The 43rd annual Balticon science fiction convention was held from May 22 to 25 at Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Guest of Honor was Charles Stross. Special Guest of Honor was Scott Sigler. Ghost of Honor was Edgar Allan Poe.
The event included author and editor panel discussions, readings, podcasting, science briefings, a charity auction, and the steampunk dance “Dancing in the Gears” ( “Airships and time machines should be parked outside the ballroom”). At the opening ceremonies, Paul Melko won the Compton Crook award for his novel Singularity’s Ring.
When people say they travel from out of town to attend Balticon, they mean it.
The continuous track of science programming is a highlight of Balticon, in my opinion. This year’s offerings included the popular “Dinosaur Update” presented annually by Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, in which he announced that 38 new species of dinosaur were discovered in 2008 and 16 so far in 2009. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that “birds are dinosaurs.”
Laura A. Burns, from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, presented a briefing on NASA missions that each create images from different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The James Webb Space Telescope will observe in the infrared. Its mirrors, which are gold-plated beryllium, stretch six-and-a-half meters wide, and its solar shield system is the size of a tennis court. It is set to launch in 2014.
Padi Boyd presented a briefing on NASA’s Kepler mission, which will look for Earth-like planets by continuously monitoring over 150,000 stars. Kepler is sensitive to detecting planets in the habitable zone of stars. It will use the transit method; that is, a planet must pass in front of its star relative to Kepler to be detected. She said that after a nominal mission of three-and-a-half years, we will know how common Earth-like planets are in the Milky Way galaxy. She added that a null result does not mean that the telescope is not working; a null result will mean that there are no other Earth-like planets in the galaxy.
Other highlights of Balticon included a fascinating audience Q&A session with Charles Stross, in which he shared plots of books that shall not be published and the reasons why social media is addictive; singer George Hrab performing on the Hrab Stage in the hotel lobby on Saturday evening to an appreciative crowd, with entertaining songs about science and nerdism; costuming, including astronauts, pirates and steampunks; and panels such as “I Shot the Sheriff on the First Page.” A provocative, engaging panel called “Why Do We Torture Our Characters?” was moderated by Gene Wolfe, who kept panelists on their toes with questions such as “Have you seen one of your fictional characters in real life?”, “Have you seen yourself?” and “Have you seen your reflection in a mirror that wasn’t a mirror?”
Lastly, but certainly not leastly, came the “Zombie Apocalypse Preparation Kit” panel, with Scott Sigler, Christiana Ellis, Annie Turner (and one other whose name I unfortunately didn’t catch). And just what do you need to fight zombies? Preferences: Louisville Slugger, sawed-off shotgun in hip holster (flask of whiskey goes in other holster), swimming pool full of charcoal, friends slower than you for the zombies to catch whilst you run away, portable nail gun with multiple belts of nails, and a hydrogen bomb. The panel included rousing interaction with the audience, and everyone liked the suggestion by one audience member that the dinosaurs died out from their own Dinosaur Zombie Apocalypse.
Audience Q&A With Charles Stross
Dealers Room
Accoutrements laid out for the Writer-on-Writer Smackdown
Dealers Room fare from Griffon’s Claw Armoury
Dealers Room
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