The following Schedule is for the Hard Science Track - in the Hard Science Track Room unless noted otherwise and is currently TENTATIVE and is subject to change/evolve, before or during the convention, so please check for updates upon arrival.

Friday, May 21

2:00p.m. "Mars, Europa, and Titan" with Dr. Perry Gerakines.  Join us in a discussion of these planetary bodies and view some of the latest science results from NASA.

4:00p.m. MOVED to the Rushton Theater: "Science of Space Flight" with Dr. Travis Taylor.  Sometimes you do have to know a little bit of science in order to fly in space.  Dr. Taylor will break it down for us in a unique way, so we all can learn a bit about the Science of Space Flight.

6:00p.m.  "Prehistoric Monsters of Alabama" with Jun Ebersole.  Join McWane Science Center's Collection Manager, Jun Ebersole, in a back-of-house tour of the Alabama Collections Center.  From dinosaurs and giant ground sloths to mammoths and fossil toothed whales, see first-hand the many of the prehistoric monsters that once resided in the state of Alabama.

Note:  This panel is limited to 12 participants on a first-come, first-served basis.

7:00p.m.  "Q&A With A Shuttle Flight Controller" with Stephanie Osborn.  

Join our open Q&A with a former Space Shuttle and International Space Station flight controller.  

Saturday, May 22, 2010

10:00a.m.  "Astrobiology - the Science of Life in the Universe" with Dr. Perry Gerakines.  What conditions would require life as we know it on another planet? Given the recent discoveries from the recent missions to Mars, what prospects for life are there on this apparently barren world?  What other parts of the Solar System appear most likely to harbor life? What are the implications of the fact that 300+ planets have been found in other star systems?

12:00p.m.  "Prehistoric Monsters of Alabama" with Jun Ebersole.  Join McWane Science Center's Collection Manager, Jun Ebersole, in a back-of-house tour of the Alabama Collections Center.  From dinosaurs and giant ground sloths to mammoths and fossil toothed whales, see first-hand the many of the prehistoric monsters that once resided in the state of Alabama.

Note:  This panel is limited to 12 participants on a first-come, first-served basis.

2:00p.m.  MOVED to the Rushton Theater: "The ecological impacts of rapid climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula" with Dr. James B. McClintock.  The presentation begins with an overview of the dramatic changes in the physical environment that are taking place along the Antarctic Peninsula that are related to climate warming.  Included are dramatic increases in the rates of glacial recession, increases in major ice sheet breakouts and a reduction in the duration and extent of the the annual sea ice. The presentation then turns to addressing the impacts of these changes on marine life, covering everything from the smallest of plankton to the largest of whales.  The presentation ends with a discussion of a model system that demonstrates it is possible to bring nations together to modify their behaviors to rectify anthropogenically-mediated global changes in climate.

3:00p.m.  "Hubble's Godparents" with Dr. William Keel.  Astronomers have long dreamed of examining the Universe free of the limitations imposed by our atmosphere. The Hubble Space Telescope is the best-known of these space instruments, one which has surpassed is science goals and had a remarkable impact on the public imagination. However, its development stood on the shoulders of a long history of space astronomy, dating back to the use of war-surplus V-2 rockets to study the Sun and going on to include more than 60 satellites and spacecraft, launched by entities around the globe. I trace the development of astronomy from spacecraft, detailing the discoveries, technical advances, and political twists that have gone into opening these new windows to the cosmos. You will hear why air forces were intensely interested in solar X-rays, how the highest X-15 flights had astronomy as mission goals, the race to obtain UV spectra of other stars, what was learned from spectroscopic film recovered from a spacecraft whose occupants were dead, and which satellite's 3-year mission wound up lasting 18.

5:00p.m.  "The Quantum Mechanics of Thought" with Dr. Travis Taylor.  A serious discussion and presentation by Dr. Travis Taylor.  As the title implies, expect it to be very thought provoking.

7:00p.m.  "Hanny's Voorwerp and the Rise of the Digital Amateur Astronomer" with Dr. William Keel.  Dutch schoolteacher Hanny van Arkel made headlines with her discovery of an unprecedented object (possibly traces of a dead quasar) in the course of participating in Galaxy Zoo, a worldwide citizen-science project now involving more than 250,000 people. Revolutions in hardware and networking have enabled hitherto impossible projects, and public participation has advanced accordingly. I will trace some of these developments, with examples from observation, image processing, and human judgment, ending with previews of new and coming programs - Moon Zoo, Merger Zoo, Solar Storm Watch, and Hubble Zoo.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

11:00a.m.  Sharing Science in the 21st Century with Ginger Campbell, M.D.  Until recently people with a passion for science have relied on books, magazines, and occasional TV documentaries. While coverage of science seems to be disappearing from mainstream media the internet is providing exciting new sources of science news.  The use of on-line video, blogging, and podcasting is changing not only the way scientists share their work, but it is also presenting new challenges. Dr. Campbell will consider questions such as Is the internet contributing to the rise of pseudoscience? She will also offer practical tips for scientists (and science lovers) interested in producing on-line science content.