2006年度十大进展
        研究人员在2006年完成了数学史的一个主要章节，对百年难题庞加莱猜想达成共识，这个有关三维空间抽象形状的问题终于被解决了。《科学》和其出版者、非营利的美国科学促进会将这一成果评选为今年的第一大进展。
庞加莱猜想属于被称为拓扑的数学分支，通常被描述成“橡皮上的几何”，因为它涉及能够经历任意拉伸的表面。这个1904年由庞加莱提出的猜想描述一个空间是否与“超球面”(四维球体的三维表面)等价的检验。
基本上与外界隔绝地工作了7年的俄罗斯数学家Grigori Perelman 2002年在互联网上提交了三篇文章的第一篇，这些文章把庞加莱猜想作为一个更雄心勃勃的结果的一部分，给其证明提供了一个轮廓。但是在2003年访问美国之后，这位俄罗斯数学隐士回国后停止了与外界的电话和电子信往来。到了2006年，其他人终于赶了上来。三个独立的小组写出报告填补了佩雷尔曼的证明中缺失的关键细节，现在佩雷尔曼的同行几乎都没有疑问地认为他证明了这个著名的难题。

《科学》评选出的其它9项进展如下，排名不分先后：
从化石中取出DNA: 研究人员用一种解码和分析DNA的新技术，从尼安德特人和猛犸化石中捕获到遗传信息。
冰架在缩小: 研究人员今年记录了这一令人不安的趋势。南极洲和格陵兰岛的冰架都在以更快的速度消失到海洋中。
鱼迈出的第一步: 一个具有结实的连接着的鳍的鱼化石的发现曾是2006年的头版新闻。这种鱼是有肢脊椎动物已知的最近亲，它为生命如何离开海洋登上陆地提供了一个视窗。
隐身术的科学: 虽然它看上去一点也不像哈里波特的魔术披风，科学家今年制造的隐身“斗篷”是第一个将物体在视觉上屏蔽起来的初步装置。这个装置引导入射的微波使其既不反射、也没有影子。
黄斑病变患者的希望: 研究一种被称为老年黄斑病变失明的研究人员揭示，药物ranibimuzab能改善某些患者的视觉，他们还找到了几个影响人们该症易患性的基因。
生物多样性是如何发生的: 从沙滩小鼠、到果蝇、到蝴蝶，这些不同的动物帮助科学家发现导致新物种进化的遗传变化。
显微学的新前沿: 今年，生物学家用新的显微技术来帮助他们观察小于200纳米的细节，为了解细胞和蛋白质的精细结构提供了更清晰的视野。
制造记忆: 2006年的几个发现使神经科学家对了解大脑如何记录新记忆更接近了一步。增强神经元之间连接的被称为“长时程增强”的过程看来很可能是记忆的基础。
新一类的小RNA: 科学家发现了一类关闭基因表达的新小RNA分子，把它们命名为 "Piwi-干扰 RNA"。

本年度的崩溃-科学骗局: 干细胞研究者黄禹锡以及其合作者曾在《科学》发表两篇重要论文，他们制造的骗局在2006年被彻底调查了，本年度也发生了几起其它的科学不端行为。

值得注意的领域: 《科学》预测来年的热门领域和主题包括整基因组相关性研究、光晶格、寻找宇宙的原始氢、以及比较灵长类的基因组。
社论：Breakthrough of the Year, Donald Kennedy
新闻：Breakthrough of the Year: The Poincaré Conjencture--Proved, Dana Mackenzie
新闻：Breakthrough of the Year: The Runners-Up, The News Staff


西班牙发现巨型恐龙化石
西班牙发现的巨型蜥脚类动物的化石表明，欧洲在距今大约1.5亿年前的晚侏罗纪曾有过巨大的恐龙。巨型恐龙过去主要发现于美洲和非洲。这个新的发现被命名为Turiasaurus riodevensis，也许是欧洲陆地动物中最大的。它的重量在40到48吨之间。它的肱骨(指前腿从肩部到关节的长骨头)和成年人一样高。它爪子的第一个指头和美式橄榄球大小差不多。研究人员还找到了头骨、肩胛、股骨、胫骨、和腓骨的碎片以及牙齿、脊椎骨、肋骨、和指骨。这个恐龙是其它大陆上发现过的具有更原始的四肢和骨骼结构的一个新进化枝的一个成员。
报告：A Giant European Dinosaur and a New Sauropod Clade, Rafael Royo-Torres, Alberto Cobos, and Luis Alcalá


