This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 29 August 2008: 1129.
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Editorial:
Academies Active in Education

Jorge E. Allende
Science 29 August 2008: 1133.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 29 August 2008: 1134.
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Science Podcast

Science 29 August 2008: 1225.
Summary: The 29 August 2008 show includes a molecular marker of neurological status, how scents aid floral success, early Amazonian urbanisms, and more. Full Text »|   Transcript »|  

NEW PRODUCTS

Science 29 August 2008: 1225.
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News of the Week

POLAR SCIENCE: NSF Budget Ills Send Big Chill Through Antarctic Program

Eli Kintisch
Science 29 August 2008: 1142-1143.
Summary: Soaring fuel prices and flat budgets are forcing the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to shorten or defer dozens of research studies in the Antarctic. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CELL BIOLOGY: Biologists Change One Cell Type Directly Into Another

Constance Holden
Science 29 August 2008: 1143.
Summary: Researchers at Harvard University report that they have found a way to reprogram pancreatic cells in live mice, turning them into the insulin-producing cells that are damaged or destroyed in diabetes. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT: Fraud Charges Cast Doubt on Claims of DNA Damage From Cell Phone Fields

Gretchen Vogel
Science 29 August 2008: 1144-1145.
Summary: The only two peer-reviewed scientific papers showing that electromagnetic fields from cell phones can cause DNA breakage are at the center of a misconduct controversy. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RESEARCH FUNDING: Research Downturn

Science 29 August 2008: 1144.
Summary: Federal support for academic research, in real terms, has dropped for 2 years running, the first-ever consecutive declines in the 35 years of tracking by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CANCER RESEARCH: Can Fasting Blunt Chemotherapy's Debilitating Side Effects?

Jennifer Couzin
Science 29 August 2008: 1146-1147.
Summary: A dramatic experiment in mice has led some researchers to suggest that fasting may blunt the side effects of cancer treatment and perhaps even allow patients to tolerate higher drug doses. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GENETICS: First Gene for Severe Dry Macular Degeneration

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 29 August 2008: 1146-1147.
Summary: This week, researchers report the first genetic variant linked to slightly higher risk for severe "dry" age-related macular degeneration, one of the two advanced forms of the disease that robs tens of millions of elderly people of their vision. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 29 August 2008: 1145.
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Random Samples

Science 29 August 2008: 1139.
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Newsmakers

Science 29 August 2008: 1141.
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News Focus

ARCHAEOLOGY: Ancient Earthmovers of the Amazon

Charles C. Mann
Science 29 August 2008: 1148-1152.
Summary: The forested western Amazon was once thought barren of complex human culture. But researchers are now uncovering enigmatic earthworks left by large, organized societies that once lived and farmed here. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Podcast Interview »|  

ARCHAEOLOGY: The Western Amazon's "Garden Cities"

Charles C. Mann
Science 29 August 2008: 1151.
Summary: On page 1214 of this issue of Science, a U.S.-Brazilian research team reports finding a set of "garden cities" built in the forests of the south-central Amazon as early as 1250 C.E. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING: Learning Under Anesthesia

Lauren Cahoon
Science 29 August 2008: 1153.
Summary: Rodents commit the odors of other rodents' meals to the brain as preferred foods using a process known as olfactory learning. At the Physiological Society meeting, researchers reported that this scent-based social learning occurs even when mice are knocked out by anesthesia. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING: Testing a Taste Test for Depression

Lauren Cahoon
Science 29 August 2008: 1153.
Summary: At the Physiological Society meeting, researchers presented a simple test that could help doctors to better diagnose and treat patients with depression: a taste test. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ZENG YI PROFILE: A Controversial Bid to Thwart the 'Cantonese Cancer'

Jia Hepeng
Science 29 August 2008: 1154-1155.
Summary: Zeng Yi has spent 3 decades probing a connection between Epstein-Barr virus and nasopharyngeal cancer. A new vaccine should show whether he is on the right track. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ZENG YI PROFILE: Mortality Survey Offers Mixed Message

Hao Xin
Science 29 August 2008: 1155.
Summary: Cancer has become the number one killer in urban China, causing one in four deaths, although screening and prevention programs have reduced mortality rates for some cancers. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

 China's Energy Policy Comes at a Price

Qiang Wang;, Jiahua Pan, Ning Zeng, Yihui Ding, Huijun Wang, and Jay Gregg
Science 29 August 2008: 1156-1157.
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 From Darwinism to Evolutionary Biology

U. Kutschera
Science 29 August 2008: 1157-1158.
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 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 29 August 2008: 1158.
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Books et al.

