Science and Technology Meeting
Events
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Glass
Glass is one of the oldest materials used by man, and also one of the most attractive modern materials used by artists. Glass is variously chosen for its transparency, strength,[...]
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mRNA: One-hit Wonder or the Ultimate Magic Bullet?
by Peter Colley (Lytham St Annes u3a) Messenger RNA (mRNA) was pivotal to the rapid development and rollout of the Covid vaccine, which has now, thankfully, brought the pandemic to[...]
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Robot Factories in Space?
The technologies needed are already coming together. Funded by NASA and led by Spacex and Axiomspace, the big corporations are investing huge amounts on research, and literally hundreds of small[...]
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Heartburn and its Treatment – the Science and the History
by Mike Trevethick (Thanet u3a) Ever since the Greek physician Diocles of Carystos (c. 350 BC) first described a ‘melancholic gassy illness’, characterised by ‘sour eruptions’ and ‘watery spitting’, the[...]
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Secrets of the Human Brain
Some years ago, the celebrated American physicist and science writer Michio Kaku famously remarked that “The human brain has 100 billion neurons, each connected to 10,000 other neurons… sitting on[...]
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Out of Africa: The recent emergence of homo sapiens from East Africa, and the complex story of the hominids that preceded us
In this fascinating talk, Robin Clegg of Swindon u3a will present a broad-brush overview of the human story over the last million years, including how successive migrations were influenced by[...]
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The Ig Nobel Prizes 2023
For over a century, the ultimate recognition of ground-breaking scientific research has been the award of a Nobel Prize. But there's another series of annual awards, less prestigious but no[...]
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Hydroelectric, Tidal and Wave Power
by Ian Hawker (East Suffolk u3a). Hydroelectric, tidal, and wave power are all forms of renewable energy that harness the power of moving water to generate electricity. Hydroelectric systems extract[...]
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Human Colonisation of Space: The past, present and future
Once only the stuff of science-fiction, recent advances in technology – and our concerns about the long-term habitability of Planet Earth – have made the colonisation of space not just[...]
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My Adventures in DNA Testing… and what I found out!
Ever thought of getting your DNA tested (or maybe your pet's)? How do you go about it? What can you learn? What do you need to consider before going ahead[...]
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Leaps of Faith: The bizarre history of self-experimentation
Think about self-experimentation, and it probably conjures up an image like this... Robert Louis Stevenson's classic yarn of the mad doctor and his evil alter ego. But just occasionally, truth[...]
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Unravelling the Three-Dimensional Structure of Proteins
These large, complex molecules are involved in almost every function of living cells, yet, until very recently, their spatial configurations – the key to their versatility – had been resolved[...]