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Nobel prizes Three neuroscientists share this years Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their insights into the neural basis of spatial navigation. John OKeefe was honoured for his discovery of place cells, which are activated when a rat passes particular spots; May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser discovered grid cells, which help to create a coordinate system in the brain. The physics prize was awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura for their invention of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which enabled todays bright, energy-efficient white LEDs. See pages 152, 153 and 154 for more. Nature went to press before the chemistry prize was awarded, but full details will be available at go.nature.com/ygtzbs.
Corey Accardo/NOAA
Walruses seek shelter on land A lack of sea ice has driven more than 35,000Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) onto land at Point Lay, Alaska, the US Geological Survey said on 1 October. The animals normally spend summers resting on ice floes, occasionally diving to the ocean floor to feed on clams, snails and worms. But with ice levels low in the Chukchi Sea this summer, walruses have come ashore in record numbers (pictured). The animals are easily spooked, so scientists say that the risk of fatal stampedes is high. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether to protect the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act owing to harm from hunting and sea-ice loss; a decision is expected in 2017. See page 140 for more.
Ebola exported A health worker in Spain has tested positive for Ebola, the countrys health minister said on 6 October. The worker, the first person thought to have contracted the virus outside Africa, had treated a missionary who had returned to Spain from Sierra Leone. On 30 September, health officials confirmed the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States a man who arrived in Dallas, Texas, from Liberia on 20 September. On 6October, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the man may have exposed up to 48people to the virus. See page139 for more.
Animal care A UK government report released on 2October cleared Imperial College London of nearly all allegations of animal cruelty raised by an animal-rights group in 2013. But the Home Office investigation noted persistent shortcomings in the management of animal care, and five instances of non-compliance since addressed by the university that were symptomatic of a widespread poor culture of care in the universitys animal-research laboratories. See go.nature.com/wyc2vz for more.
Telescope turns on A 12-metre radio telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona has begun observations, scientists at the University of Arizona in Tucson said on 2 October. The telescope is one of three prototypes originally made for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and will be used to study phenomena such as molecules in interstellar space and supermassive black holes. The university lost a bid for another of the prototype dishes in 2011; that antenna is destined for Greenland (seepage 147).
Stem-cell saga ends Italys health ministry will not support a trial of a controversial stem-cell therapy that it had promised last yearmarking the end of a two-year battle between the therapys inventor and Italian scientists who had declared the treatment ineffective and possibly dangerous. Health minister Beatrice Lorenzin announced her final decision on 2October, on the basis of conclusions from an expert committee that was convened after a court ruled a previous committee had been illegally biased. See go.nature.com/zlryhz for more.
PNAS rules tighten The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) closed one of its avenues to publication on 1October. Editor-in-chief Inder Verma said that the journal will discontinue its pre-arranged editor process, whereby authors could submit manuscripts through a member of the academy. See go.nature.com/szpjio for more.
USIndia space pact The US and Indian space agencies signed an agreement on 30September to increase their collaborative efforts. A working group will coordinate observations between NASAs MAVEN mission and the Mars Orbiter Mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation which arrived at Mars on 21and 24September, respectively and explore cooperative efforts on future Mars missions. They will also jointly launch an Earth-observing satellite in 2020.
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Seven days: 39 October 2014
