Feature

Otherwise the sky would be black ...

Janet Shields

The other day, my daughter was in a chattery mood, and commented to me that it's sometimes hard having a "scientist" for a mom, because you can't always discuss things with her. "How's that?" I asked. "Well, one of the great mysteries of childhood is why is the sky blue? Every kid has their own theory. But I can't even discuss it with you, because you'll tell me why it's blue." I think she has a point. We all know kids love to be impressed with experiments, but often young kids really prefer not to hang around for an explanation. And I'd forgotten how much fun it is just to speculate. I remember in high school my friends enjoyed talking about dilemmas like what if a car is doing the speed of light and you turn on the lights. Sometimes speculating can be more interesting than finding out, when you're young.