Category: Science Group

Our 18^th April meeting is at 10.00am to 11.45am in the main hall (Portland) at JGC.

John Tedstone has prepared a presentation about an interesting group who called themselves the Lunar Society. The members became known as ‘Lunarticks’.

The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham. At first called the Lunar Circle, “Lunar Society” became the formal name by 1775. The name arose because the society would meet during the full moon. It still exists.

Original members included James Watt, Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgewood and Matthew Boulton.

John will have much more to tell us about this interesting group.

After a short break there will be a presentation about the RAF Cosford Museum and a video which highlights the contribution to aerospace and flight made by ‘Hucknall Heroes’

David Rose

This year’s Science Group visit is to RAF Cosford on Friday 16th May.

I am organising this visit and now offering places to some non-science group members.

The coach (Vallances Luxury…) will leave Hucknall Market Place at 09.00, arriving back at approx. 17.00. The cost will be £16.00, which includes the coach, museum donation and driver tip.

There are 3 optional pre-bookable tours, each costing £9.00.

If you are interested, please contact me via email davidrose98835@gmail.com

Some details from the website:

Discover the fascinating, sometimes surprising, array of aircraft and objects in the collection. Alongside the aircraft are free exhibitions, flight-related memorabilia and interactive displays. View a variety of flight-related artwork in our art gallery. Some of these are available to purchase if one takes your fancy.

In the National Cold War Exhibition look out for the life-size Russian dolls and for those with a head for heights, take the lift to the top of our viewing gallery and look down at the mighty Belfast Transporter.

In Hangar 1, you will find the 1:1 scale Airfix Spitfire – which was featured on BBC2’s James May Toy Stories – complete with a model pilot and lots more.

IN ADDITION

There are options of 3 dedicated talks provided 10 people wish to take part.

The Museum can organise tours for pre-booked groups. We have a few tours we can offer You and your group:

• Bomber Command Tour (1-hour tour)
• National Cold War Exhibition Tour (1-hour tour)
• Battle of Britain Tour (1-hour tour)

All our guided tours are £9.00 per head. To get the group rate, your group must have a minimum of 10 people. If you are interested in booking a guided tour, please contact our Customer Care team at midlands@rafmuseum.org. We ask that you give us a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice so that we can make the necessary arrangements. we also ask that you confirm your final numbers a week before your visit. This will then be the amount charged on the day.

I will collect the names of those interested in any of the 3 options but will not be collecting any money at this stage

David Rose

Our February meeting was led by Ian and Ann Murray who had  completed lots of in depth research into the topic of Black Holes and beyond.

The resulting PowerPoint presentation was outstanding with descriptive diagrams, explanations and linkages that made this complex area of physics more accessible.

Below is my attempt at a summary.

 This is a Black Hole Sagittarius A* (at the centre of our Galaxy) which was discovered in 1974 and photographed in 2017.

‘Black holes, wormholes, and the event horizon are intriguing concepts in theoretical physics, largely explored by brilliant minds like Einstein, Hawking, Susskind, and Maldacena. A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape it, leading to an event horizon—the boundary beyond which nothing can return. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking made significant contributions, famously predicting that black holes can emit radiation, now known as Hawking radiation. Leonard Susskind and Juan Maldacena furthered our understanding of black holes through their work on string theory and the holographic principle, which states that all the information within a volume of space can be described by the information on its boundary.

Wormholes, theoretically predicted by Einstein’s general relativity, are hypothetical tunnels connecting distant parts of the universe, potentially allowing for faster-than-light travel ‘

Our thanks are extended to Ann and Ian for their preparation and presentation.

Next Month: March 21^st

I am away on the u3a Melrose trip and Bob McEwen and John Tedstone are kindly leading the session this month which includes a presentation by John on an interesting group called ‘The Lunar Society’

David Rose

At the January meeting we welcomed a very enthusiastic guest speaker David Wheeler.

David presented a very interesting and comprehensive talk about the progress of the soon to be opened Rolls Royce Hucknall Flight Test Museum.

He began with a brief history of the Hucknall site which began in 1920’s as an RAF station and in 1934 became home to the Rolls Royce Flight Test Establishment where prototype piston and then jet engines were secretly built and flown.

The new museum is dedicated to giving the public an opportunity to have a unique insight into Hucknall’s secret aviation history.

Many residents of Hucknall from the late 1930s to 1971 will probably have fond memories of the almost constant background noise booming out from the test beds.

For more information: look at their website for opening dates and details of volunteering opportunities at the museum: huflighttestmuseum.co.uk

Next Meeting

Friday 21^st February 10am JGC

We have a presentation by Ian and Anne Murray who have completed lots of research into Black Holes which are regions of space-time where gravity is so strong that no matter or electromagnetic energy (e.g. light) can escape it.

I will also be telling you about our ‘science away day’ visit on Friday 16^th May.

The coach and mystery venue are booked and details will be sent to members before our February meeting.

There may be time for some of the 5 min talks which will also feature as a significant part of the March meeting so it’s best to ‘Be Prepared’.

David Rose

We had an interesting and varied final session of 2024.

We started with our series of ‘5 minute talks’. Group members each have a scientist from different eras and from different disciplines. The talks were to highlight the significant contribution they have made.

Our thanks to:

Anne Sibley for                   Gertrude B Elion

Bob McEwen for                  Barry Marshall 

Val Kelly for                       Howard Flor

Christine Faithfull for           Alfred Wegener

Lynda Jackson for               Elizabeth Friedman

Bob Gow for                       Wilder Penfield

Tony Whilde for                  Willem Rontgen

David Vincent for                William Perkin

William Perkin discovered the dye for the colour purple and David recalled his unrealised teenage ambition to own a purple mohair jumper – known locally as ‘Hairy Marys’.

After the break we held a science and trivia quiz won by Bob Gow, Anne and Ian Murray.

17^th January – Meeting 10am to 11.45ish JGC

We have a guest speaker, David Wheeler from the Hucknall Flight Test Museum which is based on the Rolls Royce site.

Following the talk, if time permits, we will continue with the 5 minute talks

 

Happy New Year to All