You may have heard that there is going to be a solar eclipse on Sunday evening. In the western US the even will begin at about 5:30 PDT and last about 2 hours, with the peak of the assignment happening about halfway through.

But in spite of the fact that the Moon will be blocking up to 94% of the Sun, you should certainly take precautions in viewing the intense light of the Sun. Solar filters are really a must, or at least some other similar form of protection.

Here is a guide to safely viewing a solar eclipse. You can also check out NASA's press release about the event.

I'm out in Arizona observing on the VERITAS array, so I will have a front row seat to the festivities! Enjoy!

Image of the shadow cast on the during a solar eclipse. Credit: NASA

Everything is a war these days: Actual wars in various regions of the world, the war on drugs and even wars on various social issues. But there is another war going on, one that doesn't get nearly as much press: The war on science.

In this most recent economic downturn the recent trend of cutting funding for pure science has been exacerbated. The argument, naturally, is that when things are tight we can't afford such extravagances. But is science an extravagance, or is it a fundamental driver of economic growth?

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Unless you live under a rock, you are undoubtedly aware of the work being carried out at the Large Hadron Collider. There, researchers are attempting to find a particle known as the Higgs Boson.

But what is the Higgs? I could try and explain it in this space, but here is an entertaining video from Jorge Cham over at PhD Comics that explains it pretty well. Enjoy!

Image Credit: CERN

The Space Shuttle Discovery was shown off at the Smithsonian earlier today. NASA has posted a photo gallery of the preparation, journey and ceremony; it's worth checking out.

Here in Indianapolis, Indiana, we may not have gotten the coveted Discovery, but we recently acquired a shuttle of our own. Pretty cool. Though, frankly, it's not as big as I thought it would be...

LEGO Shuttle located at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Photo Credit: Melissa Millis.