Archive for the ‘Conventions’ Category

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weekly rounds

Monday, March 1st, 2010
  • That noted, my interview on KXDJ with Chris was great. His questions were keen, and getting a chance to give a more meaningful answer to the not-so-simple question of “is the H1N1 pandemic overhyped?” is always refreshing. (Easy response – “yes” from a lay media public fear angle, and “no” from a vaccine and preparedness standpoint. That discussion is worth a post or 10… or a few convention talks, as the case may be. :) )

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weekly rounds

Monday, February 15th, 2010
  • Farpoint was simply brilliant fun, and some notes on the proceedings will be coming shortly. Those of you who didn’t go (yes, you) missed a seriously good time. And Viking midgets.
a tad more snow, image by John Cmar

a tad more snow, image by John Cmar

  • We received just a tad more snow. One upside of being trapped in the house for several days was the enhanced opportunity to actually cook (my brother contends that most of what I do is more “heating” than “cooking,” while I contend that “heating” is, in fact, “cooking”). While nothing recipe-sharing-worthy emerged, I gained enough XP to level up in the Culinary class.
the start of a great meal, image by John Cmar

the start of a great meal, image by John Cmar

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Farpoint 2010 schedule

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Farpoint ConventionAnd so it came to pass that con season truly gets into swing with Farpoint. I will be trolling about, looking for mischief, and pontificating on influenza and other science-y topics, as I am want to do. My schedule:

  • H1N1: State of the Influenza, Saturday 3pm (Ridgely 2) – Flu season isn’t over yet, but this current lull in activity is an excellent chance to look back on some of lessons learned, both on the science of influenza as well as the failure of communication to the public by medical professionals/government/media.
  • Science in Social Networking, Sunday 1pm (Ridgely 2) – Science communication has always been something that is often done poorly, and we’ll be examining some of the positive and negative ways science is interfacing (or not) with the booming area of social networking.

And, when Laura is not plotting the Redhead Global Domination Effort with Felicia Day, she can be found here:

  • Social Media 101, Saturday 10 am (Ridgely 1) – 2010 sees use with a metric buttload of social media programs in existence, with Google Buzz being the latest. A review of what’s out there, what’s useful, and how designer intent doesn’t always match up with what the users do.
  • Citizen Scientists, Saturday 6pm (Ridgely 2) – Anyone can be involved in cutting edge research projects, and it’s not only a blast, but easier than you might think… Laura will tell you how.
  • Science and Social Networking, Sunday 1pm (Ridgely 2) – As noted above, except that Laura is both more attractive than I am, and likely has more interesting things to say as well.
  • James Webb Space Telescope, Sunday 3pm (Ridgely 2) – JWST is moving into the ground assembly phase, and Laura will give us an update on the the latest with this amazing project.

The snow is melting away, and things are shaping up to be an excellent time, so if you are in the area, stop on by. Directions are here, and the full programming list is here. You can follow events of note with me on Twitter, or better yet, I hope to see you there!

(When the redheads take over the world, it pays to be as close to them as possible. Just saying.)

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Cmar-con schedule for 2010

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Cmar at Dragon*Con 2009, photo by Bruce Press

Cmar at Dragon*Con 2009, photo by Bruce Press

Although mired in what the local atmosphere contends is “deep winter,” the con(-vention? -ference? You decide!) season is already upon me, what with the Maryland ACP Scientific Meeting last week, and Farpoint ahead this weekend. The roundup of how my year is looking at this point is as follows:

  • Farpoint – February 12-14, Timonium, MD – Yikes! This weekend! Must prepare, and dig out, and stuff! I’ll be working the science track, and generally enjoying myself at this smaller, more low-key gathering.
  • Ravencon – April 9-11, Richmond, VA – Although relatively new as cons go, 5-year-old Ravencon continues to grow as a great regional weekend. The move this year to a better hotel (fare thee well, horrifying board-room meeting places) can only help matters. I’ll be doing the science track thing.
  • Johncon – April 16-18, Baltimore, MD – It’s named after me. How could I not go? Well, sure, it’s primarily a gaming convention put on by the Johns Hopkins University sci-fi and anime clubs, and they asked me to be a science guest, but really, it’s named after me. ’nuff said.
  • Balticon 44 – May 28-31, Baltimore, MD – If you’ve been paying any attention to me over the last few years and don’t know Balticon, then for shame. The science and new media tracks will see my hand, and the awesome will be brought.
  • ReConStruction (NASFic 2010) – August 5-8, Raleigh, NC – When Worldcon takes place outside of North America, that year a North American Science Fiction convention is birthed to sate the Worldcon-need for those unable to travel. It looks like I’ll be involved in the science guest here, in addition to the other festivities.
  • Aussiecon 4 (Worldcon 2010) – September 2-6, Melbourne, Australia – The World Science Fiction Convention migrates to another continent this year, and Laura and I shall follow, both to attend and for an extended first trip to Australia. At this point, I won’t have any track involvement, which suits me just fine – it’s vacation, dammit.
  • APDIM Fall Conference – October 14-17, San Antonio, TX – More of the same as the APDIM Spring Conference, except in an arguably more exciting locale than Baltimore.
  • Philcon – November 19-21, Cherry Hill, NJ – This was a blast last year, and I intend to return again this time around, spouting off my physicianly wit in an official capacity if I can.

