Education & Technology

Adding a T to the Three R's

Pamela J. Hines, Barbara R. Jasny, and Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 53.
Summary »|   PDF »|  

Video: Education and Technology

Science 2 January 2009: 53.
Summary: A video introduction to Science's special issue on the promises, and challenges, that rapidly changing technology presents for the educational world. Full Text »|  

News

NSF Rethinks Its Digital Library

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 54-58.
Summary: A $175 million investment by the U.S. National Science Foundation has fostered collaboration and created vast amounts of material. But the digital world is changing. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

New Landscape for the Earth Sciences

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 55.
Summary: A digital library for the earth sciences community and by the community is now also of the community. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

A Nobelist's Passionate Pursuit of Excellence

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 56.
Summary: Nobelist Harry Kroto argues that the best educational resources often come from "people who are passionate about what they are doing and want to share it"--even if those materials haven't first been put under the sort of disciplinary scrutiny typical of material included in the National Science Digital Library. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

A Vision in Search of Funding

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 58.
Summary: Last summer, the U.S. government created an awkwardly named entity to fund research on how the Internet can improve U.S. education. But so far, the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies exists only on paper. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Computers As Writing Instructors

Greg Miller
Science 2 January 2009: 59-60.
Summary: Software that helps students hone their writing skills is finding a niche in the classroom. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Glow Lights Up Scottish Classrooms

Daniel Clery
Science 2 January 2009: 60-61.
Summary: Schools across Scotland are flocking to link up with a national intranet that serves students, teachers, and parents. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Korea Tries to Level the Field

Dennis Normile
Science 2 January 2009: 62-63.
Summary: A cyber home learning system seeks to raise achievement and reduce the huge cost of private tutors, a practice not available to every Korean family. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Podcast Interview »|  

A Personal Tutor for Algebra

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 2 January 2009: 64-65.
Summary: Commercial software created in the lab anticipates wrong answers and reinforces needed skills for first-year algebra students. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Perspectives

Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning

Chris Dede
Science 2 January 2009: 66-69.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Podcast Interview »|  

Technology and Informal Education: What Is Taught, What Is Learned

Patricia M. Greenfield
Science 2 January 2009: 69-71.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Education and Training Technology in the Military

J. D. Fletcher
Science 2 January 2009: 72-75.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Podcast Interview »|  

Technology and Testing

Edys S. Quellmalz and James W. Pellegrino
Science 2 January 2009: 75-79.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Video Games: A Route to Large-Scale STEM Education?

Merrilea J. Mayo
Science 2 January 2009: 79-82.
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Laptop Programs for Students

Andrew A. Zucker and Daniel Light
Science 2 January 2009: 82-85.
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Reviews

Online Education Today

A. Frank Mayadas, John Bourne, and Paul Bacsich
Science 2 January 2009: 85-89.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Opening Education

Marshall S. Smith
Science 2 January 2009: 89-93.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

This Week in Science

Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 2 January 2009: 12.
|Full Text »

Editorial:
Making a Science of Education

Bruce Alberts
Science 2 January 2009: 15.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Editors' Choice

Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 2 January 2009: 16.
|Full Text »

Science Podcast

Science 2 January 2009: 145.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   Transcript »|  

NEW PRODUCTS

Science 2 January 2008: 145.
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News of the Week

THE TRANSITION: Holdren Named Science Adviser, Varmus, Lander to Co-Chair PCAST

Eli Kintisch and Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 22-23.
Summary: Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION: Tehran Incident Threatens U.S.-Iran Project

Richard Stone
Science 2 January 2009: 23.
Summary: Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RESEARCH ASSESSMENT: U.K. University Research Ranked; Funding Impacts to Follow

John Travis
Science 2 January 2009: 24.
Summary: Full Text »|   PDF »|  

RESEARCH FUNDING: For Many Scientists, the Madoff Scandal Suddenly Hits Home

Jennifer Couzin
Science 2 January 2009: 25.
Summary: Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PLANETARY IMPACTS: Did the Mammoth Slayer Leave a Diamond Calling Card?

