This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 2 May 2008: 581.
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Editorial:
Misbegotten Preemptions

Donald Kennedy
Science 2 May 2008: 585.
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Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 2 May 2008: 586.
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Science Podcast

Science 2 May 2008: 682.
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NEW PRODUCTS

Science 2 May 2008: 682.
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News of the Week

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Spotted Owl Recovery Plan Flawed, Review Panel Finds

Erik Stokstad
Science 2 May 2008: 594-595.
A blue-ribbon panel of scientists has confirmed major flaws in the proposed recovery plan for the northern spotted owl, a threatened species that has driven forest policy in the northwestern United States for nearly 2 decades. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GLOBAL WARMING: Mother Nature Cools the Greenhouse, but Hotter Times Still Lie Ahead

Richard A. Kerr
Science 2 May 2008: 595.
A new paper shows that regional and even global temperatures are being temporarily held down by a natural jostling of the climate system, driven in large part by vacillating ocean currents. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

LOUISE SLAUGHTER INTERVIEW: How to Get a Genetic Protection Law Through Congress? Keep Trying

Jennifer Couzin
Science 2 May 2008: 596.
After 13 years of rejection, a bill to protect individuals from employment and insurance discrimination based on their DNA, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, is poised to become law. Science interviews its most stalwart backer, Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY). Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECOLOGY: Yosemite: Protected but Not Preserved

Virginia Morell
Science 2 May 2008: 597.
Two researchers have traced the decline of the California black oak in Yosemite National Park through a complex chain of effects that starts with human influence and extends from cougars through mule deer to oaks and primroses. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

TROPICAL DISEASES: Dispute Clouds the Future of U.S. Naval Lab in Indonesia

Dennis Normile
Science 2 May 2008: 598-599.
A United States naval laboratory in Jakarta that studies tropical diseases may fall victim to Indonesia's determination to develop its own research capabilities and take control of its H5N1 viral samples. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PALEOECOLOGY: Fossils Help Figure Out Food Webs Old and New

Elizabeth Pennisi
Science 2 May 2008: 598-599.
A daring analysis of fossils from China and Canada shows that marine plants and animals from the Cambrian Period formed food webs on par with those existing today. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 2 May 2008: 597.
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Random Samples

Science 2 May 2008: 591.
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Newsmakers

Science 2 May 2008: 593.
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News Focus

MEDICINE: A Bruising Battle Over Lung Scans

Eliot Marshall
Science 2 May 2008: 600-603.
Doctors and researchers are sharply divided over the merits of screening smokers and others at high risk of lung cancer with costly computed tomography scans; a $200 million clinical trial has become a lightning rod. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MEDICINE: A Bumper Crop of Conflicts

Eliot Marshall
Science 2 May 2008: 602-603.
Some of the most contentious questions in the clash between clinical researchers over whether former smokers and others at high risk for lung cancer should be screened using computed tomography scans (see main text) have been about intellectual and financial conflicts. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NEIL TUROK PROFILE: Wishing for an African Einstein

Daniel Clery
Science 2 May 2008: 604-605.
Hoping to nurture Africa's talent into becoming elite scientists, cosmologist Neil Turok has plans to clone the math institute he founded. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NEIL TUROK PROFILE: An African Showcase for Math Studies

Robert Koenig
Science 2 May 2008: 605.
The 53 students at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences may speak an exotic mixture of languages, but they share a passion for numerical concepts and a determination to make a difference in their home countries. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GENE THERAPY: Two Teams Report Progress in Reversing Loss of Sight

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 2 May 2008: 606-607.
The first safety trials of gene therapy for a degenerative eye disease produced good results in adults; researchers now intend to treat children. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS MEETING: Tuberculosis Jumped From Humans to Cows, Not Vice Versa

Ann Gibbons
Science 2 May 2008: 608.
At the American Association of Physical Anthropologists meeting, a DNA study showed that early humans were infected with strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which cause tuberculosis, long before they began herding cattle, suggesting that it was humans who transmitted the disease to bovids and other animals. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS MEETING: Australopithecus Not Much of a Nutcracker

Ann Gibbons
Science 2 May 2008: 608-609.
Several researchers reported at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists meeting that different analytical methods suggest that robust australopithecines didn't eat hard nuts and seeds routinely as had been thought, and that robust and gracile hominids actually ate similar fare. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS MEETING: Snapshots From the Meeting

Ann Gibbons and Elizabeth Culotta
Science 2 May 2008: 609.
Snapshots from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists meeting include the evolution of gliding, the divergence of Homo habilis and H. erectus, and Neandertal speech. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Audio Clips »|  

Letters

 Ensuring Food Security

Paul Wojtkowski;, Molly E. Brown, Christopher C. Funk, James Verdin, and Gary Eilerts
Science 2 May 2008: 611-612.
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 Coarse-Resolution Models Only Partly Cloudy

Kenneth R. Sperber, Julia M. Slingo, Duane E. Waliser, Peter M. Inness;, Hiroaki Miura, Masaki Satoh, Tomoe Nasuno, Akira T. Noda, and Kazuyoshi Oouchi
Science 2 May 2008: 612-613.
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 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 2 May 2008: 612.
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Books et al.

