Tag Archives: cons

Capricon Notes

2 Replies

As I wrote previously , Mia (my wife) and I spent last weekend at Capricon, a Chicagoland science fiction convention. We went to most of the Capricons in the ’80’s and ’90’s, but in our first years in Minnesota the pressures of parenthood prevented us from going. Those have eased somewhat and we have been to most of the Capricons (and Windycons) since 2009. While most Capricons have been in the Chicago suburbs, this year the convention was downtown, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel.

Continue reading →

Chicago again

3 Replies

Mia (my wife) and I spent last weekend in Chicago for the Capricon, another science fiction convention that has been part of our life for decades. This year the convention was downtown, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. Our room was on north side of the 28th floor and the view from our window was magnificent by night and day:

Continue reading →

Windycon 2021

3 Replies

My wife Mia and I spend the past weekend in Chicagoland. Friday and Saturday we were at Windycon, a science fiction convention that we have frequently attended since the 1970s. This was first SF con we have been to since the world shut down for Covid-19. There was no Windycon in 2020. Covid, of course, has not gone away, but this year Windycon was back, with changes. There were very strict and detailed Covid policies. Proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test were required for admission. Masks were required everywhere except “while … actively consuming food or drink in the consuite or green room” or for performers while performing and at least 6 feet from anyone else. Bill Roper has a positive con report, with which I completely agree.

Continue reading →

Free the Quarks!

Leave a reply

Calculating the strong force

A watershed: the emergence of QCD

We had arrived at a very specific candidate theory of the strong interaction, one based on precise, beautiful equations. And we had specific, quantitative proposals for testing it.

See also the Bag Model of Quark Confinement. Corry Lee gave a great explanation of this in her talk about the Higgs Boson at Chicon 7 last summer.

So You Want to Discover the Higgs Boson?

1 Reply

A talk at Chicon 7. Friday, August 31, 2012. This was one of the best science talks I have heard in my life.

So You Want to Discover the Higgs Boson?

The Large Hadron Collider in Geneva recently announced the discovery of the Higgs Boson, the particle long theorized to give mass to matter. But how do physicists detect particles… and how do we know this one is the Higgs? Hear a Ph.D. physicist teach the basics of particle detector technology (no physics background required!) and answer your questions about the massive machines used to study the smallest stuff in nature.

Corry L. Lee

Continue reading →

Curiosity: The Mars Science Laboratory

Leave a reply

Notes from a panel at Chicon 7. Saturday, September 1, 2012, with weblinks and occasional
amplifications added.

Curiosity: The Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory has the ambitious mission to study the climate, geology, and potential for life of Mars. Weeks after landing, what have we learned? What do we expect to find out in the coming months?

Bill Higgins [beamjockey], Brother Guy Consolmagno [brotherguy]

Continue reading →