Contents
Vol 311, Issue 5760
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
NetWatch
Products & Materials
News of the Week
ScienceScope
Random Samples
Newsmakers
News Focus
Letters
Books
Education Forum
Perspectives
Association Affairs
Review
Brevia
- The Orbital Period of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source in M82
Periodic brightening of luminous X-ray source may be due to gas supplied from a bloated star orbiting around a massive black hole.
Research Articles
- Fermionic Superfluidity with Imbalanced Spin Populations
Cold clouds of atoms with unequal populations of atomic spins can maintain a surprisingly robust superfluid state, which requires paired spins.
- Community Genomics Among Stratified Microbial Assemblages in the Ocean's Interior
Community genomic analysis indicates that the microbes near the surface of the Northern Pacific are mobile and photosynthetic, while those below 200 meters have pili and synthesize polysaccharides and antibiotics.
Reports
- Pairing and Phase Separation in a Polarized Fermi Gas
Cold clouds of atoms with unequal populations of atomic spins can maintain a surprisingly robust superfluid state, which requires paired spins.
- Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals
A systems analysis shows that, contrary to some studies, biofuel ethanol can yield more energy than is required for its synthesis; nevertheless, better production technologies are needed.
- Optical Detection of DNA Conformational Polymorphism on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Metal ions in solution can change the way DNA wraps around a singlewalled nanotube and affect the tube's fluorescence, providing a sensitive detector.
- Rapid Uplift of the Altiplano Revealed Through 13C-18O Bonds in Paleosol Carbonates
A paleothermometer based on binding strength between rare C and O isotopes within carbonates shows that the Bolivian Altiplano rose rapidly about 8 million years ago.
- Freezing as a Path to Build Complex Composites
Ice is used to template colloidal particles into forming bone and nacre-like structures and then is easily removed, leaving a contaminant-free substrate for further reinforcement.
- The Cellular Basis of a Corollary Discharge
Crickets "know" when they hear their own song because the neural circuit for singing sends a corollary discharge to auditory neurons as well as to the motor circuit for singing.
- Scaling of Connectivity in Marine Populations
Larvae of coastal fish in the Caribbean typically disperse only 10 to 100 kilometers, less than had been thought, yielding more isolated populations.
- Nonrandom Processes Maintain Diversity in Tropical Forests
Long-term census of trees in tropical forest plots shows that rare species survive preferentially, leading to more species diversity as forests age.
- An Architectural Framework That May Lie at the Core of the Postsynaptic Density
A scaffolding protein, assisted by bound Zn2+, can assemble into large sheets and may form a platform for the construction of the postsynaptic density.
- Design and Evolution of New Catalytic Activity with an Existing Protein Scaffold
A process that mimics natural protein evolution converts an enzyme in the metallohydrolase superfamily into a new family member with a different catalytic function.
- A Virus Reveals Population Structure and Recent Demographic History of Its Carnivore Host
An innocuous virus carried by cats shows that recent cougar populations result from the expansion and merging of small isolated populations that had been reduced by hunting.
Technical Comments