POLITICAL SCIENCE: Contrasts Across the 49th Parallel

Stephen Randall
Science 29 August 2008: 1159-1160.
Summary: The contributors compare and contrast Canadian and U.S. experiences with and approaches to a variety of political, social, legal, and demographic topics. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GENERAL SCIENCE: On the Back of an Envelope

Stephan Mertens
Science 29 August 2008: 1160.
Summary: Working through this eclectic collection of estimation problems will hone one's ability to produce plausible quantitative answers. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 29 August 2008: 1160.
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Education Forum

THE EARLY YEARS: Preschool Influences on Mathematics Achievement

Edward C. Melhuish, Kathy Sylva, Pam Sammons, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart, Mai B. Phan, and Antero Malin
Science 29 August 2008: 1161-1162.
Summary: The advantages of home learning environment and preschool are apparent years later in children's math achievement. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Perspectives

PLANT SCIENCE: The "Invisible Hand" of Floral Chemistry

Robert A. Raguso
Science 29 August 2008: 1163-1164.
Summary: Volatile compounds help flowering plants balance attracting pollinators and maximizing overall reproductive success. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ASTRONOMY: Life After Death

Annalisa Celotti
Science 29 August 2008: 1164-1165.
Summary: How is a dead massive star still able to energize extremely relativistic particles? Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GEOPHYSICS: When Seamounts Subduct

Roland von Huene
Science 29 August 2008: 1165-1166.
Summary: Data from an array of seismometers on the sea floor show the complex pattern of earthquakes around subducted seamounts. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BIOCHEMISTRY: Opening the Molecular Floodgates

Chris S. Gandhi and Douglas C. Rees
Science 29 August 2008: 1166-1167.
Summary: Structural studies reveal how mechanosensitive channels respond to membrane tension. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CHEMISTRY: A Catalytic Foothold for Fluorocarbon Reactions

Robin N. Perutz
Science 29 August 2008: 1168-1169.
Summary: A reagent-catalyst combination reveals how to make hitherto inert fluorocarbons react at room temperature, which will help to solve the problem of their disposal. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Neuron Research Leaps Ahead

Robert H. Brown Jr.
Science 29 August 2008: 1169-1170.
Summary: Technologies that reprogram adult dermal cells into motor neurons should advance our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Association Affairs

AAAS News and Notes

Science 29 August 2008: 1171.
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Review

Cavity Optomechanics: Back-Action at the Mesoscale

T. J. Kippenberg and K. J. Vahala
Science 29 August 2008: 1172-1176.
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Brevia

Magmatically Triggered Slow Slip at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

Benjamin A. Brooks, James Foster, David Sandwell, Cecily J. Wolfe, Paul Okubo, Michael Poland, and David Myer
Science 29 August 2008: 1177.
Satellite radar and global positioning data show that intrusion of a dike into Kilauea volcano in June 2007 triggered slip but no earthquakes along a fault 15 to 20 hours later. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Bang! Month-Scale Eruption Triggering at Santorini Volcano

Victoria M. Martin, Daniel J. Morgan, Dougal A. Jerram, Mark J. Caddick, David J. Prior, and Jon P. Davidson
Science 29 August 2008: 1178.
Modeling the diffusion of iron in crystals shows that the 1925 eruption of Santorini was triggered by intrusion of hotter magma just a few months earlier. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Article

The Structure of an Open Form of an E. coli Mechanosensitive Channel at 3.45 Å Resolution

Wenjian Wang, Susan S. Black, Michelle D. Edwards, Samantha Miller, Emma L. Morrison, Wendy Bartlett, Changjiang Dong, James H. Naismith, and Ian R. Booth
Science 29 August 2008: 1179-1183.
Circularly arrayed transmembrane helices in the bacterial mechanosensitive ion channel, MscS, expand like the iris of a camera to open the channel and allow ion efflux. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Polarized Gamma-Ray Emission from the Crab

A. J. Dean, D. J. Clark, J. B. Stephen, V. A. McBride, L. Bassani, A. Bazzano, A. J. Bird, A. B. Hill, S. E. Shaw, and P. Ubertini
Science 29 August 2008: 1183-1185.
Detection of polarized gamma rays from the Crab Pulsar implies that electrons must be accelerated to extreme energies to emit radiation near the rapidly rotating star. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Metamorphosis of Supernova SN 2008D/XRF 080109: A Link Between Supernovae and GRBs/Hypernovae

Paolo A. Mazzali, Stefano Valenti, Massimo Della Valle, Guido Chincarini, Daniel N. Sauer, Stefano Benetti, Elena Pian, Tsvi Piran, Valerio D'Elia, Nancy Elias-Rosa, Raffaella Margutti, Francesco Pasotti, L. Angelo Antonelli, Filomena Bufano, Sergio Campana, Enrico Cappellaro, Stefano Covino, Paolo D'Avanzo, Fabrizio Fiore, Dino Fugazza, Roberto Gilmozzi, Deborah Hunter, Kate Maguire, Elisabetta Maiorano, Paola Marziani, Nicola Masetti, Felix Mirabel, Hripsime Navasardyan, Ken'ichi Nomoto, Eliana Palazzi, Andrea Pastorello, Nino Panagia, L. J. Pellizza, Re'em Sari, Stephen Smartt, Gianpiero Tagliaferri, Masaomi Tanaka, Stefan Taubenberger, Nozomu Tominaga, Carrie Trundle, and Massimo Turatto
Science 29 August 2008: 1185-1188.
Published online 24 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1158088] (in Science Express Reports)
The spectra of a recent supernova evolved from that of a more energetic event to that of a less energetic one, providing a link between previous observations. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Hydrodefluorination of Perfluoroalkyl Groups Using Silylium-Carborane Catalysts

