This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 8 December 2006: 1512.
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Editorial:
Show Us the Money

Donald Kennedy
Science 8 December 2006: 1515.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 8 December 2006: 1516.
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Science Podcast

Science 8 December 2006: 1614.
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NEW PRODUCTS

Science 8 December 2006: 1614.
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News of the Week

ECOLOGY: Tracking Ebola's Deadly March Among Wild Apes

Gretchen Vogel
Science 8 December 2006: 1522-1523.
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EUROPEAN RESEARCH: Unprecedented Budget Increase Draws Faint Praise

Martin Enserink
Science 8 December 2006: 1523-1525.
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STEM CELL RESEARCH: A Season of Generosity … and Jeremiads

Martin Enserink
Science 8 December 2006: 1525.
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NUCLEAR WEAPONS: U.S. Study Finds Slower Breakdown of Plutonium in Stockpiled Weapons

Eli Kintisch
Science 8 December 2006: 1526.
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GEOPHYSICS: Ancient Cataclysm Marred the Med

Jacopo Pasotti
Science 8 December 2006: 1527.
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PLANETARY SCIENCE: Mars Orbiter's Swan Song: The Red Planet Is A-Changin'

Richard A. Kerr
Science 8 December 2006: 1528-1529.
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GEOCHEMISTRY: A Shot of Oxygen to Unleash the Evolution of Animals

Richard A. Kerr
Science 8 December 2006: 1529.
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ScienceScope

Science 8 December 2006: 1525.
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Random Samples

Science 8 December 2006: 1519.
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Newsmakers

Science 8 December 2006: 1521.
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News Focus

RESEARCH FACILITIES: Neurobiology on the Farm

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 8 December 2006: 1530-1532.
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ARCHAEOLOGY: Stone Age World Beneath the Baltic Sea

Andrew Curry
Science 8 December 2006: 1533-1535.
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ARCHAEOLOGY: A Hunter's Paradise

Andrew Curry
Science 8 December 2006: 1535.
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NEUROSCIENCE: Getting a Read on Rett Syndrome

Greg Miller
Science 8 December 2006: 1536-1537.
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Letters

This Week's Letters

Science 8 December 2006: 1539-1542.
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 Deciding Who Should Get the Flu Vaccine

Martin Holmberg;, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, and Alan Wertheimer
Science 8 December 2006: 1539-1540.
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 The Cost of Access to HIV Treatment

Paul Galatowitsch, Oliver F. Siegfried;, Robert M. Grant, Susan P. Buchbinder, John P. Moore, Javier R. Lama, Myron S. Cohen, Mark A. Wainberg, and Kathleen M. Macqueen
Science 8 December 2006: 1540-1541.
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 Responding to Amphibian Loss

J. Alan Pounds, Ana Carolina Carnaval, Robert Puschendorf, Celio F. B. Haddad, Karen L. Masters;, Joseph R. Mendelson III, Karen R. Lips, James E. Diffendorfer, Ronald W. Gagliardo, George B. Rabb, James P. Collins, Peter Daszak, Roberto Ibanez D., Kevin C. Zippel, Simon N. Stuart, Claude Gascon, Helio R. Da Silva, Patricia A. Burrowes, Robert C. Lacy, Federico Bolanos, Luis A. Coloma, Kevin M. Wright, and David B. Wake
Science 8 December 2006: 1541-1542.
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Books et al.

FOR YOUNGER READERS: Science Books for Fun and Learning--Some Recommendations from 2006

Heather Malcomson, Barbara Jasny, and Sherman Suter
Science 8 December 2006: 1543-1545.
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FICTION: Armageddon in the Oceans

Boris Worm
Science 8 December 2006: 1546.
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Books Received

Science 8 December 2006: 1546.
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Essays on Science and Society

GE PRIZE-WINNING ESSAY: The Emergence of Cells During the Origin of Life

Irene A. Chen
Science 8 December 2006: 1558-1559.
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GE PRIZE-WINNING ESSAY: 2006 Grand Prize Winner

Science 8 December 2006: 1559.
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Policy Forum

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: Where Is the New Science in Corporate R&D?

Jerry Thursby and Marie Thursby
Science 8 December 2006: 1547-1548.
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Perspectives

PHYSICS: Microwave Cooling of an Artificial Atom

Irinel Chiorescu
Science 8 December 2006: 1549-1550.
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ASTRONOMY: Enhanced: A Ghostly Star Revealed in Silhouette

Pierre F. L. Maxted
Science 8 December 2006: 1550-1551.
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ASTRONOMY: Big Bang Points to Stellar Mix-Up

Philipp Podsiadlowski and Stephen Justham
Science 8 December 2006: 1551-1552.
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CHEMISTRY: Pulling Strings

Walter Fontana
Science 8 December 2006: 1552-1553.
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NEUROSCIENCE: Matters of Size

Charles Kopec and Roberto Malinow
Science 8 December 2006: 1554-1555.
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EVOLUTION: The Puzzle of Human Sociality

Robert Boyd
Science 8 December 2006: 1555-1556.
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ATMOSPHERE: An Ancient Carbon Mystery

Mark Pagani, Ken Caldeira, David Archer, and James C. Zachos
Science 8 December 2006: 1556-1557.
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Review

Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation

Martin A. Nowak
Science 8 December 2006: 1560-1563.
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Brevia

