This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 7 March 2008: 1303.
|Full Text »

Editorial:
A New Editor-in-Chief

Bruce Alberts
Science 7 March 2008: 1307.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 7 March 2008: 1309.
|Full Text »

Gordon Research Conferences

Science 7 March 2008: 1310.
Summary »|  

Science Podcast

Science 7 March 2008: 1411.
Summary »|   Transcript »|  

NEW PRODUCTS

Science 7 March 2008: 1414.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

News of the Week

NATURAL DISASTERS: Ecologists Report Huge Storm Losses in China's Forests

Richard Stone
Science 7 March 2008: 1318-1319.
Last week, China's State Forestry Administration announced that winter storms have damaged 20.86 million hectares--one-tenth of China's forests and plantations--roughly equivalent to the number of hectares that were reforested between 2003 and 2006. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ANIMAL RIGHTS: Brazilian Scientists Battle Animal Experimentation Bans

Martin Enserink
Science 7 March 2008: 1319.
Brazilian scientists are fighting a series of local attempts to ban animal experimentation that they say could cripple scientific research. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSICS: Test of Hawking's Prediction on the Horizon With Mock 'White Hole'

Adrian Cho
Science 7 March 2008: 1321.
Using an optical fiber and laser light, physicists have simulated a "white hole"--essentially a black hole working in reverse--as they report on page 1367 of this week's issue of Science. The model might soon mimic the "Hawking radiation" predicted to emanate from black holes. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

LARGE FACILITIES: NSF Delays Three Projects to Get Better Handle on Costs

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 7 March 2008: 1322-1323.
The U.S. National Science Foundation has omitted building funds for three long-running projects on the verge of construction from its 2009 budget request to Congress as part of a new policy aimed at eliminating cost overruns that occur after construction is under way. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RESEARCH FUNDING: U.S. Biomedicine's Mother Ship Braces for Lab Closings

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 7 March 2008: 1324-1325.
Up to 12 intramural labs--run by 16% of 74 tenured staff--could be shuttered at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development due to rising costs and flat budgets. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SPACE PHYSICS: Antimatter Experiment May Be Too Costly for NASA to Launch

Andrew Lawler
Science 7 March 2008: 1324.
NASA says it is willing to fly a $1.5 billion experiment designed to detect antimatter. But Congress would have to come up with as much as $4 billion to make it happen, the agency says. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY SCIENCE: Electron Shadow Hints at Invisible Rings Around a Moon

Richard A. Kerr
Science 7 March 2008: 1325.
Space physicists poring over Cassini spacecraft data report on page 1380 of this week's issue of Science that they think they have two firsts: the first known natural satellites of a moon, which also form the first rings known to encircle a moon. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 7 March 2008: 1321.
|Full Text »

Random Samples

Science 7 March 2008: 1315.
|Full Text »

Newsmakers

Science 7 March 2008: 1317.
|Full Text »

News Focus

NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS: Preparing for Doomsday

Richard Stone
Science 7 March 2008: 1326-1329.
Over the next several years, new telescopes will spot thousands of near-Earth asteroids and comets. If one is headed our way, will world leaders be ready to respond? Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS: The State of Our Planet's Defenses

Richard Stone
Science 7 March 2008: 1329.
Experts can't say exactly when the next Earth-bound asteroid will heave into view, but they are confident that humanity has the tools to defend itself. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PALEONTOLOGY: Experts Find No Evidence for a Mammoth-Killer Impact

Richard A. Kerr
Science 7 March 2008: 1331-1332.
A devastating cosmic collision 13,000 years ago continues to play well in the media, but specialists are challenging the grounds for thinking it happened. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANT SCIENCES: Corn Genomics Pops Wide Open

Elizabeth Pennisi
Science 7 March 2008: 1333.
The sequencing of maize genomes and the development of new strains are enabling faster exploitation of this key crop's natural diversity. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

This Week's Letters

Science 7 March 2008: 1335.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

 Editorial Expression of Concern

Donald Kennedy and Bruce Alberts
Science 7 March 2008: 1335.
Published online 3 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1157223] (in Science Express Letters)
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Rewarding Reviewers

Matthew A. Metz
Science 7 March 2008: 1335.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Rating Reviewers

Gary Marchionini
Science 7 March 2008: 1335-1336.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Preventing Inequity in International Research

Igor Rudan;, Charles A. Nelson III, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox, Peter J. Marshall, Anna T. Smyke, and Donald Guthrie
Science 7 March 2008: 1336-1337.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 7 March 2008: 1336.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 AIDS Vaccine Research: Consider Co-Infections

Rob Gruters and Ab Osterhaus
Science 7 March 2008: 1337.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books et al.

