At the World Science Fiction Convention, held this year in Glasgow, there will be much more to do than watch old TV shows. As well as a chance to meet our Guests of Honour, Samuel Delany and Gerry Anderson, wander round the Dealers' Room and Art Show, watch the film and video programme, and talk to 5000 science fiction authors and fans alike from around the world, there is the opportunity to hear about the science behind the fiction.
With the theme of Time and Space, the science programme will have talks on the physics of time travel, workshops on building interstellar starships, and terraforming other worlds. The discussion will range from the practicalities of preventing asteroid impacts to whether the legal system can keep pace with ever-changing technology. From speculation about 10,100,1000 years in the future to what if the Scots had won the battle of Culloden. Whatever happened to the technophilia of Thunderbirds, and why was Scottie Scottish?
A First Contact simulation running through the weekend will complement an exhibition of the Coti Mundi project, the most complex alien planetary ecosphere yet devised. With parties late into the night, there will be plenty of opportunity of discussing the possibilities of brewing and distilling in space!