Contents
Vol 341, Issue 6148
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
Podcasts
- Science Podcast: 23 August Show
Listen to stories on what's ticking with atomic clocks, ribosomopathies, defending Earth against asteroids, 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
- Around the World
In science news around the world, the Asian tiger mosquito moves north in Europe, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announces the low water in the Colorado River will lead to a reduction in water released through the Glen Canyon Dam, and Ecuador plans to move ahead with controversial drilling plans in an Amazon park.
- Random Sample
A scientist's kitchen-sink–sized contraption recreates a Cretaceous-era rainforest floor and sheds light on the key role that fungi play in oil production. And U.S. Geological Survey scientists use the implosion of a building overlooking San Francisco Bay to better understand earthquake hazards on California's Hayward fault.
Findings
News & Analysis
- Diplomatic Flap Threatens E.U.-Israeli Research Ties
Israel may forgo participation in Horizon 2020 over dispute on occupied territories.
- How NASA Tried to Save Its Prime Planet-Spotter
With 130 extrasolar planets to its credit, NASA's Kepler space telescope was going strong—until mechanical breakdowns crippled it and left astronomers scrambling to find ways to keep the mission doing science.
- Half of All Papers Now Free in Some Form, Study Claims
One-half of all scientific papers published each year are now available in some kind of free, "open-access" format, a new study claims, marking a tipping point in technical publishing.
- Can China Age Gracefully? A Massive Survey Aims to Find Out
A massive survey on aging will chart China's shift from a nation of young workers to one of elderly pensioners.
News Focus
- The CRISPR Craze
A bacterial immune system yields a potentially revolutionary genome-editing technique.
- The Save-the-World Foundation
Convinced that NASA will not finish the job, a private foundation intends to raise $450 million for a space mission to find asteroids that may threaten Earth.
Letters
Books et al.
- We Need More Than Preservation
Alagona explores the complexities of using imperiled species as proxies for conflicts over places or resources.
- O Brave New World with Such Games
Blending mathematical clarity and biological intuition, Broom and Rychtář provide a comprehensive introduction to applying game theory to biology.
- Books Received
A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 16 August 2013.
Policy Forum
- A Critical Crossroad for BLM's Wild Horse Program
Captive wild horses will cost the United States over $1 billion by 2030 unless management approaches change.
Education Forum
- Can Rating Pre-K Programs Predict Children's Learning?
Systems intended to rate the quality of early education programs may not actually reflect impacts on learning.
Perspectives
- Mysterious Ribosomopathies
Ribosomes are essential in all cell types, yet mutations to ribosomal proteins or assembly factors cause tissue-specific disease.
- Megacity Megaquakes—Two Near Misses
Seismicity patterns after large earthquakes suggest that the earthquake hazard can rise sharply in areas well beyond the mainshock rupture zone.
- An Arsenic Forecast for China
A map of possible arsenic contamination in China's aquifers may guide mitigation efforts.
- Gene Therapy That Works
Gene therapy trials show a beneficial effect in children suffering from a neurodegenerative disorder or an immunodeficiency disease.
- Nucleation from Solution
Computer simulations of crystal nucleation provide evidence for two-step nucleation.
- The Health Risk of Obesity—Better Metrics Imperative
The impact of a high BMI on mortality is in question, calling for a rethinking of how metabolic health is assessed.
- Functional Ion Defects in Transition Metal Oxides
Dynamically tuning the concentration and profile of ions and vacancies in transition metal oxides provides a route to control of new functionalities.
Research Articles
- Lentiviral Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy in Patients with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome
Lentivirus-mediated gene therapy produces encouraging results in three children with a rare immunodeficiency disorder.
- Lentiviral Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy Benefits Metachromatic Leukodystrophy
Lentivirus-mediated gene therapy produces encouraging results in three children with a rare lysosomal storage disease.
Review
Reports
- Groundwater Arsenic Contamination Throughout China
A predictive map of arsenic in Chinese groundwater aquifers reveals a potential health risk to 19.6 million people.
- Hillslopes Record the Growth and Decay of Landscapes
Changes in tectonic rates can be quantitatively derived from hillslope morphology.
- Mapping Tectonic Deformation in the Crust and Upper Mantle Beneath Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean
Anisotropy of the crust and mantle under Europe is a relict of the continent’s formation.
- Abundant Porewater Mn(III) Is a Major Component of the Sedimentary Redox System
Soluble manganese(III) accounts for up to 90% of the total manganese in the near-surface porewaters of hemipelagic sediments.
- 14-Step Synthesis of (+)-Ingenol from (+)-3-Carene
A chemical route to a diterpenoid could enhance production efficiency of a drug that treats a precancerous skin condition.
- Mapping of Functional Groups in Metal-Organic Frameworks
Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and simulations map the distribution of linking groups in metal-organic frameworks.
- Microscopic Evidence for Liquid-Liquid Separation in Supersaturated CaCO3 Solutions
The preordering seen during calcium carbonate crystallization may be due to a liquid-liquid separation process.
- Molecular Mechanism for Plant Steroid Receptor Activation by Somatic Embryogenesis Co-Receptor Kinases
Crystal structures reveal why the brassinosteroid receptor kinase requires another kinase helper protein for activation.
- Titration of Four Replication Factors Is Essential for the Xenopus laevis Midblastula Transition
Increasing numbers of nuclei compared with the cytoplasmic volume promotes a key developmental step in frog embryos.
- SGK196 Is a Glycosylation-Specific O-Mannose Kinase Required for Dystroglycan Function
An atypical kinase genetically associated with muscular dystrophies recognizes a unique trisaccharide structure.
- Conformational Motions Regulate Phosphoryl Transfer in Related Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases
Differences in the rate of an internal protein loop closure are coupled to differences in enzyme reaction rates.
- Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase Is an Innate Immune Sensor of HIV and Other Retroviruses
Cell culture experiments suggest that detection of retroviral DNA activates cellular defense systems.
