For decades, scientists have speculated about why some fireflies exhibit synchronous flashing, in which large groups produce rhythmic, repeated flashes in unison -- sometimes lighting up a whole forest at once. Now, the first experiments on the function of this phenomenon suggest that synchronous flashing preserves female fireflies' recognition of suitable mates. The results are reported in the July 9 issue of Science.

Earthquakes can generate tsunamis when the seafloor moves up or down rapidly, but why do some earthquakes create large hazards, such as the 2004 Sumatra "Boxing Day Tsunami," while others do not? New research revealed differences in the composition of rocks in this area. These differences help explain why the 2004 earthquake and ensuing tsunami were more severe than subsequent events in 2005.

An international team of geoscientists has uncovered geological differences between two segments of an earthquake fault that may explain why the 2004 Sumatra Boxing Day Tsunami was so much more devastating than a second earthquake generated tsunami three months later.

It has been a basic principle of evolution for more than a century that plants and animals can adapt genetically in ways that help them better survive and reproduce. Now, in a paper to be published in the journal Science, University of Rochester biologist John Jaenike and colleagues document a clear example of a new mechanism for evolution.

Scientists have discovered two potent human antibodies that can stop more than 90 percent of known HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory, and have demonstrated how one of these disease-fighting proteins accomplishes this. According to the scientists, these antibodies could be used to design improved HIV vaccines, or further developed to prevent or treat HIV infection. Moreover, the method used to find these antibodies could be applied to isolate therapeutic antibodies for other infectious diseases.

In a policy report published in Science, an internationally recognized peer-reviewed journal, leading experts in HIV/AIDS research have warned that failure to meet a pledge for universal access to HIV therapy and funding cuts to prevention and treatment programs are poised to deliver a major setback in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Patients with a certain type of scleroderma may get cancer and scleroderma simultaneously, Johns Hopkins researchers have found, suggesting that in some diseases, autoimmunity and cancer may be linked.

Revised standards for psychology services in jails, prisons, correctional facilities, and agencies appear in the July special issue of the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior (published by SAGE).

In a new research paper appearing in the early online edition of Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History tie the continual rain of gas onto galaxy centers to extremely bright active galactic nuclei.

Having discovered a dramatic increase of an easy-to-detect enzyme in the red blood cells of people with diabetes and prediabetes, Johns Hopkins scientists say the discovery could lead to a simple, routine test for detecting the subtle onset of the disease, before symptoms or complications occur and in time to reverse its course.

A specific and remarkably small fragment of RNA appears to protect rats against cocaine addiction -- and may also protect humans, according to a recent study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the National Institutes of Health.

As the mercury rises outdoors, it's a fitting time to consider the effects of summertime droughts and global warming on ecosystems. Complex interactions among temperature, water cycling, and plant communities create a tangled web of questions that need to be answered as we face a rapidly changing climate. Drs. Emily Limm and Todd Dawson (University of California, Berkeley) recently tackled one aspect of the challenging question of how climate change can impact plant communities that obtain water from fog.

A study in the July 9, 2010, issue of Science identifies changes in oceanic circulation that followed past glacial retreat. The article, titled, "Deep Water Formation in the North Pacific during the Last Glacial Termination" is by Axel Timmermann of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, and his colleagues.

Sumatra experiences frequent seismic activity because it is located near the boundary of two of Earth's tectonic plates. Earthquakes occur at 'subduction zones,' such as the one west of Indonesia, when one tectonic plate is forced under another -- or subducts. Instead of sliding across one another smoothly, the plates stick, and energy builds up until they finally slip or 'rupture', releasing that stored energy as an earthquake.

A Science article published on July 9, 2010, describes the discovery of an alternative form of evolution that helps Drosophila flies conquer nematodes that sterilize them. Nematodes are among the most abundant, diverse and destructive parasites of plants and animals.