Methane's Path to Captivity | Cosmic Acceleration | Acidic Ocean | Light in the Slow Lane | Early Ore Formation | Periplasmic Redox Regulation | Demise of the Megafauna | Anti-HIV Antibody Constraints | A-Maize-ing | Gardening for Ants and Termites | Dysbindin Function in Synaptic Homeostasis | Hairy Polygon Solution | Building Early Continents | Plasmonic Probing of Catalysis | Extinction Distinctions

Development: The Digital Divide | Molecular Biology: Domestic Tidying-Up | Chemistry: Propping Up Cholesterol | Biotechnology: Paths of Least Resistance

Medieval Mind Meld | Focus on the Adolescent Brain | Infectious Image | Thanks Anyway

Author: Albert Grimaldi

When a spent rocket booster slammed into the frigid, inky shadow of a lunar crater last month, it sent up a slightly damp plume of dust, scientists with NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission reported last week.

Author: Richard A. Kerr

Attempting to rein in Japan's yawning budget deficit, a government task force last week recommended tens of millions of dollars in cuts in science spending in the fiscal year beginning next April that would hit everything from research grants to big-ticket items such as a next-generation supercomputer.

Author: Dennis Normile

Two new astronomical results—one in this week's issue of Science and the other published online this month in Nature—suggest that cosmic rays acquire their tremendous velocities from exploding stars.

Author: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

World production of conventional oil is likely to peak before 2030 and could reach its limits before 2020, a major report from a new voice in the debate over oil depletion warns. In view of the daunting task of weaning the world's transportation off oil, the risk of a peak before 2030 "needs to be given serious consideration," the report says.

Author: Richard A. Kerr

Within a couple of years, a scientific team hopes to start clinical trials using cells from the first swine herd in the country specially bred to supply insulin-secreting pancreatic islets for people with diabetes. But they face immunological and regulatory challenges, as well as the challenge of overcoming public aversion to the idea.

Author: Constance Holden

ScienceNOW this week reported that meditation halves the risk of heart disease, empathy is in our genes, holes can block light, and new neurons make room for new memories, among other stories.

In an interview with Science, Zhu Qingshi, the newly appointed president of China's planned South University of Science and Technology, explained how he intends to shake up China's university system—whether the education ministry likes it or not.

Author: Richard Stone

More than a half-dozen major U.S. universities and institutes pledged last week to lean on biotech companies when licensing intellectual property to secure more favorable terms for countries in the developing world.

Author: Sam Kean

ScienceInsider reported this week that the American Physical Society's governing council has rejected a petition to revise a 2007 statement on global warming and Brazil has announced a plan to cut carbon emissions between 36% and 39% by 2020, among other stories.

The oil of the future—vast and largely untapped reserves of petroleum in the form of tarry deposits a few tens of meters beneath the surface—has serious reclamation challenges right now.

Author: Sam Kean

Detailed studies of Neandertal hearths and living quarters suggest that, like modern humans, our extinct cousins had the knack for organization.

Author: Michael Balter

Researchers have long debated whether the highly carnivorous Neandertals sometimes ate each other. In recent years, new evidence for this macabre hypothesis has emerged.

Author: Michael Balter

Chloroplasts seem to rely on the polymerization of protein filaments to make their way across a cell, researchers reported at the 9th International Plant Molecular Biology Congress, and they can move quickly—or slowly—depending on the circumstances.

Author: Elizabeth Pennisi

At the 9th International Plant Molecular Biology Congress, researchers described progress in manipulating the beta-glucan content of grains and other plant tissues, which could boost the fiber content of foods and enhance the value of the currently unusable parts of corn and wheat for biofuels.

Author: Elizabeth Pennisi

Researchers have proposed that genes that code for proteins that are part of complexes are most likely to survive the purging that follows whole-genome duplications. Increasing evidence from the 9th International Plant Molecular Biology Congress and other meetings suggests that this so-called gene balance hypothesis may be correct.

