May 2013
20 posts
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WatchThe Secret Lives of Bubbles
Although foams and foam-like materials, such as fire retardants, soapy films and the frothy head of a beer, are quite common, they have complex dynamics owing to their growth, coalescence and the shape-shifting properties of individual bubbles. The difficulty in modeling foam behavior is that the bubbles’ clustering together and bursting slowly, one-by-one, takes...
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Flowering Activity Reveals Role for R-Loop
Researchers have gained insight into how one member of a category of mysterious molecule called long-noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is regulated. Long-noncoding RNA, once thought to have little use, is now being shown to play a part in gene expression — but how lncRNA itself is regulated has left researchers perplexed.
Read more about this research from the 3 May issue of Science here.
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Agile Flight for a Tiny, Winged Robot
A flying robot the size of a house-fly is providing researchers with a new way to study the flight dynamics of nature’s smallest fliers. Flies are capable of extremely unique and agile flight maneuvers that, for example, allow them to quickly avoid flyswatters and tactfully land on flowers that are blowing in the wind. For this reason, their aerial prowess has been difficult to reproduce in the...
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Reporter in North Korea Investigates Fight against...
Last month, International News Editor for the journal Science, Richard Stone, traveled to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to observe progress at the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTRL), the only facility in the country capable of detecting strains of multidrug resistant tuberculosis. The article about Stone’s observations of the TB epidemic in North Korea appears...
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The Mitochondria Cleanup Crew Just Got Bigger
Damaged mitochondria need to be eliminated or serious health issues result, and a new study describes a previously unknown part of this elimination process. As the main energy source of cells, mitochondria are essential — but when these tiny power plants go bad, they become toxic, and cells have a special way of eliminating them.
Read more about this research from the 26 April issue of...
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Europas kjøttmeisbestand trosser spådommer,...
Fire tiår med data om europeiske kjøttmeis viser at bestanden av fuglen har holdt seg ganske stabil, selv om larver, fuglenes primære matkilde, har dukket opp tidligere hvert år som følge av klimaendringer. Disse funnene er viktige fordi mange planter og dyrs livssyklus, inkludert hendelser som parring, blomstring og migrasjon er sterkt påvirket av sesongmessige og mellomårlige endringer. Mange...
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Europe’s Great Tits Defy Predictions, Remain...
Four decades of data on European great tits show that populations of the bird have remained fairly stable, even though caterpillars—the birds’ primary food source—have been appearing earlier each year in response to climate change. These findings are important because the life cycles of many plants and animals, including events such as breeding, flowering and migration, are strongly influenced...
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Probing and Proving Theories of Gravitation
Observations of a massive neutron star in a compact stellar binary in outer space confirm general relativity theory in a previously untested regime, a new study reports. General relativity (GR), proposed by Albert Einstein, has been tested outside of Earth before, but it has not been tested in the strong field of such a massive neutron star (or other, even stronger gravitational fields). Thus,...
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古代マヤ文明には複数の集団との文化交流があった
マヤ文明の起源に関してはこれまでに、2つの優勢な説があった。1つは現在のメキシコ南部、グアテマラ、ベリーズにあたる地域でほぼ独自に発展したという説。もう1つはマヤ文明より古いオルメカ文明の文化的影響を大きく受けたという説である。今回、ともにアリゾナ大学（米国、ツーソン）の研究者であるTakeshi Inomata（猪俣健）、Daniela Triadan夫妻が率いる米国や日本の研究者から成る発掘調査チームは、これらの2説ではマヤ文明の起源を十分に説明できないことを明らかにした。セイバルの広場群やピラミッド群と、グアテマラの古代マヤ遺跡はおそらく、紀元前約1,000年～700年に南部メソアメリカで起こっていた広範な文化的交流から生じたと彼らは提唱している。
（Science 4月26日号に掲載）
[Reconstruction: Daniela Triadan; Photo:...
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Ancient Maya Swapped Culture With Multiple Groups
Until now, two theories have dominated the debate concerning the origin of the Maya civilization: one suggesting that the Maya developed almost entirely on their own in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, and another suggesting that the older Olmec civilization was the Maya’s dominant cultural influence. Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, a husband-and-wife team from the...
