http://www.sciencenews.org | February 27, 2021 31NSO/NSF AND AURAFEEDBACKJANUARY 16, 2021Shaking up memories
A post–World War II data boom clinched
the unifying theory of plate tectonics
after decades of debate over whether
Earth’s crust was static or mobile, Carolyn
G ramling reported in “Shaking up Earth”
(SN: 1/16/21, p. 16).
The story reminded some readers
about their experiences around the
time of the theory’s birth in the 1960s.
Reader Jane Smiley recounted her
experience as a student at Harvard
University when plate tectonics was
being hotly debated. “My professor
was Bernhard Kummel ... and we had
to use his textbook. I was present at
a great symposium on plate tecton-
ics, which was attended by geologists
from around the world,” Smiley wrote.
“There was a cacophony of vocifer-
ous arguments fl ying back and forth
about the validity of plate tectonics.
Everyone brought their papers using
the overhead projector and some of the
Europeans discussed Alfred Wegener’s
theory [of continental drift], and they
got rebuffed by my professor as well as
many others in the fi eld ,” she wrote. “I
was a ‘drifter,’ but I sat quietly while I
listened attentively to the arguments.
Professor Kummel was not a drifter
and when I had to write papers in his
class, I had to swallow my beliefs and
write what he wanted to hear. It was a
very exciting time to be a student there,
and I learned to be an independent
thinker in many disciplines.”
Reader Mark Wilson recalled
attending a lecture in the late 1960s
by geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson who,
Gramling reported, compared the
impact of the theory of plate tecton-
ics to that of Einstein’s general theory
of relativity. The geophysicist shared
“his ideas concerning oceanic hot spot
island chains such as Hawaii, and what
he called transform faults in the ocean
fl oor,” Wilson wrote. “I also worked
for the summer of 1968 aboard a
C anadian geophysical research ship on
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, surveying the
ocean fl oor stripes of magnetism and
gravity measurements, and c onducting
seismic tests. I ended up becoming avertebrate paleontologist and biology
professor, but always enjoy science
writing that combines geology and
biology.”
Wilson wrote that he plans to
i ncorporate Gramling ’s story in his
teaching. “I have enjoyed [her] s cience
writing for several years and have
gathered a number of her articles as
resources for my students. They are
always clearly written, interesting and
thought-provoking ,” he wrote. “When
I next teach my course, the students
will have several writing assignments,
and one of them will be to produce a
s cience news essay, hopefully interest-
ing, like Gramling ’s work.”What stinks?
Wild giant pandas that coat themselves
in horse manure may be seeking out two
chemical compounds in the poop that
inhibit a cold-sensing protein, Jonathan
Lambert reported in “Pandas may roll in
poop to stay warm” (SN: 1/16/21, p. 14).
“Fresh horse dung has a signature
aroma to it, very tangy,” reader
Pat Rapp wrote. “Are those two
v olatiles ... responsible for that edge
to the aroma?” he asked. Rapp also
wondered if the compounds are pres-
ent in the dung of other species such
as donkeys and zebras. “If memory
serves, donkey dung doesn’t broadcast
itself with anything like the strength
of horse dung.”
The compounds might contribute
to horse manure’s strong odor, says
Lambert, but he doesn’t think they
are solely responsible for the stench.
“The researchers are currently inves-
tigating whether these compounds are
present in the dung of similar species,”
he says.Correction
“Suspended education” (SN: 1/16/21,
p. 24) reported that a study looking
at a color-blind approach to reducing
the discipline gap between white and
Black students showed that the gap
grew from a threefold difference to
more than fi vefold. This is incorrect.
The gap grew to almost fi vefold.Join the conversation
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Sun spotting
Earth’s largest solar telescope
has captured the sharpest
image ever of a sunspot (below),
C hristopher Crockett reported
in “A sunspot’s moment in
the spotlight” (SN: 1/16/21,
p. 32). While many people on
Facebook commented on the
sunspot’s resemblance to the
Eye of Sauron from The Lord
of the Rings, reader DeWayne
W illiams mused about connec-
tions between the macroscopic
and microscopic worlds. “You
ever think the universe looks
like what you might see under a
microscope, ” he wrote.fback.indd 31fback.indd 31 2/10/21 12:47 PM2/10/21 12:47 PM