SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Convenor Cherry Lewis
Contact: monmouthu3amembership@gmail.com
Contact: monmouthu3amembership@gmail.com
The group meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, at the Bridges Centre, Monmouth, from 2.30 to 4.00 pm.
We are a friendly bunch and warmly welcome new members. No qualifications are necessary, just an interest in science and technology in its broadest sense.
Our meetings usually comprise presentations on a scientific or technical topic, followed by a question-and-answer session – and then a cup of tea! Visits to places of interest are also arranged once or twice a year.
Meetings are now held at the Bridges Centre, Monmouth, and in the short term we shall continue to Zoom online as well. The Science and Technology Group subscription of £10 per year covers room hire costs and speaker expenses. Meetings are open to guests for a fee of £2 per meeting.
We are a friendly bunch and warmly welcome new members. No qualifications are necessary, just an interest in science and technology in its broadest sense.
Our meetings usually comprise presentations on a scientific or technical topic, followed by a question-and-answer session – and then a cup of tea! Visits to places of interest are also arranged once or twice a year.
Meetings are now held at the Bridges Centre, Monmouth, and in the short term we shall continue to Zoom online as well. The Science and Technology Group subscription of £10 per year covers room hire costs and speaker expenses. Meetings are open to guests for a fee of £2 per meeting.
Next meeting: Tuesday 12 July at 2.30pm in the
BRIDGES CENTRE
OIL RIGS: all you will ever need to know...
by Patrick Devlin
BRIDGES CENTRE
OIL RIGS: all you will ever need to know...
by Patrick Devlin
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The early days of oil extraction will be reviewed before briefly describing the major components of modern rigs. The presentation will give an overview of different types of rigs around the world, and those commonly deployed in the North Sea. The talk will also include a summary of the United Kingdom regulatory regime concerning drilling on the UK continental shelf, as well as the technology deployed during the drilling of a vertical well and a high angle/horizontal well.
Patrick Devlin worked in the oil industry for 35 years: initially on rigs offshore in the Norwegian sector, then as a well site Geologist in all offshore areas of the UKCS and finally for various international oil companies based in Aberdeen as a Lead Operations Geologist. |
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Forthcoming meetings
August No meeting but possibly an outing
Sept. 13: TBC
Oct. 11: Life and death in Iron Age Wales...Dr Adelle Bricking
Nov. 8: Rewilding - fad or the future?...Cherry Taylor
August No meeting but possibly an outing
Sept. 13: TBC
Oct. 11: Life and death in Iron Age Wales...Dr Adelle Bricking
Nov. 8: Rewilding - fad or the future?...Cherry Taylor
Past Meetings and Trips
June 2022
Our presentation this month was given by Kim Bell, a professional star storyteller, with a wide experience of talking to groups of all ages on the fascinating topic of our solar system. His well-illustrated, fluent and fact-filled commentary took us on tour of our planets, starting wit the sun.
Our Sun is the star around which our planets orbit, and the energy released by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium molecules supports all life on our planet Earth. The sun comprises 99.9% of the mass of our solar system.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun with some interesting geological features, but no significant atmosphere.
Venus is significantly further away from the sun and the closest planet to earth. It is the brightest object on the night sky, apart from the moon, and has a thick atmosphere full of carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid vapour. It is the hottest planet in our solar system with a surface temperature of 480 degrees centigrade.
Earth is the only planet with liquid water on its surface and the only planet known to support life.
Mars is the focus of many space explorations seeking evidence of the existence of life. Known as the red planet because of the layer of iron oxide on its surface, it also has volcanoes larger than any on Earth. Valleys and sedimentary rocks are evidence of the existence of liquid water sometime in the past.
Jupiter is the largest planet but still much smaller than the sun. It is notable for having 79, perhaps more, moons, due to its large gravitational force. One of these, Europa, has similarities to Earth in that it contains a lot of water. There is a thick crust of ice on its surface.
Saturn is the most distant planet that can be seen by the naked eye. It is the least dense planet and the second largest. It has the most extensive rings in the solar system and 83 moons.
Uranus was the first to be discovered by using a telescope, by William Herschell in 1781. It is known as an ice giant because of its low surface temperature.
Neptune is known as the blue planet because of its methane atmosphere. It is the coldest planet and furthest from the sun.
There is a possibility of finding further, more distant, planets.