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Whales Get Feeding Tips From Their Friends
Humpback whales pick up feeding techniques from other whales, a new study reports. The findings offer evidence that behaviors are spread through cultural transmission in animals other than humans and non-human primates.
Read more about this research from the 26 April issue of Science here.
[Image courtesy of Jennifer Allen/Whale Center of New England. Click the image for more...
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Eating Like Locals: Social Learning & Culture in...
Most travelers want to eat what the locals are eating. New research now shows that wild vervet monkeys will also “eat what the locals are eating,” and switch food preferences when joining a new group or culture. The findings offer evidence that social learning – learning from others rather than through individual trial and error – is a more powerful force for shaping wild animal behavior than...
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Light Switches Brain Signaling
A new study explains why long days, with plenty of light, are stressful for rats, causing the neurons in the brains of these nocturnal creatures to produce less of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Typically, specific neurotransmitters are released by specific neurons, though the ability of neurons to switch the transmitters they release in certain conditions has been known. Now, a new study shows...
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Grand Challenges in Science Education
The 21st-century scientific workforce needs new skills and knowledge to keep pace with ever-changing technology. Larger, more diverse student populations clamor for access to knowledge. All global citizens, whether in a doctor’s office or polling booth, must be better informed. All of these needs call for expanded, improved science education. In this special issue, we have invited experts...
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Exclusive Breastfeeding Curbs HIV in Breast Milk
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Where Has All the Charcoal Gone?
A new study helps to explain why scientists have not found expected levels of biochar (a type of charcoal) in the world’s soils. Biochar — which is generated from the burning of biomass such as wood and plants, and then deposited in soil — is important because its absorptive properties help it remove carbon from the atmosphere (which can in turn help to mitigate climate change). The...
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First Antarctic Freeze Brought New Plankton
About 34 million years ago, as ice was covering the surface of Antarctica, plankton in the Southern Ocean was undergoing an abrupt and dramatic reorganization, researchers say. Alexander Houben and colleagues used records of fossilized cysts, which were left behind by microorganisms called dinoflagellates, to study the ecosystems that surrounded Antarctica during its transition to a...
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Mental Maps in Bats and Rats
Land-dwelling mammals build mental maps to help them navigate using different neural processes than mammals that fly, new research shows.
Read more about this research from the 19 April issue of Science here.
[Image courtesy of Organization for Bat Conservation and Steve Gettle Photography. Click the image for more information.]
© 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science....
April 2013
21 posts
4 tags
History Lessons Needed to Keep Fish Stocks Afloat
A new study suggests why the recovery of overexploited fish populations has been slower and less certain than researchers have expected. According to Philipp Neubauer and colleagues, who analyzed data on global fish stocks, the costs of overfishing have been greater than models have predicted and many depleted fish populations won’t be able to recover from their current status.
Read more...
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Ants Go Marching, In Order by Age
If you’re a middle-aged ant, you’re likely to roam your colony more than your younger and older counterparts, and also to have a weaker social network, a new study shows.
Read more about this research from the 18 April issue of Science Express here.
[Image courtesy of Alessandro Crespi. Click the image for more information.]
© 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All...
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Stressful Conditions Help Moms Help Their...
Pregnant females pressed by crowded living situations are unknowingly setting their offspring up for success, a new study shows. A mother’s influence can prepare her unborn child for some of the conditions that child may face, though, to date, little is known about the cues and the mechanisms involved in this process.
Read more about this research from the 18 April issue of Science Express...
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How Breast Cancer Cells Get Into The Brain
How do breast cancer cells get into the brain? A new study points to circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, as a likely culprit. The findings shine a spotlight on CTCs as a useful target to combat metastatic breast cancer.
Read more about this research from the 10 April issue of Science Translational Medicine here.
[Image courtesy of Dario Marchetti. Click the image for more information.]
©...
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WatchBehavioral Brain Circuits Conserved Across Species
The basal ganglia — a region of the vertebrate brain that is known to influence behavior — is similar in many ways to a patch of brain circuits in arthropods, according to this Review article by Nicholas Strausfeld and Frank Hirth. In this video, Dr. Frank Hirth of King’s College London discusses how the “strikingly...
