| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Convenor: |
Janet Allen
Tel: 07813 462 081
|
| Convenor: |
David Johnson
Tel: 07549 132 066
|
| When: | Monthly on Tuesdays 10:00 am-12:00 pm 4th Tuesday of the month |
| Venue: | Carlton Fire Station |
Our science group is dedicated to all things scientific, technological and engineering. We are planning a mixed programme of presentations, visits, shared presentations and perhaps the occasional TED talk.
You don't need a PhD: our members range from novices to experts and all levels of knowledge and experience are welcome.
Please come and join us. There will be no charge, but you will need to bring your own refreshments. Please be prompt as we have to let members in to the Fire Station. If you are going to be late, let Janet know in advance so someone can stay downstairs and let you in.
For details of future meetings tap the Calendar button below and select Science & Technology from the Group drop-down list.
Recent Meetings
-
The Space Race
June 2026 Our June meeting attracted 14 fellow scientists with 7 of them participating in a group session on the Space Race, covering the period from the end of World War 2 to the present. First up was David, who provided a plastic model of the Saturn V rocket that propelled the first astronauts to the moon. He spoke about the origins of these rockets, from the German V2 to the Soviet Sputnik and Luna 1. Trevor followed on from these early days to discuss the first manned space flights of Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepherd and John Glenn, which would… Read More
-
Woad to Warfarin
May 2026 Our May meeting was well attended to watch David Johnson’s presentation “Woad to Warfarin”, which discussed the role of textile dyes in the birth of modern medicines for relieving pain and curing diseases. Early dyes such as woad were known to have antiseptic properties, which might explain why the ancient Britons smeared their bodies before battles with the Roman army. When new chemicals were found in coal tar in the 19th century, chemists made new colours from them and also new drugs, which were more reliable than herbal medicines. The money generated by dyes advanced our knowledge of… Read More
-
The MRI Scanner
April 2026 Our April meeting was attended by a group of 16 members to hear our guest speaker, Professor Reg Dennick from Park Nottingham u3a, who provided an interesting and entertaining account of the development of the MRI Scanner by Dr Peter Mansfield in Nottingham in the 1970s. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) resulted from the work of many researchers, starting early in the twentieth century, who developed the understanding of the underlying physics that led to magnetic resonance imaging. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Peter Mansfield at the University of Nottingham further developed the techniques already used in MR… Read More
-
Waves
March 2026 Our March meeting was attended by a group of 22 members to hear our guest speaker, Glenn Turner, a retired master mariner. He discussed waves in the ocean, what you might see when on the sea or on a beach and how to understand what you are observing. Glenn explained that waves in water are caused by the wind blowing over the surface. Wind waves range in size from small ripples to waves over 30 metres high, being influenced by wind speed, duration, fetch (area affected) and the depth of the water. The stronger the wind, the higher… Read More
-
QMC Pathological Lab
February 2026 Our guest speaker this month was Linda Hoyland, who discussed her work in the QMC Pathological Lab. Linda is now retired, having spent 42 years working for the NHS, 38 years of which were in Diagnostics Pathology, specialising in analysis of blood cells and supplying blood for transfusions. Linda explained that the practice of blood-letting dates back to the ancient Egyptian times as a way of treating medical ailments, which continued for many centuries until the 16th century when experimental blood transfusions took place, some including animal blood. It was only in 1901 that blood transfusion achieved a… Read More
-
Everyday Objects
January 2026 14 of us were entertained by stories about the science behind an everyday object costing less than £5. Davina traced the history of furniture polish, designed to seal wooden surfaces on furniture so that stains and water spills can be removed easily. Polish was originally applied using a piece of cloth, but has now been superseded by sprays such as Pledge. Janet looked at the thimble, which is a small pitted metal cup worn on the finger that protects it from being pricked or poked by a needle while sewing. Some of the earliest thimbles were made by… Read More