Christos Douvris and Oleg V. Ozerov
Science 29 August 2008: 1188-1190.
A catalytic cycle using boron-carbon compounds efficiently converts C–F to C–H bonds and thus can destabilize environmentally persistent fluorocarbons. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Inverse Velocity Dependence of Vibrationally Promoted Electron Emission from a Metal Surface

N. H. Nahler, J. D. White, J. LaRue, D. J. Auerbach, and A. M. Wodtke
Science 29 August 2008: 1191-1194.
Vibrationally excited nitric oxide molecules unexpectedly ionize a surface more efficiently at slower approach velocities, apparently because there is more time for charge transfer. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Weak Interplate Coupling by Seamounts and Repeating M 7 Earthquakes

Kimihiro Mochizuki, Tomoaki Yamada, Masanao Shinohara, Yoshiko Yamanaka, and Toshihiko Kanazawa
Science 29 August 2008: 1194-1197.
More earthquakes occur in front of a subducting seamount east of Japan than over and behind it, implying that the subducting and overriding plates are weakly coupled. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Limits for Combustion in Low O₂ Redefine Paleoatmospheric Predictions for the Mesozoic

C. M. Belcher and J. C. McElwain
Science 29 August 2008: 1197-1200.
Combustion experiments under realistic atmospheric conditions show that charcoal layers in Mesozoic rocks require a higher level of atmospheric oxygen than previously was thought. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Field Experiments with Transformed Plants Reveal the Sense of Floral Scents

Danny Kessler, Klaus Gase, and Ian T. Baldwin
Science 29 August 2008: 1200-1202.
Genetic manipulation of wild tobacco plants balances the use of scent to attract pollinators and toxin to limit nectar consumption in order to optimize reproduction. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  Podcast Interview »|  

Redox-Active Antibiotics Control Gene Expression and Community Behavior in Divergent Bacteria

Lars E. P. Dietrich, Tracy K. Teal, Alexa Price-Whelan, and Dianne K. Newman
Science 29 August 2008: 1203-1206.
In addition to an antiseptic function, phenazines—pigmented antibiotics made by bacteria—organize colony structure by activating a superoxidative stress regulator. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Solution Structure of the Integral Human Membrane Protein VDAC-1 in Detergent Micelles

Sebastian Hiller, Robert G. Garces, Thomas J. Malia, Vladislav Y. Orekhov, Marco Colombini, and Gerhard Wagner
Science 29 August 2008: 1206-1210.
A channel that allows diffusion of metabolites across the mitochondrial outer membrane forms an unusual 19-stranded β barrel with a pore size of about 25 angstroms. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Structural Mechanism for MscS Gating in Lipid Bilayers

Valeria Vásquez, Marcos Sotomayor, Julio Cordero-Morales, Klaus Schulten, and Eduardo Perozo
Science 29 August 2008: 1210-1214.
Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements reveal that tilting of transmembrane helices facilitates the opening of a bacterial mechanosensitive channel in a lipid bilayer. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Pre-Columbian Urbanism, Anthropogenic Landscapes, and the Future of the Amazon

Michael J. Heckenberger, J. Christian Russell, Carlos Fausto, Joshua R. Toney, Morgan J. Schmidt, Edithe Pereira, Bruna Franchetto, and Afukaka Kuikuro
Science 29 August 2008: 1214-1217.
Archaeology and remote sensing of an Amazon basin show that its pre-Columbian inhabitants lived in distributed towns, villages, and hamlets connected by roads. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Generated from Patients with ALS Can Be Differentiated into Motor Neurons

John T. Dimos, Kit T. Rodolfa, Kathy K. Niakan, Laurin M. Weisenthal, Hiroshi Mitsumoto, Wendy Chung, Gist F. Croft, Genevieve Saphier, Rudy Leibel, Robin Goland, Hynek Wichterle, Christopher E. Henderson, and Kevin Eggan
Science 29 August 2008: 1218-1221.
Published online 31 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1158799] (in Science Express Reports)
Skin cells from elderly individuals with a mutation that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) were used to derive stem cells that could then be differentiated. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Amyloid-β Dynamics Correlate with Neurological Status in the Injured Human Brain

David L. Brody, Sandra Magnoni, Kate E. Schwetye, Michael L. Spinner, Thomas J. Esparza, Nino Stocchetti, Gregory J. Zipfel, and David M. Holtzman
Science 29 August 2008: 1221-1224.
After brain injury of normal people, the amount of an Alzheimer's disease peptide decreases in the extracellular fluid of the brain, returning to normal with recovery. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  Podcast Interview »|  

Technical Comments

Comment on "Determining Chondritic Impactor Size from the Marine Osmium Isotope Record"

Joanna V. Morgan
Science 29 August 2008: 1158.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Response to Comment on "Determining Chondritic Impactor Size from the Marine Osmium Isotope Record"

François S. Paquay, Gregory E. Ravizza, Tarun K. Dalai, and Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink
Science 29 August 2008: 1158.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|