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Shining a Light on the Brain, Safely
Researchers have figured out a way to insert miniaturized optoelectronic devices, or those that detect and control light, safely into the brains of rodents. Tae-il Kim and colleagues, who developed this new technology, used tiny, implantable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to stimulate neurons, which had been genetically engineered to be light-sensitive, of free‑roaming rodents, causing them to...
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Human Evolution Takes a Twist With Australopithecus sediba
A set of six research reports, accompanied by an introductory essay in the 12 April issue of Science serve up a complete view of the anatomy and likely habits of Australopithecus sediba, the 2-million-year-old fossil remains of several partial skeletons found in 2008 at the site of Malapa, near Johannesburg, South Africa. The studies...
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Listening to New Music Rewards the Brain
Whether...
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iChip Spots Circulating Tumor Cells
A microfluidic chip can detect telltale signs of cancer in patients’ blood. The device captures rare circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, that are sometimes seen in the blood of patients with tumors. Once captured, these cells can reveal important information about how a cancer is spreading and what treatments may be most effective.
Read more about this research from the 3 April issue of Science...
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Continent-Wide Look at Vole Populations
Climate may be affecting vole populations across Europe, a new study reports. Herbivorous voles are a fundamental link in the food chain as they are essential prey for many predators, and primary consumers of vegetation. Thomas Cornulier and colleagues collected data on changes in population abundance over time from vole populations across Europe over the past 40 years. They found a pattern of...
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Lonely Coral Reefs Might Be OK
Despite their distance from other reef systems, isolated coral reefs can still recover from devastating bleaching events — but the fewer human activities in the area, the better, researchers say.
Read more about this research from the 5 April issue of Science here.
[Image courtesy of N. Thake. Click the image for more information.]
© 2013 American Association for the Advancement of...
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Watch3-D Printed Materials Resemble Biological Tissues
A three-dimensional material could one day mimic the behavior of cells in tissues, new research shows. The tissue-like materials developed by Gabriel Villar and colleagues have the consistency of soft rubber, and physically resemble brain and fat tissues. The researchers aim to eventually build materials that can be used for medical applications...
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Special Issue on Cancer Genomics
Human colon cancer (at lower center) identified by a colored barium x-ray shown overlaid with a representation of a genetic sequence. Genome sequence analysis of human tumors has uncovered an array of genetic alterations that help drive tumor growth—information that may lead to more effective cancer therapies. See the special section beginning on page 1539.
Image: Mehau Kulyk/Science Source...
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Navigating NETS in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Extracellular traps called NETS may be a key player in the joint inflammation and tissue damage seen in rheumatoid arthritis. Since immune cells called neutrophils produce NETs as a way to capture and kill foreign bacteria, the findings may help explain why some patients experience disease flare-ups after an infection.
Read more about this research from the 27 March issue of Science...
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Termites Behind Desert "Fairy Circles"
A new study uncovers the origin of fairy circles, circular patches of perennial grasses with a barren center that grow in the desert on the southwest coast of Africa. Fairy circles occur in regular patterns and can persist for decades, but the cause of these enigmatic and striking rings that dot the Namibian desert remains a mystery. Now, Norbert Juergens shows that a particular species of...
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WatchScience Prize Goes to Undergrad Course that Incorporates Faculty Research
A Stanford biology class that involves undergraduates in their instructors’ research and has been shown to engage students much more effectively than standard lab classes has been awarded the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI).
Read more about this article from the 29 March issue of Science here.
[Video...
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Fungi Revealed as Major Player in Boreal Forests
Contrary to popular belief, boreal forests don’t act as major carbon sinks, storing carbon and offsetting the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, because of all the plant litter that accumulates in them. Instead, a new study shows that boreal forests sequester so much carbon due to the action of a common fungi, known as mycorrhizal mycelium, which form intimate relationships with...
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New Malaria Drug Could Help Combat Resistance
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The Genetics of Fruit Fly Spots
A new study pinpoints the many genetic players involved in the appearance of black spots on fruit flies’ wings. The findings are a step toward understanding how novel traits such as leaf shape in plants and patterns of coloration in bird feathers emerge, and once they evolve, how these traits become so diverse.
