Belated birthday and physics of science fiction this Saturday!

"Rocket Cake" from 2017

Meet us in Kansas City for KaCSFFS!
Date: September 15, 2018
Time: 6:00 p.m. setup, 7:00 Program starts, 9:30 close down.
Location: 3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111
Food theme: Decorated birthday cakes
Program: Prof. Mark Brodwin on the Physics of Science Fiction

Calling all cake-decorators!

"Full of Stars" Cake from 2017

Our 47th birthday as an organization was in July, but the meeting had to be held a week early that month. We decided to postpone our birthday celebration till September, but now it's time to party! 

Let us eat cake!

And yes, there will be a contest. Who will decorate their cake with the most crowd-pleasing sfnal or fantasy theme for Number 47? We'll take pictures of decorated entries and post them, but only ONE can rule the night! Will it be your design?

We welcome NASA-recognized astronomer & TEDx Talk alumnus Mark Brodwin

Prof. Brodwin was interviewed about the 2017 total eclipse
by KMBC Channel Nine News last year.

We're honored to welcome UMKC Professor Mark Brodwin, to join us as our program speaker He'll speak about the Physics of Science Fiction, a topic he teaches in more depth as a class. His other teaching areas include Introduction to Astronomy Laboratory, Observational Cosmology, and Practical Astronomy.

Prof. Brodwin is a recognized expert on massive, rare galaxy clusters. His UMKC Galaxy Evolution Group won a NASA Group Achievement Award from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California in 2016, and continues to conduct research today.

MaDCoWS cluster MOO J1014+0038
(Brodwin et al. 2015)

Brodwin and his group study "most-massive collapsed systems both as unique astrophysical objects, which permit the study of galaxy formation and evolution in extreme environments, and also as cosmological probes of the growth of large scale structure," according to his biography from UMKC.

His TEDx Talk from 2015 is titled "A new paradigm for cosmology in the 21st Century," still available on YouTube. It's less than 20 minutes long, and offers an illustrated overview that many of our astronomy-minded readers probably will find fascinating.

IMAGES: The cake photos from July 2017 are both by Jan S. Gephardt. They were taken for the purpose of KaCSFFS publicity, and are used with permission. The photo of Professor Brodwin is originally from KMBC Channel Nine News, but it's no longer available from KMBC. This file was provided by the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences. The photo of MaDCoWS cluster MOO J1014+0038 (yes, astronomers apparently have a sense of humor) is courtesy of the UMKC Galaxy Evolution Group. Many thanks to all!