Contents
Vol 319, Issue 5868
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
Departments
Products & Materials
News of the Week
- Ecologists Report Huge Storm Losses in China's Forests
Last week, China's State Forestry Administration announced that winter storms have damaged 20.86 million hectares--one-tenth of China's forests and plantations--roughly equivalent to the number of hectares that were reforested between 2003 and 2006.
- Brazilian Scientists Battle Animal Experimentation Bans
Brazilian scientists are fighting a series of local attempts to ban animal experimentation that they say could cripple scientific research.
- Test of Hawking's Prediction on the Horizon With Mock 'White Hole'
Using an optical fiber and laser light, physicists have simulated a "white hole"--essentially a black hole working in reverse--as they report on page 1367 of this week's issue of Science. The model might soon mimic the "Hawking radiation" predicted to emanate from black holes.
- NSF Delays Three Projects to Get Better Handle on Costs
The U.S. National Science Foundation has omitted building funds for three long-running projects on the verge of construction from its 2009 budget request to Congress as part of a new policy aimed at eliminating cost overruns that occur after construction is under way.
- U.S. Biomedicine's Mother Ship Braces for Lab Closings
Up to 12 intramural labs--run by 16% of 74 tenured staff--could be shuttered at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development due to rising costs and flat budgets.
- Antimatter Experiment May Be Too Costly for NASA to Launch
NASA says it is willing to fly a $1.5 billion experiment designed to detect antimatter. But Congress would have to come up with as much as $4 billion to make it happen, the agency says.
- Electron Shadow Hints at Invisible Rings Around a Moon
Space physicists poring over Cassini spacecraft data report on page 1380 of this week's issue of Science that they think they have two firsts: the first known natural satellites of a moon, which also form the first rings known to encircle a moon.
ScienceScope
Random Samples
Newsmakers
News Focus
- Preparing for Doomsday
Over the next several years, new telescopes will spot thousands of near-Earth asteroids and comets. If one is headed our way, will world leaders be ready to respond?
- The State of Our Planet's Defenses
Experts can't say exactly when the next Earth-bound asteroid will heave into view, but they are confident that humanity has the tools to defend itself.
- Experts Find No Evidence for a Mammoth-Killer Impact
A devastating cosmic collision 13,000 years ago continues to play well in the media, but specialists are challenging the grounds for thinking it happened.
- Corn Genomics Pops Wide Open
The sequencing of maize genomes and the development of new strains are enabling faster exploitation of this key crop's natural diversity.
Letters
Books
- News from Avatar Editors
Drawing on Ludlow's experiences as a "virtual journalist," the authors explore such topics as conflicts between the owners and users of virtual worlds, among groups of users, and among individuals.
- Complexities of a Continent
The authors discuss the historical and contemporary contexts of health challenges (especially AIDS) in Africa.
Policy Forum
- Moving Toward Transparency of Clinical Trials
As new policies promote transparency of clinical trials through registries and results databases, further issues arise and require examination.
Perspectives
- Canyon Cutting on a Grand Time Scale
New data show how the Grand Canyon has been formed over the course of the past 20 million years.
- A Tail Tale for U
Enzymes add strings of uridine or adenosine to control RNA stability.
- Punishment and Cooperation
Data from economic games show that the effectiveness of punishment in fostering cooperation varies greatly from society to society.
- On Phytoplankton Trends
How are phytoplankton at coastal sites around the world responding to ongoing global change?
- Sweet Conundrum
High blood glucose concentration causes a transcription factor to be modified with a sugar moiety, triggering the liver to produce yet more glucose.
- Science 2.0
Traditional scientific methods need to be expanded to deal with complex issues that arise as social systems meet technological innovation.
- Joshua Lederberg (1925-2008)
The interests of a visionary scientist ranged from genetic details of the microbial world to new frontiers in computer science and space exploration.
Review
Brevia
- Dimethylsulfoniopropionate as a Foraging Cue for Reef Fishes
Reef fish locate desirable feeding opportunities by recognizing dimethylsulfoniopropionate, which is released by coral reef algae in response to foraging by fish.
Research Articles
- Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics
Considering changes in the shape of the ocean basins implies that global sea level fell by ~250 meters since 140 to 80 million years ago, a larger drop than implied in a recent study.
- Antisocial Punishment Across Societies
Retaliation against those who enforce the social norms of civic cooperation and rule of law varies among cultures and is more pronounced where social norms are weaker.
Reports
- Fiber-Optical Analog of the Event Horizon
An optical analog of the event horizon of a gravitational black hole can be produced with light pulses propagating along an optical fiber, providing a tractable experimental system.
- Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Nanocomposites Inspired by the Sea Cucumber Dermis
A rubbery polymer coated with nanofibers that segregate upon addition of a solvent can rapidly stiffen and relax, like the inner skin of a sea cucumber.
- Heterogeneous Nucleation Experiments Bridging the Scale from Molecular Ion Clusters to Nanoparticles
Experiments mimicking aerosol formation show that organic vapors tend to condense on any nanometer-scale particles, particularly negatively charged ones, rather than forming pure nuclei.
- Age and Evolution of the Grand Canyon Revealed by U-Pb Dating of Water Table-Type Speleothems
Dating of cave deposits that form at the water table implies that incision of the Grand Canyon began in the west 17 million years ago and only accelerated in the east recently.
- The Dust Halo of Saturn's Largest Icy Moon, Rhea
Observations of a large shadow in electrons and particles behind Rhea imply that it has a small ring system formed from dust lofted into orbit by impacts.
- TOPLESS Mediates Auxin-Dependent Transcriptional Repression During Arabidopsis Embryogenesis
A transcriptional co-repressor is part of the protein complex that inhibits developmental gene activation in Arabidopsis until the growth hormone auxin triggers its degradation.
- De Novo Computational Design of Retro-Aldol Enzymes
A computationally designed enzyme acts as a retro-aldolase that splits a carbon-carbon bond in a nonnatural substrate.
- A Cholesterol Biosynthesis Inhibitor Blocks Staphylococcus aureus Virulence
A drug for controlling cholesterol may be useful as an antibiotic for multi–drug-resistant Staphylococcus because of unexpected structural similarities among critical proteins.
- High-Resolution Mapping of Crossovers Reveals Extensive Variation in Fine-Scale Recombination Patterns Among Humans
High-density genotyping of individuals from 82 families shows unexpected variation in the number of meiotic crossovers and in the relative activity of recombination hotspots.
- Sequence Variants in the RNF212 Gene Associate with Genome-Wide Recombination Rate
A variant of a human gene associated with high rates of recombination in males and low rates in females is an ortholog of a nematode gene essential for recombination.
- Hepatic Glucose Sensing via the CREB Coactivator CRTC2
Competing glycosylation and phosphorylation of a single amino acid in a transcriptional coactivator regulate nutrient- and energy-sensing pathways and may contribute to diabetes.
- Coiled-Coil Irregularities and Instabilities in Group A Streptococcus M1 Are Required for Virulence
Mutating a cell-surface virulence protein on strep bacteria stabilizes its structure, minimizing its inflammatory side effects and potentially making it a better vaccine.
Technical Comments
From the AAAS Office of Publishing and Member Services
