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Science Podcast
Mayan astronomical tables from the 9th century, cosmic insights from Vesta, a fossilized forest in China, and more. Listen now. |
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Model Earthquake Shakedown
Accurate models of sections of the San Andreas Fault could aid earthquake prediction efforts. | |
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In this week's issue:
Research Summaries
This Week in Science
Editor summaries of this week papers.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol336/issue6082/twis.dtl
Editors' Choice
Highlights of the recent literature.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol336/issue6082/twil.dtl
Editorial
Tackling Human Fungal Infections
Gordon D. Brown et al.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/647
News of the Week
This Week's Section
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/654-a
Around the World
In science news around the world this week, attorneys sought to prevent 9000-year-old bones from being handed over to American Indians; a senior U.S. health official disputed charges that the government tried to prearrange an advisory panel's recommendation to publish two studies that describe how to make the H5N1 avian influenza virus transmissible in mammals; the Philippines National Academy of Science and Technology blasted Greenpeace for trying to stop field trials of a genetically modified eggplant; a pilot project will share abandoned drugs with academic researchers so that they can look for new uses; a new study of the links between atmospheric chemistry and climate change kicked off; the British government has enlisted the help of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales to figure out how to make research information more easily accessible; and a tobacco research project nominated for a prestigious Chinese science prize has been withdrawn from further consideration.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/654-b
Random Sample
Students from five schools in rural Montana won a $15,000 prize in the America's Home Education Energy Challenge. Deep inside a mountain cave in Dachstein, Austria, an international team of researchers showed off a new suit that simulates the challenges that await human visitors to Mars. And this week's numbers quantify signatures protesting the Discovery Channel's self-censorship of climate change issues, the percentage of current Earth-observing capacity that the United States will have by 2020, and the rate of premature births in the United States.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/655
Newsmakers
This week's Newsmakers are German Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan, who is facing allegations that she plagiarized parts of her dissertation, and Franco-Algerian particle physicist Adlène Hicheur, who received a 5-year prison sentence on terrorism charges.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/656
Findings
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol336/issue6082/findings.dtl
News & Analysis
Europe Picks Jupiter Probe; Runners-Up Vow to Press On
Edwin Cartlidge
Last week, the European Space Agency announced that it had chosen a €1 billion satellite to study three icy moons of Jupiter as its next major science mission, scheduled to be launched in 2022.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/658
Death of California Researcher Spurs Investigation
Greg Miller
Local and federal health agencies are investigating the death of Richard Din, a 25-year-old research associate at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, California.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/659
Venus's Rare Sun Crossing May Aid Search for Exoplanets
Ron Cowen
Early next month, skywatchers will get their second-and final-chance this century to observe a rare mini-eclipse in which Venus crosses in front of the sun.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/660
Reprise of First Experiment Casts Doubt on Supersolid Helium
Adrian Cho
A second pair of physicists has found further evidence that solid helium doesn't flow-ironically, by tweaking the experiment that started the controversy in the first place.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/661
News Focus
Primeval Land Rises From the Ashes
Mara Hvistendahl
A "vegetational Pompeii" buried in a coal deposit is shedding light on ecosystem structure and climate during the Permian period.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/662
Researchers Set Course To Blockade Ballast Invaders
Daniel Strain
As U.S. regulations loom, scientists are working to test new devices that can remove potentially invasive organisms from ships' ballast water.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/664
A Foul Problem
Daniel Strain
From mussels to barnacles to algae, studies suggest that "hull-fouling" organisms could pose an invasion threat that is as great as if not greater than that from ballast creatures, researchers say.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/665
With Novel Paint, Chemist Aims To Vanquish the Vinchuca
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky
Spanish chemist Pilar Mateo invented a clever way to package insect-control agents in paint; after a decade of trying, she's persuaded Bolivia to give it a test.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/666
Letters
Conservation Concerns in the Deep
Aaron C. Hartmann et al.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/668-a
Experiences That Changed Us: Last Call
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/668-b
Presumed Guilt in the Anthrax Case
Jeanne Guillemin
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/669-a
Presumed Guilt in the Anthrax Case-Response
David A. Relman
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/669-b
Corrections and Clarifications
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/670
Books et al.
Recalling Space and Time
Laura Lee Colgin
In a narrative format that combines experimental results, theory, and personal experience, Hasselmo discusses his quantitative model of the brain mechanisms for encoding and remembering our experiences.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/671
The Wind at Our Backs
Dan Reicher
Building on his interviews with people involved in the development of wind energy, Warburg chronicles the industry's growth and challenges.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/672-a
Books Received
A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 04 May 2012.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/672-b
Policy Forum
ELSI 2.0 for Genomics and Society
Jane Kaye et al.
