This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 15 August 2008: 888.
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Editorial:
Dying for Science?

M. R. C. Greenwood, Gordon Ringold, and Doug Kellogg
Science 15 August 2008: 891.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 15 August 2008: 892.
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Science Podcast

Science 15 August 2008: 981.
Summary: The 15 August 2008 show includes ancient paintings inside France's Chauvet cave, T cell–based cancer immunotherapy, modeling aerosols in the Amazon, and more. Full Text »|   Transcript »|  

NEW PRODUCTS

Science 15 August 2008: 981.
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News of the Week

ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION: Full-Genome Sequencing Paved the Way From Spores to a Suspect

Martin Enserink
Science 15 August 2008: 898-899.
Summary: Scientists say a key document unveiled last week now enables a reconstruction of the trail that led the FBI from the deadly anthrax letters back to Bruce Ivins's lab at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CLIMATE PREDICTION: Seasonal-Climate Forecasts Improving Ever So Slowly

Richard A. Kerr
Science 15 August 2008: 900-901.
Summary: Of the dozens of forecasting techniques proffered by government, academic, and private-sector climatologists, all but two are virtually worthless, according to a new study. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

APPLIED PHYSICS: Bizarre 'Metamaterials' for Visible Light in Sight?

Adrian Cho
Science 15 August 2008: 900-901.
Summary: "Metamaterials" that can bend visible light may be within reach, thanks to advances reported this week online in Nature and on page 930 of this issue of Science. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

HIV/AIDS: Treatment and Prevention Exchange Vows at International Conference

Jon Cohen
Science 15 August 2008: 902-903.
Summary: AIDS researchers have long argued that HIV prevention and treatment efforts should go hand in hand, but they rarely do. Their fickle relationship received intense scrutiny at the XVII International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City last week. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 15 August 2008: 901.
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Random Samples

Science 15 August 2008: 895.
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Newsmakers

Science 15 August 2008: 897.
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News Focus

ARCHAEOLOGY: Going Deeper Into the Grotte Chauvet

Michael Balter
Science 15 August 2008: 904-905.
Summary: Ten years of research have yielded detailed new insights into the stunning images considered the world's oldest cave art. But questions about their age are resurfacing. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Podcast Interview »|  

OLIVERA FINN PROFILE: Directing a Life in Science

Mitch Leslie
Science 15 August 2008: 906-907.
Summary: After forgoing theater ambitions, and despite early marriage and motherhood, Olivera Finn has risen through immunology's ranks thanks to her work on cancer vaccines. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION: Science Scholarships Go Begging

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 15 August 2008: 908.
Summary: Despite ever-rising college costs, a $4.5 billion federal aid program to lure students into science is vastly undersubscribed. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GLOBAL WARMING: Climate Change Hot Spots Mapped Across the United States

Richard A. Kerr
Science 15 August 2008: 909.
Summary: Taking some of the fuzziness out of climate models is revealing the uneven U.S. impact of future global warming; the most severely affected region may be emerging already. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

 Reservations About Dam Findings

Daniel J. Bain, Sean M. C. Smith, and Gregory N. Nagle
Science 15 August 2008: 910.
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 What to Do About Those Dammed Streams

Peter Wilcock;, Robert C. Walter, and Dorothy J. Merritts
Science 15 August 2008: 910-912.
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 Looking for Familiar Faces

Lior Shamir;, Rob Jenkins, and A. Mike Burton
Science 15 August 2008: 912.
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 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 15 August 2008: 912.
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Books et al.

ECOLOGY: Biohistory of the Mascarenes

Storrs L. Olson
Science 15 August 2008: 913-914.
Summary: In this detailed consideration of the extinctions that followed the human arrival on the Mascarene Islands (Indian Ocean), the authors describe the complex manner in which the island ecosystems unraveled. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CULTURAL EVOLUTION: Bridging the Big Gap

Asif A. Ghazanfar
Science 15 August 2008: 914.
Summary: Drawing on neuroscience, cultural evolution, and human biology, the author argues for an approach that abandons "prehistory" and unites our recent and deep pasts. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 15 August 2008: 914.
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Policy Forum

SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY: Research Alone Is Not Enough

Lewis M. Branscomb
Science 15 August 2008: 915-916.
Summary: Powerful forms of business innovation represent a challenge to U.S. efforts in technology development. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

IMMUNOLOGY: Neutrophil Soldiers or Trojan Horses?

