http://www.sciencemag.org Highlights of the recent literature, from the editors of Science Magazine American Association for the Advancement of Science Stewart Wills (mailto:swills@aaas.org) Copyright 2009 American Association for the Advancement of Science 2009-07-02T13:05:10-05:00 en http://www.sciencemag.org/icons/banner/title.gif http://www.sciencemag.org http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-a?rss=1 The decline in fitness with increasing distance from an adaptive peak can constrain morphological divergence between sister lineages. Collar et al. examine whether the functional demands of feeding on fish … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-a?rss=1">[Read more]</a> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-b?rss=1 Mercury's toxicity impels wide-ranging study of the binding and redox behavior of the element under varying environmental conditions. Sulfate-reducing bacteria in soils and sediments are known to enhance mercury accumulation … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-b?rss=1">[Read more]</a> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-c?rss=1 Biological processes with circadian rhythms show periodicity that correlates with the day/night cycle, and many metabolic pathways display such a regulatory mechanism. Prior work has suggested that between 2 and … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-c?rss=1">[Read more]</a> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-d?rss=1 Exposure to infectious agents has exerted selective pressure on the evolution of one group of immune system genes. The hygiene hypothesis, proposed two decades ago, posits that the reduced exposure … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/12-d?rss=1">[Read more]</a> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/13-a?rss=1 For optimal efficiency in spintronic applications (which replace ordinary charge flow with spin current), host materials should ideally be completely spin-polarized. Unfortunately, not many materials have this property. Heusler alloys … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/13-a?rss=1">[Read more]</a> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/13-b?rss=1 Granite is not unique to our planet. Granite-like rocks have been found, albeit comparatively rarely, on Mars, Venus, and the Moon and within meteorites. Terada and Bischoff report the age … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/13-b?rss=1">[Read more]</a> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/13-c?rss=1 If Robert Moses, the driving force behind the construction of the congested artery known as the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, were alive today, he would marvel at the cellular engineers who relocate … <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/13-c?rss=1">[Read more]</a>