Wired Mag: 10 Best Geek Gatherings in North America
1. Rocket Racing League Inaugural Event
Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 21-22
Think Nascar - but 5,000 feet off the ground and with rocket engines. The new racing series, from the founders of the X Prize, has pilots navigating GPS-created aerial routes at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour.
Las Cruces is a place we are considering for retirement - this just bumped it up a notch...
2. World Championship Punkin Chunkin
Millsboro, Delaware, November 3-5
Every year, 45,000 spectators gather to watch competitors hurl pumpkins for distance. Categories include air cannon, trebuchet, centrifugal toss, and catapult. The longest shots travel a gourd-splattering mile.
3. LDRS 25
Amarillo, Texas, June 29-July 4
LDRS - short for Large Dangerous Rocket Ships - celebrates its silver anniversary. Keep your eyes on the skies (and be prepared to take cover) as amateur rocket builders launch hundreds of massive, high-powered, extremely volatile model missiles.
4. Trinity Site, White Sands Missile Range
White Sands, New Mexico, April 1 and October 7
Twice a year (the first Saturdays in April and October) the US government opens the birthplace of the atomic bomb to visitors. Slip deep into the secure confines of a missile range to see where the end began.
New Mexico is cool - we drove past this site not too long ago, and also Los Alamos Labs...
5. The Montreal International Fireworks Competition
Montreal, Quebec, June and July
Join nearly 3 million fireworks enthusiasts at Canada's premier pyrotechnics contest. Ten of the world's greatest explosion makers will compete in the ultimate show of decorative blasts set to music.
6. Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House
Pasadena, California, May 20-21
Chat up JPL scientists and engineers at Nasa's party for the public - the only time the masses are let inside the gates.
7. The 58th Annual Speed Week
Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, August 12-18
The most daring drivers on earth get together and go really, really fast. Tricked-out Toyota Priuses hit 130 miles per hour, and far-less-sensible vehicles travel more than three times that speed.
8. RoboGames
San Francisco, California, June 16-18
Robots get ready to rumble in a heavy-on-the-metal smorgasbord of competitions, including robo combat, robot soccer, and art bots.
9. Defcon 14
Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, August 4-6
Defcon continues to be the largest noncommercial celebration of hackers, programmers, and other digital cognoscenti. As Linus Torvalds once said, "Software is like sex; it's better when it's free."
10. Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race
Baltimore, Maryland, May 6
Monster Garage meets MoMA in a 15-mile race of half-machine, half-art contraptions that slog through mud, sand, and water. Pimp my ride, Pablo.
Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 21-22
Think Nascar - but 5,000 feet off the ground and with rocket engines. The new racing series, from the founders of the X Prize, has pilots navigating GPS-created aerial routes at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour.
Las Cruces is a place we are considering for retirement - this just bumped it up a notch...
2. World Championship Punkin Chunkin
Millsboro, Delaware, November 3-5
Every year, 45,000 spectators gather to watch competitors hurl pumpkins for distance. Categories include air cannon, trebuchet, centrifugal toss, and catapult. The longest shots travel a gourd-splattering mile.
3. LDRS 25
Amarillo, Texas, June 29-July 4
LDRS - short for Large Dangerous Rocket Ships - celebrates its silver anniversary. Keep your eyes on the skies (and be prepared to take cover) as amateur rocket builders launch hundreds of massive, high-powered, extremely volatile model missiles.
4. Trinity Site, White Sands Missile Range
White Sands, New Mexico, April 1 and October 7
Twice a year (the first Saturdays in April and October) the US government opens the birthplace of the atomic bomb to visitors. Slip deep into the secure confines of a missile range to see where the end began.
New Mexico is cool - we drove past this site not too long ago, and also Los Alamos Labs...
5. The Montreal International Fireworks Competition
Montreal, Quebec, June and July
Join nearly 3 million fireworks enthusiasts at Canada's premier pyrotechnics contest. Ten of the world's greatest explosion makers will compete in the ultimate show of decorative blasts set to music.
6. Jet Propulsion Laboratory Open House
Pasadena, California, May 20-21
Chat up JPL scientists and engineers at Nasa's party for the public - the only time the masses are let inside the gates.
7. The 58th Annual Speed Week
Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, August 12-18
The most daring drivers on earth get together and go really, really fast. Tricked-out Toyota Priuses hit 130 miles per hour, and far-less-sensible vehicles travel more than three times that speed.
8. RoboGames
San Francisco, California, June 16-18
Robots get ready to rumble in a heavy-on-the-metal smorgasbord of competitions, including robo combat, robot soccer, and art bots.
9. Defcon 14
Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, August 4-6
Defcon continues to be the largest noncommercial celebration of hackers, programmers, and other digital cognoscenti. As Linus Torvalds once said, "Software is like sex; it's better when it's free."
10. Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race
Baltimore, Maryland, May 6
Monster Garage meets MoMA in a 15-mile race of half-machine, half-art contraptions that slog through mud, sand, and water. Pimp my ride, Pablo.
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