Science

Current Issue:

• This Week in Science
  Cage, Book, and Prism | Water-Assisted Proton Diffusion | Mechanisms in Methanol Catalysis | Radioactive Resonance | Keep Your Distance | Bring In the Inspectors | Ultimate Blockade | Accounting for Lac | The Hibernating Ribosome | An Aspirin a Day? | Suicidal B cells | Deep Breathing | Color and Movement | Distinguishing Epigenetic Marks
• Editors' Choice
  Ecology: Different Dialects | Psychology: Evaluating Rituals | Cell Biology: Who Hid the Cyclin D2? | Development: Stressful for the Long Haul | Microbiology: Attack of the Killer Algae | Physics: Watching Excitons Condense | Ocean Science: Where Carbonate Comes From | Chemistry: Tuning the Mix | Immunology: Detecting Danger
• Findings
  Gamma Ray Bending Opens New Door for Optics
• [Editorial] Preventing Mass Violence
  Author: David Hamburg
  David Hamburg
• [News of the Week] Around the World
  In science news around the world this week, a Senate bill would preserve the U.S. helium supply for research, researchers have issued the first-ever international principles governing peer review of grant proposals, the European Parliament rebuked three regulatory agencies, Norway opened the world's largest carbon capture and storage test facility, and a new Twitter feed run by the Shanghai U.S. consulate is charting the city's air quality.
• [News of the Week] Random Sample
  An analysis of the DNA sequence from three species of Heliconius butterflies and several subspecies reveals that those with the same color patterns have the same versions of key genes, holdovers from extensive hybridization within the genus. A recent master's degree thesis at European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany is generating waves—though not the "time waves" the student was looking for. And this week's numbers quantify deaths of children under 5 caused by preventable infectious diseases, U.S. adults who sleepwalk, and pages in the Encyclopedia of Life.
• [News of the Week] Newsmakers
  This week's Newsmaker is Arunava Majumdar, who will leave his post as head of the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy on 9 June.
• [News & Analysis] Biomedicine: A Texas Wrangle Over Cancer Research Funds
  Last week, Alfred Gilman announced he is stepping down as the chief scientific officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas this fall because he believes CPRIT's leaders are bypassing scientific review.Author: Jocelyn Kaiser
  Jocelyn Kaiser
• [News & Analysis] Neuropathology: Blast Injuries Linked to Neurodegeneration in Veterans
  A study reported this week in Science Translational Medicine of autopsies of four veterans of recent conflicts has found features of the same neurodegenerative disease reported previously in athletes.Author: Greg Miller
  Greg Miller
• [News & Analysis] Aids Research: FDA Panel Recommends Anti-HIV Drug for Prevention
  On 10 May, the Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration debated whether an anti-HIV drug should receive approval as a preventive for uninfected people.Author: Jon Cohen
  Jon Cohen
• [News & Analysis] Newsmaker Interview: Stephen Pruitt: Coalition Begins Push for U.S. Schools to Adopt Voluntary Science Standards
  Stephen Pruitt is trying to coax states to adopt a set of standards for teaching science in their elementary and secondary schools. He offers a tutorial on the new standards in an interview with Science.Author: Jeffrey Mervis
  Jeffrey Mervis
• [News & Analysis] Public Health: China Takes Aim at Rampant Antibiotic Resistance
  The Chinese government is leading a crusade to warn its people against the perils of frivolous antibiotic consumption in hopes of warding off calamitous outbreaks of drug-resistant strains.Author: Mara Hvistendahl
  Mara Hvistendahl
• [News Focus] Archaeology: Near Eastern Archaeology Works to Dig Out of a Crisis
  In the wake of the Arab Spring, archaeologists in the Near East are locked in a struggle for the survival of their field.Author: Andrew Lawler
  Andrew Lawler
• [News Focus] Infectious Diseases: Can New Chemistry Make a Malaria Drug Plentiful and Cheap?
