Splavarska Brv (Rafting Footbridge)

Fast rafting

he protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii heads out of its host cell when Ca 2 ϩ levels peak in its cytoplasm. Now, Arrizabalaga et al. (page 653) find that proper regulation of these Ca 2 ϩ levels, and thus of Toxoplasma exit, requires a Na ϩ /H ϩ exchanger (NHE), suggesting a link between proton and Ca 2 ϩ regulation. The increase in Ca 2 ϩ levels, which can be induced artificially with an iono...

Rafting the Ethical Rapids

Rafting across polarized cells

or raft proteins, direct delivery is not the travel route of choice, according to Roman Polishchuk, Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz (NIH, Bethesda, MD), and colleagues. They find that, contrary to earlier evidence, glycosyl phosphatidyl-inositol (GPI)–anchored raft proteins make a detour to the basolateral membrane of polarized MDCK cells before crossing the cell to their final destination in the ...

A transformable tensegrity-ring footbridge

Tensegrity structures are spatial reticulated structures composed of cables and struts. A tensioncompression equilibrium leads to lightweight systems that change shape through length changes in their members. Active members thus control several degrees of freedom simultaneously. Tensegrityring modules are transformable circuit-pattern modules. The linear combination of tensegrity rings has been...

Long-distance life rafting

Ordering and disordering electrons When a liquid is cooled rapidly, it can form a glass, a state stuck between liquid and solid. Two groups looked in detail into analogous dynamics in electronic systems. Sato et al. and Sasaki et al. studied layered organic materials with a triangular in-plane lattice. These materials can assume a state in which their charge distribution has a regular pattern—a...