The Town that Wasn't
Want to know how to tell if your human parents are geeks? The first tourist thing they do at a new location is go to a science museum.
Today the folks took the drive out to Los Alamos, where the National Lab is (and our good friend Larry is working). They didn’t visit Larry since it was a work day, but they did go to the Bradbury Science Museum. With no admission fee, this was even more up their alley.
The Science Museum is dedicated to the men and women who essentially dropped off the face of the earth in the 40’s to work on “the Gadget”, the first atomic bomb. Because of the importance to national security, people who came to “the Hill” to work had to give up a lot of contact with the outside world, with mail heavily censured, their actual addresses hidden and all reported as a single Santa Fe post office box.
Nowadays all the brain power at Los Alamos goes towards a variety of projects that military needs require, but may also have application to civilian needs, like alternative energies, new materials, etc. On display was one of the first Cray super computers, we were told it was used to formulate our Fromm dog food but we think they were pulling our paws.
The folks said that while the museum was somewhat small, the views on the drive to Los Alamos went on forever. They got to pull off for a scenic overlook at the most impressive of the vistas.