150 8 APRIL 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6589 science.org SCIENCE
RESEARCH | IN OTHER JOURNALS
signal to endothelial cells, alter
junctional proteins, and result in
a compromised (leaky) lung with
excess fluid. If neuropeptides
are reduced in NHEI mutant
animals, then excess fluid buildup
is reversed. This model for NEHI
disease could offer useful thera-
peutic targets for pulmonary
edema. —BAP
Dev. Cell 10.1016/
j.devcel.2022.02.023 (2022).
SEX
Fruit fly’s symmetrical
serenade
A symmetrical mate is more
attractive for many bilateral
species, possibly because such
balance signals health and
quality. Appearances are not
everything and can fluctuate,
so the symmetrical mate idea
has been controversial. Instead,
Vijendravarma et al. decided to
test the symmetry of a nonvisual
signal. Fruit fly males serenade
females by wing vibrations, and
symmetrical males will have sym-
metrical songs. By manipulating
wing symmetry during fly devel-
opment in laboratory culture, the
authors were able to change the
fly’s song. The asymmetric songs
from the asymmetric males
were rejected by females in mate
choice experiments. However, if
females were bred in the absence
of mate choice, they were just
as happy with males singing an
off-kilter song as a symmetrical
one. —CA
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 119 ,
e2116136119 (2022).CELL BIOLOGY
Pericytes protect
the kidneys
Kidney damage caused by renal
ischemia is a common compli-
cation after surgery. Freitas and
Attwell examined the cause of
the sustained reduction in renal
blood flow known as “no-reflow,”
which can exacerbate kidney
injury. Working in rats and mice,
the authors found that 60 min-
utes of kidney ischemia followed
by 30 to 60 minutes of reper-
fusion resulted in prolonged
reduction in renal blood flow. A
type of cells known as pericytes
were identified as the culprits.
Pericytes enwrap capillaries
and constrict and occlude blood
flow. Treatments that blocked
pericyte constriction, includingrho kinase inhibitors, helped to
prevent capillary obstruction
and reduced kidney damage.
Thus, therapies targeting
pericytes might prove fruitful in
the treatment of acute kidney
injury. —SMH
eLife 11 , e74211 (2022).GEOPHYSICS
Weak under pressure
Calcium silicate is one of the
major crystal phases in Earth’s
mantle, but its mechanical prop-
erties are poorly constrained.
Immoor et al. discovered that
this phase is surprisingly weak
when in the cubic crystal struc-
ture. The strength and viscosity
are much lower than the other
major mantle phases, which
makes it critical in affecting how
subducting slabs sink into the
mantle. The properties also may
dictate the fate of the accompa-
nying oceanic crust, which may
either founder in the midmantle
or sink all the way to the core.
—BG
Nature 603 , 276 (2022).QUANTUM OPTICS
Modulating spontaneous
emission
When an excited quantum two-
level system relaxes back to the
lower level, it can do so through
a process of spontaneous emis-
sion whereby a single photon is
emitted. It is well known that the
interaction between the emitter
and an optical cavity in which it
is placed can alter the emission
process. Tian et al. show that
hybridizing two-level solid-state
emitters with a tunable opto-
mechanical cavity can provide a
dynamical aspect to the sponta-
neous emission process. Optical
stimulation of the optomechani-
cal cavity shifts its resonance
frequency to couple with that
of the emitter and thereby alter
its emission rate. The ability to
modulate the spontaneous emis-
sion rate of solid-state emitters
should be useful for applications
in photonic integrated circuits
and photonic quantum technolo-
gies. —ISO
Optica 9 , 309 (2022). ILLUSTRATION: DAVIDE BONAZZI/SALZMANARTEXTREME POLITICSEbbs and flows of political polarization
A
cross 12 advanced democracies, affective polarization, the degree to which people feel
more negatively toward other political parties than toward their own, has increased
the most since the 1980s in the United States and to a lesser extent in Canada,
Denmark, France, New Zealand, and Switzerland, and has decreased in Australia,
Britain, (West) Germany, Japan, Norway, and Sweden. Boxell et al. harmonized results
from 149 surveys and assembled data on economic, media, demographic, and political
trends. Trends in the nonwhite share of the population and in the polarization of political
elites were most strongly associated with trends in polarization of the general public. —BW
Rev. Econ. Stat. 10.1162/rest_a_01160 (2022).