Contents
20 December 2019
Vol 366, Issue 6472
Vol 366, Issue 6472
Special Issue
2019 Breakthrough of the Year
News
- Darkness made visible
An international team of astronomers has produced the first ever image of a black hole.
- Runners-up
Science has named nine scientific advances as runners-up for the 2019 Breakthrough of the Year.
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
- Australia's vulnerable species hit hard by fires
Endangered plants and animals with small ranges and few individuals are at high risk.
- U.S. takes aim at foreign influence
Defining "sensitive research" remains a sticking point.
- NIH director pledges action on harassment after report
Panel recommends a process parallel to one for research misconduct.
- To help the ‘disadvantaged,’ NIH refines its definition
Agency aims to help economically stressed groups.
- ‘Polygenic’ analyses may sharpen disease risk predictions
Genetic background modifies impact of single disease genes.
- Two Asian American women allege bias by HHMI
Powerhouse institute rejects claims of race, sex bias in separate legal actions.
- Rude reviews are pervasive and sometimes harmful, study finds
Survey finds that "unprofessional" comments abound.
Working Life
Letters
Books et al.
- More than a merchant's trading route
A vividly illustrated tome traces the cultural impacts of the Silk Road
- The ongoing quest for pure foods
Early adulteration sowed mistrust in the food production system that endures today
Policy Forum
- Biotechnologies nibbling at the legal “human”
Recent advances in the biosciences invite reconsideration of fundamental legal concepts such as the definition of “human”
Perspectives
- Mapping words reveals emotional diversity
Semantic networks reveal cultural variability in emotion
- Mitochondrial DNA promotes autoimmunity
Stressed mitochondria leak DNA fragments that induce inflammation
- Producing adipic acid without the nitrous oxide
Synthesis of nylon monomer from butadiene avoids emission of a potent greenhouse gas
- Bypassing the blood-brain barrier
The meninges membranes surrounding the brain are an immune-blood-brain interface in homeostasis and disease
- Free at last: Bose metal uncaged
A metallic phase disrupts the classic two-state superconductor-insulator picture
- Piezoelectricity drives organic synthesis
Ball milling allows for solvent-free mechanoredox catalysis
- Targeted drugs ramp up cancer mutability
Drug-induced mutagenesis may accelerate cancer evolution and resistance
- Peptidic catalysts for macrocycle synthesis
A heptapeptide pulls aldehyde groups of a molecule together for elusive ring-closing reactions
Association Affairs
- AAAS Local Science Engagement Network gets under way
Scientists seek to inform Missouri and Colorado policy-makers and climate solutions for communities
Research Articles
- Host monitoring of quorum sensing during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection
The host xenobiotic sensor quantitatively recognizes bacterial small molecules to regulate host responses.
- The biochemical basis of microRNA targeting efficacy
Millions of affinity measurements reveal microRNA-specific preferences and other insights that advance microRNA target prediction.
- A genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of protein-coding genes in human blood cells
Genome-wide expression profiles are analyzed across human immune cell populations and all major human tissues and organs.
- Adaptive mutability of colorectal cancers in response to targeted therapies
Cancer cells can evade therapeutic pressure by increasing their mutation rate.
- Coherent vortex dynamics in a strongly interacting superfluid on a silicon chip
Nondestructive tracking of vortices in thin films of superfluid helium-4 finds that coherent dynamics dominate over dissipation.
- Potassium channel dysfunction in human neuronal models of Angelman syndrome
Physiologic analysis of neurons derived from patients with Angelman syndrome reveals the cellular basis of seizures.
Retraction
Reports
- Intragranular three-dimensional stress tensor fields in plastically deformed polycrystals
A synchrotron-based x-ray method allows mapping of intragranular stress in a polycrystalline sample.
- Dissipation-induced structural instability and chiral dynamics in a quantum gas
Chiral dynamics emerge in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical cavity in the presence of dissipation.
- Redox reactions of small organic molecules using ball milling and piezoelectric materials
A piezoelectric material appears to act as an electron-transfer catalyst to activate aryl diazonium salts under solid-state agitation.
- Intermediate bosonic metallic state in the superconductor-insulator transition
Magnetotransport measurements indicate that carriers in the intermediate phase have double the electron charge.
- Constructive molecular configurations for surface-defect passivation of perovskite photovoltaics
Molecules that bring N-H and C=O groups into an optimal configuration passivate antisite lead defects on perovskite surfaces.
- Direct synthesis of adipic acid esters via palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of 1,3-dienes
An optimized bidentate phosphine ligand on palladium promotes an efficient alternative route to a nylon precursor.
- Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure
Analysis of the terms used for emotions across a sample of 2474 spoken languages reveals low similarity across cultures.
- A class of γδ T cell receptors recognize the underside of the antigen-presenting molecule MR1
A subset of human immunological γδ T cells recognizes monomorphic MHC-related protein 1 using an unusual antigen-binding mode.
- Foldamer-templated catalysis of macrocycle formation
An enzyme-inspired foldamer catalyzes efficient formation of macrocycles.
- VDAC oligomers form mitochondrial pores to release mtDNA fragments and promote lupus-like disease
The inhibition of a mitochondrial porin’s oligomerization prevents mitochondrial DNA release and ameliorates lupus-like disease in mice.
From the AAAS Office of Publishing
Technical Comments
Errata
About The Cover
COVER In Science's 2019 Breakthrough of the Year, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) imaged superheated matter ringing the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87. Here it is seen, outlined by the glowing ring, from an imaginary nearby planet. Hot gas and radiation jet from its pole, and its titanic gravity stretches background stars into so-called Einstein rings. Dimitrios Psaltis, EHT project scientist, advised on the illustration. See page 1434. For more on how the cover image was created, see https://scim.ag/2M2HRjQ.
Illustration: Mark A. Garlick
