Eponymously Yours, W. Skeffington Higgins

Here comes Capricon 37, this year again in the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois. It begins Thursday, 16 February, and runs through Sunday, 19 February. I'm participating in a number of program items.

Thursday, February 16

Conventions in the Social Media Age
Birch A (1), 3:30pm - 5pm
Track: Fan Interest

Liz Gilio (moderator), Meg Frank, William Frank, Neal F. Litherland, Bill Higgins

Social Media has allowed us unprecedented access to each other. While in many ways this is a good thing, it also allows anonymity and negativity to enter what many fans consider safe spaces. Has online fandom changed cons? For better or for worse? Has social media filled a void that cons used to fill? Are cons even necessary any more?

Friday, February 17

What Keeps You in Fandom?
Willow (1), 1pm - 2:30pm
Track: Fan Interest
Division: Programming
Dexter Fabi (moderator), Val Hoski, Jessica Guggenheim, Jason Betts, Bill Higgins

Every year you go to the same conventions, or you keep looking for that one author's books, or you dress as that character in the show you like.... what keeps your fandom alive? And what keeps you participating in your fandom at large?

Introduction to Classic Movies
Willow (1), 8:30pm - 10pm
Track: Media
Division: Programming
Dexter Fabi (moderator), Frank Salvatini, Bill Higgins

What classic SF movies are MUST see, and why?

Saturday, February 18

Return to Jupiter: NASA's Juno Mission
Botanic Garden Ballroom A (1), 10am - 11:30am
Track: Science
Division: Programming
Bill Higgins (a solo talk)

Last summer, a new spacecraft arrived at Jupiter. Juno's mission is to orbit the giant planet, studying its powerful magnetic field, intense radiation belts, and the intricate interplay of particles and energies surging through nearby space. Bill Higgins reviews Juno's role in gathering more clues to the formation and evolution of Jupiter.


Writing "Real" Aliens
Botanic Garden Ballroom B (1), 11:30am - 1pm
Track: Writing
Division: Programming
Richard Garfinkle (moderator), Phyllis Eisenstein, Martin L. Shoemaker, Michael Coorlim, Bill Higgins, Natalie Silk

Why do so many aliens look or sound like humans with prosthetics on their faces? Why does human sexual morphism/beauty codes carry across all species? Why aren't there more bugs and blobs?

Kids Plan a Mission to Mars
Elm (1), 4pm - 5:30pm
Track: Kids
Division: Programming
Jason Palmer, Bill Higgins, Lisa Garrison

What would YOU do if you were planning a mission to Mars? What things do you think would be needed?

It's nearly time for the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon II, in Kansas City, Missouri. It runs from the 17th to the 21st of August at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Here are program items in which I'm participating. "Kansas City, here I come!"

Jungian Mindscapes and Clement's Iceworld

Thursday 10:00 - 11:00, 2201 (Academic) (Kansas City Convention Center)

[I'm the second speaker in this academic session of two short talks.]

“The Red One” and Enduring Archetypes of Science Fiction’s First Golden Age:
The Jungian Mindscapes Campbell Inherited from the Writers of the Fin de Siècle
Charles Von Nordheim

The Search for Saar: Looking Back at Hal Clement's Iceworld with 21st-Century Science
William S. Higgins
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Some scientific aspects of Hal Clement's 1951 novel Iceworld are notable 65 years later. First, in 1951 not one exoplanet was known. Clement would live to see an abundance of new planets circling distant stars. Furthermore, rather than seeking Earth-like planets, one may search for worlds Clement's sulfur-breathing aliens might inhabit comfortably. The planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has identified at least one planet, Kepler 42c, where conditions approximate those of the imaginary world Saar. Second, in detail unusual for SF of its time, Iceworld explores a planet with remotely-operated spacecraft, anticipating the methods of the coming Space Age.

Kaffeeklatsch: Bill Higgins

Thursday 12:00 - 13:00, 2211 (KKs) (Kansas City Convention Center)

An hour of conversation with a few people who wish to converse with me. Attendees must sign up in advance Wednesday afternoon for the limited seating. Signup instructions are here. (I doubt actual coffee will be served.)

Other kaffeklatsch hosts in the same room at the same time—at different tables—will be Kathleen Ann Goonan,  Brianna Spacekat Wu, and Christopher McKitterick.

