Every autumn we are captured by color. But is it only color? There is also form, contemplation of sequence and order in the world which capture us too. Looking from a distance at the edge of a pine tree or more closely at the margin of a leaf, you will notice an undulate (toothed, notched, or wave‑edged). Resin ducts or twigs, the mineral Halite (salt) and Galena (lead ore) are cubes. Needles, twigs, human fingers, are cylinders. Leaf and wood fibers are lattices, and the cells in wood, needles, and blood are spheres or spheroids. If the sun shines just right, the shadow of a tree forms a rough circle or ellipse on the forest floor. When you look at any living thing as a whole, it is a composite of many geometric shapes or patterns — the composite. Are we not also a part of... Keep reading.

Do you ever wonder about your very strange body? What is the deal with crusty versus liquidy earwax? Why is it different colors? Why does its consistency change over time? Where does it come from? Is it produced by the body or captured from the atmosphere? Are some people more predisposed to earwax production/capture than others? Is there a genetic foundation to earwax production? Are there uses for earwax that I have not considered? What wonders do you contemplate about your body?

SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure is with us at Discovery Place right now and we’re very excited. But the exhibit does raise a few questions:

* Since the sea floor is about the same size as the area of the moon’s surface, how do marine archaeologists find anything and how in the world did Odyssey Marine Exploration find the U.S.S. Republic? Seems to me like that’s not a needle in a haystack; it’s a pinhole in one of grandma’s old quilts.
* Which do you think is the most important ingredient: luck, technology, or science?
* What are ROV’s and photomosaics, anyway and how do they apply to marine exploration?
* Aside from finding artifacts, what other uses are there for ROV’s and photomosaics today?

NASA is interested in brewing beer in space. Now there’s a topic I never saw coming… I’ll avoid all the obvious frat house jokes and go right to the questions and--- well, maybe we’ll keep a few of the frat house jokes just to see if you’re paying attention. What genius came up with this study anyway and why? What are the benefits? How would the fermentation process differ in space? Does yeast sink or swim in zero gravity environments? Would the intoxication factor be less or greater in space? How many scientists volunteered to test the intoxication factors? What would you do for a hangover out there? Where do the bubbles go when a beer is uncapped in space? What happens to the gas in your stomach in a zero gravity environment? What would happen if you lit... Keep reading.

When I die I want to become a fossil. I wonder what I could have done to my body to improve my chances. Where should I have my body placed so that future scientists can learn from my body? Should I be buried in the desert, dropped into a glacier crevasse, injected with food preservatives, go to the cold bottom of the sea? What if I wanted to experiment with my son’s hamster after it dies? How long will it take for the hamster to decompose if I bury it in my yard? What could I do to increase or decrease the rate at which this occurs?