August 31, 2004 9:56 AM

The science of beauty
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 9:56 AM

The other day my son announced that he no longer wanted to be a fire-fighting, doggie-doctoring, super-hero who lives in outer space. Worried that he might have taken on the American Dream of becoming a reality TV star, I was absolutely thrilled when instead he claimed that he wanted to be a scientist. I don't know when scientists got to be cool but, hey, I'm all for it.

Now, if we can just get the girls to sign on, we'd be all set. However, there is at least one major cosmetics conglomerate that's doing its part: L'Oreal just announced the application process for their 2005 Women in Science Fellows contest. Each year, L'Oreal/USA awards five women Ph.D candidates $20,000 fellowships each to pursue their research. Of local interest is the fact that last year three of the five winners were from Harvard and MIT. (Of course, there's a bit of self-interest for the company here; because it's the scientists, not the supermodels - thankfully! - who determine the ultimate success of a beauty product.)

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