In case you haven't heard, Little Rock's Museum of Discovery made waves when they had their very own science guy Kevin Delaney featured on the one-and-only "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" last month.

Originally from New Jersey, the director of visitor experience at the downtown Little Rock museum has come from a life of theater and writing and you guessed it: science. Day-to-day, Delaney leads an interesting life, teaching educational programs to students and visitors and developing other programs like "Science After Dark," the Museum of Discovery's cool adult science program held once a month.

Earlier this year, he was chosen to do a few scientific demonstrations with Jimmy Fallon after "Tonight Show" producers reached out to educators at more than 50 museums across the country. 

We recently had the chance to talk to Delaney about his early beginnings, favorite demonstrations, his experience on the late-night show and what his favorite planet is. Here is what he had to say:

Q: What piqued your interest in science?

A: I’ve kind of grown up around science. My uncle was a palynologist, which is specifically focused on pollen, and my brother is a marine biologist, so we kind of grew up with a passion for natural sciences.

Q: How did you evolve into your current position as the director of visitor experience at the museum?

A: My educational background is actually performance and writing—I worked as a playwright, director and teacher for a long time. Eventually, I ended up getting involved in educational presentation and interpretation at a zoo, so I got to work with biologists and zoologists-- folks like that. So, professionally I became interested in exploring sort of natural sciences through storytelling and interpretation.

I started at the museum because having the combination of communication skills and the science background worked out pretty well. Initially, we mostly focused on natural sciences, animals, ecology and conservation, but because we cover all of the sciences here at the museum, I got the opportunity to work with chemists and physicists. 

Q: What is a regular day of work like at the Museum of Discovery?

A: It changes from day-to-day. When we do have school groups, field trips and things like that, depending on the time of year, I’ll be busy doing programs all-day long. I also get to work on developing other programs and coordinating events, particularly the "Science after Dark" adult event. That’s become sort of one of my pet projects. It’s never a dull moment.

Q: What is the coolest science demonstration you’ve ever done?

A: I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with a lot of top minds in different fields so I’ve seen a lot of amazing things. But recently, I learned about something called the 'Mould Effect.' First, we have a long chain of beads that is about 100 feet long-- about 5,000 beads on it-- and when you take that chain and you put it in a jar and you pull the chain out of the jar, the chain is going to start rapidly moving out of the jar and gravity is going to be pulling it back down to the ground. The really fascinating thing is that all of the beads inside the jar are going to be moving up, so what happens is this sort of amazing phenomena where the chain is actually pulling itself out of the jar, but because all of the beads are moving in one direction  and they have the immediately change to the opposite direction, you get what is called the 'Mould Effect.' What happens is the chain actually loops up over the jar and it looks like it’s floating in the air. It’s a really amazing physical phenomena. *Check out what he's talking about here!

Q: Do you test things out before showing class?

A: Yes, I always run through things before I demonstrate it for any class. I often view the classes and the shows as workshops because it’s great to try things and get a reaction from the students, teachers and visitors and then that helps you sort of shape the presentation because you learn what people react to and what they’re interested in learning about. 

Q: We all know about your awesome segment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recently. Can you talk about that experience? Nerve-racking? How is Jimmy?

A: The demonstrations, themselves, can be a little tricky because the environment plays a factor in it. There were certain reactions that we were looking for to have on camera that were sort of difficult to keep consistent, so for me, the most nerve-racking part was making sure the demonstrations went the way they were supposed to. Also, trying to make sure everyone was safe was crucial, too. All of that was making me more nervous than the actual interaction with Jimmy Fallon because he was so generous, kind and friendly, that I was immediately put at ease. He was really fun and is a great person to improvise with and teach because he’s such an enthusiastic learner. How he comes across on TV is exactly how he is. From my experience, the greatest guy-- very friendly.

Q: If you had one thing in the science field that you would like to impart on every kid who comes through your workshops/classes, what would it be?

A: I’d say nanotechnology, because science has kind of reached a point where science has reached a point where we kind of understand everything and if something new is captured, we can look back through history and records and explain it. Technology is going to continue to advance and continue to grow and nanotechnology, specifically, is going to be changing a lot of the way we live. It’s important that people pay attention to what’s happening in nanotechnology because we are going to have to ask a lot of new questions about new technology and it’s moving very rapidly. 

And also space exploration is something that should still be a focus-- we can’t give up. I encourage people to continue looking up, as they say. Space has a lot to teach us. In all sciences, there is so much happening all of the time, that my overall blanket advice just to never stop learning and never stop asking questions.

All about Kevin

Q: What is your favorite planet? 

A: I’m really interested in Saturn. Saturn has always had this mystique to it. There are several moons around Saturn that are really fasincating. In fact, there is one found that is believed to be bursting with liquid water-- there are geysers all over it. And anytime you find evidence of liquid water, then there is evidence to the support of life, so I’m really into Saturn right now.

Q: Who has been your inspiration for what you do?

A: My uncle being a scientist is always something that stays with me and he passed away a couple of years ago. He inspired me everyday to continue to learn about science and to pursue science and my brother, as well. I'm a fan of Steve Mold--someone I mentioned already--as well as Carl Sagan. He is a very smart person and has had a lot to teach people. I think we can still learn from all of the things that he has taught us.

Q: Favorite thing to do outside of scientific experiments?

A: I like to be outside-- I enjoy going to lake and woods with my dog.

Check out his demonstrations on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" here!