The telescope dome has now been finished: electrics installed, and the base of the wall sealed. And so, we have now been able to install the telescope itself.
 |
| telescope bolted to plinth |
Now we just have to wait for a clear night to calibrate it (tell it where the north pole is), and then more clear nights for observing.
I arrived in Copenhagen today for the Artificial Life conference. A short flight from Stansted, then an easy metro trip to the hotel, which is close to the conference venue. Everything is new, clean, and quite green:
 |
| view from my hotel window |
The room itself is interesting. It has a bathroom, kitchenette, oodles of storage space, a small dining table, and a sofa. But ... no bed?
 |
| dining table and sofa -- but where's the bed? |
The clue is in the black zigzag line. A little investigation, and manipulation, revealed:
 |
| hmm |
Well, that's a first. Let's see how I cope ascending, and, more importantly, descending...
 |
Today was the workshop excursion. It has been hot here all week so far up high in Erice, so I was not looking forward to an even hotter time down at sea level. Then there was an Italian Severe Weather Warning alert. Hmm. So colleagues and I decided to spend the time talking shop in a nice café instead. It was the right decision: apparently, a temperature of 42 degrees was recorded by the excursion bus!
Later, some of us went wandering to find a different restaurant for our evening meal, and ended exploring some of the picturesque backstreets.
 |
| narrow, and hot |
 |
| steep and narrow, and hot |
The workshop has been just as good as last time. Final day tomorrow, with more great talks and discussions scheduled.
And a third one is planned for 2026.
I'm back in Erice for the second Workshop on Unconventional computing; the first was in 2022. I'm staying in a different building this time, with a lovely view over a courtyard.
Last time I was here it was October, and nice weather. Now it is July. And a lot hotter: due to be 30 degrees plus all week. But the buildings are designed for it: very thick stone walls.
There's a welcome reception this evening, then the workshop starts at 9am tomorrow (Sunday!) At least I should get more sleep than last time, having arrived mid-afternoon rather than at 3am.
