Astronomy: Ancient computer unexpectedly complex

Summaries of newsworthy papers from Nature. VOL.444 NO. 7119 include Cancer: Cell senescence cancer link, Climate change: Gulf Stream weakened during Little Ice Age, Physiology: A toast to good health…. Material science: Terahertz-controlling device, The alchemy of violin-making

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This press release is copyright Nature. VOL.444 NO. 7119 DATED 30 NOVEMBER 2006

This press release contains:

* Summaries of newsworthy papers:

Astronomy: Ancient computer unexpectedly complex

Cancer: Cell senescence cancer link

Climate change: Gulf Stream weakened during Little Ice Age

Physiology: A toast to good health….

Material science: Terahertz-controlling device

And finally… The alchemy of violin-making

* Mention of papers to be published at the same time with the same embargo
* Geographical listing of authors

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[1] Astronomy: Ancient computer unexpectedly complex (pp 587-591; N&V)

An ancient astronomical calculator, built around the end of the second century BC, was unexpectedly sophisticated, a study in this week's Nature suggests.

Mike G. Edmunds and colleagues used imaging and high-resolution X-ray tomography to study fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, a bronze mechanical analog computer thought to calculate astronomical positions. The Greek device contains a complicated arrangement of at least 30 precision, hand-cut bronze gears housed inside a wooden case covered in inscriptions. But the device is fragmented, so its specific functions have remained controversial.

The team were able to reconstruct the gear function and double the number of deciphered inscriptions on the computer's casing. The device, they say, is technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards. The text is astronomical with many numbers that could be related to planetary motions, and the gears are a mechanical representation of a second century theory that explained the irregularities of the Moon's motion across the sky caused by its elliptical orbit.

CONTACT

Mike G. Edmunds (Cardiff University, UK)
Tel: +44 2920 874043 or +44 7763 324070; E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Francois Charette (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany) N&V author
E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

[2] & [3] Cancer: Cell senescence cancer link (pp 638-642; 633-637)

Cancer is commonly thought of as uncontrolled cellular proliferation, but in the early stages of many cancers, the activation of certain tumour-forming genes goes hand-in-hand with cellular senescence. Researchers now think they know why.

Two papers in this week’s Nature link so-called oncogene-induced senescence with the DNA damage response. The groups of Fabrizio d’Adda di Fagagna and Thanos D. Halazonetis show that activated oncogenes can cause aberrant DNA replication and thereby DNA damage, which leads to cell senescence.

The response can block tumour progression, so oncogene-induced senescence may represent an innate cancer protection mechanism. But it is all too often disabled by further mutations. Understanding the link between cell senescence and tumours may aid the development of diagnostic and prognostic tools based on senescence markers.

CONTACT

Fabrizio d’Adda di Fagagna (The FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology Foundation, Milan, Italy)
Tel: +39 02 57430 3227; E-mail: [email protected]

Thanos D. Halazonetis (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
Tel: +41 22 379 61 12; E-mail: [email protected]

[4] Climate change: Gulf Stream weakened during Little Ice Age (pp 601-604)

The strength of the Gulf Stream was weaker during the Little Ice Age, a time of unusually cold conditions in the North Atlantic area. The finding, reported in this week's Nature, suggests that changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation may have had a significant impact on climate during historical times.

David C. Lund and colleagues analysed sediment cores from the region where the Gulf Stream enters the North Atlantic Ocean, called the Florida Straits. From this, they were able to reconstruct changes in the Gulf Stream over the last thousand years. Their results suggest that the gulf stream was about 10% weaker during the Little Ice Age, which occurred between approximately 1200 and 1850 A.D.

The heat transported by the Gulf Stream is known to be an important control on North Atlantic climate, and the possibility of changes in this flow is one of the main uncertainties hampering predictions of future climate change. Our current knowledge of Gulf Stream behaviour on long timescales relies in large part on geologic records of past changes, so studies such as this should contribute to future climate prediction.

CONTACT
David C. Lund (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 626 395 1783; E-mail: [email protected]

[5] Physiology: A toast to good health…. (p 566)

Scientists are one step closer to understanding why red wine may be good for the heart. A Brief Communication in Nature this week identifies the molecules that play a predominant role in improving the condition of blood vessels and lowering mortality.

Polyphenols in red wine are known to help suppress cardiovascular damage, but this research shows that condensed tannins known as polymeric procyanidins are particularly important. Roger Corder and colleagues compared the effects of red wines from different parts of the world on cultured blood-vessel cells and analysed the content of these polyphenols in each wine. They found that those richest in polymeric procyanidins had the highest protective effect. Using the 1999 French census data, they then researched areas associated with high longevity, and in particular those with marked variation in heart disease statistics, and found that these also happened to be the source of wines containing the highest procyanidin concentrations.

The team point out that traditional winemaking, as still practised in southwest France and Sardinia, retains more of these beneficial polyphenols in red wine and that the Tannat grape is a particularly rich source. Although the research demonstrates the effect in vitro, the team argue that further investigation is needed in order to understand how it could be optimized in vivo.

