Ask Slashdot: Science Sights To See?

First time accepted submitter steevven1 writes "My girlfriend and I are planning a long trip across the United States for this summer, and we'd like to see the usual sights, but we both have a bit of a geeky side, and we were trying to think of science-related marvels to see along the way. So far, we have thought of places like the Very Large Array in New Mexico and Fermilab in Illinois. Any suggestions?"

on the east coast.

[Picardo85]

Hayden Planetarium på American Museum of Natural History in New York

Computer History Museum

[Max Romantschuk]

I have heard good things about the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA:
http://www.computerhistory.org/ [computerhistory.org]

Sadly, the place was closed for renovations when I happened to be in town...

San Jose area

[TheCycoONE]

When I was in California with my wife, we went to The Tech (http://www.thetech.org/) and the Intel museum (http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/company-overview/intel-museum.html)

We found the Tech interesting and wish we had more time to see it (we got there a couple hours before closing), the Intel museum wasn't anything special and could probably be skipped unless you really like looking at old silicon wafers or can't miss the opportunity to wear one of those bunny suits for a photo op.

UNIVAC building and ENIAC building in Philadelphia

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a historic marker UNIVAC (1950's) outside the former Eckert Mauchly building in East Falls - Philadelphia. The owners of the building worked with me and others to get a historic marker. They turned it into a farmers market with historic photos inside as a small museum. In West Philadelphia on the University of Pennsylvania's campus is another historic marker for ENIAC and a small museum inside the building.

Kitt Peak

[oneiros27]

If you don't mind driving up long, windy roads and turning off your cell phone, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory has a visitor center at Kitt Peak -- they have a bunch of telescopes there, including a solar telescope, so it's possible that they might be observing if it's not too windy. (it was too windy when I went there).

http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kpoutreach.html [noao.edu]

Nerdy Day Trips

[Cholten]

Vast number of options here : http://www.nerdydaytrips.com/

Arizona

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm from Belgium but in Arizona I can recommend:

        - Pima Air and Space museum near Tucson
        - Titan Missile Museam near Tucson as well
        - Biosphere II in Oracle, Arizona
        - Meteor Crater near Winslow

Big Ones and smaller too

[Anonymous Coward]

Smithsonian Air and Space museum, Smithsonian History museum, Spy museum, Washington DC
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Einstein's House, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, Princeton, New Jersey
Edison Labs, West Orange, New Jersey
Dinosaur State Park, Connecticut
Falling Water, Pennsylvania

Smithsonian museums

[bug]

If you hit Washington, DC, then you should definitely check out the Smithsonian along the Mall. The National Air and Space Museum is especially good, although crowded in the summer. Make sure to check out the kid's section, which has a bunch of wind tunnels and other fun things that adults will get a kick out of. They also have a really great annex full of cool aircraft next to Dulles airport about an hour west of the city. It would also be a terrible shame if you didn't visit one or more of our national parks while you're in the US. Our varied landscape and remote stretches of wilderness define the character of our nation perhaps more than any other single thing. Just make sure to pack plenty of water and basic survival gear, as some of the parks can be quite remote and wild. Wherever you end up visiting, you'll want to keep a sense of scale in mind. The US is rather large, in ways that many of our visitors aren't really mentally prepared for. Consider limiting yourself to one or two regions, so that you get more time actually seeing things instead of racing from place to place. I hope you enjoy your visit!

St. Louis, Missouri

[Anonymous Coward]

Take a ride on a rotating elevator in the St. Louis Arch. It's a real feat of engineering and it's an interesting place to visit. If you become friendly with the people controlling the elevator, they will let you see the graphical Visual Basic application which runs the whole thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch

Geeky fun in D.C. this summer

[Tronster]

As a video game geek, a few recommendations:

This summer (2012) the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., will be hosting "The Art of Video Games".
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/ [si.edu]

In New Hampshire, there is one of the largest (if not the largest) arcade of classic video games: "Fun Spot"
http://www.funspotnh.com/ [funspotnh.com]

If thirsty and heading through NJ, there is always the semi-famous "Barcade":
http://barcadejerseycity.com/directions/ [barcadejerseycity.com]

Trinity Site

[airnewt]

Depending on when you go, you can also go to the Trinity site on White Sands where the first atomic bomb was tested. They open it up only twice a year on the first Saturday in April and October. If you are already down in New Mexico for the VLA there is the National Solar Observatory near Alamogordo.

NSA's National Cryptologic Museum

[Anonymous Coward]

in Ft Meade, Maryland

Re:Hoover Dam!

[MrQuacker]

When I was there in 2008 they had a 30min tour and a 4hr comprehensive tour.

Both are well worth it.

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center

[Herbster]

http://www.cosmo.org/ [cosmo.org] I went here this summer, it's in Hutchison, KS, and has a wide range of actual flight hardware from various space missions - including the Apollo 13 CM. There's also an actual SR-71 Blackbird and genuine V-1 and V-2 rockets from WWII. Worth a trip if you're passing through!

New Mexico stuff

[shadowfaxcrx]

You said you'd be in New Mexico. There are lots of geek places to visit. Geologically, Carlsbad Caverns is incredible. By far the most impressive public-access cave I've ever been in. In addition to the VLA, there's Los Alamos (several museums dedicated to nuclear stuff), Cloudcroft (the solar observatory near there in Sunspot), Alamogordo's Museum of Space History, White Sands (largest gypsum-sand desert in the world. Nothing but blinding white as far as you can see), Valley of Fires - a huge ancient lava flow that you can walk around in/on. There's Bandelier outside of Santa Fe - the 10,000+ year old human cliff dweller settlement. Check their website before you go though - they've had issues with wildfires and flash floods, so what's open at any given day is in flux right now.

If you want different geek fun, Roswell is always amusing with all their UFO stuff. Even the McDonalds is shaped like a flying saucer.

There's more in the state too, like the lightning field, etc, but those suggestions should keep you busy for awhile.

Re:on the east coast.

[jhoegl]

Since you are going to Chicago.

Museum of Science and Industry [msichicago.org]

I loved going there as a kid, they had (maybe they still do), this HUGE model train display.
Of course they have a lot more, but I dont know how much has changed.

Re:Kitt Peak

[Vegigami]

Yes! The trip to Kitt Peak is worth it just for the fantastic view of the surrounding countryside. And if you're in the neighborhood, you could also visit the nearby Whipple Observatory, about an hour south of Tucson. You'll need an appointment to take the tour at Whipple. Whipple Observatory Visitor's Center [harvard.edu] While in Tucson, you can spend a lot of time at the Pima Air and Space Museum [pimaair.org] if you're in to that kind of thing.

Air Force Musem

[Anonymous Coward]

The US Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, and the US Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Fla are both excellent.

In northern Minn. there is an iorn mine that has been turned into a state museum thats cool

Re:on the east coast.

[jdege]

One thing at the Museum of Science and Industry, that any self-respecting geek would not miss: the U-505.

She's a German Type IX-C submarine, captured off of Cape Verde, in 1944. Two M4 Enigma machines and over 900 pounds of codebooks and crypto publications were recovered from her.

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/u-505/activities/capture/ [msichicago.org]