Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 pp. 677-678
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.677-a For 150 years, the brain of German genius and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, stored in the University of Göttingen's collection, has been studied in detail by anatomists. But new research suggests the often-studied brain isn't Gauss's at all.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
[News of the Week] Random Sample
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
[News of the Week] Around the World
Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 pp. 676-677
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.676-b In science news around the world, virologist Ron Fouchier appeals the Dutch government's ruling that he must apply for an export license before publishing research on H5N1, a damaging banana disease spreads beyond Southeast Asia to Jordan, scientists in the United Kingdom establish a British Personal Genome Project, and more.
[News & Analysis] Has Program to Rotate Scientists at NSF Spun Out of Control?
Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 p. 683
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.683-b A program that brings scientists temporarily to the National Science Foundation keeps the agency on the cutting-edge of scientific discovery. But members of Congress and the foundation's inspector general have raised several questions about how the program operates. And the scientists themselves lack the usual workplace protections, as one recent rotator discovered to her misfortune.
Monday, November 11, 2013
[News & Analysis] Planetary Science: Orbiting MAVEN Mission Set to Trace a Planet's History in Thin Martian Air
Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 p. 681
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.681 Planetary Science The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), a NASA spacecraft to be launched to Mars later this month, will try to decipher billions of years of planetary history from careful study of the martian atmosphere. Eons ago, planetary scientists believe, Mars had a thick atmosphere that sheltered a surface awash with water—conditions in which life could have emerged and thrived. Today, that atmosphere is thin and depleted, and Mars is a cold, barren desert. What caused this remarkable transformation? Until now, planetary scientists have attempted to answer such questions mainly from the planet's surface. MAVEN will take a new course: flying through the outer fringes of Mars's atmosphere, measuring gases and monitoring conditions with eight instruments. The measurements should help researchers figure out how the solar wind, asteroid impacts, and chemical reactions gradually depleted the Red Planet's atmosphere.
[News Focus] The Forgotten Malaria
Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 pp. 684-687
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.684 Malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax has long been an afterthought in both public health plans and in research funding. One of the five Plasmodium species that cause malaria in humans, P. vivax is often overshadowed by its more lethal cousin, P. falciparum. Now, new recognition of the severe disease that P. vivax can cause and its ability to elude many of the standard malaria control measures have prompted researchers and policymakers to give the parasite new attention. The parasite has a number of tricks, however, that make it a formidable foe.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
[News & Analysis] Science and the Military: Soldier-Scientists Join Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan
Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 p. 682
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.682 Science and the Military Over the past 5 years, a novel U.S. Army program has deployed soldier-scientists in 10 Afghan provinces as part of a counterinsurgency strategy to stem reliance on the Taliban. The program has spent $42 million on more than 680 projects, such as coring trees for climate records, shifting farmers from growing poppy for opium, and assessing the Taliban's potential to generate income from mining in their strongholds.
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