Science news

• Climate change could have devastating impact on global fisheries

  22-12-2016 23:55 via cbc.ca
  
  If climate change continues unchecked and the global temperature increases by more than the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 C, it is certain to have a dire impact on fish catches, a new study has found.
  
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• APNewsBreak: New Mexico OKs reopening troubled nuclear dump

  22-12-2016 23:32
  
  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico regulators have approved restarting normal operations at the nation's only underground nuclear waste repository, a major step for U.S. officials aiming to reopen the facility nearly three years after a radiation leak shut it down indefinitely.
  
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• Elon Musk Shows Childlike Joy (and Dread) in Rocket-Landing Video

  22-12-2016 23:22
  
  Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk typically displays such an incredibly calm demeanor that it's hard to imagine him getting excited about anything. But in a newly released video, Musk makes an uncharacteristic display of emotion, ranging from dread to unbridled joy as he watches a Falcon 9 reusable rocket booster make its historic first landing at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 21, 2015. The video, released by National Geographic as part of its "Mars" miniseries coverage, shows
  
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• [Working Life] Rescuing my time from science

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Luca Rinaldi
  
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• [This Week in Science] Watching Majorana bound states form

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Jelena Stajic
  
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• [This Week in Science] Unleashing the power of precision medicine

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Laura M. Zahn
  
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• [This Week in Science] Snapshots of bacteriorhodopsin

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Valda Vinson
  
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• [This Week in Science] Rosetta observes sublimating surface ices

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Keith T. Smith
  
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• [This Week in Science] Prohormone processing by subtilases

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Pamela J. Hines
  
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• [This Week in Science] Probing packing rules

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Phil Szuromi
  
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• [This Week in Science] Now you feel it, now you don't

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Peter Stern
  
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• [This Week in Science] Mass movement of “invisibles”

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Sacha Vignieri
  
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• [This Week in Science] Marine benefits of the Paris Agreement

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Sacha Vignieri
  
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• [This Week in Science] How to grow hair or sweat glands

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Laura M. Zahn
  
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• [This Week in Science] Extending qubit lifetime through a shaped environment

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Ian S. Osborne
  
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• [This Week in Science] Combining drugs as the doctor ordered

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Yevgeniya Nusinovich
  
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• [This Week in Science] Boron nitride catalysis

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Phil Szuromi
  
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• [This Week in Science] A quantum optical circulator

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Ian S. Osborne
  
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• [This Week in Science] A precarious balance

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink
  
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• [This Week in Science] A closed conformation for Zika virus enzyme

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Kristen L. Mueller
  
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• [This Week in Science] A balance between staying and leaving

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Wei Wong
  
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• [Technical Response] Response to Comment on “Structural basis of histone H3K27 trimethylation by an active polycomb repressive complex 2”

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Zhang et al. suggested that in the crystal structure of a polycomb repressive complex 2 from Chaetomium thermophilum (ctPRC2), a flexible linker region, but not the H3K27M cancer mutant peptide, better fits the electron density. Based on our new data, we agree with this alternative interpretation and provide the crystal structure of ctPRC2 bound to a bona fide H3K27M sequence.
  Authors: Lianying Jiao, Xin Liu
  
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• [Technical Comment] Comment on “Structural basis of histone H3K27 trimethylation by an active polycomb repressive complex 2”

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Jiao and Liu (Research Articles, 16 October 2015, aac4383) reported the crystal structure of the protein complex polycomb repressive complex 2 from Chaetomium thermophilum. This landmark structure has brought invaluable insights into the activation mechanism of this essential methyltransferase. However, the analysis of the x-ray data discussed below suggests that the description of oncogenic H3K27M peptide binding to the active site is incorrect.
  Authors: Ying Zhang, Neil Justin, Jon R. Wilson,
  
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• [Special Issue News] Scorecard for 2016

  22-12-2016 22:00
  How prescient were Science's editors and writers when they picked three areas to watch in 2016, as part of the 2015 Breakthrough of the Year package? On gravitational waves, they were spot on: The detection of the infinitesimal ripples in spacetime became Science's 2016 Breakthrough of the Year. The prediction that we may finally know where dogs came from was partially successful: A study indicated that they may have evolved from wolves once in Europe and once in Asia or the Near East. And the r
  
