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Maths behind Internet encryption wins top award

Abel prize awarded to number theorist John Tate.

How 1918 flu antibodies fend off swine flu

Structural similarities reveal why some elderly people were spared in the recent pandemic.

Fossil finger points to new human species

DNA analysis reveals lost relative from 40,000 years ago.

Methane-eating microbes make their own oxygen

Bacteria may have survived on Earth without plants, thanks to unique metabolism.

Soils emitting more carbon dioxide

Trend could exacerbate global warming.

On Nature News

Nanoparticle kit could diagnose disease early

Colour change shows the presence of minuscule amounts of key enzymes.

China boosts African research links

Expanded programme of academic collaboration promised.

Teams set for first taste of Antarctic lakes

Samples could reveal unique life forms from beneath the ice.

US health bill promises changes for biomedical researchers

Translational work set to receive a boost.

On Nature News

Elite English universities gain in 2010 funding round

But other institutions left with a smaller slice of the pie.

Male pipefish abort embryos of ugly mothers

Males show sexual selection before and after copulation.

Scientists supersize quantum mechanics

Largest ever object put into quantum state.

Hobbit origins pushed back

Stone tools reveal that hominins lived on the Indonesian island of Flores a million years ago.

Male pregnancy: The dark side – by Nature Video

Male pregnancy is very rare, occurring only in seahorses, pipefish and seadragons. The female deposits her eggs in the male’s brood pouch, and the male protects and feeds the developing offspring. Are these the best dads in the animal kingdom? It seems not – new research shows that male pipefish selectively abort embryos from less attractive females, saving their resources for future, more attractive, mates. The finding reveals a dark side to male pregnancy, but it also adds to Darwin’s theory of sexual selection. Read the original research here.