It was an epochal event, drawing some of the nation's most influential researchers and inventors to a celebration of new discoveries and new technology. It captured the public imagination and announced to the world that America was a powerhouse of innovation.  The event: The World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, which marked the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World. The place: Chicago.

In the years since, the Windy City has established itself as a world capital of science--home to two national laboratories, major research universities, and one of the world's finest collections of science museums. This week, thousands of the world's top researchers, along with science and technology policymakers, educators and journalists, will gather in Chicago for the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting. The meeting celebrates the birth 200 years ago of naturalist Charles Darwin, and the publication 150 years ago of his masterwork, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection." It will be a five-day feast for the mind: nearly 175 speeches, symposia, seminars, and workshops from every field of science and engineering, many focused on the most urgent issues of our time.

The AAAS Annual Meeting News Blog will be a window onto the event. AAAS blog editor Edward W. Lempinen, along with writers Benjamin Somers, Becky Ham, and others, will provide extensive coverage. The blog also will guide you to coverage from other points on the AAAS dial: the journal Science, the Science Podcast, and the Science Update radio show. And it will feature a sampling of meeting coverage from newspapers and broadcast stations from around the world.

Check back often--you don't want to miss something good!