COMPUTERS: News from Avatar Editors

Dan Hunter
Science 7 March 2008: 1338-1339.
Drawing on Ludlow's experiences as a "virtual journalist," the authors explore such topics as conflicts between the owners and users of virtual worlds, among groups of users, and among individuals. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PUBLIC HEALTH: Complexities of a Continent

Alash'le G. Abimiku
Science 7 March 2008: 1339.
The authors discuss the historical and contemporary contexts of health challenges (especially AIDS) in Africa. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 7 March 2008: 1339.
Summary »|  

Policy Forum

MEDICINE: Moving Toward Transparency of Clinical Trials

Deborah A. Zarin and Tony Tse
Science 7 March 2008: 1340-1342.
As new policies promote transparency of clinical trials through registries and results databases, further issues arise and require examination. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

GEOLOGY: Canyon Cutting on a Grand Time Scale

Tim Atkinson and Mike Leeder
Science 7 March 2008: 1343-1344.
New data show how the Grand Canyon has been formed over the course of the past 20 million years. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: A Tail Tale for U

Marvin Wickens and Jae Eun Kwak
Science 7 March 2008: 1344-1345.
Enzymes add strings of uridine or adenosine to control RNA stability. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BEHAVIOR: Punishment and Cooperation

Herbert Gintis
Science 7 March 2008: 1345-1346.
Data from economic games show that the effectiveness of punishment in fostering cooperation varies greatly from society to society. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

OCEANS: On Phytoplankton Trends

Victor Smetacek and James E. Cloern
Science 7 March 2008: 1346-1348.
How are phytoplankton at coastal sites around the world responding to ongoing global change? Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION: Sweet Conundrum

Morris J. Birnbaum
Science 7 March 2008: 1348-1349.
High blood glucose concentration causes a transcription factor to be modified with a sugar moiety, triggering the liver to produce yet more glucose. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

COMPUTER SCIENCE: Science 2.0

Ben Shneiderman
Science 7 March 2008: 1349-1350.
Traditional scientific methods need to be expanded to deal with complex issues that arise as social systems meet technological innovation. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RETROSPECTIVE: Joshua Lederberg (1925-2008)

Stephen S. Morse
Science 7 March 2008: 1351.
The interests of a visionary scientist ranged from genetic details of the microbial world to new frontiers in computer science and space exploration. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Review

An Oncogene-Induced DNA Damage Model for Cancer Development

Thanos D. Halazonetis, Vassilis G. Gorgoulis, and Jiri Bartek
Science 7 March 2008: 1352-1355.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Brevia

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate as a Foraging Cue for Reef Fishes

Jennifer L. DeBose, Sean C. Lema, and Gabrielle A. Nevitt
Science 7 March 2008: 1356.
Reef fish locate desirable feeding opportunities by recognizing dimethylsulfoniopropionate, which is released by coral reef algae in response to foraging by fish. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Articles

Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics

R. Dietmar Müller, Maria Sdrolias, Carmen Gaina, Bernhard Steinberger, and Christian Heine
Science 7 March 2008: 1357-1362.
Considering changes in the shape of the ocean basins implies that global sea level fell by ~250 meters since 140 to 80 million years ago, a larger drop than implied in a recent study. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Antisocial Punishment Across Societies

Benedikt Herrmann, Christian Thöni, and Simon Gächter
Science 7 March 2008: 1362-1367.
Retaliation against those who enforce the social norms of civic cooperation and rule of law varies among cultures and is more pronounced where social norms are weaker. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Fiber-Optical Analog of the Event Horizon

Thomas G. Philbin, Chris Kuklewicz, Scott Robertson, Stephen Hill, Friedrich König, and Ulf Leonhardt
Science 7 March 2008: 1367-1370.
An optical analog of the event horizon of a gravitational black hole can be produced with light pulses propagating along an optical fiber, providing a tractable experimental system. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Nanocomposites Inspired by the Sea Cucumber Dermis

Jeffrey R. Capadona, Kadhiravan Shanmuganathan, Dustin J. Tyler, Stuart J. Rowan, and Christoph Weder
Science 7 March 2008: 1370-1374.
A rubbery polymer coated with nanofibers that segregate upon addition of a solvent can rapidly stiffen and relax, like the inner skin of a sea cucumber. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Heterogeneous Nucleation Experiments Bridging the Scale from Molecular Ion Clusters to Nanoparticles

Paul M. Winkler, Gerhard Steiner, Aron Vrtala, Hanna Vehkamäki, Madis Noppel, Kari E. J. Lehtinen, Georg P. Reischl, Paul E. Wagner, and Markku Kulmala
Science 7 March 2008: 1374-1377.
Experiments mimicking aerosol formation show that organic vapors tend to condense on any nanometer-scale particles, particularly negatively charged ones, rather than forming pure nuclei. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Age and Evolution of the Grand Canyon Revealed by U-Pb Dating of Water Table-Type Speleothems

Victor Polyak, Carol Hill, and Yemane Asmerom
Science 7 March 2008: 1377-1380.
Dating of cave deposits that form at the water table implies that incision of the Grand Canyon began in the west 17 million years ago and only accelerated in the east recently. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Dust Halo of Saturn's Largest Icy Moon, Rhea

