This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 11 April 2008: 151.
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Editorial:
Hybrid Vigor in Science

Bruce Alberts
Science 11 April 2008: 155.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 11 April 2008: 156.
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Science Podcast

Science 11 April 2008: 250.
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Quarterly Author Index

Science 11 April 2008: 250.
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NEW PRODUCTS

Science 11 April 2008: 250.
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News of the Week

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION: New Rules on Saving Wetlands Push the Limits of the Science

Erik Stokstad
Science 11 April 2008: 162-163.
Summary: In one of the most significant wetlands regulations in 2 decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spelled out what developers must do to mitigate damage from their construction projects. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MEDICINE: Drug Bestows Radiation Resistance on Mice and Monkeys

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 11 April 2008: 163.
Summary: On page 226 of this week's issue of Science, researchers report a promising new way to protect healthy tissues during radiation therapy, one they claim could help improve outcomes--and perhaps even save lives in a nuclear catastrophe. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOMEDICAL COMMUNITY: HHMI's Cech Signs Off on His Biggest Experiment

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 11 April 2008: 164.
Summary: Thomas Cech, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), announced last week that he will step down in 2009 to return to research. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY GEOLOGY: An Early Big Hit to Mars May Have Scarred the Planet for Life

Richard A. Kerr
Science 11 April 2008: 165-166.
Summary: Two new studies purport to ease the difficulties with the theory that a giant impact battered the young Mars. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

APPLIED PHYSICS: At Mixed Odds, Racetrack Memory Charges From Gate

Adrian Cho
Science 11 April 2008: 166.
Summary: On page 209 of this week's issue of Science, physicists demonstrate a computer memory that pushes magnetic bits around tiny nanoscale “racetracks.” Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PARKINSON'S DISEASE: Signs of Disease in Fetal Transplants

Greg Miller
Science 11 April 2008: 167.
Summary: New studies reveal that fetal tissue implants can survive a decade or more in Parkinson's patients but in some cases appear to acquire signs of the disease--a surprising finding that could shed light on the disease’s mechanisms. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 11 April 2008: 165.
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Random Samples

Science 11 April 2008: 159.
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Newsmakers

Science 11 April 2008: 161.
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News Focus

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: Tackling Alcoholism With Drugs

Greg Miller
Science 11 April 2008: 168-170.
Summary: New treatments, some now in clinical trials, reflect a growing awareness that people with different genetic profiles and drinking histories may need different therapies. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANT GENETICS: The Blue Revolution, Drop by Drop, Gene by Gene

Elizabeth Pennisi
Science 11 April 2008: 171-173.
Summary: Researchers probe the secrets of how plants cope with water stress to improve crop yields. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANT GENETICS: Getting to the Root of Drought Responses

Elizabeth Pennisi
Science 11 April 2008: 173.
Summary: Researchers seeking to develop drought-resistant crops have largely focused on controlling moisture loss through plant leaves, but some are now looking at how the roots adapt to drought conditions as well. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY MEETING: Following an Asphalt Trail to Ancient Olmec Trade Routes

Heather Pringle
Science 11 April 2008: 174.
Summary: At the Society for American Archaeology meeting, it was reported that the Olmec apparently mastered a sophisticated technique for making asphalt, crucial to sealing wooden boats, and they traded the valuable substance to others. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY MEETING: Herring and Nuts for the 'Salmon People'

Heather Pringle
Science 11 April 2008: 174-175.
Summary: New excavations reported at the Society for American Archaeology meeting reveal that the ancient inhabitants of the northwest coast of North America--known as the "salmon people"--were surprisingly dependent on plant foods and other kinds of seafood in addition to salmon. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY MEETING: Signs of the First Whale Hunters

Heather Pringle
Science 11 April 2008: 175.
Summary: At the Society for American Archaeology meeting, researchers reported the oldest known evidence of whaling: a piece of walrus ivory inscribed with dramatic images of teams of sea hunters in umiaks pursuing whales. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

 Retraction

Kentaro K. Shimizu, Jennifer M. Reininga, Ana L. Caicedo, Charlotte A. Mays, Richard C. Moore, Kenneth M. Olsen, Stephanie Ruzsa, Graham Coop, Carlos D. Bustamante, and Michael D. Purugganan
Science 11 April 2008: 176.
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 Vegetation's Role in Coastal Protection

Rusty A. Feagin;, Edward B. Barbier, Evamaria W. Koch, Brian R. Silliman, Sally D. Hacker, Eric Wolanski, Jurgenne H. Primavera, Elise F. Granek, Stephen Polasky, Shankar Aswani, Lori A. Cramer, David M. Stoms, Chris J. Kennedy, David Bael, Carrie V. Kappel, Gerardo M. E. Perillo, and Denise J. Reed
Science 11 April 2008: 176-177.
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 A Quaternary Question

David J. Meltzer; and William A. Berggren
Science 11 April 2008: 177-178.
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 Soil Erosion: Data Say C Sink

Jennifer W. Harden, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Margaret Torn, John Harte, S. Liu, and R. F. Stallard
Science 11 April 2008: 178-179.
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 Corrections And Clarifications

Science 11 April 2008: 179.
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Books et al.

