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Sponsored by Harrington Discovery Institute


Grant Funding for Promising Drug Discoveries
Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals Case Medical Center announces the 2015 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Grant competition. This nationwide search for physician-scientists who seek to accelerate promising drug discoveries into novel treatments for patients is open to physician-scientists at accredited academic medical centers, research institutions and universities in the U.S. Letters of Intent are accepted through May 2, 2014.
Apply now at HarringtonDiscovery.org.

Science/AAAS
Science
Table of Contents
 

4 April 2014 Volume 344, Issue 6179


In this week's issue:


Research Summaries


Editor summaries of this week's papers.

Highlights of the recent literature.


Editorial



News of The Week


In science news around the world, the upgraded Alvin deep-sea submersible prepares to return to scientific service, researchers urge the Spanish government to rescind approval of a drug linked to vulture deaths, and more.


Neuroscientist Huda Zoghbi wins the March of Dimes' developmental biology prize, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters selects Princeton mathematician Yakov Sinai for its Abel Prize in mathematics, and theoretical physicist William Goldstein takes the helm at California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.


NASA engineers make a foray into fashion with three outlandish designs for the new Z-2 space suits, and encourage the public to vote on which will become a prototype.



News & Analysis


Oso Disaster

While some experts have suggested that the deadly Oso landslide in Washington on 22 March could have been foreseen, others argue that it was an extreme event that could not have been anticipated.


Planetary Science

Suspicions that Saturn's icy moon Enceladus harbors an internal ocean—one that could host life—have hardened into near certainty with exquisitely precise observations from the Cassini spacecraft.


Archaeology

This week, archaeologists from around the world will gather in the ancient city of Erbil to discuss its long history and the suddenly promising future for archaeological research in surrounding Iraqi Kurdistan.


Theoretical Physics

As evidence mounts for cosmic inflation, theorists must confront a bedeviling conceptual problem in the theory.


Climate Science

In a new report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has gotten much more specific on the impacts of climate change and how nations can adapt.


Environmental Policy

The United Nations' highest court dealt a blow to Japan's scientific whaling program in the Antarctic, saying it isn't science.


Stem Cell Research

Fabrication and falsification raise further concerns about claims for a new and easy way to create stem cells.



News Focus


As constraints take hold in biomedicine, scientists are forced to adapt.


A young Parkinson's researcher struggles to establish herself, a task made much harder by the challenge of landing her first big grant.


After a long and successful career, a biochemist is shocked when his grants aren't renewed—and he seeks alternatives to stay in the game.


Her funding tight, a biologist adapts her work on early brain development as she strives to keep training young scientists.


A vice president for research enjoys a healthy budget and strategizes to pull more dollars in.


A geneticist with nearly $3 million in grants considers what's behind his financial success.


Looking for new dollars, a nutritionist turns to crowd funding, and hopes she can raise what she needs by the deadline.


A microbiologist opens his books to share his expenses and where his grant money goes.



Letters



Books et al.


History of Science

Through her exploration of the impact of Darwinian theories on the intellectual life of Ottoman Syria and Egypt, Elshakry illuminates the development of science-and-religion issues in the region.


Exhibition

An exhibition on Viking culture currently at the British Museum emphasizes the influences of its connections with Europe, Byzantium, and the Middle East.


A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 28 March 2014.



Policy Forum


Research Funding

Expenditures from grant funds support many different types of workers and vendors across the nation.

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Perspectives


Neuroscience

Applying tools from optogenetics with ideas from regenerative medicine may herald a new era of translational optogenetics. [Also see Report by Bryson et al.]


Chemistry

The fleeting stability of the cyanoformate ion formed from CO2 and cyanide has implications for plant enzymology and CO2 sequestration. [Also see Report by Murphy et al.]


Ecology

Fences must be used with care in biodiversity conservation to avoid unintended consequences.


Neuroscience

A pair of neurons in the CNS of flies controls and coordinates their ability to walk backward. [Also see Report by Bidaye et al.]


Immunology

Future HIV vaccine research should consider the balance between responses that favor protection and those that lead to susceptibility to infection.


Geophysics

Mid-ocean ridge volcanoes sample a mantle that varies in temperature and composition. [Also see Report by Dalton et al.]


Oceans

Paleoclimate data point to a warm tropical ocean with a clear east-west temperature gradient during the warm climates of the Pliocene and Miocene. [Also see Report by Zhang et al.]



Reviews



Research Articles


A synthetic version of yeast chromosome III with every gene tagged can substitute for the original.


Insight into the activation mechanism of a human neuronal G protein–coupled receptor.


Stiff DNA tripod units enabled the assembly of wireframe polyhedra with edges 100 nanometers in length.



Reports


Structures of part of the signal recognition complex help explain how newly synthesized proteins are inserted into membranes.


Flexible skin-integrated electronic sensors enable continuous, wireless health monitoring.


Characterization of a cyanide–carbon dioxide adduct bolsters its possible role in protecting a plant enzyme from cyanide inhibition. [Also see Perspective by Alabugin and Mohamed]


The saturnian moon is differentiated and likely hosts a regional subsurface sea at its southern pole.


Temperature variations in the upper mantle drive mantle convection. [Also see Perspective by Kelley]


A strong Pacific zonal surface ocean temperature gradient has existed for the past 12 million years. [Also see Perspective by Lea]


Opposing gradients of bone morphogenetic protein and Nodal can induce the formation of a zebrafish embryo.


Engineered poplar lignin with readily cleavable ester bonds in the polymer backbone improves wood degradability.


Transplanted neurons controlled by light can drive muscle function in damaged mouse sciatic nerves. [Also see Perspective by Iyer and Delp]


Activation of descending command neurons in Drosophila induces flies to walk backward. [Also see Perspective by Mann]



Podcast


On this week's show: life under rapid funding change and a news roundup with David Grimm.



New Products


A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.



From the AAAS Office of Publishing and Member Services


 
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Podcast

On this week's show: life under rapid funding change and a news roundup with David Grimm.

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Sponsored by Harrington Discovery Institute


Grant Funding for Promising Drug Discoveries
Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals Case Medical Center announces the 2015 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Grant competition. This nationwide search for physician-scientists who seek to accelerate promising drug discoveries into novel treatments for patients is open to physician-scientists at accredited academic medical centers, research institutions and universities in the U.S. Letters of Intent are accepted through May 2, 2014.
Apply now at HarringtonDiscovery.org.



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