CONTACT
Roger Corder (Queen Mary University of London, UK)

Please contact the author through:
Sian Halkyard (Press Office, Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Tel: +44 20 7882 7454; E-mail: [email protected]

Alan Crozier (University of Glasgow, UK) Co-author
Tel: +44 141 330 4613; E-mail: [email protected]

[6] Material science: Terahertz-controlling device (pp 597-600)

Researchers have built a device that can manipulate terahertz (THz) radiation, raising hopes for applications in new imaging and communications devices.

The THz range of the frequency spectrum lies between infrared and microwave wavelengths. Devices that generate and detect THz radiation are already in development, but techniques to control the waves are lagging behind.

In this week’s Nature, Hou-Tong Chen and colleagues show that metamaterials - objects with properties based on their structure instead of the materials they are composed of - can be designed to efficiently control THz waves in real time. They have built a device that consists of a semiconductor substrate with an array of gold structures on top. By controlling the voltage that is applied between the substrate and the metamaterial, the team can modulate the transmitted intensity up to 50%.

The demonstration already exceeds the performance of existing electrical THz modulators, and it’s hoped that the efficiency will be improved further by optimizing the device.

CONTACT

Hou-Tong Chen (Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA)
Tel: +1 505 665 7365; E-mail: [email protected]

[7] And finally… The alchemy of violin-making (p 565)

The secrets of the great violin-makers Stradivari and Guaneri are tested in a new analysis of the wood used to make their precious instruments. A Brief Communication in this week’s Nature reveals that the maple used by the celebrated craftsmen in the eighteenth century could have been chemically processed in order to preserve it and to enhance the sound quality.

Joseph Nagyvary and colleagues use infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance to analyse organic matter in small shavings that were taken from the interior of five antique instruments during repairs. Comparing these with modern examples of tone wood from eastern and central Europe, they find evidence of chemical treatments in the instruments created by the Cremonese masters but not in those made in Paris and London at similar times, or in the modern wood. The researchers believe that these differences originated from a regional practice of wood preservation that affected the mechanical and acoustical properties. Understanding the chemistry of this process could lead to improvements in the production of modern violins.

CONTACT

Joseph Nagyvary (Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 979 690 6440; E-mail: [email protected]

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE…

[8] Protein delivery into eukaryotic cells by type III secretion machines (pp 567-573)

[9] Rank clocks (pp 592-596)

[10] Petrology and thermal structure of the Hawaiian plume from Mauna Kea volcano (pp 605-609)

[11] Centriole assembly in Caenorhabditis elegans (pp 619-623)

ADVANCE ONLINE PUBLICATION

***These papers will be published electronically on Nature's website on 29 November at 1800 London time / 1300 US Eastern time (which is also when the embargo lifts) as part of our AOP (ahead of print) programme. Although we have included them on this release to avoid multiple mailings they will not appear in print on 30 November, but at a later date.***

[12] Axonal site of spike initiation enhances auditory coincidence detection
DOI: 10.1038/nature05347

[13] Specialized hepatocyte-like cells regulate Drosophila lipid metabolism
DOI: 10.1038/nature05382

[14] Regulation of the bacterial cell cycle by an integrated genetic circuit
DOI: 10.1038/nature05321

[15] Phospholipids and the origin of cationic gating charges in voltage sensors (N&V)
DOI: 10.1038/nature05416

GEOGRAPHICAL LISTING OF AUTHORS…

The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the papers numbered in this release. For example, London: 4 - this means that on paper number four, there will be at least one author affiliated to an institute or company in London. The listing may be for an author's main affiliation, or for a place where they are working temporarily. Please see the PDF of the paper for full details.

DENMARK

Aarhus: 3
Copenhagen: 3

FRANCE

Paris: 2

GERMANY

Dresden: 11

GREECE
Athens: 1, 3
Ionnina: 3
Thessaloniki: 1
Zographos: 1

ITALY
Aviano: 2
Milan: 2

JAPAN

Kyoto: 12

SWEDEN

Stockholm: 3

SWITZERLAND

Geneva: 3

UNITED KINGDOM

Cardiff: 1

Glasgow: 5

London: 1, 5, 9, 13

Oxford: 13

Sheffield: 3

Tring: 1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

California

Berkeley: 14

Palo Alto: 1

Pasadena: 4

Redwood City: 1

Santa Barbara: 6

Colorado

Boulder: 11

Fort Collins: 7

Connecticut

New Haven: 8

Georgia

Atlanta: 4

Massachusetts

Boston: 6

Cambridge: 14

Chestnut Hill: 6
Woods Hole: 4

New Jersey

Piscataway: 10

New Mexico

Los Alamos: 6

New York

New York: 15

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia: 3

Texas

College Station: 7

Utah

Provo: 7

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From Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan
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Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; Fax: +81 3 3267 87
E-mail: [email protected]

For the UK/Europe/other countries not listed above
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Published: 29 Nov 2006

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