Lichfield u3a

Science and Technology

Status:Active, open to new members
Group leader:
When: Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
1st Monday in November, usually on the 2nd Monday of the month
Venue: Tesco Extra Community Room

Are you interested in joining the Science and Technology group? All we ask, is that you’re prepared to join in – everyone should take a turn, at some point, to introduce a topic, the discussion afterwards can also be most interesting. It’s amazing what people know.

More Information?
So – if you’d like to know more, click the Group leader link above to reach the Group Leader, Phil Mapley, and he’ll let you know when, what, where and how the next meeting will be. Let him know what your particular interests are, and you could be part of taking the group forward.

See below for forthcoming meetings.

Phil hosted the Group's Xmas Show & Tell on Monday 9th December 2024.  See the "Hardware Items" in the picture, below, for a look at some of the items brought along:

  • Various files and tools for keeping “White Metal” bearings in fine fettle, provided by Graham Wood.
  • A collection of Raspberry PI devices and their applications  told by Ian Shardlow
  • a ubiquitous safety jacket now used on the Railways and a discussion on how difficult it had been to get safety standardised on rail, helped by the 1974 Health & Safety at Work Act, provided by Nigel Groves
  • a collection of archery arrows, from the last 40 years, provided by Andy Cheer
  • a model of the CONCORDE , still the only supersonic passenger aircraft to enter service, even if the tickets were $12,000 each, for the 100+ passengers, from 1969-2003, provided by Chris Lock.
  • A portable ECG device from the company KARDIO, which when linked to a mobile phone can detect Atrial Fibrillation and ectopic conditions, provided by Judy Cheer

Also there were a few "software" items, that were aired:

  • A discussion on the communication between trees, by mycelium provided by Robin Taylor.
  • A discussion on the effectiveness of vaccines provided by Jayne Shardlow
  • a presentation by BoB Weitzman on the growth in the number of “devices” present in the chips in mobile phones, such as 20 Billion in the Apple i13, and the prediction that NVIDIA could reach 200 Billion devices soon
  • A video on the “perfect” archery  technique displayed by Ki Bo Bae, of Korea, from Andy Cheer
  • and a few videos of badger and fox activity during 2024, from Phil Mapley's back garden.

A great time was had by all, as Tesco provided some complimentary mince pies, to go with the usual Tea and Coffee, and finally the session was concluded with a trip to the "Oldest Inn" in Lichfield - The Duke of York, when the world was truly "set to rights", by all concerned.

Hardware Items
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Groups listed alphabetically

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    on the 4th Wednesday of the month
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    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
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    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
    on the 2nd Monday of the month
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    Monthly on Friday mornings 10:00 am
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    Monthly on Wednesday afternoons 2:00 pm
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    Monthly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm
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    On the 4th Tuesday of the month
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    Fortnightly on Tuesday afternoons 2:30 pm-4:30 pm
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    Monthly on Monday afternoons 2:00 pm
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    Fortnightly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
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    On Wednesday afternoons 1:30 pm-3:30 pm
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    Status: Waiting list
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