Every winter, throngs of sleds carry children of all ages down Marshall Hill in Stowe, Vermont. Hands down, it’s “the world’s best tobogganing and inner tube hill,” sending fearless young sledders down its slope at “a million miles an hour,” says William Lensch, senior scientist in George Daley’s lab at Children’s Hospital Boston. Followed by his son and a colleague’s child, Lensch made his way up the steep hill. Only minutes later, down they flew, frosty-cheeked and squealing. It’s not doing science, but out-of-lab experiences such as this one in Vermont grease the wheels of scientific collaboration, says Lensch.
“As a parent, I know that it’s really hard to find time for yourself, especially when you have little kids,” says Lensch. So he volunteered to take care of his lab mate’s child so her parents could hit the nearby ski slopes. After a day of sledding, Lensch drove both kids ...
