Contents
Vol 321, Issue 5897
Special Feature
Special Feature
- 2008 Visualization Challenge
This year's edition of the annual challenge drew 181 entries from 21 countries.
- 2008 Visualization Challenge Winners
Science and the National Science Foundation announce the winners and honorable mentions in the categories of photography, illustration, informational graphics, interactive media, and noninteractive media in this year's International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
Podcasts
- Science Podcast
The 26 September 2008 show includes Earth's potentially oldest rocks, science policy and the U.S. presidential election, this year's International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, and more.
Products & Materials
News of the Week
- Misjudged Talk Opens Creationist Rift at Royal Society
Last week, a talk titled "Should Creationism Be a Part of the Science Curriculum?" cost the speaker, Michael Reiss, his job as director of education at the Royal Society, Britain's academy of science.
- After Spectacular Start, the LHC Injures Itself
Nine days after starting up without a hitch, an event known as a "quench" has damaged the Large Hadron Collider so severely that it will be out of action until next spring.
- Rising Costs Could Delay NASA's Next Mission to Mars and Future Launches
Faced with a dramatically higher price tag, NASA managers will decide next month whether to postpone the launch of a sophisticated Mars rover for 2 years. Pushing back the mission could delay or even force the cancellation of future missions.
- Geologists Find Vestige of Early Earth--Maybe World's Oldest Rock
On page 1828 of this week's issue of Science, geologists report the discovery of rock in northern Quebec on Hudson Bay that records the existence of the earliest crust. The Canadian rock may also be the oldest known rock by 300 million years.
- U.K. Science Adviser Makes His U.S. Debut
Last week, during his first visit to the United States as the U.K. government's chief scientific adviser, John Beddington sat down with Science's news editors to discuss topics as varied as food, fuel, and physics.
ScienceScope
Random Samples
Newsmakers
News Focus
- Proteomics Ponders Prime Time
Improved technologies for tracking thousands of proteins at once have spawned talk of a full-scale project to reveal all the proteins in each tissue--but the price tag would be daunting.
- Will Biomarkers Take Off at Last?
After years of disappointments, proteomics researchers say they're cautiously optimistic that they will be able to detect proteins that are markers for specific diseases.
- Scientists Strive for a Seat at the Table of Each Campaign
When it comes to soliciting scientific advice, Barack Obama welcomes a cast of thousands, whereas John McCain plays it close to the vest.
- Searching for the Secrets of the Super Old
More and more people are living past 110. Can they show us all how to age gracefully?
Letters
Books
- For Equality, Education Matters
The authors lay out an economic framework for thinking about how technological change and human capital accumulation interact to affect pay and inequality, which, they argue, provides a crucial perspective for understanding the evolution of the U.S. economy.
- Regime Change in Scientific Depiction
The authors explore changes in the meanings of objectivity through a consideration of images, in particular those from scientific atlases and reference books.
Education Forum
- School Performance Will Fail to Meet Legislated Benchmarks
Federally mandated progress goals may translate into widespread failure of California elementary schools.
Perspectives
- For Quantum Information, Two Wrongs Can Make a Right
A channel too noisy to send quantum information can send secret messages, and, when combined with a similarly noisy channel, can reliably send quantum states.
- The Past Martian Dynamo
Numerical dynamo modeling studies may explain the observation that strong magnetic fields are only found in Mars' southern hemisphere.
- The Metastasis Cascade
The view of evolution of tumor cells toward metastasis takes a new twist.
- Unlocking the Potential of the Spoken Word
Advances in speech processing may soon place speech and writing on a more equal footing, with broad implications for many aspects of society.
- Can Neural Data Improve Economics?
Researchers are exploring how neurobiology can guide economic experiments and refine economic models.
- Nonlinear Thinking About Molecular Energy Transfer
Although solvent molecules move about randomly in a liquid, an experiment showed that changing their initial arrangement affected the rate of a chemical process.
Association Affairs
Review
Brevia
- Magnetic Source Separation in Earth's Outer Core
Analysis of Earth's magnetic field as it has changed and reversed suggests that its dipole arises from a distinct part of the outer core than that of the rest of the field.
Research Articles
- Core Signaling Pathways in Human Pancreatic Cancers Revealed by Global Genomic Analyses
Sequencing of DNA mutations shows that the same 12 signaling pathways are disrupted in most pancreatic tumors, suggesting these as key to tumor development.
- An Integrated Genomic Analysis of Human Glioblastoma Multiforme
Comprehensive analysis of mutations in a brain cancer identifies previously unidentified cancer genes and a frequently mutated protein that may serve as a therapeutic marker.
Reports
- Quantum Communication with Zero-Capacity Channels
Two quantum communication channels, each of which is so noisy that it has zero capacity to independently transmit information, can do so when used together.
- Synthesis and Solid-State NMR Structural Characterization of 13C-Labeled Graphite Oxide
Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance study of graphite oxide made with 100 percent carbon-13 reveals a complex bonding network involving several carbon species.
- Linear Response Breakdown in Solvation Dynamics Induced by Atomic Electron-Transfer Reactions
A solvent equilibrates faster around a sodium-electron ion pair formed from Na+ than from Na-, violating a widely used approximation for modeling solvent dynamics.
- Mars' Paleomagnetic Field as the Result of a Single-Hemisphere Dynamo
A model of Mars' early magnetic field with a north-south gradient in heat flow from the core yields a strong field only in the south, explaining the relic magnetism in the crust.
- The Structure and Dynamics of Mid-Ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Systems
A three-dimensional model shows that mid-ocean hydrothermal systems self-organize into broad warm downflows feeding narrow, pipelike hot upflows.
- Neodymium-142 Evidence for Hadean Mafic Crust
An unusual isotopic anomaly in rocks along the Hudson Bay suggests that they formed 4.28 billion years ago and support early formation of a separate reservoir in Earth's mantle.
- Infants' Perseverative Search Errors Are Induced by Pragmatic Misinterpretation
Infants may make mistakes in certain tasks because of the powerful effects of social interaction with an adult, not because of brain immaturity as was previously assumed.
- Antigen Recognition by Variable Lymphocyte Receptors
The receptor that binds antigens in jawless vertebrates differs from the immunoglobulins of jawed vertebrates and uses a variable concave surface and Carboxyl terminal for recognition.
- Disruption of the CFTR Gene Produces a Model of Cystic Fibrosis in Newborn Pigs
Newborn pigs carrying a mutated copy of the gene defective in cystic fibrosis exhibit many features of the human disease and may provide fresh insights for therapy.
- Seeding and Propagation of Untransformed Mouse Mammary Cells in the Lung
In mice, normal mammary cells can colonize the lung, suggesting that metastases might arise from displaced normal cells acquiring genetic changes that confer malignancy.
- The Coevolution of Cultural Groups and Ingroup Favoritism
Results of a laboratory game show that cultural groups and ingroup favoritism arise spontaneously when individuals display an external marker that predicts their actions.
- Understanding Overbidding: Using the Neural Circuitry of Reward to Design Economic Auctions
Brain areas sensitive to loss are selectively engaged during bidding in an auction, suggesting that the desire to avoid loss underlies the phenomenon of overbidding.
From the AAAS Office of Publishing and Member Services
