Science fiction wasn?t the only thing on the minds of fans gathered at Balticon 40, Baltimore?s science-fiction festival at the Baltimore Marriott Hunt Valley Inn this weekend. Hard science seemed to draw some of the biggest crowds.
NASA Goddard physicist David Batchelor told a packed room that building a starship that could exceed the speed of light, like “Star Trek?s” famous Enterprise, was pretty much out of the question.
Batchelor explained that the best way to take an excursion to a nearby star like Alpha Centauri using existing technology was to blow up a nuclear bomb and hold on.
“People that studied the problem recommended painkillers for the crew,” he said.
Mixed in with the science was a diverse collection of vendors selling gaming dice, Klingon swords, magic robes and, of course, books.
For those looking for inspiration, anthropologist Terri Lee Edwards-Hewitt and a Cherokee storyteller, the Rev. Amy Paul, took part in a lively discussion on the Trickster, a mythological character that takes the form of coyote or a spider. Hewitt explained that the Trickster, who is usually clever and cunning, appears in many popular science-fiction novels.
Balticon also featured a gaming room, where fans could join in an intense round of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons or play a hand of the popular card game Magic. The video game suite ? where dozens of young but intense gamers checked out the latest and hottest new titles for the X-box 360 ? was also packed.
Lee Alexander, 26, dressed as Tira, her favorite character from the video game Soul Caliber III, said the convention gave her the opportunity to stay young. “I don?t really want to grow up,” Alexander said.