Richard A. Kerr
Science 2 January 2009: 26.
Summary: Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CORAL REEFS: Calcification Rates Drop in Australian Reefs

Elizabeth Pennisi
Science 2 January 2009: 27.
Summary: Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Random Samples

Science 2 January 2009: 19.
|Full Text »

Newsmakers

Science 2 January 2009: 21.
|Full Text »

News Focus

SCIENCE ADVISERS: Bending the President's Ear

Eli Kintisch
Science 2 January 2009: 28-29.
Summary: A science adviser is only as effective as the president wants him to be, say the men who have held the job since Sputnik. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

BRAIN CANCER: A Viral Link to Glioblastoma?

Greg Miller
Science 2 January 2009: 30-31.
Summary: Circumstantial evidence hints that cytomegalovirus, a common herpesvirus, may play a role in the aggressive brain cancer, but big questions remain. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

POLAR SCIENCE: A Death in Antarctica

Jeffrey Mervis
Science 2 January 2009: 32-35.
Summary: The death in 2000 of a young Australian astrophysicist at the U.S. South Pole station raised many troubling questions. Eight years later, there are few answers. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Letters

 Literature Citations in the Internet Era

Yves Gingras, Vincent Larivière, and Éric Archambault
Science 2 January 2009: 36.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Narrower Focus May Be More Efficient

K. Brad Wray
Science 2 January 2009: 36.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 To Each Citation, a Purpose

Christopher S. Von Bartheld, Shaun P. Collin, and Onur Güntürkün
Science 2 January 2009: 36-37.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 A Cycle of Tradition and Innovation

Hanne Andersen; and James A. Evans
Science 2 January 2009: 37-38.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

 Corrections and Clarifications

Science 2 January 2009: 38.
Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books et al.

EDUCATION: The Gamers' Advancement of Learning

John Willinsky
Science 2 January 2009: 39-40.
Summary: Starting from the observation that video games captivate both players and programmers, Gee explores their implications for learning theory, motivation, and development of expertise. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

EDUCATION: Inside the Schooled Mind

Elsbeth Stern
Science 2 January 2009: 40.
Summary: Reif discusses how findings from cognitive science can help improve teaching and learning, especially science education (and, within that, physics education). Full Text »|   PDF »|  

SCIENCE EDUCATION: A Handbook for Hands-On Learning

Robert A. Lue and Richard Losick
Science 2 January 2009: 40-42.
Summary: The contributors present perspectives on undergraduate research programs from participants, administrators, and external evaluators. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

EDUCATION: What's Wrong with Inferences from Test Scores?

Edward Haertel
Science 2 January 2009: 42.
Summary: In this account of the complexities of educational testing written for nonspecialists, Koretz discusses what such tests can and cannot reveal and how test scores can be misunderstood and misused. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Books Received

Science 2 January 2009: 42.
Summary »|  

Policy Forum

ENVIRONMENT: "True" Conservation Progress

Eve McDonald-Madden, Ascelin Gordon, Brendan A. Wintle, Susan Walker, Hedley Grantham, Silvia Carvalho, Madeleine Bottrill, Liana Joseph, Rocio Ponce, Romola Stewart, and Hugh P. Possingham
Science 2 January 2009: 43-44.
Summary: Conservation performance in securing biodiversity can be evaluated better with metrics based on the concept of a conservation balance sheet. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Perspectives

ASTRONOMY: How Old Is That Star?

David R. Soderblom
Science 2 January 2009: 45-46.
Summary: Despite being fundamental in determining its physical state, a star's age cannot be measured directly, and estimation methods are imprecise. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

PHYSICS: Cloaking with Curved Spaces

André Nicolet and Frédéric Zolla
Science 2 January 2009: 46-47.
Summary: Designs based on the mathematics behind curved space-time may lead to invisibility cloaks. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

CHEMISTRY: Repair or Replacement--A Joint Perspective

Jacob Klein
Science 2 January 2009: 47-48.
Summary: Insights into the molecular origins of cartilage lubrication could lead to more efficient tissue repair and to longer-lasting prostheses for hip and knee joints. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

GEOCHEMISTRY: A Matter of Preservation

Chris Hawkesworth, Peter Cawood, Tony Kemp, Craig Storey, and Bruno Dhuime
Science 2 January 2009: 49-50.
Summary: Differences in the preservation potential of crustal rocks may explain peaks in crustal ages previously attributed to enhanced crust formation. Full Text »|   PDF »|  

EDUCATION: Farewell, Lecture?

