Contents
Vol 325, Issue 5945
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
Departments
Podcasts
- Science Podcast
The show includes promoting public cooperation, cooperation's origins, convergent social evolution between humans and dogs, and more.
Products & Materials
- New Products
A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.
News of the Week
- Disrupting Hedgehog May Reverse Advanced Cancer, If Only Temporarily
A drug has dramatically shrunk cancerous tumors by disrupting a key genetic pathway, although one deadly brain cancer quickly developed resistance. A study published online this week in Science describes the mechanism by which this resistance developed.
- Ancient DNA Says Europe's First Farmers Came From Afar
In a paper published online this week in Science, European researchers for the first time directly compare ancient DNA from European hunter-gatherers and early farmers. They conclude that outside colonizers brought farming to central Europe in a major migration event about 7500 years ago.
- Dismissal of Senior Scientist for ‘Nonattendance’ Shakes Community
The dismissal of a top Venezuelan scientist from a government research institute and threats to dismantle one of its most successful programs have revived accusations that the government of President Hugo Chávez is engaging in political persecution.
- Science Needs Kids With Vision
Many of those with exceptional spatial abilities are being missed in most science talent searches, claimed a psychologist at a workshop last week on innovation by the National Science Foundation's National Science Board.
- From Science's Online Daily News Site
Highlights from Science's online daily news site, ScienceNOW, this week include a breathalyzer for cancer, the reason "close talkers" make others uncomfortable, ancient armored mammals at bat, and the effects of global warming on marine food webs.
- Last Chance to Save the 'Panda of Indochina'
At an emergency meeting in Vientiane last month, researchers hammered out a set of measures that, if implemented within the next year, could give the saola, a rare ungulate no scientist has ever glimpsed in the wild, a shot at survival.
- Dam Project Reveals Secret Sanctuary of Vanishing Deer
In just 4 months, a research team in northern Laos captured an astounding 38 large-antlered muntjacs—a rare deer that was discovered only in 1994 and was photographed for the first time by a camera trap in 2007.
- How Will Science Fare?
This year, the newly elected Democratic Party has responsibility for finalizing the budget of the Japanese education ministry—and no one knows how R&D will fare.
- From the Science Policy Blog
ScienceInsider this week reported on the release (or so rumor has it) of the much-ballyhooed report on the future of the U.S. human space program, the most comprehensive report yet on geoengineering, the shuddering and unexpected halt of India's moon mission, and other stories.
- The Case of the Midwife Toad: Fraud or Epigenetics?
A new analysis published this week suggests that Paul Kammerer's long-discredited experiments may have been the first demonstrations of a recently recognized phenomenon: epigenetics.
- Potent HIV Antibodies Spark Vaccine Hopes
A large team of researchers reports online in Science this week that it has identified the most powerful, broad-acting antibodies yet against multiple strains of HIV.
Random Samples
News Focus
- On the Origin of Cooperation
How did cooperation evolve when cheaters—those who benefit without making sacrifices—can threaten its stability? In the ninth essay in Science's series in honor of the Year of Darwin, Elizabeth Pennisi discusses the genetic nuts and bolts of cooperation in systems from microbes to humans.
- Sugary Achilles' Heel Raises Hope For Broad-Acting Antiviral Drugs
At the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers reported that a protein that binds sugar groups on the outermost proteins of HIV, gumming up the virus's machinery for entering cells, does nearly as well against the SARS and Ebola viruses, showing promise as a broad-spectrum antiviral.
- New Trick for Splitting Water With Sunlight
At the American Chemical Society fall meeting, a team reported incorporating a mimic of the natural catalyst of photosynthesis into a solar cell to create what amounts to artificial photosynthesis: a device that turns sunlight into fuel.
- Altered Microbes Make Dark-Horse Biofuels
At the American Chemical Society fall meeting, bioengineers reported equipping photosynthetic algae with the metabolic machinery needed to make isobutanol, a potential alcohol biofuel, and tweaking a reluctant microbe to make large quantities of n-butanol, another commercially important chemical.