Pluto, once considered to be part of our solar system, is no longer recognised as such because it does not orbit the sun in the same way as the rest. It is called a "dwarf planet".
Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy which contains hundreds of billions of stars like our sun. In the centre of every galaxy is a black hole i.e. a place in space where gravity is so strong that not even light can get out.
There were many questions put to our speaker, during and after the presentation, which reflected the interest of the audience.
Valerie Conniff
May 2022
How gene editing is used to correct genetic diseases.
Professor Mark Szczelkum, School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol
There are 3 billion base pairs in human DNA. Most, but not all of it, has been mapped into genes that we know what they are responsible for, from hair colour to intelligence. Unfortunately, sometimes, the base pairs in the DNA get corrupted, and sometimes those corruptions produce disease and/or deformity.
Gene editing, or splicing, techniques have been developed over the last few decades that now allow these corrupted genes to be either corrected or removed. Professor Mark Szczelkun explained [in very basic terms] how the editing is done.
The newest editing around is CRISPER-cas9; it's cheap and accurate [all comparative!!]. A short piece of RNA [think one half of the DNA double helix] is specially made to match the bit of damaged DNA. The RNA finds and binds to the damaged bit of DNA that it matches. Then the cas9 enzyme cuts the DNA where the RNA has attached. Simple!
DNA then does its own [normal] thing and repairs the break.
However, there is the big question, should we actually use this DNA/gene editing? Is it morally right? Even with good intentions, could we end up introducing unintended changes that we lose control of? When and how could we us it safely?
If you want to read more, try these 2 web sites:
https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-crispr-cas9#:~:text=CRISPR%2DCas9%20is%20a%20unique,buzz%20in%20the%20science%20world.
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/basics/gene/#:~:text=In%20humans%2C%20genes%20vary%20in,between%2020%2C000%20and%2025%2C000%20genes.
Wendy Lefevre
April 2022
The Detection of Exoplanets in the Quest for Universal Life - Amaury Triaud, Professor Exoplanetolgy, Birmingham University
Even the Ancient Greeks we were told, were thinking about the origins of life on Earth. In the last few centuries as our knowledge of the universes increased we have been wondering if we are alone in the universe or if there is life on other planets.
There are several theories about how life may have started on Earth, Panspermia supposes that life could travel through space on comets, but this would require such life to survive the extreme cold of space and the extreme heat of impacting a planet. And Panspermia does not answer the question on how life got started.
The study of exoplanets can help answer the question of how life started by analysing the atmosphere of exoplanets. Scientists are now searching for an exoplanet that is a twin of Earth - one of similar size, surface temperature and near enough to be studied.
If a planet can be observed transiting across its star it is possible to measure a small dip in the brightness of the star. We were shown a video of Venus transiting across the Sun with the associated dip in brightness of 1%. This is the method the Keplar space craft has been using to detect the presence of exoplanets.
Professor Triaud explained the ways that the atmosphere of an exoplanet can be analysed using ground based telescopes. Firstly by examining the reflected light from the star bouncing off an exoplanet as it transits across the star. Spectroscopy measures the absorption of light across the spectrum and signature peaks allow detection of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen and water.
But attempting to search for an Earth-size planet orbiting a star about the same size as the Sun would exhibit an undetectable amount of dimming (about 0.01%). However, if you try and look for exoplanets orbiting a smaller star than the sun, the task is easier. Exoplanets that orbit in the habitable zone of a smaller star will be closer to the star, which means they orbit faster and this is important from a practical point.
For example, if we were observing Earth from afar we would see it transit the sun just once a year and to collect enough data you would really want to observe 15 transits in about a year.
It turns out that our sun is not the most common type of star but far more common are smaller stars called ultra cool dwarfs. A collection of telescopes located high up in the Atacama desert in Chile have been used to study one such star called Trappist One, which has 7 exoplanets, 3 of which fall into the habitable zone. The exoplanets' orbits are so close to each other that they can distort the time interval for a complete rotation. The gravitational pull between the planets causes the outermost planet to be pulled closer to the star, speeding it up with a converse effect of the inner planet, causing that to move to a higher orbit and slowing it down. Measurement of the mass of these exoplanets show them to be rocky planets, though less dense than Earth.
The exoplanets around Trappist One will be some of the first observations that the James Webb telescope will make. It carries instruments that can analyse the gases within the atmosphere so we may get closer to understanding if the signatures of gases indicates the presence of life.
