Normally I’d be passing off the Quickies today as I would be in Atlanta, Georgia, for the annual DragonCon, a fan-run 80,000+ person mega-geek event. However… 2020 is doing its 2020 thing, and jamming tens of thousands of sweaty people together in five hotels is just not a good idea. So, DragonCon has gone virtual!
In the FIRST episode of the Skepchick Podcast, Rebecca, Maria, and I reminisce our previous years at DCon while highlighting what’s coming for this weekend’s virtual event. Virtual DragonCon is streaming FREE for everyone, but for $10, you can buy the streaming pass that let’s you re-watch it all year long. I’m particularly excited about that because as an attending pro, I normally DON’T have the option to do that.
I’d especially encourage you to check out the Science Track, which features panels including many of your favorite Skepchick Network writers such as Emily Finke, Ryan Consell, Jim Tigwell, Raychelle Burks, Celia Yost, and yours truly. I’ll also be doing some programming with the Space Track!
With that in mind, let’s do a totally science-themed Quickies to get you ready…
- How did human butts evolve the way they do? A crucial bit of science shared in the Science Track Discord by Torrey
- A black hole merger detected with gravitational waves leaves behind an elusive intermediate mass black hole. We know about black holes that weigh as much as a few stars, and others that are millions or billions of times the mass of that, but there has long been a gap in between those.
- A new 50-meter funnel blasts open in northern Siberia likely from methane gas build up under a melting permafrost. Scientists are excited to study the phenomenon, which was first studied in 2014. h/t catherwood on the Skepchick Discord
- Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, aka SACNAS, is hosting a virtual National Diversity in STEM Conference in October. This is another one of those great opportunities to go to a conference I’ve always been interested in! Get a sneak peek of the conference on Twitter and use the code SEEYOU@SACNAS to get $30 off registration.
And, as always for Friday, here is your round-up of cute and cool animals, submitted by Muscadine on the Skepchick Discord:
- Wolverines are back at Mt. Rainier! I can never get over how adorable and cute these are given that the superhero that is named after them is such a gruff badass. I mean, they are cute AND badass.
- Check out yet more fantastic wildlife photography, this time from the Natural History Museum in the UK.
- BABY RHINO ZOOMIES!!!
