Science - USA (2018-12-21)

SCIENCE sciencemag.org

PHOTO: AGAMI PHOTO AGENCY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

advertised percentage of area

protected. However, recent

research has made it clear that

many MPAs are not actually

protecting marine biodiver-

sity. Dureuil et al. focused on

European MPAs and found

that trawling, one of the most

damaging types of fishing,

occurs widely in these areas.

Furthermore, using sharks and

rays as indicator species, they

found that many MPAs are failing

to protect vulnerable species.

—SNV

Science, this issue p. 1403

SOCIAL NETWORKS

The strength of

long-range ties

It seems reasonable that we

would have the closest, stron-

gest ties with people in our

immediate social network and

that the ties between networks

would be weaker. However, Park

et al. discovered strong ties that

spanned extreme network (not

geographic) distances in 11 cul-

turally diverse population-scale

networks on four continents—

encompassing 56 million Twitter

users and 58 million mobile

phone subscribers. Although

they are fairly rare, strong ties

between networks could be

important for the spreading of

ideas or disease. —BJ and TSR

Science, this issue p. 1410

CANCER

Small molecules spark

NK cell response

Immunotherapy is a powerful

treatment for certain cancers.

Yet for those patients that do not

respond, simultaneous strate-

gies that mobilize the immune

system and directly target malig-

nant cells may be more effective.

Ruscetti et al. report that com-

bining two clinically approved

cancer drugs promoted immune

surveillance and killing of

KRAS-mutant lung tumors in

mice (see the Perspective by

Cornen and Vivier). The two

small molecules—a mitogen-

activated protein kinase inhibitor

and a cyclin-dependent kinase

Edited by Caroline Ash

IN OTHER JOURNALS and Michael Funk

4/6 inhibitor—induced natural

killer (NK) cell recruitment and

elimination of senescent lung

cancer cells, which did not occur

when either agent was used

alone. —PNK

Science, this issue p. 1416;

see also p. 1355

NEUROSCIENCE

A safer way to probe

for brain cancer

Needle biopsies of the brain are

commonly used for diagnos-

ing brain tumors but can cause

intracerebral hemorrhage.

Ramakonar et al. developed

a high-resolution imaging

needle that allows for improved

visualization and differentia-

tion of at-risk blood vessels in

real time. They detected blood

vessels with high sensitivity and

specificity over a large field of

view in both mouse brain and

human brain tissue samples.

Thus, optical imaging needles

could reduce the occurrence

of brain hemorrhages during

biopsies and other neurosurgical

procedures. —PJB

Sci. Adv. 10.1126/sciadv.aav4992

(2018).

ROBOTIC MANIPULATION

3D-printed, partially

passive piano player

Our bodies are capable of a wide

range of complex behaviors, but

these abilities are limited by the

specific anatomic and environ-

mental conditions. Hughes et al.

used this “conditional model”

concept to test three-dimen-

sionally (3D)–printed skeletal

robot hands with ligaments of

varied elasticity connecting rigid

finger bones. Moving the base of

the hand made the fingers play

a piece of piano music. Varying

ligament stiffness and hand

movement enabled or restricted

subsequent actions, such as a

finger and thumb simultane-

ously pressing keys far apart. By

changing these parameters, one

hand could play three pieces of

music that each required a dif-

ferent playing style. —RLK

Sci. Robot. 3 , eaau3098 (2018).

MIGRATION

The importance of lugworms

A

s the climate warms, Arctic ice melts are occurring

earlier in spring, and earlier ice melt means an early

Arctic summer. For birds that migrate to the poles from

temperate and tropical regions to breed, seasonal shifts

represent a notable challenge to reproductive physiol-

ogy. Rakhimberdiev et al. show that a wading bird called a

bar-tailed godwit can arrive on the breeding grounds earlier

in the year by shortening its over-wintering time by reducing

the time it spends on the refueling grounds in the Wadden

Sea of northwestern Europe. Increased rates of feeding,

especially on lugworms, can compensate for a shorter feed-

ing season. However, mortality is extensive if food sources

become scarce, with one major factor being mechanized

human harvest of lugworms in the Wadden Sea. —SNV

Nat. Comm. 9 , 4263 (2018).

Bar-tailed godwits,

Limosa lapponica, feed

faster on lugworms

during shorter winters.

21 DECEMBER 2018 • VOL 362 ISSUE 6421 1373

Published by AAAS