模型揭示人类流感的进化
一个人类季节性流感的模型展示了几十年间流感变异的动力学，它显示，虽然流感病毒在不停地突变，只是每2到8年才具有新的强度。搞清楚流感的变化至关重要，因为它在世界范围具有高度的发病率和致命率。Katia Koelle和文章合作者建立了一个展示流感随时间发展的进化史的模型。这个模型显示，大多数流感病毒的突变是中性的。偶然地一个小突变引起蛋白的大变化，使其不被可能的受害者的免疫系统所识别。这个病毒在短时间内利用能不被识别地传播导致流感的大爆发甚至带来死亡。病毒毒性的增加是由hemagluttinin分子的一个主要变化引起的。病毒在下几个流感季节的连续突变也许会导致小的结构变化，但是受害者会有某种程度的交叉免疫力，能够控制病毒的复制。病毒毒性从而减弱，形成新的密切相关的毒株簇。几年后，当一个突变的“逃逸”引起又一次流感高峰时这个循环再次开始。该模型揭示了季节性流感的两个主要的突现模式: 一个遗传多样性的爆发-减弱模式，和一个在簇转变后的复发期。除了与流感发作成功地匹配外，这个模型帮助机械地结合了病原体流行病学与进化。模型也许也适用于其他突变影响疾病发展的疾病，比如疟疾、癌症、和抗生素抗药性等。一篇相关的研究评述讨论了这项研究。
报告：Epochal Evolution Shapes the Phylodynamics of Interpandemic Influenza A (H3N2) in Humans, Katia Koelle, Sarah Cobey, Bryan Grenfell, and Mercedes Pascual
研究评述：Influenza Escapes Immunity Along Neutral Networks, Erik van Nimwegen


松鼠预先计划
研究人员报告说，在红松鼠食用的树木大批产树籽之前，这些松鼠生产比平时更多的一窝仔。这些树用一种“饱和与饿死”的战略来对付吃树籽的动物，它们脉冲式地生产种子。生态学家通常假设生物体的繁殖和种群生长是由它们所需的资源现在或较近的过去的丰富程度所决定的。通过在加拿大、比利时、和意大利跟踪美洲和欧亚大陆的红松鼠的种群，Stan Boutin和同事发现，有些动物也能将它们的繁殖与未来种子的生产脉冲相协调。现在还不清楚是什么信号让松鼠增加繁殖，但是它们会生产更多的仔来利用未来的食物供给。
报告：Anticipatory Reproduction and Population Growth in Seed Predators, Stan Boutin, et al.


太阳系结束时可能会发生什么
研究人员为几十亿年后我们的太阳系可能会发生什么建立了一个模型。虽然一个行星系统及其主宰恒星的寿命结束时会发生什么，现在还不确定，但是Boris Gansicke和同事的研究对此提供了一些线索。这些天文学家研究了相当于我们的太阳质量的75%的热白矮星，该白矮星有一些扁平和盘状的碎片环绕着它，而且有一个不同寻常的离子化钙双峰辐射线。研究人员在辐射中观察到一个频移，证明环绕这个白矮星的物质中有富含金属的盘。所以在很远的未来，我们的行星可能也会以同样的方式崩溃。这个发现也显示行星系统能环绕大质量的恒星形成，因为这个白矮星最初比我们的太阳要大，可能是太阳的8倍。
报告：A Gaseous Metal Disk Around a White Dwarf, B. T. Gansicke, T. R. Marsh, J. Southworth, and A. Rebassa-Mansergas


一个蛋白、两种功能
新研究展示了一个蛋白如何响应不同的环境来完成两种完全不同的功能，铁调节蛋白IRP1在富铁细胞中的作用是催化，而在贫铁细胞中，它帮助调节涉及铁输运、存贮、或利用的基因的表达。William Walden和同事确定了IRP1蛋白与信使RNA中一个响应铁的元素结合的晶体结构，为该蛋白的部分如何为完成这两种不同的任务重新排列提供了线索。一篇相关的研究评述讨论了这些发现。
研究文章：Structure of Dual Function Iron Regulatory Protein 1 Complexed with Ferritin IRE-RNA, William E. Walden, et al.
研究评述：If the RNA Fits, Use It, Tracey A. Rouault


Contents

Special Issue

Breakthrough of the Year
News
BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: The Poincaré Conjecture--Proved
Dana Mackenzie
Science 22 December 2006: 1848-1849.
Summary »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|

BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: The Runners-Up
Science 22 December 2006: 1850-1855.
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BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: Scorecard 2006
Science 22 December 2006: 1850-1851.
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BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: BREAKDOWN OF THE YEAR: Scientific Fraud
Jennifer Couzin
Science 22 December 2006: 1853.
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BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: Areas to Watch in 2007
Science 22 December 2006: 1854-1855.
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This Week in Science
Editor summaries of this week's papers.
Science 22 December 2006: 1837.
|Full Text »

Editorial:
Breakthrough of the Year
Donald Kennedy
Science 22 December 2006: 1841.
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Editors' Choice
Highlights of the recent literature.
Science 22 December 2006: 1842.
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Science Podcast
Science 22 December 2006: 1945.
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NEW PRODUCTS
Science 22 December 2006: 1945.
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News of the Week
SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING: A Scientist's Nightmare: Software Problem Leads to Five Retractions
Greg Miller
Science 22 December 2006: 1856-1857.
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U.S. OCEAN POLICY: Fisheries Bill Gives Bigger Role to Science--But No Money
Erik Stokstad
Science 22 December 2006: 1857.
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IMMUNOLOGY: Mouse Studies Question Importance of Toll-Like Receptors to Vaccines
Ingrid Wickelgren
Science 22 December 2006: 1859-1860.
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WILDLIFE CONSERVATION: River Dolphins Down for the Count, and Perhaps Out
Jerry Guo
Science 22 December 2006: 1860.
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ENVIRONMENT: Spain's Prestige Oil Spill Resurfaces
Xavier Bosch
Science 22 December 2006: 1861.
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ARCHAEOLOGY: Researchers Helpless as Bosnian Pyramid Bandwagon Gathers Pace
John Bohannon
Science 22 December 2006: 1862.
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2007 U.S. BUDGET: NIH Trims Award Size as Spending Crunch Looms
Jeffrey Mervis
Science 22 December 2006: 1862.
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NONPROLIFERATION: Indo-U.S. Nuclear Pact in Jeopardy
Pallava Bagla
Science 22 December 2006: 1863.
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AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY MEETING: A Gut Germ Goes AWOL
Mitch Leslie
Science 22 December 2006: 1865.
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AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY: Sprayed-on Growth Factors Guide Stem Cells
Mitch Leslie
Science 22 December 2006: 1865.
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ScienceScope
Science 22 December 2006: 1859.
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Random Samples
Science 22 December 2006: 1845.
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Newsmakers
Science 22 December 2006: 1847.
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News Focus
SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING: Don't Pretty Up That Picture Just Yet
Jennifer Couzin
Science 22 December 2006: 1866-1868.
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DATA STORAGE: Is the Terabit Within Reach?
Robert F. Service
Science 22 December 2006: 1868-1870.
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BRUCE LAHN PROFILE: Brain Man Makes Waves With Claims of Recent Human Evolution
Michael Balter
Science 22 December 2006: 1871-1873.
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BRUCE LAHN PROFILE: Links Between Brain Genes, Evolution, and Cognition Challenged
Michael Balter
Science 22 December 2006: 1872.
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Letters
This Week's Letters
Science 22 December 2006: 1875.
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Retraction
Geoffrey Chang, Christopher B. Roth, Christopher L. Reyes, Owen Pornillos, Yen-Ju Chen, and Andy P. Chen
Science 22 December 2006: 1875.
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Aquaculture in Offshore Zones
Clifford A. Goudey;, Warren R. Flint;, and Rosamond L. Naylor
Science 22 December 2006: 1875-1876.
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Corrections and Clarifications
Science 22 December 2006: 1877.
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Books et al.
MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY: Master Class in Evolutionary Modeling
Steven A. Frank
Science 22 December 2006: 1878-1879.
