Noted

Scientists think of themselves as rigorously objective, but a Yale study in the September online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests otherwise. Molecular biologist Jo Handelsman and her colleagues asked 127 science professors at six research universities to evaluate identical applications for a lab manager post. “Subtle gender bias” was obvious among both male and female professors: when the applicant had a male name, he was rated significantly higher in competence and hireability, and he was offered a better salary and more career mentoring.

An African primate, which Yale researchers John and Terese Hart first saw in a 2007 snapshot of a young girl with a monkey, is actually a new species, says a team that includes the Harts and anthropologist Eric Sargis. The small, shy monkey, known in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a lesula—its proposed scientific name is Cercopithecus lomamiensis—lives largely hidden in lowland rain forests, yet is threatened by hunters. In September’s PLoS One, researchers describe the animal and suggest a conservation strategy.

Between 2000 and 2030, the amount of land covered by cities will nearly triple, says Karen Seto, an urban land change scientist at Yale’s environment school. In September’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Seto and her colleagues estimate that this dramatic growth—mostly in Asia and Africa—will result, if unchecked, in almost 10 percent of the planet’s surface becoming urban land cover.