Science Tuesday - Geology, Sexism in Science, HPV Vaccine, and Chocolate

Findings: Mysterious Steps, Explained at Last
By KENNETH CHANG, The New York Times, July 18, 2006

At Mammoth Hot Springs, in Yellowstone National Park, the mineral-rich waters flow over a surreal landscape of stepped terraces and ponds.

Geologists have long been at a loss to explain the rocks’ unusual shapes, but physicists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say they have figured out the answer.
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A Conversation with Ben A. Barres: Dismissing ‘Sexist Opinions’ About Women’s Place in Science
By CORNELIA DEAN, The New York Times, July 18, 2006

Perhaps it is inevitable that Ben A. Barres would have strong opinions on the debate over the place of women in science. Dr. Barres has a degree in biology from M.I.T., a medical degree from Dartmouth and a doctorate in neurobiology from Harvard. He is a professor of neurobiology at Stanford. And until his surgery a decade ago, his name was Barbara, and he was a woman.
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Essay: A New Vaccine for Girls, but Should It Be Compulsory?
By RONI RABIN, The New York Times, July 18, 2006

Around the time report cards came home this spring, federal health officials approved another new vaccine to add to the ever-growing list of recommended childhood shots — this one for girls and women only, from 9 to 26, to protect them from genital warts and cervical cancer.

One of my own daughters, who just turned 9, would be a candidate for this vaccine, so I’ve been mulling this over. A shot that protects against cancer sounds like a great idea, at first. States may choose to make it mandatory, though the cost for them to do so would be prohibitive.

But let’s think carefully before requiring young girls to get this vaccine, which protects against a sexually transmitted virus, in order to go to school. This isn’t polio or measles, diseases that are easily transmitted through casual contact. Infection with this virus requires intimate contact, of the kind that doesn’t occur in classrooms.
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Really? The Claim: Chocolate Is an Aphrodisiac
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR, The New York Times, July 18, 2006

THE FACTS The Aztecs may have been the first on record to draw a link between the cocoa bean and sexual desire: the emperor Montezuma was said to consume the bean in copious amounts to fuel his romantic trysts.
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