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SAN JOSE — In Silicon Valley, science and technology collide every day to create some of the world’s leading innovations. Add a little pop culture and some spectacular costumes and you get Silicon Valley Comic Con, an event where science is king — and where nerds rejoice.
The show kicked off for its third year Friday, and by Saturday morning, dozens of people waited outside the San Jose Convention Center in costumes that paid homage to their favorite heroes and villains.
What sets this event apart from other comic conventions is the emphasis on real science thanks to partnerships with NASA and others, said chairman Trip Hunter, who along with Steve Wozniak, co-founded Silicon Valley Comic Con. The convention also attracts big names in science and technology to San Jose for the three day celebration that ends Sunday. That makes a lot of sense for a Silicon Valley audience for whom scientists and engineers really are the superheroes.
Alyssa and Paul Frampton traveled from Reno to attend “con,” for the third straight year. The couple played Pokémon Go — a popular free-to-play mobile game — as they waited for doors to open Saturday, madly tapping their smart phones as they looked to capture and battle the virtual little creatures known as Pokémon.
“We like the blend of science and technology that they do with all the regular comic con stuff,” said Paul Frampton, 32, about the Silicon Valley show. They were particularly interested in seeing Dr. Michio Kaku — an American theoretical physicist, futurist and best-selling author — who was to deliver a speech on the future of humanity.
“We like being with similar-minded people,” said Alyssa Frampton, 28, an administrative assistant. “It’s so fun being around people that you can nerd out with. That’s the best part.”
Did someone say nerd out? That’s exactly what friends Jalene Lu and Elizabeth Boyvodich, both visual effects artists, like best about comic con exhibitions.
“The science and technology is definitely a plus,” said Lu, 22. “It’s always cool to see what’s new, what’s interesting and what’s going to pop up.”
In keeping with the show’s unique emphasis on science, physician and shuttle astronaut Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, delivered Saturday morning’s keynote address. Jemison said her journey into space actually started as a young girl.
“It began with looking up at the sky and finally realizing I was going to go there,” she said. “I assumed I would go into space. I didn’t care whether there had been any people up there ever at all or whether not I would be the first one up there. It didn’t matter.”
“And I didn’t worry about whether or not there had been any women up in space,” she added. “I just knew that I had the right and I had the ability to go there.”
In recent years, Jemison’s work has focused on paving the way for human interstellar travel, meaning travel between stars or planetary systems. Jemison is leading the 100 Year Starship, a global initiative funded by NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Its goal is to lay the groundwork for human travel to another star in the next 100 years.
Most importantly, Jemison said, interstellar travel should include people of all backgrounds.
“What I believe my responsibility is, is to make sure other people have a path to get involved in any way that they can contribute,” she said.
“We can’t just have things that work for a small group of people — they have to work for many different people.”
