{"id":24738,"date":"2019-05-17T08:53:49","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T12:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=24738"},"modified":"2019-05-17T09:02:05","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T13:02:05","slug":"arecibo-debuts-new-mascot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/arecibo-debuts-new-mascot\/","title":{"rendered":"Arecibo Observatory Debuts New Mascot at Puerto Rico’s Comic Con"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

The Bionic Kid comic, created by a Limbitless arm recipient, 10-year-old Zachary Pamboukas, will be at Orlando’s MegaCon this weekend. (Photo courtesy of Limbitless Solutions)<\/p><\/div>\n

BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA<\/p>\n

The University of Central Florida is storming the comic con world this week by participating in MegaCon Orlando and Puerto Rico Comic Con.<\/p>\n

Both events are geared for fans of science fiction, fantasy, anime and horror. They draw thousands of attendees who attend celebrity panels, shop for their favorite novelties, comics and collectables, and dress up in cosplay (costumes of their favorite characters.) MegaCon Orlando bills itself as the southeast\u2019s largest fan convention. More than 100,000 people are expected during the May 16-19 event. Puerto Rico Comic Con is the premier convention for the Caribbean, drawing similar numbers May 17-19 in San Juan.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/UCF\/status\/1129058426468933632<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Mr. Spock\u2019 on Science and Science Fiction<\/h2>\n

UCF physics\u00a0Professor Josh Colwell<\/a>\u00a0has worked on\u00a0multiple NASA missions<\/a>\u00a0and conducts research into the origins of the solar system. He also teaches introductory and advanced physics classes, where he\u2019s learned the value of making science fun as a method to teach and spark the imagination. Colwell is also a big sci-fi fan, which is why he\u2019ll be channeling Spock, the\u00a0Star Trek<\/em>icon, when he visits MegaCon on Friday.<\/p>\n

Dressed in cosplay, Colwell will engage attendees and ask them to ponder the connection between their favorite science fiction show and real science. He\u2019ll share what we do at UCF that is relevant to Marvel, Star Wars and other universes and tell us how close or how far we are from turning science fiction into reality.<\/p>\n

Colwell says he will be looking for UCF students, so if you spot him, introduce yourself, tell him about your cosplay and be part of the action. Highlights of the visit will be shared on UCF\u2019s social media channels next week.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Limbitless\u2019 new arm sleeve design, inspired by Halo (Photo courtesy of Limbitless Solutions)<\/p><\/div>\n

Prosthetics, Gaming and Comic Books<\/h2>\n

UCF-based\u00a0Limbitless Solutions<\/a>, which creates uniquely designed prosthetic arms for children, will have a booth at MegaCon. The team will unveil a new prosthetic arm sleeve themed around the Halo 2 video game character Arbiter. The sleek design was completed in collaboration with 343 Industries, the developer of the blockbuster Halo series.<\/p>\n

The booth will also house demonstrations of the video training games Limbitless developed in collaboration with the\u00a0School of Visual Arts and Design<\/a>\u00a0at UCF. The games help new and future recipients of the arms, who belong to the Limbitless\u2019 Bionic Kids family, train and strengthen their muscles.<\/p>\n

One arm recipient, 10-year-old Zachary Pamboukas, created\u00a0The Bionic Kid<\/em>\u00a0comic book series to help generate money for Limbitless. Zachary says he didn\u2019t have money of his own to donate, so he designed the comic book with the help of his older brother and parents as a way to pay it forward. The Washington state native will be at the Limbitless booth this weekend selling his comics. Zachary will be signing his comics, which cost $20 each, for attendees. If you can\u2019t make the convention, a digital version of the comic book is available on Amazon.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Arecibo Observatory, which is managed by UCF, will debut its comic book series at the Puerto Rico Comic Con, which draws thousands of attendees every year.<\/p><\/div>\n

Arecibo Observatory\u2019s New Mascot, Comic Book<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, 1,189 miles away, the creative team from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will staff its own booth during the Puerto Rico Comic Con. The observatory is unveiling its own comic book series,\u00a0Data Dreams<\/em>, which follows the adventures of the facility\u2019s new mascot, Greg.<\/p>\n

UCF manages the\u00a0National Science Foundation<\/a>-supported facility under a cooperative agreement with\u00a0Universidad Ana G. M\u00e9ndez<\/a>\u00a0and Yang Enterprises Inc.<\/p>\n

The comic book series and the mascot were created to raise awareness about the importance of space science and the impact it has on Earth by engaging young audiences and making science fun to understand. William Gonzalez Sierra, a graphic designer at Arecibo, developed Greg and the comic book.<\/p>\n

Part of the observatory\u2019s mission is to help educate the general public about space science and to ignite a spark among youth to pursue STEM-related careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to debut Greg in a unique way,\u201d says Francisco C\u00f3rdova, the director of Arecibo. \u201cComic Con was a good, creative fit and we\u2019re grateful for the collaboration that will bring Greg to a wider audience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The University of Central Florida is storming the comic con world this week by participating in MegaCon Orlando and Puerto Rico Comic Con. Both events are geared for fans of science fiction, fantasy, anime and horror. They draw thousands of attendees who attend celebrity panels, shop for their favorite novelties, comics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":24740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,15,5377,27,28,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physics-departments","category-planetary-sciences","category-research","category-stem","category-top-news","category-ucf-news"],"yoast_head":"\nArecibo Observatory Debuts New Mascot at Puerto Rico's Comic Con - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The observatory is unveiling its own comic book series,\u00a0Data Dreams, which follows the adventures of the facility\u2019s new mascot, Greg.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/arecibo-debuts-new-mascot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arecibo Observatory Debuts New Mascot at Puerto Rico's Comic Con - 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