  German chemist Peter Seeberger says he has developed a cheaper way to produce a key malaria drug. Now, he's trying to convince the rest of the world.Author: Kai Kupferschmidt
  Kai Kupferschmidt
• [Letter] Forced Retirement Goes Out of Style
  Author: Roy Williams
  Roy Williams
• [Letter] Replication Initiative: Dangerous Logic
  Author: Olavo B. Amaral
  Olavo B. Amaral
• [Letter] Replication Initiative: Prioritize Publication
  Author: Simon Nicholas Williams
  Simon Nicholas Williams
• [Letter] Replication Initiative: Beware Misinterpretation
  Author: Gregory Francis
  Gregory Francis
• [Letter] The Motherhood Effect
• [Correction] Corrections and Clarifications
• [Book Review] Sociology: Violence Tamed
  Examining patterns of violence in Europe, Muchembled finds that brutality and homicide have declined from the 13th century to the present and considers explanations for that change.Author: Michael Hechter
  Michael Hechter
• [Book Review] Sociology: Schooling Violence?
  Challenging claims that education promotes tolerance and peace, Lange argues that it instead often—especially in settings with ethnic divisions, limited resources, and ineffective political institutions—contributes to violence.Author: Claire L. Adida
  Claire L. Adida
• [Books et al.] Books Received
  A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 11 May 2012.
• [Policy Forum] Social Psychology: Parochialism as a Central Challenge in Counterinsurgency
  Current U.S. practice in Afghanistan may reify social divisions, which undermines institutions critical to postwar stability.Authors: Nicholas Sambanis, Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl, Moses Shayo
  Nicholas Sambanis
• [Perspective] Cell Biology: An Alternative Route for Nuclear mRNP Export by Membrane Budding
  Nuclear export of mRNA, previously thought to happen exclusively through nuclear pore complexes, may also occur via a membrane-budding mechanism.Authors: Ben Montpetit, Karsten Weis
  Ben Montpetit
• [Perspective] Chemistry: Active Site of an Industrial Catalyst
  Surface steps caused by stacking faults or twin boundaries in copper nanoparticles are key to the activity of the methanol synthesis catalyst.Author: Jeffrey P. Greeley
  Jeffrey P. Greeley
• [Perspective] Chemistry: NMR Tools for Determining the Structure of Plutonium Materials
  The ability to observe plutonium-239 magnetic resonance signals should aid in environmental studies and the development of waste-storage materials.Author: Thomas E. Albrecht-Schmitt
  Thomas E. Albrecht-Schmitt
• [Perspective] Physics: Room for Just One Photon
  Ensembles of cold atoms excited up to Rydberg states can be used to manipulate and control interactions between single photons.Author: Philippe Grangier
  Philippe Grangier
• [Perspective] Cell Biology: Ancient Sensor for Ancient Drug
  A common drug has an unexpected effect on a metabolic enzyme that stimulates fat utilization.Authors: Reuben J. Shaw, Lewis C. Cantley
  Reuben J. Shaw
• [Perspective] Chemistry: Pinning Down the Water Hexamer
  An experimental study resolves a long-standing controversy about isomeric forms of the water hexamer.Authors: Richard J. Saykally, David J. Wales
  Richard J. Saykally
• [Perspective] Retrospective: Robert R. Sokal (1926–2012)
  An ecologist and evolutionary biologist brought a quantitative approach to classification through statistics and morphometric analysis.Author: Douglas J. Futuyma
  Douglas J. Futuyma
• [Introduction to Special Issue] Introduction: Human Conflict: Winning the Peace
  Authors: Guy Riddihough, Gilbert Chin, Elizabeth Culotta, Barbara Jasny, Leslie Roberts, Sacha Vignieri
  Guy Riddihough
• [Special Issue Multimedia] Human Conflict: Additional Online Features
  Videos, blog postings, discussions, and more.
