Workshops
	SUUSI Weather Forecast: a Heart!

This year I gave six workshops and other activities. I had asked to give three of them, but I got the idea of telling something about a craze that has hit the world as of late - Sudoku. I was requested to help with Stargazing, and I exhibited my polyhedra and other stuff at Sundance on Thursday. Here are the workshops:

1. 224 Mathematics and Religion Limit 20

Much has been written about the relationship between concrete science and abstract religion. This workshop will explore the relationships that the two abstract disciplines of mathematics and religion have with each other, including infinity, concepts and paradoxes of God, Newcomb’s paradox, analogies of religion with areas of mathematics and stories of some mathematicians who ventured into religion.

Recommended reading: Infinity and the Mind by Rudy Rucker, The Mystery of the Aleph by Amir D. Aczel, What Number is God? by Rev. Sarah Voss.

This workshop went well, with the most interesting discussion being about Newcomb's Paradox and about Gödel's proof that there is a God; he defined God as being that being which has all "positive" properties.

2. 234 Stories of the Sky Limit 20

The night sky has been a source of inspiration for the telling of stories. This workshop will feature stories not only from Greek and Roman mythology, but also from Native American, Australian aborigine, Chinese and Japanese mythology and will tell what these stories mean not only about the stars but about ourselves.

The myths were well-received. I included some new ones including a Brazilian myth of creation.

3. 246 Weaving Paper Polyhedra Limit 14

Decorate your Christmas tree with attractive polyhedron models woven from construction paper without tape, paste, or staples. These models include cubes, dodecahedra and models with fivepointed stars. Weave them like you would weave a basket. It is fun to do and the resulting solid makes an attractive decoration.

Only 6 showed up but they had an opportunity to make some of the models that I displayed later in the week in Sundance. The new pattern seemed to work OK, although there was some confusion about it at first. Next year, I will bring in more designs, including the PhiZZ design, and rename the workshop Polyhedra Origami.

4. Sudoku.

Only one person signed up for this one, but I feel there is some interest in this number game, as it has been such a fad that it is now a daily feature in the newspaper. Next year I will give a full workshop on this game, including history, how to solve it, and variations.

5. Polyhedra Sundance

I exhibited some of my polyhedra and Sudoku puzzles at Sundance this year on Thursday afternoon. The Sudoku puzzles quickly vanished, and people showed an interest in the polyhedra.

6. Stargazing

This is a nature trip in which we go out to a dark sky site and see the stars. This year I brought my 8-inch Celestron NexStar telescope and gave those attending a chance to see Jupiter's moons. It was hard to get to and I was afraid we would get stuck. But it was a really dark site. I saw Scorpius like I never saw it before. Along with a coleader named Maia (a name that appears in the Pleiades star cluster), we showed the people the constellations in the dark, moonless sky. Unfortunately, next year we will not see such a dark sky - a gibbous moon will be up. But Jupiter will still be good to see.

Also I note, as in the picture to the right above, that the Global Forecasting System exactly one week before SUUSI 2006 began, predicted that one week later the weather situation would be like the picture. It has a heart centered right on SUUSI! This should have brought lovely weather, and while it was one of the sunniest SUUSIs I have been to, it was also hot at times. The heart did designate a region where the upper atmosphere would be 20 degrees Celsius, and so the lower atmosphere would be 30 degrees or more, and at times it was.