That’s… quite a full year, but there’s more that either haven’t made the cut or are only on “maybe” status. Due to saving up both rupees and leave time for Australia, I will sadly not be making the return trek to Origins. Both Dragon*Con and Con On The Cob (which I have long wanted to check out, but never have) are out due to direct conflicts, and my attendance at the big two Infectious Diseases conferences of the year, the ICAAC and IDSA meetings, is going to be dictated by energy and leave reserves as the time gets closer.

All that noted, it’s shaping up to be brilliantly fun and educational year on the con front. Won’t you join me?

Posted in Conventions, Medical | 4 Comments »

weekly rounds

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
  • I’ve just collapsed at home after returning from Philcon, which was a damn fun time. More on that will surface this coming week.
  • After some consideration, I’ve decided to crosspost my medical thoughts both at Lifebridge Heath’s blog and here, as I did earlier this week. In the style of Orac, the version that shows up here may be a bit more “colorful” than the other, which is just how I roll.

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Philcon 2009 schedule

Monday, November 16th, 2009

And here, I thought the convention season had ended…

A few weeks back, Laura happened to be perusing the guest list for this year’s Philcon (including Cory Doctorow, among esteemed others), and suggested that it might be a fun way to round out November. I agreed, and lo and behold – we are headed up to Philcon this coming weekend. Or, rather, CherryHillNewJerseyCon, based on the actual location of the hotel, but I digress…

We both have the pleasure of contributing to the science track as guests. Given the lateness of our declared attendance, the more infection and zombie-related panels were already gobbled up (heh, and drat), so my schedule includes some interesting but decidedly different panels than the norm:

Sat 1:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Three (1 hour)
STEM CELLS: RESEARCH AND PROGRESS (171)

[Panelists: Jed Shumsky (mod), JJ Brannon, John Cmar, Jay Wile]

There has been much progress in stem cell research in recent years, with new discoveries coming regularly. In January 2009, Geron received FDA clearance to begin the first human clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells. What is happening today and what still remains to be done before the promise of stem cell therapy becomes reality?

Sat 6:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
GREAT MYSTERIES OF SCIENCE (169)

[Panelists: Eric Kotani (mod), Eric Schulman, David Goldberg, John Cmar, Frank O'Brien]

What are the most important unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions in science? Which are closest to being solved?

Sun 12:00 PM in Plaza I (One) (1 hour)
THE BIOLOGY OF OBESITY (166)

[Panelists: John Cmar (mod), Muriel Hykes, Jed Shumsky, James Prego, Lawrence Kramer]

Obesity is a growing problem around the world, and increasing research has revealed the causes to be much more complex than just “eating too much.” Medicine now recognizes that some people will
gain more fat from the same amount of calories than others. Hormones, gut bacteria, brown fat, neurotransmitters, metabolic pathways, viral infections, circadian rythms and many other factors
are all now implicated in weight gain and loss. Are we closer to understanding the causes of and solutions to the obesity epidemic?

And Laura’s schedule:

Sat 1:00 PM in Plaza VI (Six) (1 hour)
NASA FOR KIDS (154)

[Panelists: Andre Lieven (mod), Laura Burns]

A fun and educational discussion about the U.S. space program.

Sat 3:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Three (1 hour)
SPACE INC.: IS PRIVATE ENTERPRISE THE FUTURE OF SPACE DEVELOPMENT? (183)

[Panelists: Laura Burns (mod), Mark Wolverton, Frank O'Brien, Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Karl Kofoed]

With NASA struggling with budget restrictions, and other governments around the world facing economic crises, the private sector may now be poised to become the main route to space. What is happening in private space development? What’s planned? What’s likely and what’s not? And is this a good or bad thing for the future of space exploration and development?

Sat 5:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour)
SCIENCE AT THE HEART OF SCIENCE FICTION (87)

[Panelists: Bud Sparhawk (mod), Caroline Cox, David Goldberg, Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Jerome Stueart, Laura Burns]

How has Hard Science Fiction changed in the last decade? Is Science Fiction still predominantly the literature of scientific ideas?

Sun 11:00 AM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour)
THE WEIRD SCIENCE FAIR! (125)

[Panelists: Christopher Gay (mod), Mark Wolverton, Laura Burns, Eric Schulman, Caroline Cox]

Death rays.  Earthquake generators.  Ice Ages that cover New York in 24 hours.  SF books, movies, and TV have offered up some STRANGE science over the years.  Here’s a panel to talk about some of the
Weird Science we’ve seen.

If you are at the con on Saturday or Sunday, feel free to say hi. I’ll be plugged in via Twitter, and may attempt daily bloggage while there. *gasp* (Hm… I never did post my Dragon*con post-mortem…)

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weekly rounds

Sunday, November 15th, 2009
  • My three-part “state of the flu” series over at Lifebridge Health I mentioned last time didn’t materialize for several excellent reasons, but I look forward to it showing up in the coming week.
  • Laura and I will be attending Philcon next weekend as science guests. It will be great fun, and more on that is forthcoming.