ECOLOGY: Return to Natural History

Raphael D. Sagarin
Science 11 April 2008: 180.
Summary: Focusing on the author's fieldwork in Canada's Northwest Territories of Canada, this memoir makes a thoughtful case for building holistic understanding of systems through careful and repeated observations at small scales. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MATHEMATICS: Connecting the Dots

Stephan Mertens
Science 11 April 2008: 181.
Summary: The author offers interested nonspecialists an engaging introduction to the mathematics of networks. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 11 April 2008: 181.
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Policy Forum

SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT: Science and the Candidates

Sheril R. Kirshenbaum, Chris Mooney, Shawn Lawrence Otto, Matthew Chapman, Austin Dacey, Rush Holt, and Lawrence Krauss
Science 11 April 2008: 182.
Summary: The U.S. science community has converged at record speed with the unified goal of raising the profile of science in our national dialogue. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

NEUROSCIENCE: Refreshing Connections

R. Angus Silver and Roby T. Kanichay
Science 11 April 2008: 183-184.
Summary: The exchange of desensitized glutamate receptors with unoccupied ones can counteract the effects of desensitization at the synapse. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GEOCHEMISTRY: Toward New Uses for Hematite

Carrick M. Eggleston
Science 11 April 2008: 184-185.
Summary: New results suggest how the photocatalytic performance of hematite may be improved. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NEUROSCIENCE: Axons Seek Neighborly Advice

Keith K. Murai and Elena B. Pasquale
Science 11 April 2008: 185-186.
Summary: Cell contact-dependent communication between adjacent motor and sensory neurons prevents miswiring of developing neural circuits. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOCHEMISTRY: Anatomy of a Fungal Polyketide Synthase

Kira J. Weissman
Science 11 April 2008: 186-187.
Summary: Cutting a fungal polyketide synthase into pieces reveals the function of all its catalytic domains. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOCHEMISTRY: Zooming Into Live Cells

Fabien Pinaud and Maxime Dahan
Science 11 April 2008: 187-188.
Summary: High-resolution optical imaging is providing real-time data on molecular processes in live cells. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RETROSPECTIVE: Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

Joseph N. Pelton and John Logsdon
Science 11 April 2008: 189.
Summary: A giant of science fiction literature wrote with scientific precision and imaginative insight about Earth and space sciences. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Review

Magnetic Domain-Wall Racetrack Memory

Stuart S. P. Parkin, Masamitsu Hayashi, and Luc Thomas
Science 11 April 2008: 190-194.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Brevia

Amplification of Cretaceous Warmth by Biological Cloud Feedbacks

Lee R. Kump and David Pollard
Science 11 April 2008: 195.
The extreme warmth of the Cretaceous may have been a consequence of fewer clouds, caused by a low abundance of organic cloud nuclei from reduced ocean productivity. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Articles

Electronic Origin of the Inhomogeneous Pairing Interaction in the High-T_c Superconductor Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊

Abhay N. Pasupathy, Aakash Pushp, Kenjiro K. Gomes, Colin V. Parker, Jinsheng Wen, Zhijun Xu, Genda Gu, Shimpei Ono, Yoichi Ando, and Ali Yazdani
Science 11 April 2008: 196-201.
Scanning tunneling microscope measurements around the superconducting transition temperature imply that electron correlations, not a proposed boson glue, pair up electrons. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Surface Mobility of Postsynaptic AMPARs Tunes Synaptic Transmission

Martin Heine, Laurent Groc, Renato Frischknecht, Jean-Claude Béïque, Brahim Lounis, Gavin Rumbaugh, Richard L. Huganir, Laurent Cognet, and Daniel Choquet
Science 11 April 2008: 201-205.
Desensitized glutamate receptors are exchanged for functional ones through lateral movement within membranes to help maintain fast excitatory neurotransmission. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Gate-Variable Optical Transitions in Graphene

Feng Wang, Yuanbo Zhang, Chuanshan Tian, Caglar Girit, Alex Zettl, Michael Crommie, and Y. Ron Shen
Science 11 April 2008: 206-209.
Published online 13 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1152793] (in Science Express Reports)
Application of electrical biases to single or double layers of graphene changes its infrared reflectivity, mimicking aspects of transistors and opening up optoelectronic applications. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Current-Controlled Magnetic Domain-Wall Nanowire Shift Register

Masamitsu Hayashi, Luc Thomas, Rai Moriya, Charles Rettner, and Stuart S. P. Parkin
Science 11 April 2008: 209-211.
Brief, polarized current pulses can create and shift magnetic domain walls along a magnetic nanowire, demonstrating the basis for a racetrack memory. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Impact of Artificial Reservoir Water Impoundment on Global Sea Level

