THE WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE OF SCIENCE
SCIENCE
NEWS
NOVEMBER 18, 2006 VOL. 170, NO. 21
328
Features
328 Dashing Rogues Freak ocean
waves pose threat to ships,
deep-sea oil platforms
by Sid Perkins
330 Evolution’s Mystery
Woman Disagreements rage
about tiny ancient islanders
by Bruce Bower
A SCIENCE SERVICE PUBLICATION
PUBLISHER Elizabeth Marincola
EDI TOR IN CHIEF Julie Ann Miller
MANAGING EDITOR Keith Haglund
DESIGN/PRODUCTION DIREC TOR Eric R. Roell
PRODUCTION MANAGER Spencer K.C. Norcross
ASSOCIATE EDI TOR Kate Travis
SENIOR EDI TOR/ENVIRONMENT/POLICY Janet Raloff
WEB EDITOR/MATHEMATICS Ivars Peterson
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Bruce Bower
ASTRONOMY Ron Cowen
BIOMEDICINE Nathan Seppa
LIFE SCIENCES Susan Milius
PHYSICS/TECHNOLOGY Peter Weiss
EARTH SCIENCE Sid Perkins
ENVIRONMEN T/POLICY/HEALTH Ben Harder
BIOLOG Y Christen Brownlee
CHEMISTRY/MATERIALS SCIENCE Aimee Cunningham
MATHEMATICS CORRESPONDENT Erica Klarreich
SCIENCE WRI TER IN TERN Julie Rehmeyer
COPY EDI TOR Linda Harteker
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BOOKS Cait Goldberg
ADVER TISING Rick Bates
SUBSCRIPTIONS Christina Smith
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BUSINESS MANAGER Larry Sigler
This Week
Of Note
323 New methods retrieve
Neandertals’ DNA
by Bruce Bower
333
The African source
of the Amazon’s fertilizer
Were Viking landers
blind to life?
Farm salmon spread deadly lice
Black hole survey
Asian amber yields
oldest known bee
Nearest extrasolar planet
Revving up recall
while fast asleep
Hey, that’s me!
BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS
CHAIRMAN Dudley Herschbach; VICE CHAIRMAN
Robert W. Fri; SECRETARY David A. Goslin;
TREASURER Frederick M. Bernthal;
MEMBERS Jeanette Grasselli Brown; Samuel
Gubins; J. David Hann; Shirley M. Malcom;
Eve L. Menger; C. Bradley Moore;
Ben Patrusky; Anna C. Roosevelt;
Vera Rubin; Jennifer E. Yruegas
PRESIDENT Elizabeth Marincola
BUSINESS MANAGER Larry Sigler
323 Hubble sheds light
on cosmic expansion
by Ron Cowen
334
324 Armed with self-scrutiny,
a mangled robot
moves on
by Peter Weiss
Science News (ISSN 0036-8423) is published weekly
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325 Circumcision reduces
STD risk in men
by Nathan Seppa
Departments
325 Device improves oil-spill
recovery
by Aimee Cunningham
335 Books
325 Chickens pass test for
fancy communication
by Susan Milius
335 Letters
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326 Stem cells slow dogs’
muscular dystrophy
by Christen Brownlee
Cover New mathematical analyses,
backed up by satellite data, hint that
dangerous rogue waves are more
common than scientists previously
recognized. In this archive photo from
the National Weather Service, a
merchant ship encounters a rogue in
the Bay of Biscay west of France.
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration) Page 328
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