These are notes from a presentation by Bill Higgins and Henry Spencer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not the speakers’. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
Bill and Henry fill you in on recent developments in space, starting with a look at the latest interstellar comet, Comet 3I/ATLAS (as seen mostly by spacecraft).
These are notes from a presentation by Henry Spencer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not Henry’s. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
Near-Earth asteroids (and their cousins, comets) are interesting objects, possible future sources of metals and other materials… and potential threats to civilization and even life on Earth. The good news is, this is the only type of major natural disaster that we might actually be able to prevent. A look at what we know about asteroids (and comets), what sort of threat they present, and what we can do to anticipate trouble from them and maybe head it off.
These are notes from a panel at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not the panelists’. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
As the means of production falls into fewer and fewer hands and new technologies like GenAI arrive on our phones with unseen agendas and impacts, the value of thinking about the political dimensions of future tech grows. What political ramifications should we consider in our near future? How has SF commented on the politics of its futuristic technologies? Our panelists explore these and other political questions about the future we’re building now (and the future still to come).
These are notes from a presentation by Henry Spencer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not Henry’s. I have amplified my notes with web links for further clarification. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
The real history and technology (so far as they’re publicly known) of nuclear weapons, and the ways SF gets them wrong — aimed at authors, techies, and interested readers.
These are notes from a presentation by Ada Palmer at Capricon 46. Any mistakes here are mine, not Professor Palmer’s. The room was crowded and I had to stand, limiting my note-taking ability. Here is the blurb from the convention program:
Why It’s So Easy To Be Wrong About Vikings. We recently realized Heimdall is a tree! A new lost Loki story was discovered on the Faroe islands! It turns out Hel isn’t black on one side after all, she’s blue! Mixing storytelling with the latest discoveries, Ada Palmer discusses recent advances in Norse myth research, both what we’ve found and why it took so long to find it, a history which involves not only the Medieval sources but the nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarly debates, feuds, mistakes, and corrections in this live and rapidly-changing field whose constant new discoveries mean every decade brings new material to draw on for our own Norse Myth fiction projects.
Mia and I had a good time at Capricon 46. Unlike last year, it was held at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare. It was OK as a hotel, but compared to the Sheraton in downtown Chicago, it is in a culinary wasteland. There were no restaurants with in walking distance. We were stuck with the hotel restaurant (I hate monopolies) or what what we could buy from a well-stocked grocery store a quarter mile away. We did see some old friends again.
Bhí an taoille chomh íseal sin go raibh iomlán na carraige móire duibhe nochtaithe, síos go dtí an fheamainn dhearg lonrach a bhí crochta, mar bheadh cuirtín, amach ar aghaidh an íochtair tollta. Síos uaidh sin fós, i ndoimhneacht dorcha na mara, tháinig bodhar-thorann cráite ón uisce a bhí ag unfairt go leisciúil mall, sa bprochlais stóránach[??] a bhí gearrtha amach as an seanchloch ag neart feargach na dtonn ; ag bualadh agus ag bualadh gan sos, leis na mílte agus na mílte bliain.
The tide was so low that the great black rock was completely exposed, down to the shiny red seaweed that hung, like a curtain, out in front of the hollow bottom. Down there from it still, in the dark depth of the sea, came a dull agonized noise from the water that was tossing lazily and slowly, in the ?? hollow that had been cut out of the old stone by the furious strength of the waves; beating and beating without rest, for thousands and thousands of years.
