Reduced drag coefficient for high wind speeds in tropical cyclones

The transfer of momentum between the atmosphere and the ocean is described in terms of the variation of wind speed with height and a drag coefficient that increases with sea surface roughness and wind speed. But direct measurements have only been available for weak winds; momentum transfer under extreme wind conditions has therefore been extrapolated from these field measurements. Global Positioning System sondes have been used since 1997 to measure the profiles of the strong winds in the marine boundary layer associated with tropical cyclones. Here we present an analysis of these data, which show a logarithmic increase in mean wind speed with height in the lowest 200 m, maximum wind speed at 500 m and a gradual weakening up to a height of 3 km. By determining surface stress, roughness length and neutral stability drag coefficient, we find that surface momentum flux levels off as the wind speeds increase above hurricane force. This behaviour is contrary to surface flux parameterizations that are currently used in a variety of modelling applications, including hurricane risk assessment and prediction of storm motion, intensity, waves and storm surges.     

Explaining the excess of rare species in natural species abundance distributions

The observation that a few species in ecological communities are exceptionally abundant, whereas most are rare, prompted the development of species abundance models. Nevertheless, despite the large literature on the commonness and rarity of species inspired by these pioneering studies, some widespread empirical patterns of species abundance resist easy explanation. Notable among these is the observation that in large assemblages there are more rare species than the log normal model predicts. Here we use a long-term (21-year) data set, from an estuarine fish community, to show how an ecological community can be separated into two components. Core species, which are persistent, abundant and biologically associated with estuarine habitats, are log normally distributed. Occasional species occur infrequently in the record, are typically low in abundance and have different habitat requirements; they follow a log series distribution. These distributions are overlaid, producing the negative skew that characterizes real data sets.     

Recurrent de novo point mutations in lamin A cause Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by features reminiscent of marked premature ageing. Here, we present evidence of mutations in lamin A (LMNA) as the cause of this disorder. The HGPS gene was initially localized to chromosome 1q by observing two cases of uniparental isodisomy of 1q-the inheritance of both copies of this material from one parent-and one case with a 6-megabase paternal interstitial deletion. Sequencing of LMNA, located in this interval and previously implicated in several other heritable disorders, revealed that 18 out of 20 classical cases of HGPS harboured an identical de novo (that is, newly arisen and not inherited) single-base substitution, G608G(GGC > GGT), within exon 11. One additional case was identified with a different substitution within the same codon. Both of these mutations result in activation of a cryptic splice site within exon 11, resulting in production of a protein product that deletes 50 amino acids near the carboxy terminus. Immunofluorescence of HGPS fibroblasts with antibodies directed against lamin A revealed that many cells show visible abnormalities of the nuclear membrane. The discovery of the molecular basis of this disease may shed light on the general phenomenon of human ageing.     

Oligocene mammals from Ethiopia and faunal exchange between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia

Afro-Arabian mammalian communities underwent a marked transition near the Oligocene/Miocene boundary at approximately 24 million years (Myr) ago. Although it is well documented that the endemic paenungulate taxa were replaced by migrants from the Northern Hemisphere, the timing and evolutionary dynamics of this transition have long been a mystery because faunas from about 32 to 24 Myr ago are largely unknown. Here we report a late Oligocene fossil assemblage from Ethiopia, which constrains the migration to postdate 27 Myr ago, and yields new insight into the indigenous faunal dynamics that preceded this event. The fauna is composed of large paenungulate herbivores and reveals not only which earlier taxa persisted into the late Oligocene epoch but also demonstrates that one group, the Proboscidea, underwent a marked diversification. When Eurasian immigrants entered Afro-Arabia, a pattern of winners and losers among the endemics emerged: less diverse taxa such as arsinoitheres became extinct, moderately species-rich groups such as hyracoids continued into the Miocene with reduced diversity, whereas the proboscideans successfully carried their adaptive radiation out of Afro-Arabia and across the world.     

A broadband superconducting detector suitable for use in large arrays

Cryogenic detectors are extremely sensitive and have a wide variety of applications (particularly in astronomy), but are difficult to integrate into large arrays like a modern CCD (charge-coupled device) camera. As current detectors of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) already have sensitivities comparable to the noise arising from the random arrival of CMB photons, the further gains in sensitivity needed to probe the very early Universe will have to arise from large arrays. A similar situation is encountered at other wavelengths. Single-pixel X-ray detectors now have a resolving power of DeltaE < 5 eV for single 6-keV photons, and future X-ray astronomy missions anticipate the need for 1,000-pixel arrays. Here we report the demonstration of a superconducting detector that is easily fabricated and can readily be incorporated into such an array. Its sensitivity is already within an order of magnitude of that needed for CMB observations, and its energy resolution is similarly close to the targets required for future X-ray astronomy missions.