This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 5 March 2004: 1433.
|Full Text »

Editorial:
The International Polar Year

Mary R. Albert
Science 5 March 2004: 1437.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 5 March 2004: 1439.
|Full Text »

NetWatch

Best of the Web in science.
Science 5 March 2004: 1445.
|Full Text »

 NEW PRODUCTS

Science 5 March 2004: 1543.

News of the Week

SCIENCE POLICY:
White House Denies Playing Politics With Science

David Malakoff
Science 5 March 2004: 1446-1447.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

FRENCH PROTESTS:
Impasse Continues, D-Day Looms

Barbara Casassus
Science 5 March 2004: 1446.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

WHITE HOUSE:
Researchers Blast U.S. Bioethics Panel Shuffle

Constance Holden
Science 5 March 2004: 1447.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY RELATIONS:
Pitt Takes Over a Struggling Genetic Technology Firm

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 5 March 2004: 1449.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY SCIENCE:
A Wet Early Mars Seen in Salty Deposits

Richard A. Kerr
Science 5 March 2004: 1450.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GENETICS:
Hybrid Mosquitoes Suspected in West Nile Virus Spread

Jennifer Couzin
Science 5 March 2004: 1451.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

U.S. UNIVERSITIES:
Foreign Graduate Student Applications Drop

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 5 March 2004: 1453.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

STEM CELL RESEARCH:
Harvard Enters Stem Cell Fray

Andrew Lawler
Science 5 March 2004: 1453.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 5 March 2004: 1449.
|Full Text »

Random Samples

Science 5 March 2004: 1464.
|Full Text »

News Focus

CELL BIOLOGY:
How Cells Endure Low Oxygen

Jean Marx
Science 5 March 2004: 1454-1456.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECOLOGY:
Science Center on Jordan-Israel Border Aims to Bridge the Rift

Kevin Krajick
Science 5 March 2004: 1457.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

POLAR EXPLORATION:
A Year to Remember at the Ends of the Earth

Richard Stone and Gretchen Vogel
Science 5 March 2004: 1458-1461.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

POLAR EXPLORATION:
An Otherworldly Place to Hunt for Other Worlds

Gretchen Vogel
Science 5 March 2004: 1459.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CLIMATE CHANGE:
A Eurasian Tiger Threatens to Maul Kyoto

Paul Webster
Science 5 March 2004: 1461-1462.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ARCHAEOLOGY:
Earthquake Allows Rare Glimpse Into Bam's Past--and Future

Andrew Lawler
Science 5 March 2004: 1463.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

This Week's Letters

Science 5 March 2004: 1467.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

 Open Access Already Exists

Ushma Savla
Science 5 March 2004: 1467.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Open Access and Those Lacking Funds

Peter Celec
Science 5 March 2004: 1467.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Debating How to Fix Health Insurance

Donald J. Palmisano;, Julius B. Richmond, and Rashi Fein
Science 5 March 2004: 1467-1468.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Authority-Based Explanation

Philip S. Guzelian and Christopher P. Guzelian
Science 5 March 2004: 1468-1469.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 A Matter of Placement, Not Banishment

Harvey Leifert
Science 5 March 2004: 1469.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books et al.

SPACE EXPLORATION:
Charting Our Extraterrestrial Efforts

David DeVorkin
Science 5 March 2004: 1470-1471.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

WEATHER:
Nota Bene: The Havock, Distraction, and Fury

Caroline Ash
Science 5 March 2004: 1471.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Books Received

Science 5 March 2004: 1471.

Essays on Science and Society

BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER: Constructing Complexity in the Digital Age

William J. Mitchell
Science 5 March 2004: 1472-1473.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

PLANT SCIENCES:
Self-Rejection--a New Kinase Connection

Daphne R. Goring and John C. Walker
Science 5 March 2004: 1474-1475.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSICS:
The Cup of the Hand

R. B. Laughlin
Science 5 March 2004: 1475-1477.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

IMMUNOLOGY:
Enhanced: The Tangled Webs That Neutrophils Weave

Warren L. Lee and Sergio Grinstein
Science 5 March 2004: 1477-1478.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ANTHROPOLOGY:
The Earliest Hominins--Is Less More?

