The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, a charity that helps raise money to support the NIH, today announced a $100,000 prize to encourage young scientists. A big check awaits an outstanding young researcher, who happens to be as old as 52.

Twice every 100 years or so, Venus crosses the face of the Sun. It's like an eclipse, except Venus will look like a pea in a yellow saucer. But the transit has a storied history — it showed for the first time that other planets have an atmosphere, and also allowed astronomers to calculate the scale of the solar system. This year offers yet another possibility — the transit will help astronomers figure out which planets orbiting other suns in the universe have atmospheres, and maybe life.

Less than 250 years ago, the brightest minds of the Enlightenment were stumped over how far the Earth is from the sun. The transits of the 1760s helped answer that question, providing a virtual yardstick for the universe.

Imagine how tough life would be if raindrops weighed 3 tons apiece as they fell out of the sky at 20 mph. That's how raindrops look to a mosquito, yet a raindrop weighing 50 times more than one can hit the insect and the mosquito will survive.

Viewing parties are scheduled across the country Tuesday, when the planet Venus will pass between Earth and the sun. "This is one of the most rare lineups that you'll experience in your lifetime," says the president of the St. Louis Astronomical Society.

There is far deeper and far more intimate reason why the Venus transit matters and it's all about Time.