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• [Special Issue News] Breakdowns of the year

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Scientists caught in political crossfires and the failure of a blood-testing technology to live up to commercial hype achieved the dubious distinction of Science's 2016 breakdowns of the year. In Turkey, a crackdown following a failed coup attempt on 15 July resulted in the arrest or firing of tens of thousands of public employees suspected of supporting the coup—including thousands of higher education faculty and administrators. In the United States, two congressional committees issued subpoe
  
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• [Special Issue News] Areas to watch in 2017

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Science picked four areas likely to attract attention in 2017. The ability to keep human embryos developing in the lab for almost 2 weeks—achieved for the first time this year—should provide new insights into very early human development, and generate debate on whether ethical limits on studying embryos in culture should be extended. Candidate Zika vaccines, which have shown early promise, should be in clinical trials next year. Astronomers will be searching for direct evidence of a ninth pl
  
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• [Research Article] Spatiotemporal antagonism in mesenchymal-epithelial signaling in sweat versus hair fate decision

  22-12-2016 22:00
  The gain of eccrine sweat glands in hairy body skin has empowered humans to run marathons and tolerate temperature extremes. Epithelial-mesenchymal cross-talk is integral to the diverse patterning of skin appendages, but the molecular events underlying their specification remain largely unknown. Using genome-wide analyses and functional studies, we show that sweat glands are specified by mesenchymal-derived bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and fibroblast growth factors that signal to epithelia
  
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• [Research Article] Majorana bound state in a coupled quantum-dot hybrid-nanowire system

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Hybrid nanowires combining semiconductor and superconductor materials appear well suited for the creation, detection, and control of Majorana bound states (MBSs). We demonstrate the emergence of MBSs from coalescing Andreev bound states (ABSs) in a hybrid InAs nanowire with epitaxial Al, using a quantum dot at the end of the nanowire as a spectrometer. Electrostatic gating tuned the nanowire density to a regime of one or a few ABSs. In an applied axial magnetic field, a topological phase emerges
  
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• [Research Article] Genetic identification of familial hypercholesterolemia within a single U.S. health care system

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) remains underdiagnosed despite widespread cholesterol screening. Exome sequencing and electronic health record (EHR) data of 50,726 individuals were used to assess the prevalence and clinical impact of FH-associated genomic variants in the Geisinger Health System. The estimated FH prevalence was 1:256 in unselected participants and 1:118 in participants ascertained via the cardiac catheterization laboratory. FH variant carriers had significantly increased risk
  
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• [Research Article] Distribution and clinical impact of functional variants in 50,726 whole-exome sequences from the DiscovEHR study

  22-12-2016 22:00
  The DiscovEHR collaboration between the Regeneron Genetics Center and Geisinger Health System couples high-throughput sequencing to an integrated health care system using longitudinal electronic health records (EHRs). We sequenced the exomes of 50,726 adult participants in the DiscovEHR study to identify ~4.2 million rare single-nucleotide variants and insertion/deletion events, of which ~176,000 are predicted to result in a loss of gene function. Linking these data to EHR-derived clinical pheno
  
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• [Research Article] A three-dimensional movie of structural changes in bacteriorhodopsin

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is a light-driven proton pump and a model membrane transport protein. We used time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography at an x-ray free electron laser to visualize conformational changes in bR from nanoseconds to milliseconds following photoactivation. An initially twisted retinal chromophore displaces a conserved tryptophan residue of transmembrane helix F on the cytoplasmic side of the protein while dislodging a key water molecule on the extracellular side. The r
  
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• [Report] Suppressing relaxation in superconducting qubits by quasiparticle pumping

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Dynamical error suppression techniques are commonly used to improve coherence in quantum systems. They reduce dephasing errors by applying control pulses designed to reverse erroneous coherent evolution driven by environmental noise. However, such methods cannot correct for irreversible processes such as energy relaxation. We investigate a complementary, stochastic approach to reducing errors: Instead of deterministically reversing the unwanted qubit evolution, we use control pulses to shape the
  
