SCIENCE SCENE.

• Position: Tapanuli orangutan, and poisson process

Changes in the structure of a handful of central brain neurons have been linked to understanding how animals adjust to changing seasons. The findings, which appear in Cell, enhance our understanding of the mechanisms vital to the regulation of our circadian system, or internal clock. The work focuses on the regulation of "neuronal plasticity," which "underpins learning and memory, but it is very challenging to tie changes in specific neurons to alterations in animal behavior," explains senior author Justin Blau, professor in the Department of Biology at New York University.

At-sea and shore-based teams are working to map the seafloor and make some of the first deep-water observations of a volcano in the Samoan region. Vailulu'u is completely underwater, yet scientific evidence suggests this volcano may continue to be active. "I want to know how volcanoes in the region evolved chemically over their life cycle and exactly how long is that life cycle is," says Matthew Jackson, associate professor in the Department of Earth Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Cancer cell invasion and metastasis are being tracked, in real time, in transparent zebrafish embryos by investigators at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, D.C. Using these fish models, researchers can find answers to cancer questions in one to three days instead of months for the typical mouse model. Investigators say that this one day may lead to tumor assessment and treatment evaluation in patients.

Laying bare several roots of how plants respond to drought, biologists at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, have shown that mutations in two genes of Ana-bidopsis thaliana (thale cress) can stifle its development and disrupt the defense mechanisms that protect it against drought-like conditions. "In the long term, we'd like to...