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By Declan Butler of Nature magazine Key weapons in the fight against malaria, pyrethroid insecticides, are losing their edge.

A few weeks ago as I was walking out of a Harris Teeter grocery store in Raleigh, North Carolina, I saw a man face a moment of crisis. You could see it in the acrobatic contortions of his face. He had pulled a cart out of the area where carts congregate, only to find that its handle was sticky with an unidentifiable substance

Ah, the joy of long holiday weekends. They re-energize, revitalize and send you back to work..

By Nicola Jones of Nature Magazine The world's insatiable demand for the rare-earth elements needed to make almost all technological gadgets could one day be partially met by sea-floor mining, hints an assessment of the Pacific Ocean's resources. [More]

Dear EarthTalk : What are the major issues with protecting migratory birds that groups like the Nature Conservancy are working on?

JULY 6–10 What is creativity? How does it arise? Philosophers and neuroscientists alike are searching for answers to these intriguing questions.

By Marian Turner of Nature magazine Man's best friend bears a heavy burden in the pharmaceutical industry. [More]

By Heidi Ledford of Nature magazine When stem-cell clinics are asked for documentation about the treatments they offer, some are quick to produce letters from lawyers instead. [More]

By Ed Yong of Nature magazine The wrinkles that develop on wet fingers could be an adaptation to give us better grip in slippery conditions, the latest theory suggests.

By Ed Yong of Nature magazine The wrinkles that develop on wet fingers could be an adaptation to give us better grip in slippery conditions, the latest theory suggests. The hypothesis, from Mark Changizi, an evolutionary neurobiologist at 2AI Labs in Boise, Idaho, and his colleagues goes against the common belief that fingers turn prune-like simply because they absorb water. Changizi thinks that the wrinkles act like rain treads on tires

By Amber Dance of Nature magazine Those wanting to raise awareness about a rare disease will be able to take advantage of an initiative being launched later this year: a website that connects research projects with members of the public who can donate just a few dollars to help to develop cures. The plan, called the Global Genes Fund, will "democratize the research proposal game", says Irwin Feller, an emeritus professor of the economics of science and technology at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. The idea has been developed by the Children's Rare Disease Network, a non-profit organization based in Dana Point, California.

Physicists working at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Konstanz in Germany have developed a breakthrough in the use of diamond in quantum physics, marking an important step toward quantum computing. The results are reported in this week's online edition of Nature Physics.

By Eugenie Samuel Reich of Nature magazine Amateur historians and astronomers are buzzing with intrigue over allegations that the legendary US astronomer Edwin Hubble, after whom NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is named, may have actively censored the work of a competitor to advance his own career. Professional historians are demanding further evidence, but advocates of the position are already urging NASA to name a future space mission after the slighted researcher

By Janelle Weaver of Nature magazine Scientists have developed a gene-repair kit that treats the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia in mice. [More]

In a paper published in Nature Photonics, U of T Engineering researchers report a new solar cell that may pave the way to inexpensive coatings that efficiently convert the sun's rays to electricity.