Category Archives: science

Capricon 2024

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Mia and I enjoyed Capricon 44. It was held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, February 1-4, as it was when we attended two years ago. We were very happy to be at a con in downtown Chicago again, with an almost infinite supply of places to eat and drink in walking distance of the hotel. It is much more alive than downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis, and the people seemed friendlier. As happened in 2022, some of our Chicagoland fannish friends did not attend, but others did, and we enjoyed seeing them again.

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Where’s My Flying Car?

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Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 3, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Chris Gerrib, Bill Higgins, Mark Huston (moderator), Jeffrey Liss, Henry Spencer

Once upon a time, SF “promised” us all manner of wondrous thing that never came true. Flying cars. Rocket packs. Even aliens (maybe). What happened to these promises? Did something better come along? Were they not practical? Or are we still working to make them come true? How does our view of the future differ from what we once expected? Our panelists explore these questions and more!

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Lucy’s Tour of the Trojan Asteroids

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Notes from a presentation at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The speaker, Bill Higgins, is not responsible for any errors here.

Bill Higgins

The two swarms of frigid Trojan asteroids, circling the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter, have never been visited by spacecraft. NASA’s Lucy mission plans to change that. Launched in 2021, Lucy’s intricate trajectory will eventually fly by eleven asteroids, including eight Trojans of varying size and composition far beyond the main Asteroid Belt. Passing through the asteroid belt on her way to the distant realm of the Trojans, Lucy’s first flyby this past November held surprises—and if all goes well, the best is yet to come.

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The Forever War at 50

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Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Shaun Duke, Jerry Gilio, Bill Higgins, Benjamin Wallin, Gary K Wolfe (moderator)

Since its release in 1974, Joe Haldeman’s Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel The Forever War has been assigned in college classes and hailed as a profound exploration of the dehumanizing effects of war. Now on its 50th anniversary, our panelists look back on the novel’s release, its impact, and its relevance today.

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Dust.. from… SPACE!!!

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Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Bill Higgins, Henry Spencer

The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampler has returned with a bounty of asteroid dust. Our panelists discuss what the findings have been so far, what is still to come, and what it all means.

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Alien technology found? Not so fast

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There has been some media buzz that some objects found on the ocean floor are evidence of alien technology. However, the Harvard astronomer’s “alien spherules” are industrial pollutants. For technical details see:

Phosphine on Venus again

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Phosphine on Venus: Another Look

Back in 2020 there was a report that Phosphine had been found in the atmosphere of Venus. Since Phosphine can be a sign of life that caused some excitement. I posted about this three times:

  1. Possible Sign of Life on Venus
  2. More about phosphine on Venus
  3. Phosphine on Venus: Not so fast

The last of these was in reference to Re-analysis of the 267-GHz ALMA observations of Venus: No statistically significant detection of phosphine? At the time that seemed like the end of the story.

However, there have been a lot more observations since then and some re-re-analysis of the earlier work, leading to Phosphine Confirmed Deep Within Venus’ Atmosphere, A Possible Sign Of Life. I am looking forward to seeing the technical details.

Wheels that are not circles

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Triangle-Wheeled Bike Gives New Meaning to ‘Tricycle’. The inventors

… went back to the drawing board to see if they could come up with a bike design featuring triangular wheels. They succeeded, and unlike the square-wheeled bike, these triangular wheels actually roll like round ones.

This is known as the Reuleaux triangle. I first ran across it in Poul Anderson’s 1963 SF story The Three Cornered Wheel, which I read sometime in high school (1964-68). A stranded spaceship crew needs to transport a heavy object over land. Unfortunately, the use of anything circular for mundane purposes is forbidden by the religion of the natives. However, the use of a curve of up to 1/3 of a circle is allowed for a sufficiently important cause. The young hero figures out that using such a “three cornered wheel” will solve the crew’s problem without offending the religious authorities.