1440 27 MARCH 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6485 SCIENCE
RESEARCH | IN OTHER JOURNALS
Medchem) library, which con-
tains small molecules that have
regulatory approval or are in clini-
cal development. Drugs such as
KF-4939 (a platelet aggregation
factor inhibitor) and Resquimod
(a Toll-like receptor 7/8 ligand)
were identified. The use of drugs
that can be repurposed should
assist in speeding translation into
the clinic. —BAP
eLife 9 , e51739 (2020).
DOG DOMESTICATION
Feed the dog
Dogs are one of humanity’s most
frequent companions, but when
and how this relationship first
began are still open questions.
There is considerable evidence
for fully domesticated and cohab-
iting dogs by around 15,000
years ago, but genetic studies
and some fossils suggest that the
relationship began much earlier,
perhaps as long as 40,000
years ago or more. Identifying
the first evidence of wolves
becoming dogs is challenging,
because early domesticating
individuals are likely to have
looked like wild wolves. Prassack
et al. studied fossil canid teeth
from a Paleolithic site in the
Czech Republic from 28,500
years before the present. Using
microwear analysis, they found
distinct differences between
individuals previously classified
as “protodogs” or “wolves” based
on their jaw structure. They argue
that these differences reflect true
differences in diet, specifically
an increase in bone consump-
tion in the protodogs that could
have been due to a shift by early
domesticated animals to a diet of
human scraps. —SNV
J. Archaeol. Sci. 115 , 105092 (2020).QUANTUM INFORMATION
Determining odd from even
The parity of a quantum
mechanical wave function
simply tells you if there is an
odd or even number of excita-
tions in the system it describes.
Without the need to know the
exact number of excitations
within a system, being able
to measure changes in par-
ity is important and can be
exploited in operations such as
quantum error correction and
stabilizing quantum commu-
nication protocols. Besse et al.
demonstrate a detector that
can determine the parity of a
propagating microwave field.
Using a superconducting phase
qubit embedded in a cavity, they
show that they can engineer the
system such that transmission
of the microwaves is conditionalon there being an odd or even
number of microwave photons
in the radiation field. The sim-
plicity of the detector design
should have applications
across a broad range of setups
for quantum information
processing. —ISO
Phys. Rev. X 10 , 011046 (2020).ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRYIt’s in the air
Dimethyl sulfide, produced by
many marine organisms, is the
major natural source of natural
marine sulfate aerosols, which
have an enormous influence on
cloud formation and climate.
Ve r e s et al. report that >30%
of oceanic dimethyl sulfide
emitted to the atmosphere
is oxidized to HPMTF (hydro-
peroxymethyl thioformate,
HOOCH 2 SCHO), a previously
unquantified species. By linking
HPMTF concentration to new
particle formation and growth,
they establish its importance
in marine atmospheric chemis-
try and demonstrate the need
to include it in models that
describe the links among ocean
biogeochemistry, marine aerosol
formation, and climate. —HJS
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 , 4505
(2020).PHYSICSA strange strange metal
The so-called strange metal
phase appears in the phase
diagrams of many quantum
materials, including cuprate
high-temperature supercon-
ductors and heavy fermion
compounds. Strange metals
frequently occur in the vicinity
of antiferromagnetism, suggest-
ing a connection between the
two. Now, Shen et al. reveal an
unusual strange metal phase
near a ferromagnetic quantum
critical point in the quasi–one-
dimensional material CeRh 6 Ge 4.
The researchers observed
anomalous transport and ther-
modynamics properties typical
of strange metals near the critical
pressure at which the material
becomes ferromagnetic. —JS
Nature 579 , 51 (2020).COASTA L ECO LO GYA silver lining for hurricanes
H
urricanes are notorious for the havoc that they wreak on coastlines. However, destruction
can also be accompanied by an injection of nutrients into ecosystems. Castañeda-Moya
et al. report a hitherto underappreciated beneficial effect of high-energy disturbances. In
the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which hit the Florida Everglades in 2017, there was a nota-
ble fertilization pulse in mangrove forests as far as 10 kilometers inland. Phosphorus-rich
sediments deposited by the hurricane boosted the soil nutrient pool and resulted in increased
phosphorus uptake by mangrove species. The potential hurricane-enhanced plant productivity
may promote soil stabilization and resilience to future disturbances and sea level rise. —AMS
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 , 4831 (2020).In southern Florida,
hurricanes bring
pulses of nutrients to
mangrove forests.PHOTO: RALPH PACE/MINDEN PICTURES