Quickies
Skepchick Quickies, 6.7
- Study finds adolescent brains biologically wired to engage in risky behavior. (From PhysicsGuru.)
- Is there a breast cancer vaccine on the horizon? (From Michael.)
- Math mentors much more effective in beginning of career. (From chistat.)
- The Coke Zero and Mentos rocket car. (From nowoo.)
Breast cancer vaccine? We can only hope. That would be a phenomenal achievement.
If the breast cancer vaccine is anything like the HPV vaccine, it’s going to be 100% effective at preventing that particular strain of cancer, but then overall that strain sadly only represents 1 of several cancers, many more prevalent.
Still, a cure for cancer is a cure for cancer. Even if it’s not a cure for ALL cancer, it’s going to be a welcome medical advance for many women.
Much as I hate to say it, the bit about mathematicians and mentoring is, in my experience, all too true. With a few notable exceptions (including my advisor), too many of the professors (and, later, colleagues) were utterly insular. Perhaps it’s because much of the stereotypes about mathematicians have a firm basis in truth, but once I hit grad school, the only useful guidance of any kind that I got was strictly through my advisor — whom I didn’t acquire until far too late in grad school — and several of the folks publishing in our field who were friends of his.