Eric Mazur
Science 2 January 2009: 50-51.
Summary: A physics professor describes his evolution from lecturing to dynamically engaging students during class and improving how they learn. Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

MICROBIOLOGY: Mosquitoes Cut Short

Andrew F. Read and Matthew B. Thomas
Science 2 January 2009: 51-52.
Summary: Can the life-shortening effect of a bacterium on mosquitoes control the transmission of dengue? Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Brevia

Nanodiamonds in the Younger Dryas Boundary Sediment Layer

D. J. Kennett, J. P. Kennett, A. West, C. Mercer, S. S. Que Hee, L. Bement, T. E. Bunch, M. Sellers, and W. S. Wolbach
Science 2 January 2009: 94.
Nanodiamonds in sites across North America suggest that an asteroid impact coincided with cooling 12,900 years ago. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Research Articles

Glucosinolate Metabolites Required for an Arabidopsis Innate Immune Response

Nicole K. Clay, Adewale M. Adio, Carine Denoux, Georg Jander, and Frederick M. Ausubel
Science 2 January 2009: 95-101.
Published online 18 December 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1164627] (in Science Express Research Articles)
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Glucosinolate Metabolism Pathway in Living Plant Cells Mediates Broad-Spectrum Antifungal Defense

Pawel Bednarek, Mariola Pislewska-Bednarek, Ales Svatos, Bernd Schneider, Jan Doubsky, Madina Mansurova, Matt Humphry, Chiara Consonni, Ralph Panstruga, Andrea Sanchez-Vallet, Antonio Molina, and Paul Schulze-Lefert
Science 2 January 2009: 101-106.
Published online 18 December 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1163732] (in Science Express Research Articles)
Plant cells defend against fungal attack through an innate immunity pathway in which infection triggers glucosinolate synthesis, stimulating formation of a protective callose. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports

Mott Insulating State in Ultraclean Carbon Nanotubes

Vikram V. Deshpande, Bhupesh Chandra, Robert Caldwell, Dmitry S. Novikov, James Hone, and Marc Bockrath
Science 2 January 2009: 106-110.
Both metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes exhibit a radius-dependent energy gap arising from correlated electrons in the tubes. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Broadband Invisibility by Non-Euclidean Cloaking

Ulf Leonhardt and Tomás Tyc
Science 2 January 2009: 110-112.
Published online 20 November 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1166332] (in Science Express Reports)
In theory, materials with a negative refractive index deployed in a curved, non-Euclidean space can provide a route to cloaking and invisibility across a range of wavelengths. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Control of Self-Assembly of DNA Tubules Through Integration of Gold Nanoparticles

Jaswinder Sharma, Rahul Chhabra, Anchi Cheng, Jonathan Brownell, Yan Liu, and Hao Yan
Science 2 January 2009: 112-116.
Gold particles incorporated into DNA strands drive the formation of a variety of three-dimensional spiral architectures. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Declining Coral Calcification on the Great Barrier Reef

Glenn De'ath, Janice M. Lough, and Katharina E. Fabricius
Science 2 January 2009: 116-119.
Calcification by Great Barrier Reef corals decreased by about 14% since 1990, the largest decline in the past 400 years. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Stretching the Envelope of Past Surface Environments: Neoproterozoic Glacial Lakes from Svalbard

Huiming Bao, Ian J. Fairchild, Peter M. Wynn, and Christoph Spötl
Science 2 January 2009: 119-122.
Unusual oxygen isotope compositions indicate that a Precambrian glacial period had an anomalous, perhaps extremely CO₂-rich, atmosphere. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Why Peer Discussion Improves Student Performance on In-Class Concept Questions

