C2ST Speakeasy: “Vandals of the Void: Damaging Meteors from Chelyabinsk to Chicago” with William S. Higgins

March 3, 2015

Geek Bar Beta
1941 West North Avenue, Chicago, IL, USA

Program Series:
Physical Science

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“Vandals of the Void: Damaging Meteors from Chelyabinsk to Chicago” with William S. Higgins

Two years ago, a window-shattering shock wave injured 1400 Russians, and startled the world, as a small asteroid hit Chelyabinsk. Violent meteors are rare, but they can be devastating—and meteors have assaulted Chicagoland at least twice. Join William S. Higgins for a look at the science behind the Chelyabinsk blast. And hear the story of Chicago’s local impacts: one smaller than Chelyabinsk, one MUCH bigger.

Event Details

C2ST Speakeasy will be held on the first Tuesday of each month at Geek Bar Chicago for the foreseeable future.

Speaker

William S. Higgins

William S. Higgins, a volunteer speaker in NASA’s Solar System Ambassador program, speaks and writes about spaceflight, astronomy, and other topics in science and technology. He works as a radiation safety physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, where he is involved in the transport of high-energy particle beams. He plays baritone ukulele, if not skillfully, then with enthusiasm. Long active in Chicago’s science fiction fandom, he researches the history of SF, and often contributes science to SF convention programs. In the past he wrote a monthly science column for the Lerner newspaper chain; recently, he has become an editor for the Vatican Observatory Foundation’s member forum.