Nature Nanotechnology is now in volume 2. The latest issue of this second volume covers topics as diverse as: processing nanowire devices; imaging defects in nanotubes; DNA nanochannels; transparent and flexible nanoelectronics; polymer nanofibres; and the separation of left- and right-handed nanotubes. These original research articles are complemented by the News & Views section, a Commentary article about the challenges and opportunities that ‘post-academic’ science presents for the nanoscience and technology community, an Editorial about the role of nanoscience in combating climate change, and a Thesis article about the regulation of new nano-enabled products and devices in nanomedicine.

June’s Progress article, FREE to access online, is Biomimetics of photonic nanostructures, by Andrew R. Parker and Helen E. Townley. It reviews the use of diatoms, viruses and other living objects to fabricate photonic nanostructures.