David R. Begun
Science 5 March 2004: 1478-1480.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ASTRONOMY:
Watching Black Holes Spin

Stéphane Corbel
Science 5 March 2004: 1480-1481.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

IMMUNOLOGY: After the Toll Rush

Luke A. J. O'Neill
Science 5 March 2004: 1481-1482.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Review

Convergence of Wnt, ß-Catenin, and Cadherin Pathways

W. James Nelson and Roel Nusse
Science 5 March 2004: 1483-1487.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Brevia

 Fungal Proliferation at the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary

Vivi Vajda and Stephen McLoughlin
Science 5 March 2004: 1489.
In New Zealand, a thin layer at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary contains fossilized fungal spores but no pollen, indicating that the landscape there was briefly barren then. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Article

Deconfined Quantum Critical Points

T. Senthil, Ashvin Vishwanath, Leon Balents, Subir Sachdev, and Matthew P. A. Fisher
Science 5 March 2004: 1490-1494.
A new theory that describes quantum phase transitions accounts for experimental results better than classical thermodynamic approaches, perhaps helping to explain superconductivity. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Terahertz Magnetic Response from Artificial Materials

T. J. Yen, W. J. Padilla, N. Fang, D. C. Vier, D. R. Smith, J. B. Pendry, D. N. Basov, and X. Zhang
Science 5 March 2004: 1494-1496.
An artificial magnetic material built from nonmagnetic components responds at high frequencies, unlike most natural magnets, thus opening up new applications. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Discovery of Ancient Silicate Stardust in a Meteorite

Ann N. Nguyen and Ernst Zinner
Science 5 March 2004: 1496-1499.
Silicate grains from stars older than our solar system are found in a primitive meteorite, providing new information about stellar processes. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

European Seasonal and Annual Temperature Variability, Trends, and Extremes Since 1500

Jürg Luterbacher, Daniel Dietrich, Elena Xoplaki, Martin Grosjean, and Heinz Wanner
Science 5 March 2004: 1499-1503.
A reconstruction of European temperatures shows that the last decade has been the warmest of the past 500 years and that the Little Ice Age of the 18th century had cooler winters but not summers. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Late Miocene Teeth from Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and Early Hominid Dental Evolution

Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Gen Suwa, and Tim D. White
Science 5 March 2004: 1503-1505.
Primitive hominid teeth from Ethiopia and dating to about 5.5 million years ago represent a new hominid species that just followed the split from the common human-chimp ancestor. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Functional Anatomy of the Attentional Modulation of Time Estimation

Jennifer T. Coull, Franck Vidal, Bruno Nazarian, and Francoise Macar
Science 5 March 2004: 1506-1508.
The passage of time seems to be monitored by a six-element circuit between the cortex of the human brain and its interior nuclei. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Dynamic Interaction of Stargazin-like TARPs with Cycling AMPA Receptors at Synapses

Susumu Tomita, Masaki Fukata, Roger A. Nicoll, and David S. Bredt
Science 5 March 2004: 1508-1511.
When bound by their ligand, receptors for excitatory neurotransmitters dissociate from a protein in the outer membrane of the neuron and are internalized and recycled. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Ethanol Augments GABAergic Transmission in the Central Amygdala via CRF1 Receptors

Zhiguo Nie, Paul Schweitzer, Amanda J. Roberts, Samuel G. Madamba, Scott D. Moore, and George Robert Siggins
Science 5 March 2004: 1512-1514.
Alcohol inhibits neuronal activity in one part of the brain by acting through the receptor for a stress-related hormone. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Cross-Linking Cellular Prion Protein Triggers Neuronal Apoptosis in Vivo