Read more about this research from the 22 March issue of Science here.
[Image...
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Off-Road Robots
Researchers can learn a lot from a lizard scampering across the desert sand, according to a new study. Like previous studies of motion through air and water, which led to improvements in aircraft wings and underwater robots, Chen Li and colleagues studied how objects move across granular surfaces, like sand or gravel. In light of their findings, the researchers designed a six-legged robotic...
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A Unique Mammalian Ear
A new view of the mammalian ear may help explain why humans are more susceptible to ear infections and hearing loss. Mammalian ear development involves a rupture of the epithelium and its replacement by a completely different cell type, researchers have found. The findings indicate this process may be unique to mammals.
Read more about this research from the 22 March issue of Science here.
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March 2013
23 posts
3 tags
10 Years After SARS
A woman in Beijing covers her face at the peak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in April 2003. Two News stories (pages 1264 and 1269) and a Perspective (page 1287) from the 15 March issue of Science describe what happened when the world was confronted with this deadly new virus and ask whether we are better prepared today.
Photo: Guang Niu/Reuters/Newscom
Anyone...
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A Glimpse of Life in the Deep Ocean Crust
A new study offers evidence that communities of microorganisms live in the oceanic crust, a widespread, sediment-covered layer buried deep beneath the sea. In a 2004 ocean expedition off the coast of the northwestern United States, Mark Lever and colleagues drilled hundreds of meters into seafloor sediment and underlying oceanic crust to retrieve samples for microbiological, geochemical and...
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Multiple Mutations Needed to Color Deer Mice
A new study shows that the accumulation of multiple mutations associated with a single gene, rather than a single mutation with cascading effects, determines the coat colors of deer mice living on the Sand Hills of Nebraska.
Read more about this research from the 15 March issue of Science here.
[Image courtesy of Rowan D.H. Barrett. Click the image for more information.]
© 2013 American...
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Wings Not Lost, Just Hidden in Some Insects
A new study shows that decreasing expression of the Hox gene in mealworm beetles, Tenebrio molitor, coaxes wing-like appendages to sprout from certain non-winged segments of their bodies. The finding suggests that other wingless insects could still have wing-development programs that were modified—but not lost—over evolutionary time too.
Read more about this research from the 15 March issue...
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Atmosphere of Distant Exoplanet Described By Its...
A young exoplanet, orbiting a star known as HR 8799, has water and carbon monoxide in its atmosphere — but not methane — researchers say. The findings suggest that a planet-forming mechanism, called core accretion, brought the exoplanet into existence, rather than another possible process, known as gravitational instability.
Read more and listen to a teleconference about this...
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Alga Hijacked Bacterial Genes to Weather Extreme...
The red alga known as Galdieria sulphuraria, which thrives under the hot, toxic conditions of volcanic sulfur springs, acquired many of the genes it needs to survive such hostile environments from simpler organisms, like bacteria and archaea, according to a new study. Although most eukaryotes, or organisms with complex cellular structures, such as G. sulphuraria, rely on gene duplication to...
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Radar Reveals Underground Flood Channels on Mars
Researchers have produced a three-dimensional reconstruction of Marte Vallis, the largest of the outflow channels that were carved into Mars — presumably by an ancient mega-flood — within the past 500 million years. The analysis reveals that the buried flood channels are actually twice as deep as researchers had believed, and that the series of fissures known as Cerberus Fossae...
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Bees Get Memory "Buzz" From Caffeine
A morning cup of coffee transforms sleepy-eyed, groggy people all over the world into alert, focused thinkers. Many studies have confirmed the memory-enhancing effects of caffeine on humans. Caffeine also appears to dramatically affect bees’ long-term memory for flowers’ scent, a new study reports.
Read more about this research from the 8 March issue of Science here.
[Image courtesy of...
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Time to Toast Red Wine Again?
A new study shows that, under certain conditions, SIRT1 — the human sirtuin protein known to combat many age-related diseases — can be activated directly by resveratrol, a natural compound found in red wine, and other sirtuin-activating compounds, or STACs.
Read more about this research from the 8 March issue of Science here.
[Image courtesy of David Sinclair, Harvard Medical...