We need an international infrastructure for the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomic research.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/673
Perspectives
FGF21 Takes a Fat Bite
Carles Cantó et al.
A growth factor's varied effects on adipose tissue and thermogenesis may be attributable to its local and systemic actions.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/675
Understanding Earthquakes
Paul Segall
Sophisticated numerical models can reproduce a wide range of seismic activity at the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas Fault.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/676
PARP-1 Activation-Bringing the Pieces Together
Jean-Philippe Gagne et al.
A model structure sheds light on how the PARP-1 protein is activated in DNA repair.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/678
Intertwining Electron Tunneling with Light
Marzena H. Szymańska
The tunneling of electrons through barriers can be controlled when photons are coupled to excited states of electrons trapped in quantum wells.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/679
RNA Plays Meiotic Matchmaker
Abby F. Dernburg
RNA plays a role in homologous chromosome pairing during meiosis.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/681
The Ice Age Carbon Puzzle
Edward Brook
A carbon isotope record helps to explain why carbon dioxide concentrations change during ice age cycles.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/682
Reports
Dawn at Vesta: Testing the Protoplanetary Paradigm
C. T. Russell et al.
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/684
Vesta's Shape and Morphology
R. Jaumann et al.
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/687
The Violent Collisional History of Asteroid 4 Vesta
S. Marchi et al.
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/690
The Geologically Recent Giant Impact Basins at Vesta's South Pole
Paul Schenk et al.
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/694
Spectroscopic Characterization of Mineralogy and Its Diversity Across Vesta
M. C. De Sanctis et al.
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/697
Color and Albedo Heterogeneity of Vesta from Dawn
Vishnu Reddy et al.
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/700
Coupling Quantum Tunneling with Cavity Photons
Peter Cristofolini et al.
Optical coupling is used to control the tunneling of electrons between a pair of quantum wells.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/704
Under the Hood of the Earthquake Machine: Toward Predictive Modeling of the Seismic Cycle
Sylvain Barbot et al.
Computational models predict the long-term recurrence of earthquakes along a segment of the San Andreas Fault.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/707
Carbon Isotope Constraints on the Deglacial CO2 Rise from Ice Cores
Jochen Schmitt et al.
The stable isotopic composition of the carbon in carbon dioxide over the last 24,000 years illuminates past carbon cycle behavior.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/711
Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala
William A. Saturno et al.
Wall paintings in a Mayan temple dating to the 9th century C.E. show calculations of Moon and, perhaps, planetary motion.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/714
A Stem Cell-Based Approach to Cartilage Repair
Kristen Johnson et al.
A chemical screen using mesenchymal stem cells identifies a small molecule, kartogenin, that can promote chondrogenesis.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/717
Differential Diffusivity of Nodal and Lefty Underlies a Reaction-Diffusion Patterning System
Patrick Müller et al.
The inhibitor Lefty diffuses more widely than the activator Nodal.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/721
Mechanical Control of Morphogenesis by Fat/Dachsous/Four-Jointed Planar Cell Polarity Pathway
Floris Bosveld et al.
Polarized proto-cadherin and myosin induce an anisotropic tension at cell junctions and thereby shape epithelial tissue.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/724
Structural Basis for DNA Damage-Dependent Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation by Human PARP-1
Marie-France Langelier et al.
An enzyme that binds to damaged DNA undergoes a structural reorganization that enhances its catalytic activity.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/728
Meiosis-Specific Noncoding RNA Mediates Robust Pairing of Homologous Chromosomes in Meiosis
Da-Qiao Ding et al.
An RNA transcript helps to bring together homologous chromosomes during cell division.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/732
Epigenomic Enhancer Profiling Defines a Signature of Colon Cancer
Batool Akhtar-Zaidi et al.
Methylation tags at long-distance gene regulatory elements provide a signature specific to cancer cells.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/736
Recent Explosive Human Population Growth Has Resulted in an Excess of Rare Genetic Variants
Alon Keinan et al.
Genetic models that incorporate recent human population growth can better identify mutations in large samples.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/740
Transcription-Independent Function of Polycomb Group Protein PSC in Cell Cycle Control
Adone Mohd-Sarip et al.
A Polycomb group protein regulates the cell cycle by promoting cyclin B ubiquitylation and degradation.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/744
From the AAAS Office of Publishing and Member Services
LIFE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGIES: Spot-On Protein Microarrays: An Old Proteomics Tool
Jeffrey M. Perkel
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/748
Products & Materials
New Products
A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/751-a
Podcast
Science Podcast
The show includes Mayan astronomical tables from the 9th century, cosmic insights from Vesta, a fossilized forest in China, and more.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/336/6082/751-b
