Noted

The trauma caused by political violence may have lasting effects on families. School of Public Health postdoctoral researcher Jhumka Gupta and her colleagues interviewed nearly 400 men who had immigrated from the Caribbean, Cape Verde, and Latin America. Those exposed to political violence in their former countries were twice as likely to abuse their female partners as men with no such experience. The study appeared in the October American Journal of Public Health.

Biologist Gerald I. Shulman and his colleagues discovered that molecules called N-acylphosphatidylethanola-mines, secreted by the gut after a fatty meal, make mice and rats less hungry. After regular injections of NAPEs, the animals ate less and lost weight. The researchers hope to eventually test the substance in humans. The work appears in the November 26 issue ofCell.

The consensus estimates of how much carbon dioxide can be added to the atmosphere without triggering climate disaster may be too high, say geologists Mark Pagani and Robert Berner and their colleagues. In the November Open Atmospheric Science Journal, the scientists maintain that the current atmospheric carbon dioxide level of 385 parts per million (ppm) already puts the Earth in the danger zone. Previous research had suggested a tipping point of 450 ppm.

After decades of abstinence, Lonesome George, the Galapagos tortoise thought to be the last of his species, finally mated last year. But the eggs produced were infertile. In the October 7 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,biologist Gisella Caccone '86PhD and colleagues reported that some Galapagos tortoise species share nearly half of George's genes; they may prove a better match in a breeding program.