Laura Solforosi, Jose R. Criado, Dorian B. McGavern, Sebastian Wirz, Manuel Sánchez-Alavez, Shuei Sugama, Lorraine A. DeGiorgio, Bruce T. Volpe, Erika Wiseman, Gil Abalos, Eliezer Masliah, Donald Gilden, Michael B. Oldstone, Bruno Conti, and R. Anthony Williamson
Science 5 March 2004: 1514-1516.
Published online 29 January 2004 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1094273] (in Science Express Reports)
Antibodies injected into brain may cross-link normal prion proteins and cause neuronal cell death, raising questions about antibody use in treating prion disease. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Membrane-Anchored Protein Kinase Involved in Brassica Self-Incompatibility Signaling

Kohji Murase, Hiroshi Shiba, Megumi Iwano, Fang-Sik Che, Masao Watanabe, Akira Isogai, and Seiji Takayama
Science 5 March 2004: 1516-1519.
Pollen that settles onto its own plant activates an enzyme in the cells' membranes that adds phosphates to other proteins, preventing self-pollination. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Kinesin-like Motor Inhibits Microtubule Dynamic Instability

Henrik Bringmann, Georgios Skiniotis, Annina Spilker, Stefanie Kandels-Lewis, Isabelle Vernos, and Thomas Surrey
Science 5 March 2004: 1519-1522.
A fast molecular motor found on chromosomes prevents microtubule growth and shrinkage, and thus may help affix microtubules to chromosomes prior to cell division. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Toll-like Receptor That Prevents Infection by Uropathogenic Bacteria

Dekai Zhang, Guolong Zhang, Matthew S. Hayden, Matthew B. Greenblatt, Crystal Bussey, Richard A. Flavell, and Sankar Ghosh
Science 5 March 2004: 1522-1526.
A newly defined innate immunity receptor responds only to bacteria that infect the urinary tract, protecting mice against kidney infection. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Species-Specific Recognition of Single-Stranded RNA via Toll-like Receptor 7 and 8

Florian Heil, Hiroaki Hemmi, Hubertus Hochrein, Franziska Ampenberger, Carsten Kirschning, Shizuo Akira, Grayson Lipford, Hermann Wagner, and Stefan Bauer
Science 5 March 2004: 1526-1529.
Published online 19 February 2004 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1093620] (in Science Express Reports)
The cell surface of the innate immune system that recognize single-stranded RNAs (like those found in some viruses) are identified for mice and humans. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Innate Antiviral Responses by Means of TLR7-Mediated Recognition of Single-Stranded RNA

Sandra S. Diebold, Tsuneyasu Kaisho, Hiroaki Hemmi, Shizuo Akira, and Caetano Reis e Sousa
Science 5 March 2004: 1529-1531.
Published online 19 February 2004 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1093616] (in Science Express Reports)
The cell surface of the innate immune system that recognize single-stranded RNAs (like those found in some viruses) are identified for mice and humans. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Kill Bacteria

Volker Brinkmann, Ulrike Reichard, Christian Goosmann, Beatrix Fauler, Yvonne Uhlemann, David S. Weiss, Yvette Weinrauch, and Arturo Zychlinsky
Science 5 March 2004: 1532-1535.
Neutrophils, the first cells recruited to fight bacterial infections, make extracellular traps that disarm and kill invading microorganisms. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Emerging Vectors in the Culex pipiens Complex

Dina M. Fonseca, Nusha Keyghobadi, Colin A. Malcolm, Ceylan Mehmet, Francis Schaffner, Motoyoshi Mogi, Robert C. Fleischer, and Richard C. Wilkerson
Science 5 March 2004: 1535-1538.
Two mosquito species in Europe bite either birds or humans exclusively, whereas hybrids between them in North America bite both, perhaps explaining the West Nile virus epidemic there. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Superfamilies of Evolved and Designed Networks

Ron Milo, Shalev Itzkovitz, Nadav Kashtan, Reuven Levitt, Shai Shen-Orr, Inbal Ayzenshtat, Michal Sheffer, and Uri Alon
Science 5 March 2004: 1538-1542.
A consideration of network parts reveals several widespread motifs in the structure of diverse networks across several disciplines. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|