Edison's Concrete Piano

Thursday 18:00 - 19:00, 2206 (Kansas City Convention Center)

Bill Higgins (Moderator), Dr. Jordin Kare, Allan Dyen-Shapiro, Howard Davidson,  andyvanoverberghe

Even the greatest minds have some pretty strange ideas. In 1911, Edison decided to create a concrete piano. What other great, or extremely bizarre ideas have found their way to the US patent office? A look at the oddities that people have imagined.

Note: This panel has moved forward one hour from the original timeslot.

Where Science Fails

Friday 15:00 - 16:00, 2502B (Kansas City Convention Center)

Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ (Moderator), Bill Higgins, Anna Kashina,  Dr Helen Pennington, Mr. Donald Douglas Fratz

Although scientists are supposed to follow the scientific method, sometimes that allow their human side to get ahead of them. What caused the crisis of replication in social psychology, the false alarm on cosmic inflation detection, or the announcement of cold fusion?  How can these errors be avoided, and how do they damage the reputation of science?

Ask a Scientist

Saturday 15:00 - 16:00, 2210 (Kansas City Convention Center)

Mx Rachael Acks, Bill Higgins (Moderator), Dr. Claire McCague, Dr. Lawrence M. Schoen, Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis

Do you have a pressing question about the earth's warming, worm holes, advances in communication technology, cloning? A panel of scientists in varied areas of expertise are here to answer your scientific queries. Answers will be timed out at five minutes each, so don't ask for a detailed explanation of General Relativity! Please keep questions brief and specific.

Fizz and Fuse, the Reactor Brothers

Saturday 16:00 - 17:00, 3501H (Kansas City Convention Center)

Dr. Jordin Kare, Bill Higgins

In this humorous ad-lib chat, Jordin Kare and Bill Higgins diagnose people's spaceship (and other SF) problems in the style of "Car Talk."

Playback from Pluto

Sunday 15:00 - 16:00, 2502B (Kansas City Convention Center)

Bill Higgins

There's a treasure at the edge of the Solar System, a data recorder aboard the New Horizons spacecraft, sending Earth several gigabytes acquired during last summer's flyby of Pluto. The excitement of the initial encounter still lingers. Downlinks in recent months continue to illuminate the mysteries of Pluto, and 2019 brings us all new data. What will we learn?

Remember that time when meteors clobbered Chicagoland? Remember that other time?

The Chicago Council on Science & Technology does a variety of things to encourage public engagement with science in our city. Including holding scientific talks in a tavern.


I'm appearing in C2ST's Speakeasy series next Tuesday, 3 March, at 7 PM. The venue is exciting: the new Geek Bar Beta in Chicago. It's near the triple corner of North Avenue, Damen, and Milwaukee. The topic:

Vandals of the Void: Damaging Meteors from Chelyabinsk to Chicago
Two years ago, a window-shattering shock wave injured 1400 Russians, and startled the world, as a small asteroid hit Chelyabinsk. Violent meteors are rare, but they can be devastating—and meteors have assaulted Chicagoland at least twice. Join William S. Higgins for a look at the science behind the Chelyabinsk blast. And hear the story of Chicago's own local impacts: one smaller than Chelyabinsk, one MUCH bigger.

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 7:00pm
Geek Bar Chicago
1941 West North Avenue
Chicago IL 60622
Twitter: @geekbarchicago

Geek Bar Chicago is handy to the El.

Damage to the Park Forest firehouse, 2003.

Deep strata shaken up by cosmic impact, a very long time ago.


I'm very pleased that C2ST invited me, and I am eager to meet the sort of people who would come out to see a talk like this. Because they've got to be cool.

I've attended every Windycon, but one, since Windycon 3. And I'm looking forward to Windycon 41, which starts tomorrow at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois.

I'll be giving a talk Saturday afternoon; there's another panel I'd like to join, but I'll need to talk to Program Ops first.

The Alien in the Human Imagination

3:00 PM Saturday
Grand Ballroom GH
1 hour


Extraterrestrial life has yet to be found, but aliens have been lurking in the human mind for millennia. The idea that other worlds may have inhabitants of their own goes back to antiquity. Renaissance philosophers debated it. 19th century science suggested an inhabited Mars. Science fiction and the Space Age contributed new speculations and new data. Join Bill Higgins to become part of the "plurality of worlds" conversation.

This coming weekend, I'll be involved in a number of program items for Duckon 23, a science fiction convention held in the Westin North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois. They're also planning for a Zeusaphone performance by the Masters of Lightning at sundown on Friday (if it rains, Saturday).

