LavaCon 2026 and the future.

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LavaCon is a conference now going on 25 years. Its always fun at conferences where folks collaborate on what the future holds. This year I drove to Charlotte NC from Duluth GA to attend. I used the Tesla in Full Self Drive. I went park-to-park without touching the wheel for over 200 miles. It's crazy. I don't think most people understand how well it works. Lots of nay-sayers still, but it really does work. Be on guard, but enjoy. I spent some of my time "driving" while conversing with Grok as part of my daydreaming. I was discussing with Grok an idea I have of building a West system (cold molded) old style barrel-back runabout maybe 20 feet long- all varnished Mahogony. Of course this boat would have an exotic 12-cylinder engine under a transparent engine hatch between the twin cockpits. We discussed the designs, available actual study plans and pre-lofted design documents for the hull. We also discussed the best engine (perhaps a BMW N73) coupled with a Velvet Dri...

Ice Cube was interesting. It was about a mile walk over to the Ice Cube Lab. I walked off the trail straight across the sastrugi right towards the geographic pole which was fun. I went to bed early on my Saturday night and got up early on my Sunday morning. Today is theoretically my day off. I am currently in the shop and I just downloaded some schematics so I can get some equipment repaired. Later today I will be going out to the RF building. Since there are no flights (except for a single twin otter for expiditioners) scheduled for today that reduces the risks of serious comms problems. We have a satelite tech who gets to worry about the satellites.

These pics are me with a DOM http://www.icecube.wisc.edu/info/how/dom.php and an extreme close up of the pole at the pole. I wandered around in the tunnels last night. It is a spooky place. Access is good. Nothing is locked at pole. Not even your room is locked. Not that a lot of our stuff at McMurdo is locked, but even compared to McMurdo there is nothing locked here.

I am supposed to head back to McMurdo tomorrow. I believe I am leaving the shop in better shape than I found it a week ago. I am soo much better after having a week to adjust to the incredible dryness and altitude change. I can still get winded running up two flights of stairs but I am now sleeping well and feel normal.

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LavaCon 2026 and the future.