Generating a non-destructive 100 Tesla magnetic field has been a project of the Los Alamos National Lab for about a decade and a half, and just yesterday, they managed to pull it off. A huge nested magnet hooked up to an even huger generator kicked out a pulse 2 million times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field, and it screamed in the process.

There's a lot we take for granted each day. How food gets to the table. The way electricity powers our appliances. Downloading music. All of these things got their start somewhere.

If you are not a Navy seal — which I am not — you may not be aware that current night vision goggles are on the cumbersome side. The problem is how to cool the bad boys down enough to provide an accurate visual signature. So the beauty of the solution to improving them and lightening them up coming from an ethereal little butterfly is not lost on me.

Just because Valentine's Day is coming up doesn't mean you have to change who you are to give a great gift. If flowers, chocolates and fine dining (molecular gastronomy excepted) make you think, "been there, done that," then we've got some ideas for you. We've hunted around to come up with gift ideas that are off the beaten path for you to consider. Are you in love with a bonafide geek? A Trekkie? A science buff? We've got you all covered — just hop on into the gallery below.