Contents
13 December 2019
Vol 366, Issue 6471
Vol 366, Issue 6471
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
Products & Materials
- New Products
A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.
In Brief
In Depth
- Donkeys face worldwide existential threat
Surging demand for hides, used in Chinese medicine, sends populations crashing.
- AIs direct search for materials breakthroughs
Decision-making algorithms transform how robots evaluate and synthesize solar cells and more.
- DNA from Arctic lakes traces past climate impacts
Ancient vegetation shifts offer clues to the impacts of future warming.
- Doubts persist for claimed Alzheimer's drug
Once declared a failure, Biogen's antibody drug to be submitted for U.S. approval in 2020.
- Cave painting suggests ancient origin of modern mind
Half-human, half-animal hunters in mythical scene show early artists in Indonesia had sophisticated imaginations.
Feature
- Epilepsy's next frontier
Almost one in every three patients suffers from seizures that are resistant to drugs. Scientists are looking for new ways to help them.
- Foiling epilepsy in a brain at risk
With biomarker and animal research, doctors are probing how to prevent epilepsy after a brain injury.
Working Life
Letters
Books et al.
- Planning for a warmer world
A pair of Obama advisers advocate for proactive climate solutions
- Mastering the element of competition
Players race to research the periodic table in an engaging new board game
Policy Forum
- Evidence, alarm, and the debate over e-cigarettes
Prohibitionist measures threaten public health
Perspectives
- Two-dimensional polymers grow up
Silicon wafer–sized single-layer films are synthesized with a new method
- Molecular messages in human microbiota
Multiple approaches reveal the molecular wealth from the gut microbiome
- Cell types exposed by social scent
A function-guided expression profiling strategy uncovers how pheromones are detected
- Extreme diamond-based quantum sensors
Nitrogen vacancies make for superlative sensors of material properties at high pressures
- Making stronger carbon-fiber precursors
Cross-linking multiple strands improves strength and toughness of polyacrylonitrile fibers
- Surprising regulation of cell cycle entry
Structures of heterotrimeric cyclin-dependent kinase 4 complexes reveal the mechanism of drug inhibition
- The biology of big
Whales became the world's largest animals thanks to giant gulps of “bite-size” prey
Research Articles
- Depletion of microbiome-derived molecules in the host using Clostridium genetics
Genetically knocking out the production of diffusible metabolites from intestinal commensals elucidates the host-bacterial interface.
- p27 allosterically activates cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and antagonizes palbociclib inhibition
Crystal structures clarify the regulation mechanism of a kinase complex linked to cancer.
- A metagenomic strategy for harnessing the chemical repertoire of the human microbiome
A general strategy quickly profiles metagenomic datasets from large clinical cohorts, prioritizing candidate biosynthetic gene clusters.
- Stepwise Earth oxygenation is an inherent property of global biogeochemical cycling
Earth’s stepwise oxygenation history may have been driven by internal feedbacks rather than external forcing.
- DNA loop extrusion by human cohesin
A cohesin-NIPBL-MAU2 complex acts as a DNA loop–extruding holoenzyme.
Reviews
Reports
- Human cohesin compacts DNA by loop extrusion
Cohesin extrudes DNA loops and compacts DNA in an ATP-dependent manner.
- Imaging stress and magnetism at high pressures using a nanoscale quantum sensor
Nitrogen-vacancy centers are used as sensors inside a high-pressure diamond anvil cell.
- Measuring magnetic field texture in correlated electron systems under extreme conditions
Nitrogen-vacancy centers are used as sensors inside a high-pressure diamond anvil cell.
- Magnetic measurements on micrometer-sized samples under high pressure using designed NV centers
Nitrogen-vacancy centers are used as sensors inside a high-pressure diamond anvil cell.
- Global circulation of Mars’ upper atmosphere
Mapping wind speeds in the upper atmosphere of Mars constrains global circulation and the influence of surface topography.
- Why whales are big but not bigger: Physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants
Gigantism in whales is both driven and limited by prey capture and availability.
- Cryo–electron microscopy structures of human oligosaccharyltransferase complexes OST-A and OST-B
Structures elucidate the basis for substrate specificity in two glycosyltransferase complexes.
- High strength in combination with high toughness in robust and sustainable polymeric materials
Synthetic multifibrillar polymer fiber yarns possess both high strength and high toughness.
- Wafer-scale synthesis of monolayer two-dimensional porphyrin polymers for hybrid superlattices
Polymerization of porphyrin monomers undergoing laminar flow at a pentane-water interface forms large-area, monolayer films.
- Sensory coding mechanisms revealed by optical tagging of physiologically defined neuronal types
A technique allows transcriptional profiling of neurons on the basis of their functional properties.
About The Cover
COVER Gigantism evolved multiple times in the oceans, especially among filter-feeding organisms. Baleen whales, such as this humpback whale, represent the most recent radiation of gigantic filter feeders and rank among the largest animals ever. Researchers used direct measures of feeding performance and prey quality to determine the energetic drivers and limits that whales encounter at extremely large body sizes. See pages 1316 and 1367.
Photo: Karim Iliya
