New data allow researchers to map inequality the world over

Don't blame farming. Inequality got its start among resource-rich hunter-gatherers

Hunter-gatherers—and presumably all our ancestors—lived as equals

With a massive database of income tax records, a French superstar challenges conventional wisdom on inequality

If the poor will always be with us, an analogy to the second law of thermodynamics may explain why

Controversial research explores whether living in an unequal society can make people sick

Inequality spikes in developing nations around the world

Researchers seek new ways to understand social mobility and opportunity in America

A Curaçao businessman offers his submersible—the "Curasub"—to Smithsonian Institution researchers to study the ocean’s twilight zone, between 200 and 1000 meters. And a graduate student takes tweeting from a meeting to the next level—instead of just 140 characters, he tweets his hand-drawn caricatures of the speakers

In science news around the world, NASA's Kepler mission is re-upped for two more years, the Chinese Academy of Sciences embraces open access, a new Longitude Prize is announced, and more

Engineers and scientists designing the Mars 2020 rover keep an eye on geologic diversity—and the clock

Global network fails to confirm 10 of 27 psychology findings, but some call project an inquisition

Smoking-gun evidence for cosmic inflation may actually be radiation from within our galaxy

To keep Germany's science from stalling, research minister Johanna Wanka must break a federal-state impasse

Jobs and instruments are at risk as government cuts radio astronomy and other science programs

For years, bioethicist Carl Elliott has insisted that his university failed a young man who died by suicide during a clinical trial

A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 16 May 2014.

Inequality, an intrinsic feature of science, has trended upward in recent years

Tabletop corals can adapt to changing temperature conditions on shorter time scales than previously thought [Also see Report by Palumbi et al.]

Experiments reveal how some deep seismic anomalies near the core-mantle boundary might be generated [Also see Research Article by Zhang et al. and Report by Andrault et al.]

Molecular characterization of macrophages reveals distinct types during tumorigenesis [Also see Report by Franklin et al.]

Rising greenhouse gas emissions may have played a role in the severe 2013–2014 winter in the U.S. Midwest

Mutations in a signaling protein underlie a class of functional adrenal tumors [Also see Reports by Cao et al. and Sato et al.]

A numerical test shows that string theory can provide a self-consistent quantization of gravity [Also see Report by Hanada et al.]

Strategies to modify immune responses to infection can be found in our genome

Antibodies in Tanzanian children identify a malaria vaccine candidate that prevents within-host dispersal of blood-stage parasites

A presumed dominant mineral in Earth’s interior can disassociate into two phases at lower mantle conditions [Also see Perspective by Williams]

Numerical simulations of an evaporating black hole are consistent with a quantum description of gravity [Also see Perspective by Maldacena]

Vibrational excitation of a carbon monoxide molecule on a scanning tunneling microscope tip reveals bonding within adsorbed molecules

Up to 89% of microbial cells in the sub–sea floor at continental margins are sustained by fermentation and methanogenesis

Mid-ocean ridge basalt entrained in the lowermost mantle is consistent with seismic ultra–low velocity zones [Also see Perspective by Williams]

The coral Acropora hyacinthus is capable of rapid acclimation to high temperatures [Also see Perspective by Eakin]

Elephant bird mitochondrial sequences suggest that flightless bird ancestors were able to fly and dispersed through flight

Fruit flies engage a subset of mushroom body neurons to gather information before committing to a choice

Coactivity-triggered release of a retrograde branch-suppressing signal suppresses a presynaptic axonal-growth signal

Metagenomic analysis reveals extensive and diverse stop codon reassignments among environmental microbes and phages

Adrenal Cushing’s syndrome involves recurrent mutations in a key signal transduction pathway [Also see Perspective by Kirschner]

Adrenal Cushing’s syndrome involves recurrent mutations in a key signal transduction pathway [Also see Perspective by Kirschner]

The origins of tumor-associated macrophages in a mouse mammary tumor model are revealed. [Also see Perspective by Perdiguero and Geissmann]

On this week's show: the complex relationship between inequality and health and a roundup of stories from our daily news site

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