From subatomic particles to cosmic-scale phenomena, Nature Outlook Physics Masterclassuses the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2012 to launch an examination of some of the biggest breakthroughs in physics — including conversations between physics laureates and the young researchers who hope to emulate them.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) robs tens of millions of people of the ability to easily draw in the air they need to live a normal life. Although this incurable, progressive condition is difficult to diagnose, a bevy of new treatment options — including drug combinations, artificial lungs and dietary supplements — could give COPD patients a breath of fresh air.

It is tempting to characterize the human papillomavirus (HPV) story as a triumph of science. It might have taken 30 years from identification of HPV as the cause of cervical cancer to the first vaccine reaching the market, but there is still much to understand about HPV biology and an urgent need to improve on existing vaccines and diagnostic tests. The story of HPV is still being written.

Taste is central to our being, but this vital sense is only now becoming clear at the biological level. Scientists have identified the receptors that respond to the five basic stimuli of sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (savoury), and are now exploring how the brain interprets them. Nature Outlook Tastereports the latest findings from the front lines of flavour.

Each year, 1.3 million women — and some 13,000 men — are diagnosed with breast cancer. The past few decades have seen huge advances in treatment, but about one-quarter of those diagnosed will die from the disease. Complicating matters, breast cancers are remarkably diverse, and tumour cells seem to hide in 'cured' individuals. The difficult challenges are only just starting.

About 350 million people — 5 % of the world's population — are afflicted by either type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, or type 2 diabetes, largely linked to lifestyle. Nature Outlook: Diabetesexamines the latest research into the causes, therapy, prevention and impact of these devastating diseases.

The war against the malaria parasite has raged for millennia, and still claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Resistance is a growing issue — for both the parasite to current therapy, and the mosquito to pesticides. Past attempts to eradicate malaria have failed. What will it take to finally subdue this deadly disease?

Successfully treating multiple sclerosis (MS) will require drugs that can reverse nerve damage and repair the myelin sheaths that coat them. Yet until now the best medicines have only managed to slow disease progression. Nature Outlook: Multiple sclerosis covers the latest research into how MS starts, and explores new ways to diagnose and treat it.

Owing to its extraordinary electronic and optical properties, this super-strong form of carbon could radically advance technologies ranging from transistors to touch screens to solar cells to bionic implants. But first, materials scientists must figure out how to make large, pristine sheets of graphene economically.

Immersed in the details of the latest laboratory advances, it's easy to lose track of the enormous impact biological sciences are having on our world. In this special edition of Nature Outlook, five top scientists explain how research in their specialties — cancer, climate change, stem cells, oceanography and synthetic biology — has changed our lives.

Using scientific techniques to investigate the claims of traditional medicine as practised in countries such as China and Japan can help sort effective treatments from unfounded superstitions — and perhaps give modern medicine a few insights into holistic approaches borne from thousands of years of herbal remedies.

Despite a rash of new drugs and advances in stem-cell therapy, this rare, bloodborne cancer is still an almost certain death sentence. Although a cure remains a long way off, studies of multiple myeloma are yielding Insights into bone biology, the role of the tumour microenvironment and the origins of a whole range of different cancers.