Author: Elizabeth Pennisi

Author: Simon Levay

Author: Ole Isacson

Authors: Tong Wu, Yeon-Su Kim

Authors: Adam Riggsbee, Martin W. Doyle

Authors: Margaret A. Palmer, Solange Filoso

Author: Michael Town

De Waal uses observations from his own fieldwork to argue for the importance of empathy in social behavior of human and other animals.

Author: Johan J. Bolhuis

Surveying and evaluating the scientific literature gender disparities in mathematics, science, and engineering disciplines, Ceci and Williams argue that the underrepresentation of women in these fields is due to "certain choices that women (but not men) are compelled to make in our society."

Author: Raegen T. Miller

A listing of books received at Science during the week ended 13 November 2009.

U.S. regulation of chemicals is in need of an overhaul, informed by European legislation and guided by new thinking about risk.

Authors: Megan R. Schwarzman, Michael P. Wilson

Earth's rapidly changing near-surface environment needs systematic observation to better manage future crop production, climates, and water quality.

Authors: Daniel deB. Richter Jr., Megan L. Mobley

Alloys based on molybdenum or niobium may allow the high-temperature components of jet engines to run hotter and more efficiently.

Author: John H. Perepezko

An exceptionally long computer simulation offers a glimpse of molecular events leading to methane hydrate formation.

Authors: Pablo G. Debenedetti, Sapna Sarupria

The maize genome sequence will allow further analyses of genetic diversity and the genetic basis for traits critical to plant breeding.

Authors: Catherine Feuillet, Kellye Eversole

Declines in North American megafauna populations began before the Clovis period and were the cause, not the result, of vegetation changes and increased fires.

Author: Christopher Johnson

Authors: Robert W. Boyd, Daniel J. Gauthier

Genes involved in metal tolerance likely played a role in maize domestication.

Authors: Jean-Philippe Vielle-Calzada, Octavio Martínez de la Vega, Gustavo Hernández-Guzmán, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette, Cesar Alvarez-Mejía, Julio C. Vega-Arreguín, Beatriz Jiménez-Moraila, Araceli Fernández-Cortés, Guillermo Corona-Armenta, Luis Herrera-Estrella, Alfredo Herrera-Estrella

During sleep, memories can be influenced in a specific and systematic manner.

Authors: John D. Rudoy, Joel L. Voss, Carmen E. Westerberg, Ken A. Paller

Detection of our nearest starburst galaxy at very high energies confirms this galaxy type as a new class of gamma-ray emitter.