| taoille = taoide | tide | |
| nochtadh | Baring, exposure; disclosure, revelation; appearance | m |
| feamainn | seaweed | f |
| lonrach | Bright, shining, luminous; brilliant, resplendent | |
| íochtar | Lower part, bottom | m |
| toll | Bore, pierce, perforate | |
| doimhneacht | depth | f |
| bodhar | deaf; dull | |
| torann | noise | m |
| cráite | Agonized, tormented, grieved | |
| únfairt | (Act of) wallowing; (act of) rolling, tossing, about | f |
| prochóg | Hole, den, cave; hollow | f |
| feargach | angry | |
| sos | Rest, cessation; pause, interval; respite | m |
Sin é an uair a thosnaigh an seabhac fireann ag déanamh gaisce go rícheart ; an bodach leitheadach ag siúl go basach anonn agus anall ar an gcarraig fhuilteach ; cnámha nochtaithe faoi chois agus screamhóga de chraiceann tirim greamaithe den chloch agus mealltracha beaga aisig curtha i dtaisce ar storráin le n-ithe arís ; bréanbholadh uafásach ag líonadh an aeir thart timpeall ar uachais an mharfóra. Níor léir dé siúd ach áilleacht san áit damanta. Bhí a anam barbartha lan le áthas agus ríméad, faoi bheith ag comhlíonadh iomláin an dualgais ceaptha amach dhó ag a nádúir. [d.l. 20]
That was when the male hawk began to do true feats; the broad lad walking flatfooteldy to and fro on the bloody rock; bones exposed underfoot and flakes of dry skin stuck to the stone and small lumps put on projections to be eaten later; a terrible stench filled the air around the killer’s lair. He only saw beauty in the damned place. His barbaric soul was filled with joy and delight, at having fully fulfilled the duty set out for him by his nature.
| gaisce | Arms, weapons; martial equipment; Feat (of arms); prowess (in arms); Boasting, bravado; showing off, swank. |
m |
| rí- | Royal, kingly, majestic; (Intensifying) Exceedingly, very, ultra- | |
| bodach | Churl, lout | m |
| leitheadach | Broad, wide | |
| basach = bosach | Bladed; Flat-footed | |
| nocht | Bare, strip, uncover | v |
| screamhóg | crust, flake | f |
| tirim | dry | |
| greamaigh | Attach, fix, fasten; make fast, secure | |
| mealltracha | balls, globes; lumps, masses | |
| aiseag | Restoration, restitution | m |
| taisce | store, treasure, hoard | f |
| storrán = starrán | Projection, jag; Fit, frenzy | m |
| uachais | Burrow, cavity; lair, den | f |
| damanta | damned | |
| léir | Clear, lucid; distinct, explicit; clear-headed, clever | |
| dé | Smoke; Puff, breath; glimmer | f |
| áthas | Joy, gladness | m |
| ríméad | Gladness; joyous pride | m |
| comhlíonadh | fulfilment; Performance, observance; Completion; Satisfaction, requital. | m |
| dualgas | Natural right, due; customary fee or reward; duty | m |
Chroch sé suas é féin os cionn bruaich an haille faoi dhianruathar eitíll agus rinne sé ar mhór-airde na spéire, ag cur timpeall agus timpeall ar bhord fada, nó gur mhothaigh sé íochtair sreamacha na néall ag gabháil go fuar fliuch thar a dhroim. Isteach leis ansin caol díreach tríd an tír
He lifted himself above the edge of the cliff edge flying[?] under a strong gust of wind and made for the great heights of the sky, going around and around a long border{?}, until he felt the drizzly bottom of the cloud cold and wet across his back. Enter it then straight through the country.
| bruach | Bank, brink; edge | m |
| aill | Cliff, precipice | f gs aille |
| dian | Intense, vehement; hard, severe | |
| ruathar | Rush, onrush, onset, attack | m |
| eitil | Fly; flutter | v |
| íochtar | Lower part, bottom | m gs nplíochtair |
| sramach | Clammy; damp, drizzly; … | |
| néal | cloud | m |
Seeing Larry Niven at Windycon 51 reminded me that back in 1969 I went to the World Science Fiction Convention for that year, St. Louiscon. It was my first Worldcon and only my second SF con. I went with friends from the University of Chicago Science Fiction Club, which I had discovered the year before. Some of us put together a costume presentation for the masquerade, in which we won the prize for best group costume. For this effort we dressed up as characters from Randall Garrett’s novel Too Many Magicians. The novel does not say much about how the characters were dressed, so someone in our group (I am sorry to say I have forgotten who) suggested an 18th century look and help us pull it off.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 