Letters
Books et al.
- Evolutionary Biology for Doctors
Gluckman, Beedle, and Hanson provide medical students and physicians with an introduction to evolutionary biology focused on topics important to human and public health.
- More Than Just Talking
Mergen offers a wide-ranging consideration of Americans' experiences with and reactions to their weather
Policy Forum
- Agricultural Research, Productivity, and Food Prices in the Long Run
A reinvestment in agricultural R&D is critical to ensuring sufficient food for the world in the coming decades.
Perspectives
- Re-viewing an Old Comet Reservoir
Simulations show that the inner Oort Cloud is the source of many more long-period comets than expected.
- Genetic Constraints on Adaptation?
A lack of genetic variation in ecologically important traits may limit the ability of tropical species to respond to climate change.
- Like Infant, Like Dog
The domestic dog possesses social-cognitive skills that parallel those of human children.
- Erasing Fear Memories
Why are memories of traumatic events nearly impossible to eliminate?
- Threats to Freshwater Fish
Insights into how small, isolated fish populations persist in the wild could aid conservation efforts.
Review
Brevia
- Shor’s Quantum Factoring Algorithm on a Photonic Chip
A quantum algorithm to factor numbers is implemented on an optical chip.
Reports
- An Ultramassive, Fast-Spinning White Dwarf in a Peculiar Binary System
X-ray observations show that a white dwarf has a mass near the limit above which these stars become gravitationally unstable.
- Realization of an Excited, Strongly Correlated Quantum Gas Phase
Confinement of a cloud of ultracold atoms along one dimension creates tunable metastable excited states.
- Complete Methods Set for Scalable Ion Trap Quantum Information Processing
Coupling of different ions creates states that are insensitive to stray magnetic fields and more robust for quantum computing.
- A Sulfilimine Bond Identified in Collagen IV
An unusual sulfilimine bond provides a reinforcing cross-link of an extracellular matrix protein, collagen IV.
- Reassessing the Source of Long-Period Comets
Numerical simulations show that the inner Oort Cloud is a major source of long-period comets that cross Earth’s orbit.
- Recent Warming Reverses Long-Term Arctic Cooling
A 2000-year-long Arctic cooling trend seen in a surface air temperature reconstruction was reversed during the last century.
- Poly(ADP-ribose)–Dependent Regulation of DNA Repair by the Chromatin Remodeling Enzyme ALC1
A chromatin remodeling complex targeted by poly(ADP ribosyl)ation plays a role in DNA repair.
- Fundamental Evolutionary Limits in Ecological Traits Drive Drosophila Species Distributions
The evolutionary potential of key traits may be restricted by limited genetic variation.
- Common Regulatory Variation Impacts Gene Expression in a Cell Type–Dependent Manner
Genetic variation in regulatory elements among humans affects gene expression in a tissue-specific manner.
- Rab35 Controls Actin Bundling by Recruiting Fascin as an Effector Protein
Development of sensory bristles in flies depends on controlling the colocalization of actin assembly on membranes.
- Regulation of Histone Acetylation in the Nucleus by Sphingosine-1-Phosphate
A phospholipid that binds to nuclear enzymes modifies gene transcription in response to external stimuli.
- Perineuronal Nets Protect Fear Memories from Erasure
Fearful memories in adults are difficult to erase because of the physical environment of specific neurons in the brain.
- Activation of the PI3K Pathway in Cancer Through Inhibition of PTEN by Exchange Factor P-REX2a
Cancer cell growth is stimulated by the inhibition of a previously unknown step in cell signaling for tumor suppression.
- Recruitment of Antigen-Specific CD8+ T Cells in Response to Infection Is Markedly Efficient
Lymphocyte proliferation, more than recruitment to the site of an infection, determines the success of the immune response.
- Differential Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs, Wolves, and Human Infants
Social interactions with humans govern the way dogs and children learn, but wolves learn by focusing on objects.
- Positive Interactions Promote Public Cooperation
Reward is as good as punishment to promote cooperation, costs less, and increases the share out of resources up for grabs.
Technical Comments