G. H. Jones, E. Roussos, N. Krupp, U. Beckmann, A. J. Coates, F. Crary, I. Dandouras, V. Dikarev, M. K. Dougherty, P. Garnier, C. J. Hansen, A. R. Hendrix, G. B. Hospodarsky, R. E. Johnson, S. Kempf, K. K. Khurana, S. M. Krimigis, H. Krüger, W. S. Kurth, A. Lagg, H. J. McAndrews, D. G. Mitchell, C. Paranicas, F. Postberg, C. T. Russell, J. Saur, M. Seiß, F. Spahn, R. Srama, D. F. Strobel, R. Tokar, J.-E. Wahlund, R. J. Wilson, J. Woch, and D. Young
Science 7 March 2008: 1380-1384.
Observations of a large shadow in electrons and particles behind Rhea imply that it has a small ring system formed from dust lofted into orbit by impacts. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

TOPLESS Mediates Auxin-Dependent Transcriptional Repression During Arabidopsis Embryogenesis

Heidi Szemenyei, Mike Hannon, and Jeff A. Long
Science 7 March 2008: 1384-1386.
Published online 7 February 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1151461] (in Science Express Reports)
A transcriptional co-repressor is part of the protein complex that inhibits developmental gene activation in Arabidopsis until the growth hormone auxin triggers its degradation. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

De Novo Computational Design of Retro-Aldol Enzymes

Lin Jiang, Eric A. Althoff, Fernando R. Clemente, Lindsey Doyle, Daniela Röthlisberger, Alexandre Zanghellini, Jasmine L. Gallaher, Jamie L. Betker, Fujie Tanaka, Carlos F. Barbas, III, Donald Hilvert, Kendall N. Houk, Barry L. Stoddard, and David Baker
Science 7 March 2008: 1387-1391.
A computationally designed enzyme acts as a retro-aldolase that splits a carbon-carbon bond in a nonnatural substrate. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Cholesterol Biosynthesis Inhibitor Blocks Staphylococcus aureus Virulence

Chia-I Liu, George Y. Liu, Yongcheng Song, Fenglin Yin, Mary E. Hensler, Wen-Yih Jeng, Victor Nizet, Andrew H.-J. Wang, and Eric Oldfield
Science 7 March 2008: 1391-1394.
Published online 14 February 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1153018] (in Science Express Reports)
A drug for controlling cholesterol may be useful as an antibiotic for multi–drug-resistant Staphylococcus because of unexpected structural similarities among critical proteins. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

High-Resolution Mapping of Crossovers Reveals Extensive Variation in Fine-Scale Recombination Patterns Among Humans

Graham Coop, Xiaoquan Wen, Carole Ober, Jonathan K. Pritchard, and Molly Przeworski
Science 7 March 2008: 1395-1398.
Published online 31 January 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1151851] (in Science Express Reports)
High-density genotyping of individuals from 82 families shows unexpected variation in the number of meiotic crossovers and in the relative activity of recombination hotspots. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Sequence Variants in the RNF212 Gene Associate with Genome-Wide Recombination Rate

Augustine Kong, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Hreinn Stefansson, Gisli Masson, Agnar Helgason, Daniel F. Gudbjartsson, Gudrun M. Jonsdottir, Sigurjon A. Gudjonsson, Sverrir Sverrisson, Theodora Thorlacius, Aslaug Jonasdottir, Gudmundur A. Hardarson, Stefan T. Palsson, Michael L. Frigge, Jeffrey R. Gulcher, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, and Kari Stefansson
Science 7 March 2008: 1398-1401.
Published online 31 January 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1152422] (in Science Express Reports)
A variant of a human gene associated with high rates of recombination in males and low rates in females is an ortholog of a nematode gene essential for recombination. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Hepatic Glucose Sensing via the CREB Coactivator CRTC2

Renaud Dentin, Susan Hedrick, Jianxin Xie, John Yates, III, and Marc Montminy
Science 7 March 2008: 1402-1405.
Competing glycosylation and phosphorylation of a single amino acid in a transcriptional coactivator regulate nutrient- and energy-sensing pathways and may contribute to diabetes. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Coiled-Coil Irregularities and Instabilities in Group A Streptococcus M1 Are Required for Virulence

Case McNamara, Annelies S. Zinkernagel, Pauline Macheboeuf, Madeleine W. Cunningham, Victor Nizet, and Partho Ghosh
Science 7 March 2008: 1405-1408.
Mutating a cell-surface virulence protein on strep bacteria stabilizes its structure, minimizing its inflammatory side effects and potentially making it a better vaccine. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Technical Comments

Comment on "Early Archaean Microorganisms Preferred Elemental Sulfur, Not Sulfate"

Huiming Bao, Tao Sun, Issaku Kohl, and Yongbo Peng
Science 7 March 2008: 1336.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Response to Comment on "Early Archaean Microorganisms Preferred Elemental Sulfur, Not Sulfate"

Pascal Philippot, Mark Van Zuilen, Kevin Lepot, Christophe Thomazo, James Farquhar, and Martin J. Van Kranendonk
Science 7 March 2008: 1336.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|