NEUROSCIENCE: On Deciding How to Do unto Others

Prashanth Ak
Science 2 May 2008: 614-615.
Rejecting the idea of signaling circuits devoted to ethics, the author discusses neural and genetic mechanisms that may underlie the behavior of treating others as one wishes to be treated. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

COGNITIVE SCIENCE: Rethinking Folk Psychology

Erik Myin
Science 2 May 2008: 615.
The author argues for a "narrative practice" alternative to "theory of mind" explanations of the human capacity for understanding other persons in terms of their beliefs and desires. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 2 May 2008: 615.
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Policy Forum

ECONOMICS: Linking Natural Resources to Slow Growth and More Conflict

C. N. Brunnschweiler and E. H. Bulte
Science 2 May 2008: 616-617.
Natural resources do not necessarily spell doom for development. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Perspectives

ENGINEERING: High-Performance Transistors by Design

Xiaojun Guo and S. R. P. Silva
Science 2 May 2008: 618-619.
For large-area electronics, a redesign of the transistor structure can provide improved performance. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

IMMUNOLOGY: How Frustration Leads to Inflammation

Luke A. J. O'Neill
Science 2 May 2008: 619-620.
A molecular basis for asbestos-induced inflammation may lie in a particular component of the inflammasome protein complex. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CHEMISTRY: Synchronized Self-Assembly

Jeffrey S. Moore and Mary L. Kraft
Science 2 May 2008: 620-621.
Building macroscopic containers from porous membranes may be easier because of advances in controlling the kinetics of self-assembly. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECOLOGY: How Reefs Respond to Mass Coral Spawning

James Guest
Science 2 May 2008: 621-623.
A mass coral-spawning event at the Great Barrier Reef provided a natural experiment for studying energy and nutrient dynamics of the coral reef. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSICS: A Unified Picture of Laser Physics

Jorge Bravo-Abad and Marin Soljačić
Science 2 May 2008: 623-624.
Diffusive random lasers, whose mechanism has been elusive, are now explained by a general theory that encompasses conventional lasers. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: The Paradox of Silent Heterochromatin

Ingela Djupedal and Karl Ekwall
Science 2 May 2008: 624-625.
Cell cycle control of heterochromatin disassembly may explain the paradox of heterochromatin gene expression. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Review

Structure and Dynamics of Earth's Lower Mantle

Edward J. Garnero and Allen K. McNamara
Science 2 May 2008: 626-628.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Brevia

Fire-Derived Charcoal Causes Loss of Forest Humus

David A. Wardle, Marie-Charlotte Nilsson, and Olle Zackrisson
Science 2 May 2008: 629.
Charcoal enhances the microbial activity in soils, which in turn decreases the amount of carbon and humus in forests over time. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Articles

A Specialized Forebrain Circuit for Vocal Babbling in the Juvenile Songbird

Dmitriy Aronov, Aaron S. Andalman, and Michale S. Fee
Science 2 May 2008: 630-634.
The babbling of young zebra finches learning to sing is produced by a brain region distinct from the adult song center, a pattern that may also apply to other motor systems. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

High-Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys

Bed Poudel, Qing Hao, Yi Ma, Yucheng Lan, Austin Minnich, Bo Yu, Xiao Yan, Dezhi Wang, Andrew Muto, Daryoosh Vashaee, Xiaoyuan Chen, Junming Liu, Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Gang Chen, and Zhifeng Ren
Science 2 May 2008: 634-638.
Published online 20 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1156446] (in Science Express Research Articles)
Milling a thermoelectric alloy, which produces electricity from a thermal gradient, into a nanopowder, then pressing it into a bulk form, greatly improves its performance. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Reports

Coherent Control of Decoherence

Matthijs P. A. Branderhorst, Pablo Londero, Piotr Wasylczyk, Constantin Brif, Robert L. Kosut, Herschel Rabitz, and Ian A. Walmsley
Science 2 May 2008: 638-643.
Iterative shaping of a laser pulse using feedback from a fluorescence signal extends the phase stability of a molecular vibration in the face of rotational jostling. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Strong Interactions in Multimode Random Lasers

Hakan E. Türeci, Li Ge, Stefan Rotter, and A. Douglas Stone
Science 2 May 2008: 643-646.
A theoretical approach describes lasing in strongly disordered media where multiple excitation modes may switch on and off to emit light over a range of wavelengths. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Silica-on-Silicon Waveguide Quantum Circuits