Ebola Outbreak Killed 5000 Gorillas

Magdalena Bermejo, José Domingo Rodríguez-Teijeiro, Germán Illera, Alex Barroso, Carles Vilà, and Peter D. Walsh
Science 8 December 2006: 1564.
Successive waves of Ebola virus infection and hunting pressure are threatening the great apes of West Africa with extinction. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Articles

Engineering Yeast Transcription Machinery for Improved Ethanol Tolerance and Production

Hal Alper, Joel Moxley, Elke Nevoigt, Gerald R. Fink, and Gregory Stephanopoulos
Science 8 December 2006: 1565-1568.
Yeast genetically altered to tolerate higher ethanol and glucose concentrations may prove useful for biofuel production. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Group Competition, Reproductive Leveling, and the Evolution of Human Altruism

Samuel Bowles
Science 8 December 2006: 1569-1572.
Early human practices requiring language and sophisticated cognition enhanced the contribution of altruism to group survival, perhaps selecting for altruistic traits. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Present-Day Impact Cratering Rate and Contemporary Gully Activity on Mars

Michael C. Malin, Kenneth S. Edgett, Liliya V. Posiolova, Shawn M. McColley, and Eldar Z. Noe Dobrea
Science 8 December 2006: 1573-1577.
Images of Mars taken 7 years apart reveal 20 new impact craters, close to the predicted rate, some with gullies indicating the presence of flowing water in the past decade. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

A Brown Dwarf Mass Donor in an Accreting Binary

S. P. Littlefair, V. S. Dhillon, T. R. Marsh, Boris T. Gänsicke, John Southworth, and C. A. Watson
Science 8 December 2006: 1578-1580.
Accurate measurements of eclipses finally capture a white dwarf cannibalizing an unseen brown dwarf companion star, confirming long-standing predictions. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Deep Mixing of ³He: Reconciling Big Bang and Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Peter P. Eggleton, David S. P. Dearborn, and John C. Lattanzio
Science 8 December 2006: 1580-1583.
Published online 26 October 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1133065] (in Science Express Reports)
Three-dimensional models of giant stars show that deep convection of supposedly stable layers destroys ³He to levels consistent with the Big Bang predictions. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Operation of a DNA Robot Arm Inserted into a 2D DNA Crystalline Substrate

Baoquan Ding and Nadrian C. Seeman
Science 8 December 2006: 1583-1585.
A mechanical DNA device mounted within a crystalline DNA lattice retains its functionality, providing a step toward nanoscale computation and manufacturing. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Enzyme-Free Nucleic Acid Logic Circuits

Georg Seelig, David Soloveichik, David Yu Zhang, and Erik Winfree
Science 8 December 2006: 1585-1588.
Single-stranded DNAs are used to create a series of computation gates, circuits, and devices in a modular fashion. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Microwave-Induced Cooling of a Superconducting Qubit

Sergio O. Valenzuela, William D. Oliver, David M. Berns, Karl K. Berggren, Leonid S. Levitov, and Terry P. Orlando
Science 8 December 2006: 1589-1592.
A microwave cooling technique can lower the temperature of a qubit to 3 millikelvin, much lower than the temperature of the surrounding bath, enhancing its stability. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

U-Pb Isotopic Age of the StW 573 Hominid from Sterkfontein, South Africa

Joanne Walker, Robert A. Cliff, and Alfred G. Latham
Science 8 December 2006: 1592-1594.
Dating of cave deposits establishes the australopithicine "little foot," as 2.2 million years old, surprisingly recent and contemporaneous with tool-using Homo species. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Complex Oscillating Network of Signaling Genes Underlies the Mouse Segmentation Clock

Mary-Lee Dequéant, Earl Glynn, Karin Gaudenz, Matthias Wahl, Jie Chen, Arcady Mushegian, and Olivier Pourquié
Science 8 December 2006: 1595-1598.
Published online 9 November 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1133141] (in Science Express Reports)
The segmentation clock, which forms repeated body structures during development, generates many oscillating RNAs that regulate common developmental pathways. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass

David Tilman, Jason Hill, and Clarence Lehman
Science 8 December 2006: 1598-1600.
Sustainable, higher-diversity grasslands with low-fertility soils can yield more biomass and consume more CO₂ than equal acreages planted with monocultured biofuel sources. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Synthesis-Mediated Release of a Small RNA Inhibitor of RNA Polymerase

Karen M. Wassarman and Ruth M. Saecker
Science 8 December 2006: 1601-1603.
When bacteria are starved, a small RNA inhibits transcription by folding to mimic a legitimate promoter target, after which adding nucleotides can restart transcription. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Dual Infection with HIV and Malaria Fuels the Spread of Both Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa

Laith J. Abu-Raddad, Padmaja Patnaik, and James G. Kublin
Science 8 December 2006: 1603-1606.
Malaria infection increases HIV blood levels and HIV patients are more susceptible to malaria, a synergy that probably contributes to the HIV epidemic in Africa. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Positive Feedback Loop Promotes Transcription Surge That Jump-Starts Salmonella Virulence Circuit

Dongwoo Shin, Eun-Jin Lee, Henry Huang, and Eduardo A. Groisman
Science 8 December 2006: 1607-1609.
Activation of a two-component signaling pathway required for Salmonella virulence triggers a burst of transcription that may allow rapid adaptation to new conditions. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Sequential Interplay of Nicotinic and GABAergic Signaling Guides Neuronal Development

Zhaoping Liu, Robert A. Neff, and Darwin K. Berg
Science 8 December 2006: 1610-1613.
Acetylcholine changes chloride transporter levels, triggering a switch from excitatory to inhibitory signaling in the embryonic chick brain. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|