• [Special Issue News] Parsing Terrorism
  Author: Eliot Marshall
  Eliot Marshall
• [Special Issue News] Terrorism's Long Trail
• [Special Issue News] In Battle: Tribal Roots in South Sudan
  Author: Eliot Marshall
  Eliot Marshall
• [Special Issue News] Roots of Racism
  Author: Elizabeth Culotta
  Elizabeth Culotta
• [Special Issue News] In Battle: Preening the Troops
  Author: Elizabeth Pennisi
  Elizabeth Pennisi
• [Special Issue News] The Battle Over Violence
  Author: Andrew Lawler
  Andrew Lawler
• [Special Issue News] In Battle: Tweeting the London Riots
  Author: John Bohannon
  John Bohannon
• [Special Issue News] Civilization's Double-Edged Sword
  Author: Andrew Lawler
  Andrew Lawler
• [Special Issue News] The Ultimate Sacrifice
  Author: Ann Gibbons
  Ann Gibbons
• [Special Issue News] In Battle: Fighting Rituals
  Author: Elizabeth Pennisi
  Elizabeth Pennisi
• [Special Issue News] Gender and Violence
  Author: Mara Hvistendahl
  Mara Hvistendahl
• [Special Issue News] In Battle: From War to Peace
  Author: Elizabeth Pennisi
  Elizabeth Pennisi
• [Special Issue News] Drone Wars
  Author: Greg Miller
  Greg Miller
• [Special Issue Review] Ancestral Hierarchy and Conflict
  Author: Christopher Boehm
  Christopher Boehm
• [Special Issue Review] The Group Self
  Author: Naomi Ellemers
  Naomi Ellemers
• [Special Issue Perspective] Adapting to a Multicultural Future
  Authors: Richard J. Crisp, Rose Meleady
  Richard J. Crisp
• [Special Issue Perspective] Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict
  Authors: Scott Atran, Jeremy Ginges
  Scott Atran
• [Special Issue Review] Ethnicity and Conflict: Theory and Facts
  Authors: Joan Esteban, Laura Mayoral, Debraj Ray
  Joan Esteban
• [Special Issue Review] Modeling Armed Conflicts
  Author: Moshe Kress
  Moshe Kress
• [Special Issue Perspective] Climate Change and Violent Conflict
  Authors: Jürgen Scheffran, Michael Brzoska, Jasmin Kominek, P. Michael Link, Janpeter Schilling
  Jürgen Scheffran
• [Special Issue Perspective] Are We Winning the War Against Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?
  Author: Richard J. McNally
  Richard J. McNally
• [Special Issue Perspective] The Antiquity of Empathy
  Author: Frans B. M. de Waal
  Frans B. M. de Waal
• [Special Issue Perspective] Warriors, Levelers, and the Role of Conflict in Human Social Evolution
  Author: Samuel Bowles
  Samuel Bowles
• [Special Issue/Review] Life Without War
  Author: Douglas P. Fry
  Douglas P. Fry
• [Brevia] Evolutionary Diversity of the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter
  Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial calcium transporter shows that it was a feature of early eukaryotes.Authors: Alexander G. Bick, Sarah E. Calvo, Vamsi K. Mootha
  Alexander G. Bick
• [Report] Strongly Interacting Rydberg Excitations of a Cold Atomic Gas
  Illumination of an ensemble of cold rubidium atoms ultimately leads to high-level excitation of just a single atom.Authors: Y. O. Dudin, A. Kuzmich
  Y. O. Dudin
• [Report] Water-Mediated Proton Hopping on an Iron Oxide Surface
  The presence of adsorbed water enhances proton diffusion, likely through a hydronium ion transition state.Authors: Lindsay R. Merte, Guowen Peng, Ralf Bechstein, Felix Rieboldt, Carrie A. Farberow, Lars C. Grabow, Wilhelmine Kudernatsch, Stefan Wendt, Erik Lægsgaard, Manos Mavrikakis, Flemming Besenbacher
  Lindsay R. Merte
• [Report] The Active Site of Methanol Synthesis over Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Industrial Catalysts
  Catalysis is favored by stepped copper nanoparticles decorated with zinc oxide, which promotes stronger intermediate binding.Authors: Malte Behrens, Felix Studt, Igor Kasatkin, Stefanie Kühl, Michael Hävecker, Frank Abild-Pedersen, Stefan Zander, Frank Girgsdies, Patrick Kurr, Benjamin-Louis Kniep, Michael Tovar, Richard W. Fischer, Jens K. Nørskov, Robert Schlögl
  Malte Behrens
