The July talk is cancelled and we hope to reschedule for March 2021

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Mark Kirkbride, Member on the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM)

7.30pm £3pp on the door

Since the late 1940’s the UK has been involved in nuclear science and engineering, with the creation of waste being an integral part of that industry.  There has been significant focus upon long-term storage and disposal of this nuclear waste inventory.  The talk will seek to explain the types of nuclear waste, historical background and work towards the development of a deep geological disposal facility in the UK for disposal of nuclear waste.

We will back in September on Monday 21st

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Prof Daniel Thomas, Professor of Astrophysics, Portsmouth University

September 21st 2020, 7.30pm £3 pp on the door

​Einstein’s most famous legacy is his theory of gravity. As this theory did not allow for a static Universe, Einstein introduced an additional, arbitrary term in his field equations, the so-called cosmological constant. He called this the ‘biggest blunder of his life’, after Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe is actually expanding. But Einstein might have been right after all. The cosmological constant has recently been re-introduced as so-called Dark Energy after observations indicated that not only is the Universe expanding, its expansion is even accelerating. However, there is another problem. The dynamics of galaxies demand the existence of yet another mysterious substance: Dark Matter. Dark Matter is the pillar of the formation of galaxies and the evolution of the Universe as a whole, yet it has never been detected. Alternative theories are now being developed that discard both Dark Energy, hence Einstein’s cosmological constant, as well as Dark Matter, hence his theory of General Relativity. Was Einstein right after all?

Dr K Staples, Southampton University

19th October 2020 7.30pm £3 pp on the door

His research focuses on the role of the macrophage in chronic lung diseases, such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and how the function of these cells can be changed by infection with common respiratory viruses like influenza.

Anne-marie Coyle, Sales Director, GE Renewable Energy

November 16th 2020 7.30pm £3pp on the door

Anne-marie has worked in all aspects of project development, construction and operation of offshore wind energy since 1998.  The growth in renewable energy and the deployment experience is leading to rapidly reducing costs which can be clearly seen in the global context of the renewable energy markets.  Her talk will explain how offshore wind projects are developed, constructed and managed for their 20-30 year life and how the UK became the world’s leading market.  Anne-marie will also share an introduction to GE’s latest offshore wind turbine technology which is the largest and most efficient in the world – the blades are 107m long and the foundations can weight up to 2,000 tonnes! 

Dr Matthew Partridge, Southampton University

January 18th 2021 7.30pm £3pp on the door

The magical internet-providing properties of fibre optics are well-known. But hardly anyone has heard of fibre optics that can diagnosis cancer or detect gravity waves, and Matthew Partridge is not happy about that. These wonderful, cutting-edge devices can do amazing things and fix almost any problem. Don’t believe something so tiny can save the world? Come hear about the history of fibre optics and what exciting things they can do beyond streaming movies and challenge Matthew to solve any problem you can name with fibre optics.

Dr Robin Wilson

15th February 2020 7.30pm £3 pp onthe door

Hundreds of satellites orbit the Earth every day, collecting data that is used for monitoring almost all aspects of the environment. This talk will introduce to you the world of satellite imaging, take you beyond the 'pretty pictures' to the scientific data behind them, and show you how the data can be applied to monitor plant growth, air pollution and more.