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HEALTH, GENES, & ENVIRONMENT: Prosperous People, Penurious Genes
Steve Jones
Science 22 December 2006: 1879.
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Books Received
Science 22 December 2006: 1879.
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Education Forum
INQUIRY LEARNING: Teaching Scientific Inquiry
David I. Hanauer, Deborah Jacobs-Sera, Marisa L. Pedulla, Steven G. Cresawn, Roger W. Hendrix, and Graham F. Hatfull
Science 22 December 2006: 1880-1881.
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Perspectives
BIOCHEMISTRY: Proteins in a Small World
Todd O. Yeates and Morgan Beeby
Science 22 December 2006: 1882-1883.
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EVOLUTION: The Origin of Insects
Henrik Glenner, Philip Francis Thomsen, Martin Bay Hebsgaard, Martin Vinther Sorensen, and Eske Willerslev
Science 22 December 2006: 1883-1884.
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EPIDEMIOLOGY: Influenza Escapes Immunity Along Neutral Networks
Erik van Nimwegen
Science 22 December 2006: 1884-1886.
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BIOCHEMISTRY: If the RNA Fits, Use It
Tracey A. Rouault
Science 22 December 2006: 1886-1887.
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EARTH SCIENCE: A Submarine Volcano Is Caught in the Act
William W. Chadwick Jr.
Science 22 December 2006: 1887-1888.
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PHYSICS: Gaps and Our Understanding
A. J. Millis
Science 22 December 2006: 1888-1889.
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Association Affairs
AAAS News and Notes
Science 22 December 2006: 1890-1891.
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Brevia
Ancient Noncoding Elements Conserved in the Human Genome
Byrappa Venkatesh, Ewen F. Kirkness, Yong-Hwee Loh, Aaron L. Halpern, Alison P. Lee, Justin Johnson, Nidhi Dandona, Lakshmi D. Viswanathan, Alice Tay, J. Craig Venter, Robert L. Strausberg, and Sydney Brenner
Science 22 December 2006: 1892.
A whole-genome comparison between human and a cartilaginous fish that occupies a basal phylogenetic position reveals conserved noncoding elements not seen in the bony fishes.
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Untemplated Oligoadenylation Promotes Degradation of RISC-Cleaved Transcripts
Fadia Ibrahim, Jennifer Rohr, Won-Joong Jeong, Jennifer Hesson, and Heriberto Cerutti
Science 22 December 2006: 1893.
In an algal species, a polyadenylate polymerase adds adenines to RNA fragments, stimulating RNA degradation.
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Research Articles
The Heartbeat of the Oligocene Climate System
Heiko Pälike, Richard D. Norris, Jens O. Herrle, Paul A. Wilson, Helen K. Coxall, Caroline H. Lear, Nicholas J. Shackleton, Aradhna K. Tripati, and Bridget S. Wade
Science 22 December 2006: 1894-1898.
Marine sediments from 34 to 21 million years ago reveal an intricate response to orbital forcing on the part of Earth's climate, carbon cycle, and ice sheets.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Epochal Evolution Shapes the Phylodynamics of Interpandemic Influenza A (H3N2) in Humans
Katia Koelle, Sarah Cobey, Bryan Grenfell, and Mercedes Pascual
Science 22 December 2006: 1898-1903.
An epidemiological model that allows for differences between influenza's genetic and antigenic properties accurately predicts actual patterns of flu infection.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Structure of Dual Function Iron Regulatory Protein 1 Complexed with Ferritin IRE-RNA
William E. Walden, Anna I. Selezneva, Jérôme Dupuy, Anne Volbeda, Juan C. Fontecilla-Camps, Elizabeth C. Theil, and Karl Volz
Science 22 December 2006: 1903-1908.
A dual function protein switches from its compact enzymatic form to an extended RNA binding form through extensive domain rearrangements.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Reports
A Gaseous Metal Disk Around a White Dwarf
B. T. Gänsicke, T. R. Marsh, J. Southworth, and A. Rebassa-Mansergas
Science 22 December 2006: 1908-1910.
A double-peaked emission-line profile marks a disk of enriched material orbiting a white dwarf, implying that planetary systems can form around high-mass stars.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Distinct Fermi-Momentum-Dependent Energy Gaps in Deeply Underdoped Bi2212
Kiyohisa Tanaka, W. S. Lee, D. H. Lu, A. Fujimori, T. Fujii, Risdiana, I. Terasaki, D. J. Scalapino, T. P. Devereaux, Z. Hussain, and Z.-X. Shen
Science 22 December 2006: 1910-1913.
Published online 16 November 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1133411] (in Science Express Reports)
Spectrometry on a high-temperature superconductor lacking a few of its electrons reveals that two additional energy gaps separate the pseudogap and the true superconducting gap.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

