Science Magazine 22.08.2008

Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals. The peer-reviewed journal, first published in 1880 is circulated weekly and has a print subscriber base of around 130,000. Because institutional subscriptions and online access serve a larger audience, its estimated readership is one million people.

IN THIS ISSUE

Cover
Using sunlight to rearrange the chemical bonds of water into hydrogen and oxygen, as in photosynthesis, would constitute a practical way to store solar energy as a fuel. Such an energy source will depend on new catalysts that promote this fuel-forming reaction cheaply and efficiently.

Turbulent Times for Climate Model
Researchers are running out of time to finish updating an important U.S. climate change model that has been hamstrung by the budget woes of its home institution, the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Shielding a Buddhist Shrine From the Howling Desert Sands
China is embarking on a major new effort to protect the Mogao Grottoes, a unique repository of murals and sculptures on the old Silk Road.

Can High-Speed Tests Sort Out Which Nanomaterials Are Safe?
A flood of strange new substances based on ultrasmall particles is forcing researchers to reinvent toxicology.

The Geological Evolution of the Tibetan Plateau
The geological evolution of the Tibetan plateau is best viewed in a context broader than the India-Eurasia collision zone. After collision about 50 million years ago, crust was shortened in western and central Tibet, while large fragments of lithosphere moved from the collision zone toward areas of trench rollback in the western Pacific and Indonesia.

Star Formation Around Supermassive Black Holes
Simulations show that the disruption of a molecular cloud by a black hole can lead to the formation of nearby stars with eccentric orbits, explaining observations in our Galaxy.