Beena John and Christopher A. Hunter
Science 15 August 2008: 917-918.
Summary: Leishmania parasites convert the toxic environment within a neutrophil into a safe haven during infection. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CHEMISTRY: Halogen Versus Hydrogen

P. Metrangolo and G. Resnati
Science 15 August 2008: 918-919.
Summary: Use of noncovalent interactions involving halogen atoms opens up new ways to manipulate molecular recognition processes. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MATERIALS SCIENCE: Directing Self-Assembly Toward Perfection

Rachel A. Segalman
Science 15 August 2008: 919-920.
Summary: A combination of self-assembled block copolymers with templated substrates can be used for precision lithographic applications. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY SCIENCE: The Elusive Onset of Geomagnetic Substorms

A. A. Petrukovich
Science 15 August 2008: 920-921.
Published online 24 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1162426] (in Science Express Perspectives)
Summary: The triggers of geomagnetic substorms, and their connection to auroral displays, have been sought in data from a satellite fleet and ground-based observations. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Secret Weapon

Ryland F. Young III
Science 15 August 2008: 922-923.
Summary: A mechanism that generates small RNAs in bacteria provides protection against bacteriophage. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

OCEAN SCIENCE: Ironing Out Ocean Chemistry at the Dawn of Animal Life

Timothy W. Lyons
Science 15 August 2008: 923-924.
Summary: New data change the picture of how the iron, oxygen, and sulfur contents of the ocean evolved. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RETROSPECTIVE: Victor A. McKusick (1921-2008)

Francis S. Collins
Science 15 August 2008: 925.
Summary: The founder of medical genetics was a driving force behind current progress in applying genetic information to medicine. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Review

Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems

Robert J. Diaz and Rutger Rosenberg
Science 15 August 2008: 926-929.
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Brevia

Optical Negative Refraction in Bulk Metamaterials of Nanowires

Jie Yao, Zhaowei Liu, Yongmin Liu, Yuan Wang, Cheng Sun, Guy Bartal, Angelica M. Stacy, and Xiang Zhang
Science 15 August 2008: 930.
An array of silver nanowires placed in a porous alumina matrix forms a three-dimensional material that negatively refracts visible light. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Article

Tail Reconnection Triggering Substorm Onset

Vassilis Angelopoulos, James P. McFadden, Davin Larson, Charles W. Carlson, Stephen B. Mende, Harald Frey, Tai Phan, David G. Sibeck, Karl-Heinz Glassmeier, Uli Auster, Eric Donovan, Ian R. Mann, I. Jonathan Rae, Christopher T. Russell, Andrei Runov, Xu-Zhi Zhou, and Larry Kepko
Science 15 August 2008: 931-935.
Published online 24 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1160495] (in Science Express Research Articles)
Satellite and ground-based data show that reconnection of magnetic field lines in Earth’s magnetotail precedes dramatic aurora displays and is the source of magnetic substorms. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Density Multiplication and Improved Lithography by Directed Block Copolymer Assembly

Ricardo Ruiz, Huiman Kang, François A. Detcheverry, Elizabeth Dobisz, Dan S. Kercher, Thomas R. Albrecht, Juan J. de Pablo, and Paul F. Nealey
Science 15 August 2008: 936-939.
An appropriate substrate pattern can direct an even finer pattern of a block copolymer, improving the resolution for lithography by a factor of four, beyond the usual limits. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Graphoepitaxy of Self-Assembled Block Copolymers on Two-Dimensional Periodic Patterned Templates

Ion Bita, Joel K. W. Yang, Yeon Sik Jung, Caroline A. Ross, Edwin L. Thomas, and Karl K. Berggren
Science 15 August 2008: 939-943.
A substrate patterned with a sparse array of nanoscale posts can direct the self-assembly of block copolymers to create a finely ordered lithographic array, even over a large area. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

X-ray Diffraction and Computation Yield the Structure of Alkanethiols on Gold(111)

A. Cossaro, R. Mazzarello, R. Rousseau, L. Casalis, A. Verdini, A. Kohlmeyer, L. Floreano, S. Scandolo, A. Morgante, M. L. Klein, and G. Scoles
Science 15 August 2008: 943-946.
The structure of monolayers of alkyl thiols on gold—widely useful in nanotechnology—depends on the packing of the alkyl chains; long chains disorder the gold surface. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Smoke Invigoration Versus Inhibition of Clouds over the Amazon

Ilan Koren, J. Vanderlei Martins, Lorraine A. Remer, and Hila Afargan
Science 15 August 2008: 946-949.
Modeling and satellite data show how absorption of light by aerosols can affect cloud properties and growth, linking these particles' opposing radiative and physical effects. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Ferruginous Conditions Dominated Later Neoproterozoic Deep-Water Chemistry

Donald E. Canfield, Simon W. Poulton, Andrew H. Knoll, Guy M. Narbonne, Gerry Ross, Tatiana Goldberg, and Harald Strauss
Science 15 August 2008: 949-952.
Published online 17 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1154499] (in Science Express Reports)
Low sulfur input caused the deeper ocean to become anoxic and rich in ferrous iron 750 million years ago, a reversal from the more oxidizing conditions of the previous 1 billion years. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Plant Immunity Requires Conformational Charges of NPR1 via S-Nitrosylation and Thioredoxins

