My Worldcon Schedule
I've been given a tentative schedule for my program items at Noreascon 4, the upcoming World Science Fiction Convention. It's happening from Thursday, 2 September through Monday, 6 September.
Thought I might share, though all times, topics, and participants are SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT THE WHIM OF THE NOREASCON COMMITTEE-- so don't rely on my word alone. In fact, it's fairly likely that there will be further changes to my schedule. But this will give you some idea what I'll be doing.
Thursday 5:00pm Rocketship Talk (with the Reactor Brothers!)
Bill Higgins, Jordin T. Kare
Got a problem with your family spacecraft? The Reactor Brothers, Fiss'n'Fuse, will troubleshoot your "ride" and get you back on the spaceways. Unless they don't.
Friday 1:00pm The Cassini Mission
Jeff Hecht, Bill Higgins (moderator), Geoffrey A. Landis, Larry A. Lebofsky
Barring catastrophe, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, will be exploring the Saturn system during Noreascon. This is the first spacecraft to visit the ringed planet since Voyager 2 passed through in 1981. What has it already learned? What more will it learn during its four-year mission to Saturn and Titan? What more do we want to know? What's next? It's another neat space stuff panel.
This should be good. Hecht is a science writer, Landis is a physicist, NASA experimenter, and SF author; Lebofsky is a planetary astronomer studying (among other things) ring systems.
Friday 2:00pm The MIT Media Lab: A Visit From the Future
Sandy Pentland, Bill Higgins (moderator), Marvin Minsky
What's cookin' at the Media Lab? MIT's well known research organization has garnered a reputation as a leading-edge center for developments in machine understanding, affective computing, advanced interface design, nanomedia, silicon biology and digital expression, among other fields, that may influence how we use technology in the years ahead - not to mention provide fertile ideas for science fiction stories. This panel features presentations from Lab researchers on a sample of current activities.
(I volunteered instantly to moderate this one. I don't have any connection to the Media Lab, but I hope I can ask intelligent questions.)
Friday 3:00pm Teaching Science With Science Fiction
Guy Consolmagno, Bill Higgins, Larry A. Lebofsky
Many of today's scientists were inspired to their careers by science fiction, but how effective is SF in introducing science to a non-science oriented student? How effective are SF conventions as venues for presenting science to the public? Which books work best in conveying not only the facts of science, but how science is done? What strategies work best in a typical college classroom? Which authors are most popular with the students? What books just "don't work?"
(It's highly likely this one will move to a different timeslot.)
Friday 6:30-7:00 pm Technobabble Quiz
Howard Davidson, Bill Higgins (moderator), Jordin T. Kare
We're going to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow of our panelists as they compete to (a) explain in their best technobabble just how to do some SF cliche, (b) catch science errors in published SF technobabble, and (c) determine whether a particular selection of technobabble is real science, published SF, or something made up just for the quiz!
Sunday 12:00 noon The Kids Next Door...in Space!
Bill Higgins, Jordin T. Kare
Building a Space Station!
This is a kids' track item, but I'm not sure what it entails. I imagine it will get a more detailed description soon.
Sunday 1:00pm Risky Business
Bill Higgins, Geoffrey A. Landis, Mark L.Olson
Risk acceptance vs. risk aversion in humans, and how it might affect things like evolution, scientific investigation, and (especially) exploration/manned space flight.
Monday 11:00am Obsolete High Technology
Bill Higgins, Jordin T. Kare (moderator), Robert A. Metzger, Charles Stross
What was the highest of tech in 1910? Radio and the Titanic. 1940s: Enigma, bombsights and fission. 1960s: IBMs S360 (and the Pill?), and a man on the Moon. Cutting-edge SF ideas quickly become relegated to background items in the next generation of SF (such as nanotechnology). What do you think will most quickly become quaint tomorrow?
Others who have posted their tentative schedules:
Mary Kay Kare and Jordin Kare
Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Cory Doctorow
Thought I might share, though all times, topics, and participants are SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT THE WHIM OF THE NOREASCON COMMITTEE-- so don't rely on my word alone. In fact, it's fairly likely that there will be further changes to my schedule. But this will give you some idea what I'll be doing.
Thursday 5:00pm Rocketship Talk (with the Reactor Brothers!)
Bill Higgins, Jordin T. Kare
Got a problem with your family spacecraft? The Reactor Brothers, Fiss'n'Fuse, will troubleshoot your "ride" and get you back on the spaceways. Unless they don't.
Friday 1:00pm The Cassini Mission
Jeff Hecht, Bill Higgins (moderator), Geoffrey A. Landis, Larry A. Lebofsky
Barring catastrophe, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, will be exploring the Saturn system during Noreascon. This is the first spacecraft to visit the ringed planet since Voyager 2 passed through in 1981. What has it already learned? What more will it learn during its four-year mission to Saturn and Titan? What more do we want to know? What's next? It's another neat space stuff panel.
This should be good. Hecht is a science writer, Landis is a physicist, NASA experimenter, and SF author; Lebofsky is a planetary astronomer studying (among other things) ring systems.
Friday 2:00pm The MIT Media Lab: A Visit From the Future
Sandy Pentland, Bill Higgins (moderator), Marvin Minsky
What's cookin' at the Media Lab? MIT's well known research organization has garnered a reputation as a leading-edge center for developments in machine understanding, affective computing, advanced interface design, nanomedia, silicon biology and digital expression, among other fields, that may influence how we use technology in the years ahead - not to mention provide fertile ideas for science fiction stories. This panel features presentations from Lab researchers on a sample of current activities.
(I volunteered instantly to moderate this one. I don't have any connection to the Media Lab, but I hope I can ask intelligent questions.)
Friday 3:00pm Teaching Science With Science Fiction
Guy Consolmagno, Bill Higgins, Larry A. Lebofsky
Many of today's scientists were inspired to their careers by science fiction, but how effective is SF in introducing science to a non-science oriented student? How effective are SF conventions as venues for presenting science to the public? Which books work best in conveying not only the facts of science, but how science is done? What strategies work best in a typical college classroom? Which authors are most popular with the students? What books just "don't work?"
(It's highly likely this one will move to a different timeslot.)
Friday 6:30-7:00 pm Technobabble Quiz
Howard Davidson, Bill Higgins (moderator), Jordin T. Kare
We're going to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow of our panelists as they compete to (a) explain in their best technobabble just how to do some SF cliche, (b) catch science errors in published SF technobabble, and (c) determine whether a particular selection of technobabble is real science, published SF, or something made up just for the quiz!
Sunday 12:00 noon The Kids Next Door...in Space!
Bill Higgins, Jordin T. Kare
Building a Space Station!
This is a kids' track item, but I'm not sure what it entails. I imagine it will get a more detailed description soon.
Sunday 1:00pm Risky Business
Bill Higgins, Geoffrey A. Landis, Mark L.Olson
Risk acceptance vs. risk aversion in humans, and how it might affect things like evolution, scientific investigation, and (especially) exploration/manned space flight.
Monday 11:00am Obsolete High Technology
Bill Higgins, Jordin T. Kare (moderator), Robert A. Metzger, Charles Stross
What was the highest of tech in 1910? Radio and the Titanic. 1940s: Enigma, bombsights and fission. 1960s: IBMs S360 (and the Pill?), and a man on the Moon. Cutting-edge SF ideas quickly become relegated to background items in the next generation of SF (such as nanotechnology). What do you think will most quickly become quaint tomorrow?
Others who have posted their tentative schedules:
Mary Kay Kare and Jordin Kare
Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Cory Doctorow