Authors: F. Acero, F. Aharonian, A. G. Akhperjanian, G. Anton, U. Barres de Almeida, A. R. Bazer-Bachi, Y. Becherini, B. Behera, K. Bernlöhr, A. Bochow, C. Boisson, J. Bolmont, V. Borrel, J. Brucker, F. Brun, P. Brun, R. Bühler, T. Bulik, I. Büsching, T. Boutelier, P. M. Chadwick, A. Charbonnier, R. C. G. Chaves, A. Cheesebrough, L.-M. Chounet, A. C. Clapson, G. Coignet, M. Dalton, M. K. Daniel, I. D. Davids, B. Degrange, C. Deil, H. J. Dickinson, A. Djannati-Ataï, W. Domainko, L. O’C. Drury, F. Dubois, G. Dubus, J. Dyks, M. Dyrda, K. Egberts, D. Emmanoulopoulos, P. Espigat, C. Farnier, S. Fegan, F. Feinstein, A. Fiasson, A. Förster, G. Fontaine, M. Füßling, S. Gabici, Y. A. Gallant, L. Gérard, D. Gerbig, B. Giebels, J. F. Glicenstein, B. Glück, P. Goret, D. Göring, D. Hauser, M. Hauser, S. Heinz, G. Heinzelmann, G. Henri, G. Hermann, J. A. Hinton, A. Hoffmann, W. Hofmann, P. Hofverberg, S. Hoppe, D. Horns, A. Jacholkowska, O. C. de Jager, C. Jahn, I. Jung, K. Katarzyński, U. Katz, S. Kaufmann, M. Kerschhaggl, D. Khangulyan, B. Khélifi, D. Keogh, D. Klochkov, W. Kluźniak, T. Kneiske, Nu. Komin, K. Kosack, R. Kossakowski, G. Lamanna, J.-P. Lenain, T. Lohse, V. Marandon, O. Martineau-Huynh, A. Marcowith, J. Masbou, D. Maurin, T. J. L. McComb, M. C. Medina, J. Méhault, R. Moderski, E. Moulin, M. Naumann-Godo, M. de Naurois, D. Nedbal, D. Nekrassov, B. Nicholas, J. Niemiec, S. J. Nolan, S. Ohm, J-F. Olive, E. de Oña Wilhelmi, K. J. Orford, M. Ostrowski, M. Panter, M. Paz Arribas, G. Pedaletti, G. Pelletier, P.-O. Petrucci, S. Pita, G. Pühlhofer, M. Punch, A. Quirrenbach, B. C. Raubenheimer, M. Raue, S. M. Rayner, O. Reimer, M. Renaud, F. Rieger, J. Ripken, L. Rob, S. Rosier-Lees, G. Rowell, B. Rudak, C. B. Rulten, J. Ruppel, V. Sahakian, A. Santangelo, R. Schlickeiser, F. M. Schöck, U. Schwanke, S. Schwarzburg, S. Schwemmer, A. Shalchi, M. Sikora, J. L. Skilton, H. Sol, Ł. Stawarz, R. Steenkamp, C. Stegmann, F. Stinzing, G. Superina, A. Szostek, P. H. Tam, J.-P. Tavernet, R. Terrier, O. Tibolla, M. Tluczykont, C. van Eldik, G. Vasileiadis, C. Venter, L. Venter, J. P. Vialle, P. Vincent, M. Vivier, H. J. Völk, F. Volpe, S. J. Wagner, M. Ward, A. A. Zdziarski, A. Zech

Polygons dispersed in a liquid crystal solvent form either dipolar or quadrupolar interactions, thus driving self-assembly.

Authors: Clayton P. Lapointe, Thomas G. Mason, Ivan I. Smalyukh

The source of sulfur in economic iron-nickel sulfide deposits is primarily derived from the atmosphere.

Authors: Andrey Bekker, Mark E. Barley, Marco L. Fiorentini, Olivier J. Rouxel, Douglas Rumble, Stephen W. Beresford

Seismic profiles of the Slave craton in Canada suggest that subduction is responsible for its formation.

Authors: Chin-Wu Chen, Stéphane Rondenay, Rob. L. Evans, David B. Snyder

Reactant concentrations can be measured as plasmon frequency shifts for model catalysts grown on nanoscale gold disks.

Authors: Elin M. Larsson, Christoph Langhammer, Igor Zorić, Bengt Kasemo

An extended simulation uncovers the intricate steps whereby methane can be trapped in ice.

Authors: Matthew R. Walsh, Carolyn A. Koh, E. Dendy Sloan, Amadeu K. Sum, David T. Wu

Surface waters in the Canada Basin were undersaturated with respect to aragonite in 2008, earlier than predicted.

Authors: Michiyo Yamamoto-Kawai, Fiona A. McLaughlin, Eddy C. Carmack, Shigeto Nishino, Koji Shimada

The decline in Pleistocene megafauna led to the formation of novel plant communities and increased fire.

Authors: Jacquelyn L. Gill, John W. Williams, Stephen T. Jackson, Katherine B. Lininger, Guy S. Robinson

In symbioses of independently reproducing partners, a genetically uniform population of symbionts excludes cheating variants.

Authors: Duur K. Aanen, Henrik H. de Fine Licht, Alfons J. M. Debets, Niels A. G. Kerstes, Rolf F. Hoekstra, Jacobus J. Boomsma

Three major mass extinctions affected organisms inhabiting open-ocean–facing coasts much more so than those inhabiting shallow seas.

Authors: Arnold I. Miller, Michael Foote

A thioredoxin-like enzyme controls the oxidation state of the bacterial periplasm.

