Etech stands for Emerging Technology, and every year tech publisher O'Reilly brings together an amazing and startling collection of speakers who represent the cutting edge of science and tech innovation. Even explosion innovation: Chemistry researcher Christa Hockensmith will be visiting from New Mexico Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (AKA the Explosion Lab) to talk about the latest breakthroughs in explosion science. There will also be talks from synthetic biologist Drew Endy, game theorist Jane McGonigal, scifi author Maureen McHugh, hacker David Molnar, and io9 co-conspirator Lisa Katayama.

I was on the programming committee for Etech this year, which is partly why I'm pimping it: I've looked over all the talks and after-hours goodies and I know it's going to be a rip-roaring geek time. io9 readers get a special 10% discount off the cost of the conference if you use this special code: et09io9. And if you can't afford the cost of the conference, there are evening events that are open to the public.

Hope to see you at Etech, and if you can't make it, I'll write about some of it here so you can get the scoop.

Etech Conference

Image by Paul Shambroom.

If you want to come, now's the time to sign up - early (cheaper) tickets just went on sale, and io9 readers get an additional 10 percent off if you use the code et09io9 when you register. If you don't want to pay for all-day participation, you can still get in free to the expo floor, where a lot of cool demonstrations happen and everybody hangs out in full geek mode. Hope to see some of you there!

You can register here.

Here's the official call:

O’Reilly ETech Conference 2009 Call for Participation is now open.
Submit your proposal by September 17, 2008

The 2009 O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference will focus on exploring the emerging trends in the technologies that affect our everyday lives, including:

* City Tech: Our cities are growing, getting bigger faster than ever before. People are rushing to them in search of economic and social opportunity—jobs, urban living, and access to culture. How can technology help us create livable, prosperous, sustainable cities? What should mass transit look like? How can we infuse urban infrastructure with sustainability? How are cities using citizens’ data to become smarter? What can economics tell us about the way urban populations will change and behave?
* Materials & Mechanics: Mechanics and materials develop hand-in-hand. The creation of a new, lighter metal enables iPhones and Mars Explorers. We’ll examine the latest in mechanics and the materials that enable new developments. What mechanisms will be possible? How will the coming age of materials change our clothes, our products, and our everyday lives? Can they be made the cradle2cradle way or will we simply be clogging our landfills with ingenious, meticulously crafted waste?
* Personalized Healthcare: Medical technology is something that almost everyone comes to rely on, whether it’s hopeful, preventive care in the form of Reseveratol, or a new limb. In no other area does the industrialized world have more of an advantage. What legal framework for personal genomics balances innovation and appropriate medical caution? How is medicine changing? How is healthcare changing across the world? Many resources are focused on anti-aging technology and drugs—is this the right direction?
* Mobile & The Web: The next billion people will come to the Web via connected mobile devices. Currently, many of these devices are humble dumb clients, but the iPhone, Google, and Nokia are bringing smarter clients to the masses with open platforms. How will these mini-computers change our lives? How will these jumbo-sized sensors benefit us? Will we be able to use the third screen to view an augmented world? What data will be collected and who will have access to it? Is the Web ready for the Next Billion? What will their web apps look like?
* Geek Family: Digital native mothers and fathers are starting their own families. How is that changing home technology? Education technology? What does the future geek home look like and how does it function?
* Synthetic Biology: We can’t cover the reinvention of living without looking at the new definition of life. Synthetic biology, first pioneered in the 1970s, is becoming a factor in the development of new materials, medicines, environmental cleansing, and energy. How will this technology impact our lives? How can we be a part of it? What will bring it into the hands of the wider public?

But ETech isn’t just about “haves” and “have-nots.” Some people choose to live with constraints within the abundant world. What trends and innovations are emerging?

* Nomadism & Shedworking: As cities and their suburbs rapidly increase their footprint, there are some who reject the crowded living conditions, but take advantage of the connectedness. They adopt a high-tech lifestyle within the constraints of a smaller space or take their posessions and their bits with them on the road, to the farthest reaches of the globe. How do they do this and what can we learn from them?
* Sustainable Life: The American lifestyle is unsustainable. How do we move to one-Earth economy? What are Europeans doing? Will Dubai be the trendsetter with its newest sustainable city? How will a renewed interest in environmental design affect us? Last year’s keynoter Alex Steffen posited that it would be technology driving the change, not a restriction of habits or an energy diet. Right now the abundant world is being changed by rising oil and medical costs, forcing change. What technology will break through?
* Life Hacking & Information Overload: We are bombarded with too much information, but at least some of it is relevant. What are the tools that we can use to process it? How can we identify the subset we actually care about? How do we identify the necessary bits of information that makes us more productive? Can we use cognitive science to help us deal with modern day living? What does neuroscience tell us about our brains and how we should handle learning and processing? Will ubicomp be able to help us stave off the overload or will it hasten our doom?

For more information, visit the Etech site.