Liquid marbles.

The transport of a small amount of liquid on a solid is not a simple process, owing to the nature of the contact between the two phases. Setting a liquid droplet in motion requires non-negligible forces (because the contact-angle hysteresis generates a force opposing the motion), and often results in the deposition of liquid behind the drop. Different methods of levitation-electrostatic, electromagnetic, acoustic, or even simpler aerodynamic techniques-have been proposed to avoid this wetting problem, but all have proved to be rather cumbersome. Here we propose a simple alternative, which consists of encapsulating an aqueous liquid droplet with a hydrophobic powder. The resulting 'liquid marbles' are found to behave like a soft solid, and show dramatically reduced adhesion to a solid surface. As a result, motion can be generated using gravitational, electrical and magnetic fields. Moreover, because the viscous friction associated with motion is very small, we can achieve quick displacements of the droplets without any leaks. All of these features are of potential benefit in microfluidic applications, and also permit the study of a drop in a non-wetting situation-an issue of renewed interest following the recent achievement of super-hydrophobic substrates.     

Novel neurotrophic factor CDNF protects and rescues midbrain dopamine neurons in vivo

In Parkinson's disease, brain dopamine neurons degenerate most prominently in the substantia nigra. Neurotrophic factors promote survival, differentiation and maintenance of neurons in developing and adult vertebrate nervous system. The most potent neurotrophic factor for dopamine neurons described so far is the glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Here we have identified a conserved dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) as a trophic factor for dopamine neurons. CDNF, together with its previously described vertebrate and invertebrate homologue the mesencephalic-astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor, is a secreted protein with eight conserved cysteine residues, predicting a unique protein fold and defining a new, evolutionarily conserved protein family. CDNF (Armetl1) is expressed in several tissues of mouse and human, including the mouse embryonic and postnatal brain. In vivo, CDNF prevented the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in a rat experimental model of Parkinson's disease. A single injection of CDNF before 6-OHDA delivery into the striatum significantly reduced amphetamine-induced ipsilateral turning behaviour and almost completely rescued dopaminergic tyrosine-hydroxylase-positive cells in the substantia nigra. When administered four weeks after 6-OHDA, intrastriatal injection of CDNF was able to restore the dopaminergic function and prevent the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. Thus, CDNF was at least as efficient as GDNF in both experimental settings. Our results suggest that CDNF might be beneficial for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.     

Chiral magnetic order at surfaces driven by inversion asymmetry

Chirality is a fascinating phenomenon that can manifest itself in subtle ways, for example in biochemistry (in the observed single-handedness of biomolecules) and in particle physics (in the charge-parity violation of electroweak interactions). In condensed matter, magnetic materials can also display single-handed, or homochiral, spin structures. This may be caused by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which arises from spin-orbit scattering of electrons in an inversion-asymmetric crystal field. This effect is typically irrelevant in bulk metals as their crystals are inversion symmetric. However, low-dimensional systems lack structural inversion symmetry, so that homochiral spin structures may occur. Here we report the observation of magnetic order of a specific chirality in a single atomic layer of manganese on a tungsten (110) substrate. Spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy reveals that adjacent spins are not perfectly antiferromagnetic but slightly canted, resulting in a spin spiral structure with a period of about 12 nm. We show by quantitative theory that this chiral order is caused by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and leads to a left-rotating spin cycloid. Our findings confirm the significance of this interaction for magnets in reduced dimensions. Chirality in nanoscale magnets may play a crucial role in spintronic devices, where the spin rather than the charge of an electron is used for data transmission and manipulation. For instance, a spin-polarized current flowing through chiral magnetic structures will exert a spin-torque on the magnetic structure, causing a variety of excitations or manipulations of the magnetization and giving rise to microwave emission, magnetization switching, or magnetic motors.     

