Symmetry winners
Three physicists who provided insights into how tiny violations in symmetry shape the universe share the Nobel prize in physics. Yoichiro Nambu receives half the award for developing a theory called 鈥渟pontaneous symmetry breaking鈥�, which describes how nature鈥檚 forces came about after the big bang. The balance of the prize is shared by Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa, who explained how physical laws apply differently to matter and antimatter, and predicted six quarks.
Hubble hobbled
The Hubble Space Telescope has been crippled by an electronics failure, which leaves it largely unable to communicate the results of its observations to Earth. NASA is working to turn on a backup system, but if they fail, the observatory will be hobbled until at least February 2009, the earliest possible servicing date.
Rescuing research
Last week鈥檚 bailout of American banks by the US Congress also included measures to sustain research and development during the economic crisis. The $700 billion sum includes an extension for two years of a tax credit scheme that covers up to 20 per cent of a company鈥檚 research spending.
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Early birds survive warming
Migration habits of 98 European birds over the past 40 years reveal that those setting off earlier, to coincide with ever earlier springs, have survived best. Species that have not adapted have seen the biggest drop in numbers, probably because their arrival no longer coincides with peak food availability (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ).
Coma patients feel pain
Some comatose patients should receive pain relief. Brain scans show the regions that register pain are as active in some unconscious patients receiving mild electric shocks as they are in healthy individuals (The Lancet Neurology, ).