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Physiology: Microbial signals to the brain control weight
The bacteria that inhabit the rodent gut promote insulin secretion and food intake by activating the parasympathetic nervous system — a hitherto unknown mode of action for this multifaceted microbiota. See Article p.213
Nature 534 185 doi: 10.1038/534185a
Whole Foods or Hardee’s? Placed names top 10 businesses for Clinton, Trump supporters
It may seem like a no-brainer that supporters of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don’t have a whole lot in common. But a new study by Seattle-based startup...
Geochemistry: Hydrogen and oxygen in the deep Earth
The finding that an unusual iron oxide forms at extremely high pressures suggests that hydrogen and oxygen — two elements that strongly influence Earth's evolution — are generated in the mantle. See Letter p.241
Nature 534 183 doi: 10.1038/534183a
Iranian reports hint at huge Boeing jet deal
Reports from Tehran suggest that Iran’s flag carrier airline has struck a deal to purchase jetliners from the Boeing Co., which...
Host-microbe interaction: Rules of the game for microbiota
Are the dynamics of our microbial communities unique to us or does everyone's microbiota follow the same rules? The emerging insights into this question could be of relevance to health and disease. See Letter p.259
Nature 534 182 doi: 10.1038/534182a
NBC becomes first broadcast network to launch a ‘skill’ on Amazon’s Alexa
The list of “skills” that Alexa, Amazon’s voice-enabled virtual assistant, is capable of performing keeps on growing,...
Pore-forming activity and structural autoinhibition of the gasdermin family
Inflammatory caspases cleave the gasdermin D (GSDMD) protein to trigger pyroptosis, a lytic form of cell death that is crucial for immune defences and diseases. GSDMD contains a functionally important gasdermin-N domain that is shared in the gasdermin family. The functional mechanism of action of gasdermin proteins is unknown. Here we show that the gasdermin-N domains of the gasdermin proteins GSDMD, GSDMA3 and GSDMA...
Geek on the Street: Will Microsoft’s big LinkedIn deal go boom or bust?
Monday marked a pivotal day for business oriented social media site LinkedIn, with the announcement that it will be acquired by Microsoft for $ 26.2 billion in cash. The deal is the largest in Microsoft’s history but not the largest the Redmond...
Negative capacitance in multidomain ferroelectric superlattices
The stability of spontaneous electrical polarization in ferroelectrics is fundamental to many of their current applications, which range from the simple electric cigarette lighter to non-volatile random access memories. Research on nanoscale ferroelectrics reveals that their behaviour is profoundly different from that in bulk ferroelectrics, which could lead to new phenomena with potential for future devices. As ferroelectrics become thinner, maintaining a stable polarization...