Discovery of 40Mg and 42Al suggests neutron drip-line slant towards heavier isotopes

A fundamental question in nuclear physics is what combinations of neutrons and protons can make up a nucleus. Many hundreds of exotic neutron-rich isotopes have never been observed; the limit of how many neutrons a given number of protons can bind is unknown for all but the lightest elements, owing to the delicate interplay between single particle and collective quantum effects in the nucleus. This limit, known as the neutron drip line, provides a benchmark for models of the atomic nucleus. Here we report a significant advance in the determination of this limit: the discovery of two new neutron-rich isotopes--40Mg and 42Al--that are predicted to be drip-line nuclei. In the past, several attempts to observe 40Mg were unsuccessful; moreover, the observation of 42Al provides an experimental indication that the neutron drip line may be located further towards heavier isotopes in this mass region than is currently believed. In stable nuclei, attractive pairing forces enhance the stability of isotopes with even numbers of protons and neutrons. In contrast, the present work shows that nuclei at the drip line gain stability from an unpaired proton, which narrows the shell gaps and provides the opportunity to bind many more neutrons.     

South-polar features on Venus similar to those near the north pole

Venus has no seasons, slow rotation and a very massive atmosphere, which is mainly carbon dioxide with clouds primarily of sulphuric acid droplets. Infrared observations by previous missions to Venus revealed a bright 'dipole' feature surrounded by a cold 'collar' at its north pole. The polar dipole is a 'double-eye' feature at the centre of a vast vortex that rotates around the pole, and is possibly associated with rapid downwelling. The polar cold collar is a wide, shallow river of cold air that circulates around the polar vortex. One outstanding question has been whether the global circulation was symmetric, such that a dipole feature existed at the south pole. Here we report observations of Venus' south-polar region, where we have seen clouds with morphology much like those around the north pole, but rotating somewhat faster than the northern dipole. The vortex may extend down to the lower cloud layers that lie at about 50 km height and perhaps deeper. The spectroscopic properties of the clouds around the south pole are compatible with a sulphuric acid composition.     

Progressive field-state collapse and quantum non-demolition photon counting

The irreversible evolution of a microscopic system under measurement is a central feature of quantum theory. From an initial state generally exhibiting quantum uncertainty in the measured observable, the system is projected into a state in which this observable becomes precisely known. Its value is random, with a probability determined by the initial system's state. The evolution induced by measurement (known as 'state collapse') can be progressive, accumulating the effects of elementary state changes. Here we report the observation of such a step-by-step collapse by non-destructively measuring the photon number of a field stored in a cavity. Atoms behaving as microscopic clocks cross the cavity successively. By measuring the light-induced alterations of the clock rate, information is progressively extracted, until the initially uncertain photon number converges to an integer. The suppression of the photon number spread is demonstrated by correlations between repeated measurements. The procedure illustrates all the postulates of quantum measurement (state collapse, statistical results and repeatability) and should facilitate studies of non-classical fields trapped in cavities.     

Female mate-choice drives the evolution of male-biased dispersal in a social mammal

Dispersal has a significant impact on lifetime reproductive success, and is often more prevalent in one sex than the other. In group-living mammals, dispersal is normally male-biased and in theory this sexual bias could be a response by males to female mate preferences, competition for access to females or resources, or the result of males avoiding inbreeding. There is a lack of studies on social mammals that simultaneously assess these factors and measure the fitness consequences of male dispersal decisions. Here we show that male-biased dispersal in the spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) most probably results from an adaptive response by males to simple female mate-choice rules that have evolved to avoid inbreeding. Microsatellite profiling revealed that females preferred sires that were born into or immigrated into the female's group after the female was born. Furthermore, young females preferred short-tenured sires and older females preferred longer-tenured sires. Males responded to these female mate preferences by initiating their reproductive careers in groups containing the highest number of young females. As a consequence, 11% of males started their reproductive career in their natal group and 89% of males dispersed. Males that started reproduction in groups containing the highest number of young females had a higher long-term reproductive success than males that did not. The female mate-choice rules ensured that females effectively avoided inbreeding without the need to discriminate directly against close kin or males born in their own group, or to favour immigrant males. The extent of male dispersal as a response to such female mate preferences depends on the demographic structure of breeding groups, rather than the genetic relatedness between females and males.