I’ll be appearing at “Sasquan,” the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, Washington, August 19-23.

Anatomy of a Pandemic

Thursday 13:00 – 13:45, 300B (CC)

Pandemics make frequent appearances in SF. But are what we read in books or see on the screen anything like real pandemics? The world just experienced the Ebola pandemic. The panel will discuss how real pandemics are likely to play out, and how that compares with their depiction in fiction.

Sam Scheiner (M), Dominick D’Aunno, M.D., Gregory Gadow, Perrianne Lurie

Space Medicine

Thursday 21:00 – 21:45, Conference Theater 110 (CC)

Beyond low gravity (check “Adapting the Human Body for Low Gravity” on Friday afternoon), what are some of the other issues astronauts and future space colonists need to plan for to stay healthy in space?  Will we take special meds to just ride a stationary bike for millions of miles?  What about the impact of radiation?  Eating pre-packaged foods for years at a time?  What are some of the unique problems of practicing medicine in space?

Dominick D’Aunno, M.D., Nick Kanas, M.D.

Adapting the Human Body for Low Gravity

Friday 14:00 – 14:45, 300C (CC)

One of the big challenges facing human habitation of space is life in low gravity. Humans evolved in a 1-G field and can have serious health problems in prolonged low gravity. The panel will discuss what we know about life in low gravity, what can be done to make that life safe, and what we still need discover.

Nick Kanas, M.D. (M), Dominick D’Aunno, M.D., Madeleine Geraghty, Pat Cadigan