Category: Science Group

On July 16th we had our first non virtual meeting since February 2020. We met at Bestwood Country Park near the Winding Engine House which is the last remaining part of Bestwood Colliery – once one of the busiest coal mines in Nottinghamshire.

The winding engine lowered colliers, pit ponies and equipment into the mine shaft, and winched mined coal up to the surface. The tall brick building houses a huge winding engine. Originally it was powered by steam, the only vertical winding engine left in England still in its original location. Today the massive engine is moved by an electrical motor which we were able to see in action.

The engine dates back to 1876, the heyday of Victorian industrial engineering. For the explanatory tour we split into two groups and had the expertise of Bob Gow and his colleague Malcolm to show us round the impressive building and to provide a potted history of its history and development.

Following the tour we enjoyed refreshments on the lawn outside the Dynamo House which houses a community cafe run by ‘Friends of Bestwood Country Park’ which is open at the same time as the winding house both open to the public on Saturday mornings between 10am and 12noon all year. If you have never been a visit is recommended.

Volunteer Malcolm and part of the vertical steam engine

Thanks to Bob for arranging the visit and to Bob and Malcolm for being our knowledgeable guides.

Next Meeting: At the John Godber Centre Friday, 17th September, 2021 10.00 am to 11.45 am

David Rose

In May our topic was Floods and Flooding.

Floods are becoming more frequent in most parts of the world. They have many causes and can be country wide, affect a town or just a local street or area. This example is Thorsby Dale in 2020.

Next month we are meeting via Zoom on Friday, 18th June, 2021 at 10 am for a presentation on ‘The History and Development of Forensic Science’.

David Rose

At the April meeting Ann Murray, assisted by Ian, gave a very interesting presentation about glaciers and icebergs.

We learnt that icebergs:
– Are a floating mass of freshwater ice that has broken from the seaward end of either a glacier or an ice shelf.

– About 90% of the total volume of the iceberg is under water always.

– The density of the iceberg is about 10% lower than the density of sea water, so 1/9 of it stays on the surface until it melts.

– There are different types of iceberg classified by size and shapes.

Ann included some photographs of glaciers taken when they visited the Rockies and explained how they are important indicators of global warming and climate change in several ways. Melting ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels and as ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland melt, they raise the level of the ocean affecting plant and animal life.

In May we meet on Friday 21st at 10.00 am via Zoom and I will be looking at aspects of flooding, its impact on the environment and the science and technology contributing to flood control.

David Rose

For our March meeting we welcomed three guest speakers associated with the well established Sherwood Observatory. Last month they were guests at the Science 1 session and it’s thanks to Jim and the group for suggesting that we should contact Steve Wallace who is the project manager at the Observatory. Steve presented the first half of the meeting.

The focus of Steve’s talk was about the chances of life on other planets /moons in our solar system and beyond into deeper space. For life water is an essential ingredient so only places with water have the potential to support life. Much of our expanding universe is too hot or too cold to hold liquid water.
Those life forms would be pretty basic microscopic life which needs billions of years to evolve into complex living things. Basically those green aliens are a figment of our imagination.

The second part of the session was led by two students from Nottingham Trent University, Blaine and James, who introduced us to the project to develop a visitor centre and planetarium on the current site. Part of the process was to ask the group for ideas about what the site could offer to help make it an exciting venue for families and visitors of all ages.

It was followed up by a questionnaire which was completed on an individual basis.

Next Month: Friday 16th April at 10.00 am. Ann Murray has kindly volunteered to lead the session on the theme ‘Glaciers and Icebergs’.

David Rose

Our guest speaker was Prof Jim Turner from Beeston u3a. We had some initial Zoom problems, one of which was that Jim could not get vision which meant we could not see him but fortunately his sound and screen share facility were both working.

His talk was titled ‘What we owe to Einstein’
It was useful to have some prior knowledge to understand some of the talk but here is a short précis of Einstein’s breakthrough achievements.

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist, universally acknowledged to be one of the two greatest physicists of all time, the other being Isaac Newton. Einstein developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc² has been dubbed “the world’s most famous equation”. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”, a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in “Einstein” becoming synonymous with “genius”.

In 1905, Albert Einstein published the theory of special relativity, which explains how to interpret motion between different inertial frames of reference — that is, places that are moving at constant speeds relative to each other.

The most famous work of Einstein’s life also dates from 1905 (a busy year for him), when he applied the ideas of his relativity paper to come up with the equation E = mc2 that represents the relationship between mass (m) and energy (E) with c being the symbol representing the speed of light.

He was born on the 14 March 1879 and died at the age of 76 on the 18 April 1955.

Next Meeting: Friday, March 19th, 2021 at 10.00 am

David Rose