• Phasers on Fun!

Calling all nerds and geeks, dweebs and poindexters! Finally, the perfect opportunity has arrived to emerge from the to-scale replica of the Millennium Falcon that is your bedroom, free from fear of wedgies, swirlies and/or noogies. Remember, your parents have been begging you to get out more. It's time. Believe me, your Battlestar Galactica boxsets are safe and will still be there when you return. Nobody wants them.

To assure you that you'll be amongst the like-minded, let me speak to you in your native tongue: PoH meh tera' DIS DuSaQ SuDqu' 'ej wov Sor Hap QeD ram! Did you get that? Sorry, my Klingon is a little rusty. That loosely translates to, "It's time for the annual College of the Redwoods Science Night!" If you plan on attending, plug the following coordinates into your teleporter: The main CR Eureka Campus, 7351 Tompkins Hill Rd. Friday, Oct 22, from 5-9 p.m. Admission is free. Beam yourself up!

Alright, we kid. It's probably not as nerdtastic as we're letting on. I mean, Science Night is celebrating its 25th year in what has grown to be a campus-wide science celebration. You don't get to the quarter-century mark by being lame.

While there will be exhibits to intrigue all ages, the night will be most exciting for the kids. I mean, what youngun would not be entertained by smashing pumpkins. No, not Billy Corgan and whoever. I'm talkin' actual pumpkins loaded into the "Weapon of Math Instruction" -- a pumpkin catapult/trebuchet located behind the Physical Science building -- that are then hurled into the air at high velocity, falling to the earth in accord with Newton's Laws. All in the name of learning.

There'll be plenty of other hands-on activities for the young and young-at-heart. Like the "Look Inside a Tree," "Chemical Magic Show," "Bubble Magic" and "Howling Gummi Bear" exhibits, just to name a few. Add in a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, a telescope observatory and some pizza. If your kids get bored, you got problems.

For the grown-ups, CR happens to be hosting Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, authors of the CR Book of the Year Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100 Mile Diet. The two will participate in a locavore panel discussion along with local food advocates and farmers during Science Night in Rm. 102 of the Life Science building.

For more info on CR's Annual Science Night, check www.redwoods.edu/events/sciencenight. Live long and prosper.