The theme this year is "What If?"-- but isn't that the implicit theme of every SF and fantasy convention, ever?

Saturday, 7 June

2:00-2:55 P.M. Ravinia A
The Science of Hal Clement’s Iceworld--Special Science Presentation

The late Hal Clement, who often attended DucKon, was celebrated for weaving stories out of scientific fact. In his novel Iceworld, characters who breathe hot gaseous sulfur confront the mysteries of Earth, to them an unbelievably frigid planet. Among other things, the legendary master of “putting the science in SF” foresaw robotic interplanetary exploration in a unique way. And the new science of exoplanets sheds light. Join Bill Higgins in exploring the chemistry, physics and astronomy behind the classic story.

4:00-4:55 P.M. Con Suite
Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Party

Join Bill Higgins and friends as he and his helpers make fantastic, tasty ice cream the DucKon way!

[Another source says this happens at 5 PM. I don't know which to believe. Check when you get to the con. I also don't know who the friends are. I trust the concom will be coming up with suitable utensils and ingredients.]

9:00-9:55 P.M. Ravinia E
Hey, Hollywood, You Ruined My Book

Have you ever loved a book so much that you just couldn’t wait for the movie? And then when it finally came out, it left a lot to be desired. Come and share your tales of dismay and horror at what Hollywood did to your favorite book.
(Rebecca L. Frencl, David Gerrold, Bill Higgins, Jeffrey Liss, Virginia Massetti (M))

10:00-10:55 P.M. Ravinia A
Are We Ready For The What If?

What do we do when the future comes and we are not ready for it? How do we prepare ourselves for the future advances and reactions?
(John Higgins, Bill Higgins)
[Yes, there is a local fan named John Higgins. No relation so far as I know.]

Sunday, 8 June

12:00-12:55 P.M. Ravinia E
Evolution of Battlefield Weapons

From swords to laser pointed guns, many of us are fascinated by the variety of weapons developed in history to the present. What are the next models of military or home defense? Will the manufacturers go to phasers some day?
(Walt Boyes, Lee Darrow (M), Chris Gerrib, Roland J. Green, Bill Higgins)

Michael Grebb at CableFax reports on efforts to promote the post-Saganic reboot of TV's Cosmos. The documentary series will be blasted out in "a global launch across hundreds of networks."

In an unprecedented move, Fox Networks on March 9 will premiere Cosmos across 10 U.S. nets simultaneously, including Fox, FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and Fox Life, with Fox International Channels and Nat Geo Channels International premiering the reboot on all 90 Nat Geo channels in 180 countries, as well as 120 Fox-branded channels in 125 countries.

Expect hype, and plenty of it, in the weeks to come.

I wrote a comment on wcg's blog I thought might be worth sharing here.

He was talking about software called Astrogator, whose manufacturer made the following claim:

In 1953, Robert A. Heinlein published a book named Starman Jones. Aside from being one of Heinlein's better juvenile novels, it coined the word astrogator, meaning a person who navigates a spaceship.

This did not ring true for me; I had the impression it was a pretty standard word in Golden Age stories. A bit of googling and n-gram plotting turns up the 1938 story "The Degenerates" by John Russell Fearn:

We took off right on time two days later, and it was certainly a joy to be the chief astrogator of the Stardust.

Willy Ley mentions "astrogator" in the first version of Rockets, 1944, connecting it to the astronomer R. S. Richardson. Now Richardson wrote lots of science articles for Astounding Science Fiction in those days, so I wouldn't be surprised if we found him using the word now and then.

I can push "astrogation" even further back. David Lasser, an editor working for Hugo Gernsback on Science Wonder Stories and other SF magazines, joined with other writers and enthusiasts to found the American Interplanetary Society, from which the AIAA is descended. And in 1931 he published one of the first American nonfiction books about the new science of spaceflight, Conquest of Space.

Just as two-dimensional navigation on the earth's surface gave way to avigation* when men attempted to travel through the air, so in interplanetary travel we must develop an exact science of three-dimensional astrogation through the heavens.

Okay, having demonstrated that I can find multiple citations predating Starman Jones, now I will peek at the answer in the back of the book: the OED SF jargon site.** Yup, their earliest citations for both "astrogation" and "astrogator" point to Lasser's book. Guess I missed the latter; Google Books failed to detect its presence.

Heinlein's Starman Jones does have the virtue of being about an astrogator, and its control-room scenes are most memorable. But "astrogator" was a venerable word, by SF standards, by the time this novel appeared.