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• [Report] Selective oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propene using boron nitride catalysts

  22-12-2016 22:00
  The exothermic oxidative dehydrogenation of propane reaction to generate propene has the potential to be a game-changing technology in the chemical industry. However, even after decades of research, selectivity to propene remains too low to be commercially attractive because of overoxidation of propene to thermodynamically favored CO2. Here, we report that hexagonal boron nitride and boron nitride nanotubes exhibit unique and hitherto unanticipated catalytic properties, resulting in great select
  
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• [Report] Seasonal exposure of carbon dioxide ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most abundant species in cometary nuclei, but because of its high volatility, CO2 ice is generally only found beneath the surface. We report the infrared spectroscopic identification of a CO2 ice–rich surface area located in the Anhur region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Spectral modeling shows that about 0.1% of the 80- by 60-meter area is CO2 ice. This exposed ice was observed a short time after the comet exited local winter; following the increased i
  
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• [Report] Rosetta’s comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sheds its dusty mantle to reveal its icy nature

  22-12-2016 22:00
  The Rosetta spacecraft has investigated comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from large heliocentric distances to its perihelion passage and beyond. We trace the seasonal and diurnal evolution of the colors of the 67P nucleus, finding changes driven by sublimation and recondensation of water ice. The whole nucleus became relatively bluer near perihelion, as increasing activity removed the surface dust, implying that water ice is widespread underneath the surface. We identified large (1500 square mete
  
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• [Report] Quantum optical circulator controlled by a single chirally coupled atom

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Integrated nonreciprocal optical components, which have an inherent asymmetry between their forward and backward propagation direction, are key for routing signals in photonic circuits. Here, we demonstrate a fiber-integrated quantum optical circulator operated by a single atom. Its nonreciprocal behavior arises from the chiral interaction between the atom and the transversally confined light. We demonstrate that the internal quantum state of the atom controls the operation direction of the circ
  
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• [Report] Precursor processing for plant peptide hormone maturation by subtilisin-like serine proteinases

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Peptide hormones that regulate plant growth and development are derived from larger precursor proteins by proteolytic processing. Our study addressed the role of subtilisin-like proteinases (SBTs) in this process. Using tissue-specific expression of proteinase inhibitors as a tool to overcome functional redundancy, we found that SBT activity was required for the maturation of IDA (INFLORESCENCE DEFICIENT IN ABSCISSION), a peptide signal for the abscission of floral organs in Arabidopsis. We iden
  
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• [Report] Mass seasonal bioflows of high-flying insect migrants

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Migrating animals have an impact on ecosystems directly via influxes of predators, prey, and competitors and indirectly by vectoring nutrients, energy, and pathogens. Although linkages between vertebrate movements and ecosystem processes have been established, the effects of mass insect “bioflows” have not been described. We quantified biomass flux over the southern United Kingdom for high-flying (>150 meters) insects and show that ~3.5 trillion insects (3200 tons of biomass) migr
  
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• [Report] Large benefits to marine fisheries of meeting the 1.5°C global warming target

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Translating the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial level into impact-related targets facilitates communication of the benefits of mitigating climate change to policy-makers and stakeholders. Developing ecologically relevant impact-related targets for marine ecosystem services, such as fisheries, is an important step. Here, we use maximum catch potential and species turnover as climate-risk indicators for fisheries. We project that potential catches will decreas
  
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• [Report] Emergence of hierarchical structural complexities in nanoparticles and their assembly

  22-12-2016 22:00
  We demonstrate that nanoparticle self-assembly can reach the same level of hierarchy, complexity, and accuracy as biomolecules. The precise assembly structures of gold nanoparticles (246 gold core atoms with 80 p-methylbenzenethiolate surface ligands) at the atomic, molecular, and nanoscale levels were determined from x-ray diffraction studies. We identified the driving forces and rules that guide the multiscale assembly behavior. The protecting ligands self-organize into rotational and parallel
  
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• [Report] Crystal structure of unlinked NS2B-NS3 protease from Zika virus

