u3a

Odiham District

Science and Technology

Status:Active, open to new members
Contact:
When: Monthly on Wednesday mornings
3rd Wednesday of the month. Coffee at 10:00. Talk from 10:30 - 12:00.
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall

What we do

The group serves members who are interested in science and technology, many, but not all of whom were professionally involved in those topics during their careers.

Subjects are many and varied and whatever your interest, the talks are informative and often intriguing.

After the formal talk, time is allowed for Q&A when “there are no stupid questions”!

Speakers are invited from academia, commercial organisations, other u3a regions and indeed from our own membership.

If our topics overlap those of other groups such as Environment and Climate or Wings and Wheels, invitations are extended to their members to join our sessions.

If you would like to contact the group by email click on the Group Contact above.

Go back to exploring all of our groups here.


Forthcoming events

18th December 2024
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Monthly Meeting

Star of David

Join us for a pre-meeting Christmas celebration! In addition to the usual tea, coffee and biscuits, we have mulled wine, mince pies and stollen cake.
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall

18th December 2024
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Monthly Meeting

Star of Bethlehem

Steve Tonkin Fellow of the Royal Astronomical SocietyMonthly columnist - BBC Sky at Night Magazine “Could be controversial”……we look at the actual evidence and its cultural context, discuss some recent […]
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall

15th January 2025
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Monthly Meeting

Vaccines

Dr Stephen LockhartPfizer ( until Feb 24 ) Vice President,Vaccine Clinical R&D EuropeGMC-registered independent pharmaceutical consultant with more than 30 years in the biopharmaceutical industry. Stephen’s talk address issues raised […]
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall

19th February 2025
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Monthly Meeting

An Introduction to Quasars

Dr David YoullPhD Astronomy Imperial CollegeCareer - IT industryS&T group organiser, Basingstoke and Old Basing This project has been aided in no small part by the huge body of observational […]
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall

19th February 2025
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Monthly Meeting

Members Meeting - Your topics

Members will share with us for 15 - 20 minutes each a presentation on a favourite subject which could be about a book / a YouTube video / a broadcast […]
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall

16th April 2025
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Monthly Meeting

Bloodhound Land Speed Record (LSR)

Alan Frener.   Senior Ambassador with Bloodhound LSR, the land speed record car. An in depth look at Bloodhound and its origins, including some totally unique sections not available anywhere else. Senior […]
Venue: The Cross Barn Main Hall


News


Recent events

  • How oceans drive our climate system

    A talk by Dr Colin Summerhayes, Emeritus Associate of Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute Writeup by Peter Fletcher & Peter Owen Dr Summerhayes made a return visit in June […]

    Read more ...

  • Advanced Biofuels (ABSL) Swindon

    On 17th April, a group from Science and Technology plus the Environment and Climate group made a visit to Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd (ABSL) in Swindon to see their unique […]

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  • Batteries and fuel cells; nano-scale chemical analysis

    The February meeting of the Science and Technology Group was a “Members Meeting”. Patrick Power and Neil Kirtley gave presentations and Phil White introduced the book “The Making of the […]

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  • Positive tipping points

    A talk by Peter LeFort, head of Green Futures Network, Exeter UniversityWritten up by Peter Fletcher For the November meeting of Science and Technology meeting, which was jointly with the […]

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  • Inventing an oral Covid-19 vaccine

    A talk by Dr Dafydd OwenWritten up by Peter Fletcher You will recall back in September, Dr Dafydd Owen, u3a member Peter Owen’s son, agreed talk about his work to […]

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  • What to do with our rubbish?

    Trip report by Peter Fletcher On 14th September, 2023, a number of Science and Technology members visited Veolia’s Energy Recovery Facility in Marchwood to find out what happens to our […]

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Notes on older presentations

Older presentations. These can be found here.


Further reading

News

The first ever photograph of light as both a particle and wave (phys.org)

Books

Optics in our time

A Briefer History of Time

Websites
Thomas Young (scientist) - Wikipedia

Videos

Quantum mechanics and the double slit experiment - Bing video

The super bizarre quantum eraser experiment - Bing video

The Quantum Experiment that Broke Reality | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios - Bing video

How the Quantum Eraser Rewrites the Past | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios - YouTube

The first ever photograph of light as both a particle and wave (phys.org)

Two-in-one photography: Light as wave and particle! (sous-titres français)

Why is the speed of light what it is?