* No, Mr. Lasser, actually it didn't; most aviators wound up still calling it "navigation." So did most astronauts.

** Basis for the book Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, edited by Jeff Prucher.

At 17:41 CST, K spotted a fireball in the sky north of Lincoln, Illinois. She alerted me and I had a few seconds to observe it too.

Texted our meteorite-loving friends; whl encouraged us to file a report at the American Meteor Society site. He has been checking other reports during our progress down the highway-- he says ericcoleman also spotted the bolide from Iowa.

We were returning from lunch with the other half of Clan Heterodyne. They are in one part of Illinois over the holidays, we are in another-- but if we both drive a ways, we can meet in Springfield. Mighty good to see them. Didn't know this journey would turn cosmic.

Edited to add: Amateur astronomer Tim Cline appears to have captured footage of the St. Stephen's Day fireball from Williamson, Iowa. I'll try to embed it below, but I fear it may disappoint me.

Duckon 22 has been kind enough to invite me to be Science Guest of Honor next weekend, 28 through 30 June, in Wheeling, Illinois.

Here's the current draft of the Duckon program.

My events (in addition to Opening Ceremonies and Closing Ceremonies):

8 PM Friday: Classic SF/Fantasy/Horror

What makes War of the Worlds memorable? Our panelists will share their lists of famous and not so known pieces of literature they would definitely keep on their shelves and pass down to the future generations. Even though these “treasures” were written more than forty years ago or older, they are still enjoyable today and beyond.

10 AM Saturday: Curiosity’s Journey Continues: NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Rover

The Mars rover Curiosity brought a sophisticated toolbox of instruments to study the surface of the Red Planet—including one that can fire a laser pulse to vaporize a rock, then capture its spectrum.
Join Bill Higgins to review what Curiosity has taught us during 11 months of exploring a region in Gale Crater where water once flowed.

(Curiosity keeps exploring; I keep talking about her.)

10 AM Sunday: Vandals of the Void: Damaging Meteors from Chelyabinsk to Chicago

A window-shattering shock wave injured 1400 Russians, and startled the world, a few months ago. Meteoric violence is rare, but it can be devastating—and meteors have assaulted Chicagoland at least twice. Bill Higgins reviews the Chelyabinsk blast, reveals our local impacts, and examines whether we can fight back against our asteroidal foes.

(This is a new talk I cooked up out of fascination with the Chelyabinsk incident.)

11 AM Sunday: Beauty of Science

Many times science and art often intertwine. There is a natural beauty everywhere from geological formations in Mammoth Cave, to streaming light emissions of the Northern Lights. Some art has to be discovered and science will be the tool to reveal them. Join our panelists as they share some examples of how they see beauty in scientific discoveries.

Times may well change; this schedule is not final, so check with Duckon once the con begins for the latest schedule.

Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to the weekend!

The other day, Frank Wu wrote:

I am re-watching "Cosmos" and in episode 10, Carl Sagan is commenting on those huge radio telescopes and he says that they detect extraordinarily small amounts of energy. A distant quasar, he says, is a quadrillionth of a watt. In fact, the total energy picked up by all the radio telescopes on the entire planet in all of history is less than the energy of "a single snowflake hitting the ground".

Sagan said that in 1980. That was 33 years ago. How many snowflakes do you think we are up to now? Do you think Earth is maybe a two snowflake planet by now?

I replied:

What you really want to know is: Do radio astronomers have a piece of folklore about how much energy has been collected by all the world's radio telescopes?

I thought of a few people I could e-mail about this, but then it occurred to me that I might be able to do even better.

As it happens, NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts is having a meeting in Chicago this week. As it happens, I'd noted a familiar name on the list of attendees.

I went to the meeting. During a break, I greeted Frank Drake and told him about Frank Wu's question. Did he know the source of Carl Sagan's analogy?

He did. "He got it from me."

Prof. Sagan and Prof. Drake were colleagues at Cornell around the time Cosmos was being written.

The point of the comparison: Between the first observations around 1933 and Sagan's TV show in 1980, radio telescopes gathered a very large number of photons, but each radio photon has a very feeble amount of energy. It's around a millionth of the punch packed by a photon of visible light. Add up the energy of all the radio photons and you get less than an erg.

In answer to frankwu's question, Prof. Drake says that yes, between 1980 and now, we might be up to two snowflakes. He cautiously allows that it might even be three.