By thinking about experimental techniques in terms of six broad approaches – perturbation, visualization, substitution, characterization, reconstitution, and simulation – researchers may be able to generate more reliable inferences.

eLife is introducing a new article type—called Tools and Resources—to highlight new experimental techniques, datasets, software tools and other resources.

A new data analysis tool provides a concise way of visualizing neural data that summarizes all the relevant features of the population response in a single figure.

Molecular simulations can capture key aspects of the conformational exchange in a protein.

METRIS is a method that reports a mechanical readout of protein-protein interactions and due to its unique properties, it will allow many protein-protein interactions to be quantitatively measured easily that are currently laborious to measure with conventional methods.

Neuronal loss can be studied by passing electrical current through the same electrodes used for neuron measurement without disrupting recording ability.

Under fluid shear, living cells deform elliptically, align in flow direction, and rotate, from which their frequency-dependent viscoelastic properties can be inferred.

Pipettes and Problem Solving is an initiative that teaches some of the skills needed to figure out why an experiment is producing unexpected results.

Complementing experimental data from EPR spectroscopy with computational modeling techniques provides access to protein structural dynamics and enables the characterization of rare protein conformations.

An open-source tool for computational simulations of the human genome has been introduced, enabling the characterization of complex nuclear environments and the interpretation of experimental observations.