Alberto Politi, Martin J. Cryan, John G. Rarity, Siyuan Yu, and Jeremy L. O'Brien
Science 2 May 2008: 646-649.
Published online 27 March 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1155441] (in Science Express Reports)
Quantum circuits—in which individual photons interfere, entangle, and form logic gates—have been realized on silicon chips. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Practical Synthesis of Prostratin, DPP, and Their Analogs, Adjuvant Leads Against Latent HIV

Paul A. Wender, Jung-Min Kee, and Jeffrey M. Warrington
Science 2 May 2008: 649-652.
A four-step synthesis starting from an abundant natural material yields large quantities of prostatin, a scarce natural product that may be useful in combating HIV. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Marine Polyphosphate: A Key Player in Geologic Phosphorus Sequestration

Julia Diaz, Ellery Ingall, Claudia Benitez-Nelson, David Paterson, Martin D. de Jonge, Ian McNulty, and Jay A. Brandes
Science 2 May 2008: 652-655.
Polyphosphates derived from diatoms may help crystallize calcium phosphate (apatite) in marine sediments globally, explaining how this large sink for phosphorus forms. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Expanding Oxygen-Minimum Zones in the Tropical Oceans

Lothar Stramma, Gregory C. Johnson, Janet Sprintall, and Volker Mohrholz
Science 2 May 2008: 655-658.
Since the 1950s, dissolved oxygen concentrations have decreased in low-oxygen zones of the tropical Atlantic and equatorial Pacific, and the zones have expanded toward the surface. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

A General Model for Food Web Structure

Stefano Allesina, David Alonso, and Mercedes Pascual
Science 2 May 2008: 658-661.
A model based on likelihood analysis is able to replicate the actual structure of food web networks derived from experimental data. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

ROS-Generating Mitochondrial DNA Mutations Can Regulate Tumor Cell Metastasis

Kaori Ishikawa, Keizo Takenaga, Miho Akimoto, Nobuko Koshikawa, Aya Yamaguchi, Hirotake Imanishi, Kazuto Nakada, Yoshio Honma, and Jun-Ichi Hayashi
Science 2 May 2008: 661-664.
Published online 3 April 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1156906] (in Science Express Reports)
Mutations in mitochondrial DNA that cause enhanced production of reactive oxygen species can increase the propensity of tumor cells to metastasize. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

In Vivo Imaging of Membrane-Associated Glycans in Developing Zebrafish

Scott T. Laughlin, Jeremy M. Baskin, Sharon L. Amacher, and Carolyn R. Bertozzi
Science 2 May 2008: 664-667.
Imaging of cell-surface sugars in developing zebrafish reveals dramatic bursts of sugar production in the jaw, olfactory organ, and pectoral fin 60 to 72 hours after fertilization. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Phosphorylation by p38 MAPK as an Alternative Pathway for GSK3β Inactivation

Tina M. Thornton, Gustavo Pedraza-Alva, Bin Deng, C. David Wood, Alexander Aronshtam, James L. Clements, Guadalupe Sabio, Roger J. Davis, Dwight E. Matthews, Bradley Doble, and Mercedes Rincon
Science 2 May 2008: 667-670.
A well-studied kinase is shown to be unexpectedly phosphorylated and inhibited by mitogen-activated protein kinase, and this modification activates cell-survival pathways. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Asymmetric Tethering of Flat and Curved Lipid Membranes by a Golgin

Guillaume Drin, Vincent Morello, Jean-François Casella, Pierre Gounon, and Bruno Antonny
Science 2 May 2008: 670-673.
A long protein may tether vesicles to the Golgi apparatus by binding the positively curved vesicle membrane to its N terminus and flat membranes to its C terminus. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Innate Immune Activation Through Nalp3 Inflammasome Sensing of Asbestos and Silica

Catherine Dostert, Virginie Pétrilli, Robin Van Bruggen, Chad Steele, Brooke T. Mossman, and Jürg Tschopp
Science 2 May 2008: 674-677.
Published online 10 April 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1156995] (in Science Express Reports)
A large multiprotein complex detects particulate airborne pollutants that have been taken up by immune cells in the lung and initiates a potent inflammatory response. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Haptoglobin-Hemoglobin Receptor Conveys Innate Immunity to Trypanosoma brucei in Humans

Benoit Vanhollebeke, Géraldine De Muylder, Marianne J. Nielsen, Annette Pays, Patricia Tebabi, Marc Dieu, Martine Raes, Soren K. Moestrup, and Etienne Pays
Science 2 May 2008: 677-681.
A lipoprotein in human blood protects against an African parasite by binding to a parasite receptor and triggering uptake of the lipoprotein, which contains a toxic component. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Technical Comments

Comment on "Long-Lived Giant Number Fluctuations in a Swarming Granular Nematic"

I. S. Aranson, A. Snezhko, J. S. Olafsen, and J. S. Urbach
Science 2 May 2008: 612.
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Response to Comment on "Long-Lived Giant Number Fluctuations in a Swarming Granular Nematic"

V. Narayan, S. Ramaswamy, and N. Menon
Science 2 May 2008: 612.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|