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Question of the Week

Congratulations VCU!!!  The VCU Rams are in the Final Four!!!  Virginians are cheering for the "Cinderella" #11 seed Rams whom many said did not belong in the tournament.

Only two other teams with double-digit seeds have ever reached the Final Four.  Who were they?

And don't miss March Ratness on Thursday, March 31 (11 am) at the Science Museum of Virginia!!!  Four rats will play their own tournament - who do you think will win???

 

Traveling by Air in the 1940s

A recent acquisition into the collection of the Virginia Aviation Museum is this 1944 Eastern Airlines timetable which contains flight times and prices.

At the time of this publication, one way travel from Richmond cost at most $85.25 for a trip to Brownsville, Texas and the cheapest flight was $7.45 to get to Baltimore, Maryland.

Eastern Airlines began offering passenger flights out of Richmond beginning in 1932.

 

 

 

 

Question of the Week

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Japan, tsunamis are on people's minds.  How much do you know about them? 

Take this brief tsunami quiz and find out:

1.  Name 4 geologic events that might cause a tsunami.

2.  Tsunamis are also called wave trains because they are a series of waves, not just one wave.  How far apart in time can they be?

3.  In deep ocean water, how fast can a tsunami travel?

Question of the Week

On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone from the US Patent Office.  On March 10, three days after receiving the patent, he successfully transmitted the famous first words.

What famous sentence was transmitted?

Answer:  "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."

Question of the Week

The word "nerd" is a fairly recent addition to the English language and is now quite common in everyday speech.

When and where was the first recorded usage of the word?

(Hint:  Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday...)

Answer:  Dr. Seuss holds the honor of first printed usage of the word "nerd."  It appeared in the book If I Ran the Zoo, written in 1950.

Question of the Week

Space, the final frontier...

Today at 4:50 pm, space shuttle Discovery will blast off on its final mission into space.  On board Discovery are six astronauts, the Permanent Multipurpose Module which will become sort of a storage closet for the space station, and Robonaut 2, the first dextrous humanoid robot to go into space. Robonaut 2 will test his ability to operate in zero gravity and will eventually become an astronaut's helper.


Question of the Week

Happy Valentine's Day!  Sure, Valentine's Day is about love and your significant other, but Valentine's Day is also about chocolate.  How much do you know about this delicious and tempting treat?

Which statement(s) below are true?
     a.  Chocolate causes cavities.
     b.  Chocolate causes acne.
     c.  Chocolate raises cholesterol levels.

The SR-71: Designed with a Slide Ruler!

So you've probably seen the big black plane outside of the Virginia Aviation Museum when you're on your way to the airport. But what exactly is it?

This plane is the SR-71 Blackbird and was manufactured by Lockheed under the direction of the CIA. After World War II, the United States wanted to maintain a close watch on Soviet missile and nuclear weapon production. To do this a plane was needed that could fly very high and very fast to both escape incoming missiles and to avoid detection by Soviet radar, all while taking photographs of what was going on below.

Question of the Week

This Wednesday, cute and cuddly Punxsutawney Phil (officially known as "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary") will emerge (well, actually, he will be pulled) from his burrow to predict how much longer winter will last.  If he sees his shadow, we will have 6 more weeks of winter.  If he does not see his shadow, spring is on the way.

Groundhog Day was first celebrated in Pennsylvania on February 2, 1886, making this the 125th anniversary. 

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