I wanna be, where the cool nerds are

I wanna see, wanna see cosplaying

Walking around with those (what’s that word again?)

Oh! Daleks!

 

I’m very excited to say I’ll be heading to Atlanta this year to be on the Dragon Con Science Track for the second time. The first time was a BLAST. It was fantastic to talk about science and fantasy and sci fi with people just as excited as I was. And the costumes! I was hugely impressed with the talent on display.

I’m even more excited for this year!

 

This year I’ll be there again, this time with my fabulous colleague Tina Saey! We will be talking Harry Potter genetics, CRISPR, head transplants, Brandon Sanderson’s neat plants and why flibanserin is such a flop. The schedule is below. So drop by, say hi, and get some science with your sci fi!

Friday 9/2

11:30
Scientific Fantasy Novels
N.K. Jemisin used real-world geology as a foundation for her fantasy novel “The Fifth Season,” while geologists have figured out Westeros’s geological ages. Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy is filled with info about transitional ecosystems. Let’s explore how science appears in fantasy.
Mika McKinnon, Scicurious, Pamela Gay (M)

14:30
The Year in Science
Marriott A601-A602
Keeping up with science news is a Titanic feat. You barely scrape the surface and suddenly you’re drowning. Panelists discuss this year’s best stories, with a twist: every ten minutes, when the bell sounds, one panelist leaves and another enters. See how much they can cover before the bell rings!
Pamela Gay, Stephen Granade, Scicurious, Jeff Hubbs, Kishore Hari, Erin Macdonald

22:00
The Quantified Vagina
Hilton Grand Salon East
It’s 2016, and we have a bluetooth tampon, “Female Viagra,” and Fitbits tracking our sleep. But does science back these up? Ask your anonymous sex and health questions in this raucous late-night panel.
Emily Finke, Raychelle Burks, AB Kovacs, Ryan Consell, Scicurious, Stephen Granade (M)

Saturday 9/3

14:30
Personalized Medicine, Organoids, and Other Medical Frontiers
Medicine is changing all the time, from antibiotics losing their effectiveness to the dropping cost of medical testing. What will medicine look like in the coming decades?
Jessica Cail, Brandon Moore, Scicurious, Tedd Roberts, Tina Saey, Yin-Yin Wang (M)

Sunday 9/4

14:30
Genetics in Science Fictional Settings
From the X-Men and the Inhumans to Orphan Black to the wizarding gene in Harry Potter, genetics shows up in many fictional worlds. We’ll dive into how fictional genetics are different from real-world genetics.
Eric Spana, Scicurious, Tina Saey, Gregory Pence