth and development, but how they sense high temperatures to mount a response was unclear. Now a process underlying this responsiveness is known. High temperatures inactivate a component of the circadian clock.

Piezo proteins allow cells to sense forces by letting ions pass through the cell membrane in response to mechanical stimuli. Three structures of a Piezo protein shed light on how this crucial process works. Piezo proteins allow cells to sense forces by letting ions pass through the cell membrane in response to mechanical stimuli. Three structures of a Piezo protein shed light on how this crucial process works.

Experiment suggests that humans are capable of perceiving even the feeblest flash of light.

Universities aid entrepreneurs by helping them to turn their research into companies. In return, universities can reap financial benefits.

Online gamers helped researchers map neuron connections involved in detecting direction of moving objects.

ANOMALOUS mass reductions in spinning gyroscopes have been reported by Hayasaka and Takeuchi1. For one sense of rotation about a vertical axis the mass of the gyroscope appeared to be a linear function of the speed of rotation (albeit with non-zero intercept); in the other direction it did not. In the absence of any theoretical explanation of such behaviour these results are very puzzling. Here we present the results of weighing a 330-g spinning rotor as it freely spins down from speeds of 8,000 r.p.m. We observe some changes in its apparent mass, which are a function of both speed and sense of rotation, but they amount to only ∼5% of what would be required for consistency with ref. 1. If corrections are made for the effects of the friction couple slowing the rotor, and for changes in temperature, the observed effect is reduced by more than a factor of ten, and is no longer significant.

The search for the genetic determinants of breast cancer risk is focusing on ever smaller effects, requiring larger groups of subjects.

The voltage-gated potassium channels are the prototypical members of a family of membrane signalling proteins. These protein-based machines have pores that pass millions of ions per second across the membrane with astonishing selectivity, and their gates snap open and shut in milliseconds as they sense changes in voltage or ligand concentration. The architectural modules and functional components of these sophisticated signalling molecules are becoming clear, but some important links remain to be elucidated.

Will a sense of touch similar to that of humans ever be developed in robots? Results on the physics of friction for fingerprint-like ridges sliding across textured surfaces may lead the way to tactile robotic sensors.

Voltage-gated ion channels are transmembrane proteins that are essential for nerve impulses and regulate ion flow across cell membranes in response to changes in membrane potential. They are made up of four homologous domains or subunits, each of which contains six transmembrane segments. Studies of potassium channels have shown that the second (S2) and fourth (S4) segments contain several charged residues, which sense changes in voltage and form part of the voltage sensor. Although these regions clearly undergo conformational changes in response to voltage, little is known about the nature of these changes because voltage-dependent distance changes have not been measured. Here we use lanthanide-based resonance energy transfer to measure distances between Shaker potassium channel subunits at specific residues. Voltage-dependent distance changes of up to 3.2 A were measured at several sites near the S4 segment. These movements directly correlated with electrical measurements of the voltage sensor, establishing the link between physical changes and electrical charge movement. Measured distance changes suggest that the region associated with the S4 segment undergoes a rotation and possible tilt, rather than a large transmembrane movement, in response to voltage. These results demonstrate the first in situ measurement of atomic scale movement in a trans-membrane protein.

Mathematical models that use instabilities to describe changes of weather patterns or spacecraft trajectories are well established. Could such principles apply to the sense of smell, and to other aspects of neural computation?

Nature 491, 683–691 (2012); doi:10.1038/nature11574 The surname of author V. Masson-Delmotte was misspelled as Masson-Demotte. In Table 1 of this Perspective, the ‘Source’ for ‘Label in Fig. 3’ entry 13 should be ref. 61 (not ref. 65). In addition, the x-axis labels of Fig. 3c were misplaced. Figure1 shows the corrected panel and the original Perspective has been corrected online.

Although there have been dramatic advances in generating enormous magnetic fields, measuring these fields remains difficult. A non-metallic sensor based on a silver chalcogenide looks promising.

Weakly electric fish produce an electric field with an organ in their tails; sensing distortions of that field gives the fish information about their environment. It was thought that distance could not be judged with this system, but some cunning behavioural experiments show that this is not so. The feat is unusual because most other animals can gauge distance only by using a pair of sense organs, such as two eyes.

In order to sense visual motion, the brain must determine not only where an object is, but where it was a few moments ago. To do so, the brain may depend in part on a small number of curiously shaped neurons deep in the visual cortex.

MoscowThe Russian Academy of Science has set up a new body to manage its property and channel the income it receives directly to supporting scientists and their work.