The Ground State of the Pseudogap in Cuprate Superconductors
T. Valla, A. V. Fedorov, Jinho Lee, J. C. Davis, and G. D. Gu
Science 22 December 2006: 1914-1916.
Published online 16 November 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1134742] (in Science Express Reports)
The existence of an energy gap in a nonsuperconducting cuprate suggests that a comparable gap in superconductors arises as electrons pair up but are not fully coherent.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Nondestructive Optical Measurements of a Single Electron Spin in a Quantum Dot
J. Berezovsky, M. H. Mikkelsen, O. Gywat, N. G. Stoltz, L. A. Coldren, and D. D. Awschalom
Science 22 December 2006: 1916-1920.
Published online 9 November 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1133862] (in Science Express Reports)
An optical technique can probe the spin state of a single electron in a quantum dot without altering it, meeting a requirement for quantum information processing.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Sea-Floor Spreading Event Captured by Seismometers
M. Tolstoy, J. P. Cowen, E. T. Baker, D. J. Fornari, K. H. Rubin, T. M. Shank, F. Waldhauser, D. R. Bohnenstiehl, D. W. Forsyth, R. C. Holmes, B. Love, M. R. Perfit, R. T. Weekly, S. A. Soule, and B. Glazer
Science 22 December 2006: 1920-1922.
Published online 23 November 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1133950] (in Science Express Reports)
Seismometers of the ocean floor revealed an increase in earthquakes for several months before an eruption of magma that formed a new sea floor along the East Pacific Rise.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Homoploid Hybrid Speciation in an Extreme Habitat
Zachariah Gompert, James A. Fordyce, Matthew L. Forister, Arthur M. Shapiro, and Chris C. Nice
Science 22 December 2006: 1923-1925.
Published online 30 November 2006 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1135875] (in Science Express Reports)
As postulated by theory, a new species of butterfly evolved when a hybrid of two existing species became adapted to an extreme alpine environment.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

A Giant European Dinosaur and a New Sauropod Clade
Rafael Royo-Torres, Alberto Cobos, and Luis Alcalá
Science 22 December 2006: 1925-1927.
A giant sauropod, representing a new clade of dinosaurs, inhabited Europe in the Late Jurassic and appears to be more primitive than New World giant sauropods.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Anticipatory Reproduction and Population Growth in Seed Predators
Stan Boutin, Lucas A. Wauters, Andrew G. McAdam, Murray M. Humphries, Guido Tosi, and André A. Dhondt
Science 22 December 2006: 1928-1930.
Squirrels increase reproduction before seasonal pulses of high seed production, synchronizing population size with resource availability.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|

Human Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Haplotypes Modulate Protein Expression by Altering mRNA Secondary Structure
A. G. Nackley, S. A. Shabalina, I. E. Tchivileva, K. Satterfield, O. Korchynskyi, S. S. Makarov, W. Maixner, and L. Diatchenko
Science 22 December 2006: 1930-1933.
Variants of a human gene that affect pain sensitivity produce dissimilar amounts of protein because of nucleotide differences that affect mRNA secondary structure and after translation.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Lineages of Acidophilic Archaea Revealed by Community Genomic Analysis
Brett J. Baker, Gene W. Tyson, Richard I. Webb, Judith Flanagan, Philip Hugenholtz, Eric E. Allen, and Jillian F. Banfield
Science 22 December 2006: 1933-1935.
Direct cloning of an unusual 16S rRNA in biofilms from acid mine drainage reveals a distinct lineage of small archaeons that may subsist on pyrite.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|  

Adjuvant-Enhanced Antibody Responses in the Absence of Toll-Like Receptor Signaling
Amanda L. Gavin, Kasper Hoebe, Bao Duong, Takayuki Ota, Christopher Martin, Bruce Beutler, and David Nemazee
Science 22 December 2006: 1936-1938.
Adjuvants added to vaccines boost responses, surprisingly, without acting through known innate immunity receptors, indicating a need for vaccine development strategies.
Abstract »|   Full Text »|   PDF »|   Supporting Online Material »|

Relating Three-Dimensional Structures to Protein Networks Provides Evolutionary Insights
Philip M. Kim, Long J. Lu, Yu Xia, and Mark B. Gerstein
Science 22 December 2006: 1938-1941.
Proteins with many simultaneous partners tend to be conserved, whereas those with one partner at a time are more likely to vary among species.
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Characterizing a Mammalian Circannual Pacemaker
Gerald A. Lincoln, Iain J. Clarke, Roelof A. Hut, and David G. Hazlerigg
Science 22 December 2006: 1941-1944.
Annual molting cycles in sheep are controlled by timing cells within the pituitary that trigger hormone secretion from adjacent cells.
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