* Astronomy

Hundreds of visitors filed through a Virginia Tech greenhouse to get a glimpse, and a whiff, of a powerfully malodorous "corpse flower" as it bloomed.

The large Indonesian plant, whose botanical name is Amorphophallus titanum, began opening up about 6 p.m. Friday and was in full bloom by early Saturday morning.
The plant emits a stench to attract decaying flesh-eating beetles, flies and sweat bees for pollination. Once it blooms, the odor lingers for about eight hours, then it takes several more years before the plant has enough energy to bloom again.

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