Challenges in Theoretical Chemistry

Theoretical Possibilities

Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink, Phil Szuromi, Jake Yeston, and Robert Coontz
Science 8 August 2008: 783.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

News

Problem Solved* (*sort of)

Robert F. Service
Science 8 August 2008: 784-786.
Summary: Researchers have toiled for decades to understand how floppy chains of amino acids fold into functional proteins. Learning many of those rules has brought them to the verge of being able to make predictions about proteins they haven't even discovered. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

Intermolecular Potentials

Anthony J. Stone
Science 8 August 2008: 787-789.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Quantum Dynamics of Chemical Reactions

David C. Clary
Science 8 August 2008: 789-791.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Insights into Current Limitations of Density Functional Theory

Aron J. Cohen, Paula Mori-Sánchez, and Weitao Yang
Science 8 August 2008: 792-794.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Frontiers in Surface Scattering Simulations

Geert-Jan Kroes
Science 8 August 2008: 794-797.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Large-Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Self-Assembling Systems

Michael L. Klein and Wataru Shinoda
Science 8 August 2008: 798-800.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Challenges in Modeling Materials Properties Without Experimental Input

Emily A. Carter
Science 8 August 2008: 800-803.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENCE CAREERS: In the Geosciences, Business Is Booming

Carolyn Gramling
Science 8 August 2008: 856-857.
Summary: Flat federal funding means tight times in academia, but jobs abound in the petroleum, mining, and environmental consulting industries. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENCE CAREERS: Geoscientists in High Demand in the Oil Industry

Lucas Laursen
Science 8 August 2008: 857-859.
Summary: The next generation of petroleum geologists will face unique challenges in meeting the world's energy demands. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENCE CAREERS: Hydrogeologists Tap Into Demand for an Irreplaceable Resource

Robert Coontz
Science 8 August 2008: 858-859.
Summary: Cross-disciplinary collaborations and a steady stream of new environmental problems give groundwater experts plenty of work to do. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 8 August 2008: 741.
|Full Text »

Editorial:
Science in Muslim Countries

Ismail Serageldin
Science 8 August 2008: 745.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 8 August 2008: 746.
|Full Text »

Science Podcast

Science 8 August 2008: 855.
Summary: The 8 August 2008 show includes science in Muslim countries, the brain signature of borderline personality disorder, geoscience careers, and more. Full Text »|   Transcript »|  

NEW PRODUCTS

Science 8 August 2008: 855.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

News of the Week

BIOTERRORISM: Scientists Seek Answers, Ponder Future After Anthrax Case Suicide

Martin Enserink and Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 8 August 2008: 754-755.
Summary: Did he really do it? That's the main question on the minds of many scientists this week after an Army researcher apparently close to being indicted for the worst bioterror attack in U.S. history took his own life. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC: Scientists Targeted in California Firebombings

Greg Miller
Science 8 August 2008: 755.
Summary: Animal-rights extremists are suspected in attacks in Santa Cruz early Saturday morning that forced one researcher and his family from their home and destroyed another researcher's car. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

AIR QUALITY: Court Ruling Scrambles Clean Air Plans, Leaving a Vacuum

Erik Stokstad
Science 8 August 2008: 756-757.
Summary: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators, and the electric power industry are struggling to come to grips with the impact of a surprise court decision last month that dismantled a major air-pollution regulation. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

STEM CELLS: Ethics Questions Add to Concerns About NIH Lines

Gretchen Vogel and Constance Holden
Science 8 August 2008: 756-757.
Summary: Some federally funded scientists are having second thoughts about working with the 21 human embryonic stem cell lines available to them under President George W. Bush's policy, following a report indicating that the cells are getting increasingly stale--not only scientifically but ethically as well. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY SCIENCE: Phoenix's Water May Be Gumming Up the Works

Richard A. Kerr
Science 8 August 2008: 758.
Summary: The Phoenix lander's most dramatic achievement so far (see sidebar for others) has been touching martian water ice--which may also be creating the mission's biggest challenge. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY SCIENCE: Successes, Past and Future

Richard A. Kerr
Science 8 August 2008: 758.
Summary: The Phoenix lander has run into problems handling the martian soil it was sent to analyze (see main text). But it has had its accomplishments, including a successful landing, ice in easy reach, and instrumentation that works. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECLIPSE: Researchers Flock to View Fleeting Display of Solar Corona

Richard Stone
Science 8 August 2008: 759.
Summary: Dozens of scientists gathered in Jinta in western China to observe the total solar eclipse on 1 August and take advantage of the rare opportunity to observe the corona, a swirling halo of plasma that's a millionth as bright as the solar disk. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ScienceScope

Science 8 August 2008: 757.
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Random Samples

Science 8 August 2008: 751.
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Newsmakers

Science 8 August 2008: 753.
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News Focus

EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY: Deciphering the Genetics of Evolution

Elizabeth Pennisi
Science 8 August 2008: 760-763.
Summary: Powerful personalities in evolutionary biology have been tussling over how the genome changes to set the stage for evolution. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Industrial-Style Screening Meets Academic Biology

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 8 August 2008: 764-766.
Summary: A $100-million-a-year-effort to find chemicals for exploring cellular processes and drug discovery is about to move into production; skeptics say it is struggling to meet its goals. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Universities Join the Screening Bandwagon

Jocelyn Kaiser
Science 8 August 2008: 766.
Summary: Unlike the screening centers funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (see main text), many of the high-throughput screening facilities at universities lack chemists to do the tweaking required to verify a "hit" and improve the strength and specificity of the interaction. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY: Can the Vaquita Be Saved?

Virginia Morell
Science 8 August 2008: 767.
Summary: Scientists are embarking on a last-ditch effort to help the world's most endangered marine mammal avoid the fate of its Chinese cousin, the baiji. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

 The Drugs Not Taken

John Urquhart
Science 8 August 2008: 769.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 The Potential of Genotyping

Jose de Leon
Science 8 August 2008: 769.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Correcting the Record on DNA Direct

Allan T. Bombard, Trisha Brown;, Sara Katsanis, Gail Javitt, and Kathy Hudson
Science 8 August 2008: 769-771.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Blue Revolution Brings Risks and Rewards

David A. Lightfoot
Science 8 August 2008: 771-772.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Bad Grades for Science Title

John H. Marburger III
Science 8 August 2008: 772.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 8 August 2008: 772.
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Books et al.

INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Plague Through History

Nils Chr. Stenseth
Science 8 August 2008: 773-774.
Summary: The contributors to these volumes integrate findings from history, archaeology, epidemiology, and molecular biology to provide multifaceted accounts of the plague and its effects on human history. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

NEUROPHYSIOLOGY: A Sharp Look at Stories of Smell

Stuart Firestein
Science 8 August 2008: 774.
Summary: The author provides a wide-ranging and well-grounded account of the science and culture of smell. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 8 August 2008: 774.
Summary »|  

Policy Forum

SOCIOLOGY: Scientific Misconduct: Do the Punishments Fit the Crime?

Barbara K. Redman and Jon F. Merz
Science 8 August 2008: 775.
Summary: What happens to researchers after a finding of misconduct? Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

IMMUNOLOGY: A Breath of Aire for the Periphery

Bruno Kyewski
Science 8 August 2008: 776-777.
Summary: A rare cell type in peripheral lymphoid tissues may act as a safety net in eliminating autoreactive immune cells. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ASTRONOMY: Planetary System Formation

J. C. B. Papaloizou
Science 8 August 2008: 777-778.
Summary: The diversity of extrasolar planets and planetary systems challenges present theories of planetary system formation. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PSYCHOLOGY: Trust Me on This

Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
Science 8 August 2008: 778-780.
Summary: Borderline personality disorder is associated with abnormal activity in a brain region associated with monitoring trust in relationships. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

ECOLOGY: The Coming Arctic Invasion

Geerat J. Vermeij and Peter D. Roopnarine
Science 8 August 2008: 780-781.
Summary: In a future warmer climate, mollusks and other species are likely to migrate from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Bering Strait. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY: Symmetric Transporters for Asymmetric Transport

Nathan K. Karpowich and Da-Neng Wang
Science 8 August 2008: 781-782.
Summary: The crystal structure of a membrane transporter protein sheds light on the molecular mechanism by which glucose is absorbed by the intestine and the kidneys. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Brevia

Latent Fingerprint Chemical Imaging by Mass Spectrometry

Demian R. Ifa, Nicholas E. Manicke, Allison L. Dill, and R. Graham Cooks
Science 8 August 2008: 805.
Imaging of fingerprints in the field with a portable mass spectrometer can reveal the presence of drugs, explosives, or other materials and help resolve overlapping prints. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Articles

The Rupture and Repair of Cooperation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Brooks King-Casas, Carla Sharp, Laura Lomax-Bream, Terry Lohrenz, Peter Fonagy, and P. Read Montague
Science 8 August 2008: 806-810.
In a game, patients with personality disorder cannot build trust with normal partners, possibly because they cannot distinguish between trusting and distrusting acts in others. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  Podcast Interview »|  

The Crystal Structure of a Sodium Galactose Transporter Reveals Mechanistic Insights into Na⁺/Sugar Symport

Salem Faham, Akira Watanabe, Gabriel Mercado Besserer, Duilio Cascio, Alexandre Specht, Bruce A. Hirayama, Ernest M. Wright, and Jeff Abramson
Science 8 August 2008: 810-814.
Published online 3 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1160406] (in Science Express Research Articles)
The structure of a sugar transporter suggests how these proteins may rearrange to permit the sugar to enter and leave the binding site on opposite sides of the membrane. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Gas Disks to Gas Giants: Simulating the Birth of Planetary Systems

Edward W. Thommes, Soko Matsumura, and Frederic A. Rasio
Science 8 August 2008: 814-817.
A model of the evolution of planets from a gas-rich disk shows that the disk’s density and viscosity affect the final distribution of planets and that our solar system is unusual. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Suppressing Spin Qubit Dephasing by Nuclear State Preparation

D. J. Reilly, J. M. Taylor, J. R. Petta, C. M. Marcus, M. P. Hanson, and A. C. Gossard
Science 8 August 2008: 817-821.
Published online 10 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1159221] (in Science Express Reports)
A series of voltage pulses can mitigate the detrimental influence of background spins in gallium arsenide, allowing the spin of quantum dots to remain coherent for microseconds. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Large Electrocaloric Effect in Ferroelectric Polymers Near Room Temperature

Bret Neese, Baojin Chu, Sheng-Guo Lu, Yong Wang, E. Furman, and Q. M. Zhang
Science 8 August 2008: 821-823.
A polymer undergoes a large change in ordering on application of an electric field at near-room temperatures, causing a temperature drop potentially useful for refrigeration. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Programming DNA Tube Circumferences

Peng Yin, Rizal F. Hariadi, Sudheer Sahu, Harry M. T. Choi, Sung Ha Park, Thomas H. LaBean, and John H. Reif
Science 8 August 2008: 824-826.
Synthetic molecular tubes with monodisperse, programmable circumferences are self-assembled using a single-stranded DNA motif. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Role of Excited-State Topology in Three-Body Dissociation of sym-Triazine

John D. Savee, Vadim A. Mozhayskiy, Jennifer E. Mann, Anna I. Krylov, and Robert E. Continetti
Science 8 August 2008: 826-830.
Molecular imaging, along with theoretical analysis, shows that two distinct mechanisms interact to simultaneously break apart a molecule into three equivalent fragments. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Phyllosilicate Diversity and Past Aqueous Activity Revealed at Mawrth Vallis, Mars

Janice L. Bishop, Eldar Z. Noe Dobrea, Nancy K. McKeown, Mario Parente, Bethany L. Ehlmann, Joseph R. Michalski, Ralph E. Milliken, Francois Poulet, Gregg A. Swayze, John F. Mustard, Scott L. Murchie, and Jean-Pierre Bibring
Science 8 August 2008: 830-833.
One of the oldest water channel deposits on Mars shows a layered sequence of different clay minerals produced by a history of aqueous alteration. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Brown Carbon Spheres in East Asian Outflow and Their Optical Properties

Duncan T. L. Alexander, Peter A. Crozier, and James R. Anderson
Science 8 August 2008: 833-836.
Pollution blown from East Asia over the Pacific contains abundant brown spherules, not simply black or organic carbon particles, complicating modeling of its climatic effects. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Conserved Mutation in an Ethylene Biosynthesis Enzyme Leads to Andromonoecy in Melons

Adnane Boualem, Mohamed Fergany, Ronan Fernandez, Christelle Troadec, Antoine Martin, Halima Morin, Marie-Agnes Sari, Fabrice Collin, Jonathan M. Flowers, Michel Pitrat, Michael D. Purugganan, Catherine Dogimont, and Abdelhafid Bendahmane
Science 8 August 2008: 836-838.
Melon plants have both hermaphroditic and male flowers, a mating system that results from a mutation involved in ethylene synthesis that is still under positive selection. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Human CHN1 Mutations Hyperactivate 2-Chimaerin and Cause Duane's Retraction Syndrome

Noriko Miyake, John Chilton, Maria Psatha, Long Cheng, Caroline Andrews, Wai-Man Chan, Krystal Law, Moira Crosier, Susan Lindsay, Michelle Cheung, James Allen, Nick J. Gutowski, Sian Ellard, Elizabeth Young, Alessandro Iannaccone, Binoy Appukuttan, J. Timothy Stout, Stephen Christiansen, Maria Laura Ciccarelli, Alfonso Baldi, Mara Campioni, Juan C. Zenteno, Dominic Davenport, Laura E. Mariani, Mustafa Sahin, Sarah Guthrie, and Elizabeth C. Engle
Science 8 August 2008: 839-843.
Published online 24 July 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1156121] (in Science Express Reports)
A signaling protein that helps nerve fibers find their correct target muscles is required for innervation of the eye muscles and, if defective, causes an eye movement disorder. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Deletional Tolerance Mediated by Extrathymic Aire-Expressing Cells

James M. Gardner, Jason J. DeVoss, Rachel S. Friedman, David J. Wong, Ying X. Tan, Xuyu Zhou, Kellsey P. Johannes, Maureen A. Su, Howard Y. Chang, Matthew F. Krummel, and Mark S. Anderson
Science 8 August 2008: 843-847.
Cells in the spleen and lymph nodes express self-antigens to detect and remove circulating self-reactive immune cells that have escaped deletion by the thymus. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Dichotomous Dopaminergic Control of Striatal Synaptic Plasticity

Weixing Shen, Marc Flajolet, Paul Greengard, and D. James Surmeier
Science 8 August 2008: 848-851.
Contrary to previous assumptions, dopamine helps both strengthen and weaken synapses made by cortical cells onto cells of the subcortical striatum. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Dynamic Shifts of Limited Working Memory Resources in Human Vision

Paul M. Bays and Masud Husain
Science 8 August 2008: 851-854.
Working memory is a flexibly allocated, but finite, resource; more attention given to an object means it is remembered more precisely, whereas other objects are remembered less well. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|