[AANC Contacts] SETIcon

[Alan Gould]

Posted for Edna DeVore:

You are invited to SETICon: August 13-15, 2010
Santa Clara Convention Center & Hyatt Hotel
http://www.seticon.com/

In collaboration with the SETI Institute, the Bay Area Earth Science 
Institute at San Jose State University will offer credit for teachers 
who attend SETICon, August 14-15. Attendance requires conference 
registration ($35 per person) with tuition paid separately to SJSU. 
Note that there are optional Friday evening events for additional 
fees, but that credit is awarded for attending Saturday and Sunday. 
Dr. Ellen Metzger is the professor of record.

Registration information at "Tickets:" http://www.seticon.com/ 

Be sure to enter "BAESI: I am a teacher requesting credit." in the 
"How did you hear about SETICon" box at the bottom of the page.

What is SETICon? SETICon is a public conference that focuses the 
search for life in the universe. The SETI Institute is very fortunate 
to have so many people world wide supporting our mission to explore, 
understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in 
the Universe.  It is through this support that the SETI Institute is 
able to succeed. To show our appreciation and to create an 
opportunity for the public to interact with our team, we are hosting 
an event that will be both educational and fun.  SETIcon will be a 
family friendly event that will appeal to everyone from the hard core 
scientist, educator or enthusiast who wants to know the nitty-gritty 
of how science really works, to the 5th grader interested in the 
wonders of space.

To accommodate this, we will have four simultaneous sets of programs:

* main programming panels that will include scientists, astronauts, and actors,
* hard core science talks and panels similar to paper or poster 
presentations at a scientific conference,
* an education panel/talk track interspersed with hands-on activities 
for young people and
* a series of individual speakers in Q&A sessions, with no set talk 
but fielding questions from their audience.

It is an exciting time.  This year brings the 50th anniversary of 
SETI research, the 25th anniversary of the SETI Institute, and much 
growing momentum in the scientific community about the likelihood of 
life beyond Earth.  The public excitement is building as NASA's 
Kepler mission brings the world a greater understanding of planets 
circling other stars.  Dr. Simon "Pete" Worden, astronomer and 
Director of NASA Ames Research Center, was recently quoted in the 
press: "The fundamental question is: Are we alone? For the first 
time, there's an optimism that sometime in our lifetimes we're going 
to get to the bottom of that.  If I were a betting man, which I am, I 
would bet we're not alone - there is a lot of life." There will be a 
party and a banquet and a few surprises that will make this event 
entertaining for people of all ages.

SETIcon blasts off August 13, 2010 and we hope to see you there!