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Zika virus (ZIKV) has rapidly emerged as a global public health concern. Viral NS2B-NS3 protease processes viral polyprotein and is essential for the virus replication, making it an attractive antiviral drug target. We report crystal structures at 1.58-angstrom resolution of the unlinked NS2B-NS3 protease from ZIKV as free enzyme and bound to a peptide reversely oriented at the active site. The unlinked NS2B-NS3 protease adopts a closed conformation in which NS2B engages NS3 to form an empty sub
  
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• [Report] Active cortical dendrites modulate perception

  22-12-2016 22:00
  There is as yet no consensus concerning the neural basis of perception and how it operates at a mechanistic level. We found that Ca2+ activity in the apical dendrites of a subset of layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurons in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in mice is correlated with the threshold for perceptual detection of whisker deflections. Manipulating the activity of apical dendrites shifted the perceptual threshold, demonstrating that an active dendritic mechanism is causally linked to perceptua
  
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• [Policy Forum] Expand innovation finance via crowdfunding

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Crowdfunding (CF) platforms, such as Kickstarter (KS), offer a means of funding innovation, connecting inventors and entrepreneurs with a multitude of supporters, who each provide a small fraction of the amount required to fund the project. Although considerable funding for innovation has historically come from venture capitalists (VCs), the entrepreneurs funded by VCs often mirror the investors in terms of their educational, social, and professional characteristics and end up concentrated in a
  
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• [Perspective] The “tao” of integuments

  22-12-2016 22:00
  The integument forms the interface between an organism and its environment. It serves diverse functions such as communication, endothermy, defense, and flight. During vertebrate evolution, various integumentary organs, including hairs, feathers, glands, and teeth, have evolved to help animals adapt to evolving environmental changes (1) (see the first figure). These ectodermal organs form through epithelial-dermal interactions. Classic tissue recombination experiments have demonstrated that the d
  
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• [Perspective] “Pheno”menal value for human health

  22-12-2016 22:00
  One of the greatest challenges of the biomedical enterprise is to link human genetic variation with phenotypic traits at a population scale. Such efforts have myriad benefits, including the illumination of basic human biology, the early identification of preventable and treatable illnesses, and the identification and validation of new therapeutic targets, thus enabling the promise of precision medicine to improve human health. On page 1549 of this issue (1), Dewey et al. report findings from the
  
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• [Perspective] Optical circulators reach the quantum level

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Optical circuits for information processing offer higher data rates (channel capacities) and lower power consumption as compared with those of electronic circuits. Many optical devices (such as switches and isolators) have analogous electronic components (transistors and diodes), but some have special capabilities. For example, optical circulators form part of an unusual class of components known as nonreciprocal devices (1)—their optical properties depend on the direction of light passing thr
  
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• [Perspective] Oceans on the edge of anoxia

  22-12-2016 22:00
  For the past several hundred million years, oxygen concentrations in Earth's atmosphere have been comparatively high (1, 2). Yet, the oceans seem never to have been far from anoxia (oxygen depletion) and have occasionally suffered major oceanic anoxic events (OAEs), recognized in the rock record through accumulations of dark, organic-rich shales (3). OAEs seem to be promoted by warm climates, and some have been associated with major environmental crises and global-scale disturbances in the carbo
  
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• [Perspective] More than a day in the life of a comet

  22-12-2016 22:00
  In the past many humans regarded the appearance of a comet as an omen or harbinger of doom, but we now know them as time capsules from the formation of the solar system. Created from the gradual accretion of rocks, dust, and ice, comets have been preserved in the “deep freeze” of space far from the Sun, likely retaining in the present much of their formative character. The present-day structure and composition of comets provide a window into the conditions that prevailed during the birth of
  
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• [Perspective] A stitch in time saves nine…billion

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Human intuition often does not lead to thoughtful long-term decision-making (1). In partial remedy to this, a long history of storytelling conveys messages about what is worth remembering, worth doing, or best avoided. Stories also help to shape visions of what is possible and desirable (2). Scientific models are used in the same way. For example, the modeling study by Cheung et al. (3) on page 1591 of this issue indicates that making the effort to keep global temperature increases to 1.5°C wou
  
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• [Letter] Iran's science landscape in context

  22-12-2016 22:00
  Author: Reza Mansouri
  
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