Charles Emes
March 2022
Deep geological disposal of nuclear waste in the UK - Dr Jonathan Turner, Chief Geologist,
Nuclear Waste Services
The timing of this talk was rather fortuitous. With the war going on in Ukraine, and the UK not wanting to rely on Russian gas and oil any more, it looks like we may be using nuclear power stations a little longer than we had previously been planning.
So what happens to all the spent (i.e. used) nuclear fuel from our nuclear power stations, past and present? Most countries with nuclear power stations are looking at similar ideas. Dr Jonathan Turner is heading up the programme to work out how to store all our spent nuclear waste in the UK. Currently, most of our spent fuels are stored in massive ponds Sellafield, Cumbria. However, nuclear fuels take 100s and 1000s of year to decay and become safe, therefore the waste cannot stay there that long.
The plan is to build a few underground facilities around the country. However, the locations are severally limited due to geological requirements: the rocks need to be physically strong enough, not be liable to earthquakes or volcanoes (not a huge problem for the UK), not likely to affect any water sources, and many other reasons. These facilities need to be approximately 100m below the surface, and could actually be located under the sea, with the entrance on dry land.
The low grade waste would be stored in big containers, on huge shelving racks. The high grade "hot" waste would be vitrified (i.e. encased in glass), loaded into metal canisters, and placed in special holes cut in the rock to take the canisters.
A big part of determining where to locate these facilities, is getting the buy-in of the local community. The whole point is that the facility will be safe (or as safe as possible), and there would be lots of well-paid jobs. A big thing that surprised me was that it will take at least 140 years to find the site, complete the plans, build the facilities and load the nuclear martial into them.
Wendy Lefevre
February 2022
Unravelling the Double Helix - Prof. Gareth Williams
Gareth started his talk with the Nobel prize recognition that James Watson and Francis Crick received for their work on the DNA double helix. He highlighted what this helix contains and how it met the key criteria of making sense, of spelling out the genetic instructions for life and of being able to copy itself.
But then the story gets seriously more complex by focusing on the 5 fundamental aspects that Watson and Crick did not do:
A fascinating piece of detective work which dissected the roles and work of others lying behind the Nobel prizes awarded to Watson Crick and Maurice Wilkins 'for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material'.
James Handley
January 2022
Physics Conserving the Past - and what happens when things go wrong
This presentation, given by Prof. Averil MacDonald, (one of our group members), was a whirlwind guide to the multiple techniques utilised by scientists to investigate the past. In relation to physics, archaeology is a relatively recent science but archaeologists rely on modern scientific methods of analysis to verify the age and composition of specimens. There are various non-invasive techniques in wide use e.g. X-ray analysis, infra-red spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and radiocarbon dating to name a few. The provenance of works of art and detection of forgeries is another example where physics plays an important role.
The first synthetic pigment, Egyptian Blue, can be traced back to 3200BC. It was widely used in Egypt for thousands of years but fell from use after the Roman era and the formula was lost. Cave paintings use pigments derived from iron oxides.
It is important to conserve precious artefacts and attempts to achieve this using modern chemicals have not always been successful. For example, in the 1970s PVA and acrylic glues were used to apply support netting to fragile silk fabrics. Decades later it was discovered that these go brown and brittle causing the silk fabric to deteriorate. Efforts are now being made to remove these adhesives to prevent further destruction. Averil described her own research involving confocal Raman spectroscopy to identify the adhesives used. Similarly, the practice of laminating ancient manuscripts can produce chemical reactions between the laminate and the ink over time necessitating a review of this practice.
Reconstruction of ancient wooden vessels like the Mary Rose and the Newport Ship involve painstaking work. The timbers were immersed in polyethylene glycol in order to replace water in the cellular structure of the wood. Again, over time this has had a negative effect as complex chemical reactions, catalysed by iron remains in the timber, result in the formation of sulphuric acid. Prolonged submersion can also cause the timber to shrink.
The field is still wide open for research into improved methods of conservation!
Valerie Conniff
December 2021
A good lot of fat or a fat lot of good? By Ned Kelly.
In an informative, entertaining and well-illustrated talk, Ned Kelly with 40 years' experience in the Pharmaceutical industry, set out to explode some of the myths surrounding fat consumption and explain the jargon surrounding the subject.
In the 1950s, from the observation that more heart disease occurred where a lot of fat is eaten, the conclusion was made that fat was bad for us. