Worldcon
I'll be at Worldcon in LA this week (check it out at
www.laconiv.org). It'll be fun to socialize, see old friends and make new ones, be on some panels, and hang out at the con. I've been working on the new novel, but the major revision still isn't quite complete. I'll have to beg my editor's mercy and ask for another six weeks.
Here's my schedule. Lot's of science topics. I'm looking forward in particular to being on the panel with Phil Plait, of
www.badastronomy.com fame.
----------------------------------------
Panel 1: Thu 8/24 10:00 AM, 60-90 minutes.
Title: DOES SCIENCE HAVE A FUTURE?
Participants: Michael S. Brotherton
Elizabeth Klein-Lebbink(M)
Jonathan F Kotas
Loretta McKibben
Sam Scheiner
Precis: With science budgets declining, does non-applied research
have a future? What does this mean for researchers? For
research? What will a world without basic research be like?
----------------------------------------
Panel 2: Thu 8/24 11:30 AM, 60-90 minutes.
Title: SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
Participants: Michael S. Brotherton
Phil Plait
John Strickland(M)
Precis: What can you believe?
----------------------------------------
Panel 3: Thu 8/24 2:30 PM, 60-90 minutes.
Title: GETTING STARTED WRITING SF -- PART I
Participants: Jean-Noel Bassior
K. A. Bedford
Hilari Bell
Michael S. Brotherton(M)
Brenda Cooper
Precis: Going from amateur to professional is a big step. How do
you get started? Should you write every day, whether the
muse strikes or not? What mistakes shouldn't you make?
Writers who have recently broken in will give you their
advice today. Editors and others will advise in Part II on
Friday.
----------------------------------------
Panel 4: Thu 8/24 4:00 PM, 60-90 minutes.
Title: SPACE DRIVES: FROM LAUNCH LASERS TO WARP DRIVES
Participants: Michael S. Brotherton
Ctein(M)
James P. Hogan
Jordin Kare
G. David Nordley
Precis: A discussion of old and new ideas about space propulsion.
Old standards: laser sustained propulsion, tethers, nuclear
rockets, wormholes. New ideas: the Alcubierre warp drive,
tachyon propulsion, axion ramjets.
----------------------------------------
Panel 5: Fri 8/25 11:30 AM, 60-90 minutes.
Title: TEACHING SCIENCE FICTION
Participants: Michael S. Brotherton(M)
Elizabeth Anne Hull
Jean Lorrah, Ph.D.
Bradford Lyau
Gary K. Wolfe
Precis: What does it mean to "teach science fiction"? How do you do
it? How do you do it well? How do you incorporate science
fiction into a curriculum?
----------------------------------------
Panel 6: Sat 8/26 10:00 AM, 60-90 minutes.
Title: USING SCIENCE FICTION IN THE CLASSROOM
Participants: Michael S. Brotherton
Dr. Kevin R. Grazier
Howard V. Hendrix
Elizabeth Anne Hull
Dr. Isaac Szpindel(M)
Precis: Teachers of all grade levels are using science fiction to
encourage kids to read. And through SF's use of
extrapolated scientific, political, and sociological ideas,
it's also helping to get them to think. Educators talk
about their experiences using the "literature of ideas"
within their curriculum to stimulate and excite students.
Posted by Mike at August 21, 2006 10:14 AM