B. F. Chao, Y. H. Wu, and Y. S. Li
Science 11 April 2008: 212-214.
Published online 13 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1154580] (in Science Express Reports)
Accounting for water impounded globally in artificial lakes that were filled during the past 80 years raises estimates of natural contributions to recent sea level. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Determining Chondritic Impactor Size from the Marine Osmium Isotope Record

François S. Paquay, Gregory E. Ravizza, Tarun K. Dalai, and Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink
Science 11 April 2008: 214-218.
The difference in osmium concentrations and isotopes between seawater and asteroids allows reconstruction of impact occurrence and size, including for the Cretaceous. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Linked Reactivity at Mineral-Water Interfaces Through Bulk Crystal Conduction

Svetlana V. Yanina and Kevin M. Rosso
Science 11 April 2008: 218-222.
Published online 6 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1154833] (in Science Express Reports)
A current flow through a hematite crystal couples dissolution and growth reactions at different surfaces, a finding likely relevant to a broad range of semiconducting minerals. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Aligning Conservation Priorities Across Taxa in Madagascar with High-Resolution Planning Tools

C. Kremen, A. Cameron, A. Moilanen, S. J. Phillips, C. D. Thomas, H. Beentje, J. Dransfield, B. L. Fisher, F. Glaw, T. C. Good, G. J. Harper, R. J. Hijmans, D. C. Lees, E. Louis, Jr., R. A. Nussbaum, C. J. Raxworthy, A. Razafimpahanana, G. E. Schatz, M. Vences, D. R. Vieites, P. C. Wright, and M. L. Zjhra
Science 11 April 2008: 222-226.
A broad analysis of many taxa throughout Madagascar identifies regions where conservation is likely to protect the most species. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

An Agonist of Toll-Like Receptor 5 Has Radioprotective Activity in Mouse and Primate Models

Lyudmila G. Burdelya, Vadim I. Krivokrysenko, Thomas C. Tallant, Evguenia Strom, Anatoly S. Gleiberman, Damodar Gupta, Oleg V. Kurnasov, Farrel L. Fort, Andrei L. Osterman, Joseph A. DiDonato, Elena Feinstein, and Andrei V. Gudkov
Science 11 April 2008: 226-230.
A drug that triggers the pathway that cancer cells use to avoid death can protect healthy cells from the harmful effects of radiation treatment. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Evidence for Editing of Human Papillomavirus DNA by APOBEC3 in Benign and Precancerous Lesions

Jean-Pierre Vartanian, Denise Guétard, Michel Henry, and Simon Wain-Hobson
Science 11 April 2008: 230-233.
A cellular enzyme that defends against infection by causing mutations in retroviruses can also mutate the genome of a DNA virus associated with benign and precancerous cells. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Segregation of Axial Motor and Sensory Pathways via Heterotypic Trans-Axonal Signaling

Benjamin W. Gallarda, Dario Bonanomi, Daniel Müller, Arthur Brown, William A. Alaynick, Shane E. Andrews, Greg Lemke, Samuel L. Pfaff, and Till Marquardt
Science 11 April 2008: 233-236.
In mice, axons carrying signals from spinal cord to muscle are kept separate from those going in the opposite direction by ephrin signaling between them. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Convergence of Campylobacter Species: Implications for Bacterial Evolution

Samuel K. Sheppard, Noel D. McCarthy, Daniel Falush, and Martin C. J. Maiden
Science 11 April 2008: 237-239.
A survey of two related human pathogens shows that they are merging, probably as a result of their proximity in a new ecological niche—the intestines of farmed animals. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Leiomodin Is an Actin Filament Nucleator in Muscle Cells

David Chereau, Malgorzata Boczkowska, Aneta Skwarek-Maruszewska, Ikuko Fujiwara, David B. Hayes, Grzegorz Rebowski, Pekka Lappalainen, Thomas D. Pollard, and Roberto Dominguez
Science 11 April 2008: 239-243.
The de novo assembly of the thin filaments in muscle cells is initiated by a newly described protein that efficiently nucleates actin polymer formation. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Deconstruction of Iterative Multidomain Polyketide Synthase Function

Jason M. Crawford, Paul M. Thomas, Jonathan R. Scheerer, Anna L. Vagstad, Neil L. Kelleher, and Craig A. Townsend
Science 11 April 2008: 243-246.
A eukaryotic polyketide natural product is synthesized by assembling seven malonyl building blocks on a specialized protein template where a cyclization cascade is initiated. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Video-Rate Far-Field Optical Nanoscopy Dissects Synaptic Vesicle Movement

Volker Westphal, Silvio O. Rizzoli, Marcel A. Lauterbach, Dirk Kamin, Reinhard Jahn, and Stefan W. Hell
Science 11 April 2008: 246-249.
Published online 21 February 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1154228] (in Science Express Reports)
Sequential subdiffraction resolution images of fluorescently labeled synaptic vesicles in live cells reveal that they exhibit several distinct movement patterns. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|