• [Report] Structures of Cage, Prism, and Book Isomers of Water Hexamer from Broadband Rotational Spectroscopy
  Observing three distinct water clusters in the same experiment resolves long-standing questions about their relative stabilities.Authors: Cristóbal Pérez, Matt T. Muckle, Daniel P. Zaleski, Nathan A. Seifert, Berhane Temelso, George C. Shields, Zbigniew Kisiel, Brooks H. Pate
  Cristóbal Pérez
• [Report] Observation of 239Pu Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
  The long-sought magnetic resonance signal of the plutonium nucleus has been detected in a sample of solid plutonium dioxide.Authors: H. Yasuoka, G. Koutroulakis, H. Chudo, S. Richmond, D. K. Veirs, A. I. Smith, E. D. Bauer, J. D. Thompson, G. D. Jarvinen, D. L. Clark
  H. Yasuoka
• [Report] Conspecific Negative Density Dependence and Forest Diversity
  Tree seedlings have a harder time establishing themselves in forests containing many adults of the same species.Authors: Daniel J. Johnson, Wesley T. Beaulieu, James D. Bever, Keith Clay
  Daniel J. Johnson
• [Report] Randomized Government Safety Inspections Reduce Worker Injuries with No Detectable Job Loss
  It may be feasible to achieve employee safety while keeping businesses viable.Authors: David I. Levine, Michael W. Toffel, Matthew S. Johnson
  David I. Levine
• [Report] Cost-Benefit Tradeoffs in Engineered lac Operons
  A close look at a paradigmatic system accounts for the costs due to protein activity versus expression and folding.Authors: Matt Eames, Tanja Kortemme
  Matt Eames
• [Report] How Hibernation Factors RMF, HPF, and YfiA Turn Off Protein Synthesis
  Three crystal structures show why bacteria stop making proteins when they enter the stationary phase.Authors: Yury S. Polikanov, Gregor M. Blaha, Thomas A. Steitz
  Yury S. Polikanov
• [Report] The Ancient Drug Salicylate Directly Activates AMP-Activated Protein Kinase
  A possible molecular mechanism of action for a metabolite of aspirin is described.Authors: Simon A. Hawley, Morgan D. Fullerton, Fiona A. Ross, Jonathan D. Schertzer, Cyrille Chevtzoff, Katherine J. Walker, Mark W. Peggie, Darya Zibrova, Kevin A. Green, Kirsty J. Mustard, Bruce E. Kemp, Kei Sakamoto, Gregory R. Steinberg, D. Grahame Hardie
  Simon A. Hawley
• [Report] Aerobic Microbial Respiration in 86-Million-Year-Old Deep-Sea Red Clay
  Microbes in Pacific sediments grow very, very slowly.Authors: Hans Røy, Jens Kallmeyer, Rishi Ram Adhikari, Robert Pockalny, Bo Barker Jørgensen, Steven D’Hondt
  Hans Røy
• [Report] Multiple Spectral Inputs Improve Motion Discrimination in the Drosophila Visual System
  Fly photoreceptors that detect colors also contribute information to the processing of motion.Authors: Trevor J. Wardill, Olivier List, Xiaofeng Li, Sidhartha Dongre, Marie McCulloch, Chun-Yuan Ting, Cahir J. O’Kane, Shiming Tang, Chi-Hon Lee, Roger C. Hardie, Mikko Juusola
  Trevor J. Wardill
• [Report] AID-Driven Deletion Causes Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Locus Suicide Recombination in B Cells
  Recombination-induced deletion of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene in activated B cells may influence B cell homeostasis.Authors: Sophie Péron, Brice Laffleur, Nicolas Denis-Lagache, Jeanne Cook-Moreau, Aurélien Tinguely, Laurent Delpy, Yves Denizot, Eric Pinaud, Michel Cogné
  Sophie Péron
• [Report] Quantitative Sequencing of 5-Methylcytosine and 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine at Single-Base Resolution
  A sequencing method can discriminate epigenetically modified cytosine nucleotides within embryonic stem cell DNA.Authors: Michael J. Booth, Miguel R. Branco, Gabriella Ficz, David Oxley, Felix Krueger, Wolf Reik, Shankar Balasubramanian
  Michael J. Booth
• New Products
  A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.
• [Podcast] Science Podcast
  The show includes a special show exploring human conflict, including strife among our primate ancestors, the biological underpinnings of racism, and the fundamentals of "peace systems."