Contents
09 April 2021
Vol 372, Issue 6538
Vol 372, Issue 6538
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
- Biden, Congress roll out big plans to expand NSF
President and lawmakers push proposals to add technology directorate and boost budget.
- For a change, a hint of new physics does not fade away
Reprise of storied experiment confirms muon's extra magnetism.
- When modern humans met Neanderthals
Ancient genomes from first moderns in Europe tell stories of diverse origins, ancient trysts.
- Latest Russian vaccine comes with a big dose of mystery
Vaccine trial participants call for review after unusual private study found they have no virus-blocking antibodies.
- Top German psychologist found to have fabricated data
University investigation finds anxiety expert pressured whistleblowers.
Feature
- A star is torn
Nature's most magnetic objects, ripped apart in starquakes, can unleash powerful flashes of light.
Working Life
Letters
Books et al.
- Rethinking Alexander Graham Bell's legacy
A new biography confronts the inventor's complicated relationship with the Deaf community
Policy Forum
- Concrete steps to diversify the scientific workforce
Any barrier to entry weakens science and its societal impact
Perspectives
- The enigmatic origins of the human brain
Evolutionary history of the human brain appears more complex than thought
- Preshaping clear glass at low temperatures
Pelletized glass-forming composites enable rapid injection molding and facile binder recovery
- Epigenetic nucleotides enhance therapy
Targeting sanitation of epigenetic nucleotides synergizes with cancer treatment
- The push and pull of DNA methylation
The control of DNA methylation guides cell-fate decisions in development and disease
- Recruiting T cells in cancer immunotherapy
T cell dynamics reveal that immunotherapy responses may rely on peripheral T cells
- Limits on superconductivity in flatland
Experiments explore a new superconducting regime in layered quantum materials
Research Articles
- QSER1 protects DNA methylation valleys from de novo methylation
QSER1 cooperates with TET1 to safeguard DNA methylation valleys from DNMT3-mediated de novo methylation.
- Estimated transmissibility and impact of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 in England
The major coronavirus variant that emerged at the end of 2020 in the UK is more transmissible than its predecessors and could spark resurgences.
- Imaging cell lineage with a synthetic digital recording system
A genetic editing system, intMEMOIR, reveals the lineage histories of individual cells within their native tissue context.
- Mechanism and dynamics of fatty acid photodecarboxylase
Snapshots of a photoenzyme reveal structural changes during fatty acid decarboxylation.
- Structure and dynamics of the CGRP receptor in apo and peptide-bound forms
Biophysics and cryo-EM elucidate how agonist binding facilitates calcitonin gene–related peptide receptor activation.
- Bilateral visual projections exist in non-teleost bony fish and predate the emergence of tetrapods
Bilateral vision preceded terrestrial life in evolutionary history.
- Targeting the nucleotide salvage factor DNPH1 sensitizes BRCA-deficient cells to PARP inhibitors
Inhibiting DNPH1 provides a promising strategy for the hypersensitization of BRCA-deficient cancers to PARP inhibitor therapy.
- The primitive brain of early Homo
Early Homo evolved a modern humanlike brain organization only after its first dispersal from Africa.
- Pollen PCP-B peptides unlock a stigma peptide–receptor kinase gating mechanism for pollination
Competing peptide signals regulate production of reactive oxygen species at the floral stigma to control response to pollen.
Review
Reports
- Boron insertion into alkyl ether bonds via zinc/nickel tandem catalysis
Nickel and zinc cooperatively insert boron into alkyl carbon-oxygen bonds of ethers.
- High-throughput injection molding of transparent fused silica glass
A plastic, silica-based nanocomposite can be injection molded to quickly make transparent glass parts.
- Enhanced x-ray emission coinciding with giant radio pulses from the Crab Pulsar
X-rays from the Crab Pulsar are more intense during a giant radio pulse, constraining the emission mechanism.
- Gate-controlled BCS-BEC crossover in a two-dimensional superconductor
Intercalating lithium into the insulating ZrNCl induces superconductivity and brings this material into the crossover regime.
- Seeded 2D epitaxy of large-area single-crystal films of the van der Waals semiconductor 2H MoTe2
Growth of a single crystal of semiconducting 2H MoTe2 on an amorphous wafer was triggered by a single seed crystal.
- Krüppel-like factor 1 is a core cardiomyogenic trigger in zebrafish
A transcription factor coordinates cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation and proliferation in adult hearts.
Technical Comments
About The Cover
COVER In this artist's conception, plasma erupts from a magnetar, a neutron star with a magnetic field a trillion times stronger than that of a refrigerator magnet. Starquakes in the crust unleash the plasma, which escapes near the poles. The plasma generates a beam of gamma rays, which astronomers can detect on Earth. A handful of these gamma ray flares are confirming this picture of magnetar behavior and suggest that the objects may be relatively common. See page 120.
Image: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR)