M. K. Smith, W. B. Wood, W. K. Adams, C. Wieman, J. K. Knight, N. Guild, and T. T. Su
Science 2 January 2009: 122-124.
In the classroom, discussion among students improves understanding and leads to more accurate answers to questions. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Regulation of Neuronal Survival Factor MEF2D by Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy

Qian Yang, Hua She, Marla Gearing, Emanuela Colla, Michael Lee, John J. Shacka, and Zixu Mao
Science 2 January 2009: 124-127.
The degradation of a key neuronal survival factor by chaperone-mediated autophagy may contribute to Parkinson's disease. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Signal Sequences Activate the Catalytic Switch of SRP RNA

Niels Bradshaw, Saskia B. Neher, David S. Booth, and Peter Walter
Science 2 January 2009: 127-130.
Newly made proteins destined to be inserted into membranes trigger an RNA switch that promotes initiation of this process. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Floral Iridescence, Produced by Diffractive Optics, Acts As a Cue for Animal Pollinators

Heather M. Whitney, Mathias Kolle, Piers Andrew, Lars Chittka, Ullrich Steiner, and Beverley J. Glover
Science 2 January 2009: 130-133.
The iridescence of tulip petals, as well as their pigmentation, affects foraging behavior by bumblebees. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Real-Time DNA Sequencing from Single Polymerase Molecules

John Eid, Adrian Fehr, Jeremy Gray, Khai Luong, John Lyle, Geoff Otto, Paul Peluso, David Rank, Primo Baybayan, Brad Bettman, Arkadiusz Bibillo, Keith Bjornson, Bidhan Chaudhuri, Frederick Christians, Ronald Cicero, Sonya Clark, Ravindra Dalal, Alex deWinter, John Dixon, Mathieu Foquet, Alfred Gaertner, Paul Hardenbol, Cheryl Heiner, Kevin Hester, David Holden, Gregory Kearns, Xiangxu Kong, Ronald Kuse, Yves Lacroix, Steven Lin, Paul Lundquist, Congcong Ma, Patrick Marks, Mark Maxham, Devon Murphy, Insil Park, Thang Pham, Michael Phillips, Joy Roy, Robert Sebra, Gene Shen, Jon Sorenson, Austin Tomaney, Kevin Travers, Mark Trulson, John Vieceli, Jeffrey Wegener, Dawn Wu, Alicia Yang, Denis Zaccarin, Peter Zhao, Frank Zhong, Jonas Korlach, and Stephen Turner
Science 2 January 2009: 133-138.
Published online 20 November 2008 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1162986] (in Science Express Reports)
Arrays of narrow waveguides can record the action of a DNA polymerase stepping along a primer template, potentially providing a way to sequence DNA molecules. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  Podcast Interview »|  

Phage-Mediated Intergeneric Transfer of Toxin Genes

John Chen and Richard P. Novick
Science 2 January 2009: 139-141.
Viruses may transfer toxin genes among pathogenic bacteria in raw milk, complicating veterinary use of phage therapy as a bacteriacide. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Stable Introduction of a Life-Shortening Wolbachia Infection into the Mosquito Aedes aegypti

Conor J. McMeniman, Roxanna V. Lane, Bodil N. Cass, Amy W.C. Fong, Manpreet Sidhu, Yu-Feng Wang, and Scott L. O'Neill
Science 2 January 2009: 141-144.
Infection of mosquitoes with a bacterium shortens their lives and reduces disease transmission, without development of resistance. Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Technical Comments

Comment on "Log or Linear? Distinct Intuitions of the Number Scale in Western and Amazonian Indigene Cultures"

Jessica F. Cantlon, Sara Cordes, Melissa E. Libertus, and Elizabeth M. Brannon
Science 2 January 2009: 38.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|  

Response to Comment on "Log or Linear? Distinct Intuitions of the Number Scale in Western and Amazonian Indigene Cultures"

Stanislas Dehaene, Véronique Izard, Pierre Pica, and Elizabeth Spelke
Science 2 January 2009: 38.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|