For the half-dozen people who care, my Boskone panel schedule for this year, with a few comments. I don’t know for sure that this is the final final version– I might get added to something else– but it’s probably pretty close.
Fri 8:00pm, Visiting Japan
If we attend the Worldcon in Yokohama this August, what knowledge should we bring along? What ten phrases are essential? What societal differences should we be prepared to accommodate? What are Japanese SF fans like? What will we eat? How much could all this cost? Vince Docherty, Chad Orzel, Peggy Rae Sapienza
I’m sure I’m not the only person who suggested this as a topic. Kate and I are well into the process of planning our trip (we’re going for about three weeks, a bit before, and a bit after Worldcon), so I’ve been thinking about some of this stuff a lot recently. And it’s always fun to get to drag out funny Japan stories.
Sat 1:00pm, Spooky Action at a Distance
The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, Bell’s Theorem, and other phenomena. Chad Orzel
This is sort of “Son of ‘Weird Quantum Phenomena'” (from last year). I think I’ve got a couple of decent ways to explain EPR and Bell’s Inequality, though I should really double-check to make sure I can fit them in 55 minutes…
Sat 4:00pm, SF and the History of Science
Let’s look at SF (or historical fantasy) involving the development of science: something that’s interested writers in our genre from DeCamp to Stephenson. Are tales where certain technology _isn’t_ developed more fun? Why not change the laws of physics in a story? Can you set true science in the ancient world, or does it begin with the Enlightenment? Does explaining both history and science double the infodumps? Guy Consolmagno, Gregory Feeley, Chad Orzel
As previously mentioned here. I’ve been reading a bit of history of science stuff in order to get a better grip on this (about which more later), but I might be overthinking the whole thing– I haven’t been on a panel with these two, but I’ve been to panels that they were on. I might not be needed to say anything…
And that’s it for the moment.