Thursday, 11th September 2014 – visit to Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing site, organised by Jack Brettle. A fascinating tour of the nuclear fuel plant near Preston, the visit gave us an insight into the complex and highly technical aspects of manufacturing fuel rods for various British nuclear power stations. Precision is important, as you might… Read More »
Wednesday, 2nd July 2014 – The History of Communications over the past 100 years, with particular reference to the changes made during the lifetimes of our members, by Mike Briggs. Mike started out as a ship’s Radio Officer in the Merchant Navy, before moving into the world of Microwave Transmissions systems for both TV and data. The talk covered evolution of… Read More »
Wednesday, 4th June 2014 – “Chemical Elements – Part 1″ – a joint effort by 6 of our members, each talking for 10 to 15 minutes about their chosen element. The line-up was: Patsy Colvin setting the scene with a brief definition of an element, a bit of atomic theory and a tour around the periodic table, then on with the show,… Read More »
FutureLearn is an offshoot of The Open University providing online courses in a wide range of subjects, many of a scientific nature. The aim is to connect learners from all over the globe with high quality educators, and with each other. Courses are delivered one step at a time, and are accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop, so… Read More »
Wednesday, 2nd April 2014 – “Spectroscopy, gemstones and minerals”. Keith Snell, leader of the U3A Geology group, gave a very interesting talk about the use of Spectroscopy in the analysis of minerals and in the gems trade. Illustrated with some very colourful slides, and pieces of his own home-made equipment, Keith’s talk was laced with personal… Read More »
Wednesday, 5th March 2014 – Following on from our highly successful talk about Forensics in February, our own Marguerita McBride will talk about Chemical Analysis. It’s a complex world we live in – physically (as well as politically, socially, financially, culturally, and so on!) – and there are many processes used in analysis of the chemical, physical… Read More »
Wednesday 5th February 2014 – The Use of Forensics in Criminal Investigations. Stuart Kirby, who retired from the police service with the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent, and who now lectures in Criminology at Lancaster University, came along to tell us about the use of Forensics in criminal investigations. Popular television programmes such as CSI and Silent Witness have… Read More »