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run away!

Friday, September 11th, 2009

All Your Referral Are Belong To Us, originally uploaded by DocOperon.

Dragon*Con was a crazy, chaotic piece of fun, and worthy of comment. That said, when I return to a week’s worth of back-dated work, punctuated by such intelligent discourse as depicted above, well… let’s just say that the only sane response is to run away, and take a low-key vacation weekend.

A Dragon*Con post-mortem, and notes on this weekend’s activities, when we return. If we return… we may be going off-planet. Laura is the Moon Ranger, after all.

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Dragon*Con, incoming!

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

image by Steven Hickman, via DragonCon.org

By Odin’s turgid ovaries, Dragon*Con is only a week away! Soon I will be but one of 40,000 scales on a great sleepless, screaming, brightly-colored, intoxicated wyrm writhing in the heart of Atlanta.

I have been fortunate enough to receive guest status this year, and so will be involved in SCIENCE! And podcasting! Behold:

  • Bacteriophages – Using Viruses To Cure Disease, Friday 1pm (Hilton 202) – “For 90 years, viruses have been used to treat bacterial diseases. Due to increases in antibiotic resistant bacteria, are bacteriophages our only hope?” – This should be fun. I’ve recently been attached to this panel, and the topic is a favorite of mine due to being cutting edge medical science… and seriously, wouldn’t it be so cool if a designed bacteriophage went awry? MWA HA HA H- er, sorry.
  • Autism and Vaccination – The Rumored Connection, Friday 4pm (Hilton 202) – “The latest issues regarding this controversy, how it started, and a primer for talking with someone who believes that the two are related.” – I am honored to be moderating an impressively renowned group of physicians and scientists for what promises to be an educational hour about this fictional controversy.
  • Tickle in the Throat, Saturday 1pm (Marriott L504-L505) – “Pandemics and plagues that could be devastating for the world (or maybe they will just thin it out and we won’t have much traffic).  Authors share their research and a scientist shares his view.” – I can only presume that I’m the scientist. And this has the potential for great fun…
  • The 2009 Parsec Awards, Saturday 7pm (Hyatt Regency V) – “The Parsec Award is available for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Original Content, and Speculative Fiction within the new frontiers of Portable Media.  Join us for the Fourth Annual Parsec Awards Ceremony.” – Mur and I will be hosting the ceremony again this year, and I expect it to be an excellent time!
  • Influenza, Swine Flu and You, Sunday 2:30pm (Hilton 202) – “An update on the myths and the realities of these (un)popular diseases.” – I’m also going to be moderating this talk, featuring an equally esteemed panel of experts to talk about one of my favorite dis-eases.

Beyond these, I will be attending plenty of other panels and events, including the pre-convention charity Star Party on Thursday night, hosted by Phil Plait and Pamela Gay.  Don’t hesitate to stop by and say hello, and both email and Twitter will be good ways to track me down in the chaos.

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i can be heard – Escape Pod #206, Rogue Farm

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Escape Pod logo from EscapePod.org

Balticon this past Memorial Day was a hectic blast, as usual. One of the highlights of this year’s con for me was participating in the first ever live full cast recording of Escape Pod, the podcast that singlehandedly established the donation-based professional paying market for audio science fiction short stories. If you don’t listen each week for some unfathomable reason, you truly must get over that reason and do so.

Balticon’s guest of honor this year was Charlie Stross, and Steve Eley was able to secure his story Rogue Farm for the live recording. While he couldn’t stay for the whole panel due to a schedule conflict, Charlie was able to stop by at the beginning to to make introductions and give his blessing to the whole affair. Rogue Farm is an excellent story, and without any sort of prior rehearsal, the performance went off exceedingly well. Many thanks to both Steve Eley and Paul Fischer for making this a rousing success.

And what is the tale about, you ask? I’ll let this exerpted bit from Escape Pod’s site say it all:

“Buggerit, I don’t have time for this,” Joe muttered. The stable waiting for the small herd of cloned spidercows cluttering up the north paddock was still knee-deep in manure, and the tractor seat wasn’t getting any warmer while he shivered out here waiting for Maddie to come and sort this thing out. It wasn’t a big herd, but it was as big as his land and his labour could manage – the big biofabricator in the shed could assemble mammalian livestock faster than he could feed them up and sell them with an honest HAND-RAISED NOT VAT-GROWN label.

“What do you want with us?” he yelled up at the gently buzzing farm.

“Brains, fresh brains for baby Jesus,” crooned the farm in a warm contralto, startling Joe half out of his skin. “Buy my brains!” Half a dozen disturbing cauliflower shapes poked suggestively out of the farms’ back then retracted again, coyly.

“Don’t want no brains around here,” Joe said stubbornly, his fingers whitening on the stock of the shotgun. “Don’t want your kind round here, neither. Go away.”

Go there now and listen to the live performance of Rogue Farm, and subscribe to the feed if you haven’t already.

Still not convinced? I voice an elderly boy-toy to Laura’s even-more-elderly bio-rocket scientist. Seriously. This obligates you to listen.

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