Authors: Matthieu Depuydt, Stephen E. Leonard, Didier Vertommen, Katleen Denoncin, Pierre Morsomme, Khadija Wahni, Joris Messens, Kate S. Carroll, Jean-François Collet

The sequence of the maize genome reveals it to be the most complex genome known to date.

Authors: Patrick S. Schnable, Doreen Ware, Robert S. Fulton, Joshua C. Stein, Fusheng Wei, Shiran Pasternak, Chengzhi Liang, Jianwei Zhang, Lucinda Fulton, Tina A. Graves, Patrick Minx, Amy Denise Reily, Laura Courtney, Scott S. Kruchowski, Chad Tomlinson, Cindy Strong, Kim Delehaunty, Catrina Fronick, Bill Courtney, Susan M. Rock, Eddie Belter, Feiyu Du, Kyung Kim, Rachel M. Abbott, Marc Cotton, Andy Levy, Pamela Marchetto, Kerri Ochoa, Stephanie M. Jackson, Barbara Gillam, Weizu Chen, Le Yan, Jamey Higginbotham, Marco Cardenas, Jason Waligorski, Elizabeth Applebaum, Lindsey Phelps, Jason Falcone, Krishna Kanchi, Thynn Thane, Adam Scimone, Nay Thane, Jessica Henke, Tom Wang, Jessica Ruppert, Neha Shah, Kelsi Rotter, Jennifer Hodges, Elizabeth Ingenthron, Matt Cordes, Sara Kohlberg, Jennifer Sgro, Brandon Delgado, Kelly Mead, Asif Chinwalla, Shawn Leonard, Kevin Crouse, Kristi Collura, Dave Kudrna, Jennifer Currie, Ruifeng He, Angelina Angelova, Shanmugam Rajasekar, Teri Mueller, Rene Lomeli, Gabriel Scara, Ara Ko, Krista Delaney, Marina Wissotski, Georgina Lopez, David Campos, Michele Braidotti, Elizabeth Ashley, Wolfgang Golser, HyeRan Kim, Seunghee Lee, Jinke Lin, Zeljko Dujmic, Woojin Kim, Jayson Talag, Andrea Zuccolo, Chuanzhu Fan, Aswathy Sebastian, Melissa Kramer, Lori Spiegel, Lidia Nascimento, Theresa Zutavern, Beth Miller, Claude Ambroise, Stephanie Muller, Will Spooner, Apurva Narechania, Liya Ren, Sharon Wei, Sunita Kumari, Ben Faga, Michael J. Levy, Linda McMahan, Peter Van Buren, Matthew W. Vaughn, Kai Ying, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Scott J. Emrich, Yi Jia, Ananth Kalyanaraman, An-Ping Hsia, W. Brad Barbazuk, Regina S. Baucom, Thomas P. Brutnell, Nicholas C. Carpita, Cristian Chaparro, Jer-Ming Chia, Jean-Marc Deragon, James C. Estill, Yan Fu, Jeffrey A. Jeddeloh, Yujun Han, Hyeran Lee, Pinghua Li, Damon R. Lisch, Sanzhen Liu, Zhijie Liu, Dawn Holligan Nagel, Maureen C. McCann, Phillip SanMiguel, Alan M. Myers, Dan Nettleton, John Nguyen, Bryan W. Penning, Lalit Ponnala, Kevin L. Schneider, David C. Schwartz, Anupma Sharma, Carol Soderlund, Nathan M. Springer, Qi Sun, Hao Wang, Michael Waterman, Richard Westerman, Thomas K. Wolfgruber, Lixing Yang, Yeisoo Yu, Lifang Zhang, Shiguo Zhou, Qihui Zhu, Jeffrey L. Bennetzen, R. Kelly Dawe, Jiming Jiang, Ning Jiang, Gernot G. Presting, Susan R. Wessler, Srinivas Aluru, Robert A. Martienssen, Sandra W. Clifton, W. Richard McCombie, Rod A. Wing, Richard K. Wilson