Multiple causes of high extinction risk in large mammal species

Many large animal species have a high risk of extinction. This is usually thought to result simply from the way that species traits associated with vulnerability, such as low reproductive rates, scale with body size. In a broad-scale analysis of extinction risk in mammals, we find two additional patterns in the size selectivity of extinction risk. First, impacts of both intrinsic and environmental factors increase sharply above a threshold body mass around 3 kilograms. Second, whereas extinction risk in smaller species is driven by environmental factors, in larger species it is driven by a combination of environmental factors and intrinsic traits. Thus, the disadvantages of large size are greater than generally recognized, and future loss of large mammal biodiversity could be far more rapid than expected.     

Spectral reflectivity of lunar samples

Twelve rock chips and two samples of fines all have electronic absorption bands in diffuse reflected light between 0.32 and 2.5 micrometers. Major bands occur between 0.94 and 1.00 micrometer and at 2.0 micrometers, and arise from Fe(2+) in clinopyroxene and to a lesser extent in olivine. A band at 0.95 micrometer and other details of curve slope and shape for the lunar surface fines match McCord's telescopic curve for an 18-kilometer area that includes the Apollo-il site. Results confirm mineralogical predictions based on telescopic data and support the feasibility of obtaining mineralogical information by remote and in glass content. reflectivity measurements.     

The extreme Kuiper Belt binary 2001 QW322

The study of binary Kuiper Belt objects helps to probe the dynamic conditions present during planet formation in the solar system. We report on the mutual-orbit determination of 2001 QW322, a Kuiper Belt binary with a very large separation whose properties challenge binary-formation and -evolution theories. Six years of tracking indicate that the binary's mutual-orbit period is approximately 25 to 30 years, that the orbit pole is retrograde and inclined 50 degrees to 62 degrees from the ecliptic plane, and, most surprisingly, that the mutual orbital eccentricity is <0.4. The semimajor axis of 105,000 to 135,000 kilometers is 10 times that of other near-equal-mass binaries. Because this weakly bound binary is prone to orbital disruption by interlopers, its lifetime in its present state is probably less than 1 billion years.     

Foundering lithosphere imaged beneath the southern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

Seismic tomography reveals garnet-rich crust and mantle lithosphere descending into the upper mantle beneath the southeastern Sierra Nevada. The descending lithosphere consists of two layers: an iron-rich eclogite above a magnesium-rich garnet peridotite. These results place descending eclogite above and east of high P wave speed material previously imaged beneath the southern Great Valley, suggesting a previously unsuspected coherence in the lithospheric removal process.     

Dielectric siphons

The normally weak polarization force density, exerted on insulating dielectric liquids by a nonuniform electric field, is enhanced if high pressures are used. The result is a new class of orientation and guiding structures for liquids: electric "walls" contain the liquid. The dielectric siphon is an example of such a system. A simple laminar flow model for the device successfully describes the operation of the siphon.     

The Genome sequence of the SARS-associated coronavirus

We sequenced the 29,751-base genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus known as the Tor2 isolate. The genome sequence reveals that this coronavirus is only moderately related to other known coronaviruses, including two human coronaviruses, HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted viral proteins indicates that the virus does not closely resemble any of the three previously known groups of coronaviruses. The genome sequence will aid in the diagnosis of SARS virus infection in humans and potential animal hosts (using polymerase chain reaction and immunological tests), in the development of antivirals (including neutralizing antibodies), and in the identification of putative epitopes for vaccine development.