virginia science museum

Want to wish upon a falling star? This is the week - the Leonid Meteor Shower peaks tomorrow. Earth is currently passing through the “tail” of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Often called a “dirty snowball,” a comet usually orbits the sun in an elliptical orbit. The comet’s nucleus, consisting mostly of ice and dust, heats as it approaches the sun. Particles begin to stream out behind it and form the comet’s “tail.” As Earth passes through this “tail” the particles collide with the atmosphere and we see a meteor shower.

Fall foliage season is here! According to the Virginia Department of Forestry, the trees producing this beautiful display are:Ash - yellow, maroon leaves

Suppose you are going on vacation and want to save on your heating bill.  Which will save more - turning off your heat completely (assuming your pipes won't freeze) or just setting the thermostat to a lower temperature?

In other words, does it cost more to heat the house up from a very cold temperature than it would to keep it at a more moderate temperature while you are gone?

So… here’s a good one - two guys used Scotch tape and won a Nobel Prize. Hmmm…

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for their pioneering work with a revolutionary new material called graphene. Basically a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, graphene could change the world as we know it.