Yasuomi Tada, Steven H. Spoel, Karolina Pajerowska-Mukhtar, Zhonglin Mou, Junqi Song, Chun Wang, Jianru Zuo, and Xinnian Dong
Science 15 August 2008: 952-956.
Published online 17 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1156970] (in Science Express Reports)
After a pathogen invades a plant, a protein, usually kept in a multimeric state by S-nitrosylation, is dissociated by thioredoxin, freeing the monomers for defense responses. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Global View of Gene Activity and Alternative Splicing by Deep Sequencing of the Human Transcriptome

Marc Sultan, Marcel H. Schulz, Hugues Richard, Alon Magen, Andreas Klingenhoff, Matthias Scherf, Martin Seifert, Tatjana Borodina, Aleksey Soldatov, Dmitri Parkhomchuk, Dominic Schmidt, Sean O'Keeffe, Stefan Haas, Martin Vingron, Hans Lehrach, and Marie-Laure Yaspo
Science 15 August 2008: 956-960.
Published online 3 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1160342] (in Science Express Reports)
Shotgun sequencing of 27–base pair segments of messenger RNA from human kidney and immune cells identifies previously undescribed transcriptional units and splice functions. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Small CRISPR RNAs Guide Antiviral Defense in Prokaryotes

Stan J. J. Brouns, Matthijs M. Jore, Magnus Lundgren, Edze R. Westra, Rik J. H. Slijkhuis, Ambrosius P. L. Snijders, Mark J. Dickman, Kira S. Makarova, Eugene V. Koonin, and John van der Oost
Science 15 August 2008: 960-964.
Some bacterial genomes contain remnant sequences from previous viral infections, which are transcribed into RNA to guide inactivation of the virus in subsequent infections. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supplemental Online Material »|  

Suppression of the MicroRNA Pathway by Bacterial Effector Proteins

Lionel Navarro, Florence Jay, Kinya Nomura, Sheng Yang He, and Olivier Voinnet
Science 15 August 2008: 964-967.
Upon bacterial infection, Arabidopsis mounts a microRNA-mediated innate immune defense, which is inhibited by proteins of the bacteria, allowing other infections. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Arsenic(III) Fuels Anoxygenic Photosynthesis in Hot Spring Biofilms from Mono Lake, California

T. R. Kulp, S. E. Hoeft, M. Asao, M. T. Madigan, J. T. Hollibaugh, J. C. Fisher, J. F. Stolz, C. W. Culbertson, L. G. Miller, and R. S. Oremland
Science 15 August 2008: 967-970.
A primitive form of photosynthesis in which arsenic is the electron donor occurs in purple bacteria in a California lake, perhaps a relic of early life forms. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

In Vivo Imaging Reveals an Essential Role for Neutrophils in Leishmaniasis Transmitted by Sand Flies

Nathan C. Peters, Jackson G. Egen, Nagila Secundino, Alain Debrabant, Nicola Kimblin, Shaden Kamhawi, Phillip Lawyer, Michael P. Fay, Ronald N. Germain, and David Sacks
Science 15 August 2008: 970-974.
Visualization of the area around a bite from a parasite-infected sand fly shows that the first immune cells to arrive engulf and unexpectedly protect the invading parasite. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Tumor Regression in Cancer Patients by Very Low Doses of a T Cell–Engaging Antibody

Ralf Bargou, Eugen Leo, Gerhard Zugmaier, Matthias Klinger, Mariele Goebeler, Stefan Knop, Richard Noppeney, Andreas Viardot, Georg Hess, Martin Schuler, Hermann Einsele, Christian Brandl, Andreas Wolf, Petra Kirchinger, Petra Klappers, Margit Schmidt, Gert Riethmüller, Carsten Reinhardt, Patrick A. Baeuerle, and Peter Kufer
Science 15 August 2008: 974-977.
Tested in a small group of patients, a therapeutic antibody binds to both tumor cells and immune cells, increasing the local concentration and effectiveness of the immune cells. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Contribution of Single Synapses to Sensory Representation in Vivo

Alexander Arenz, R. Angus Silver, Andreas T. Schaefer, and Troy W. Margrie
Science 15 August 2008: 977-980.
Only 100 synapses are required to accurately code for the animals' velocity in the mouse cerebellum; the charge transfer into neurons is linearly related to acceleration. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Technical Comments

Comment on "100% Accuracy in Automatic Face Recognition"

Weihong Deng, Jun Guo, Jiani Hu, and Honggang Zhang
Science 15 August 2008: 912.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Response to Comment on "100% Accuracy in Automatic Face Recognition"

R. Jenkins and A. M. Burton
Science 15 August 2008: 912.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|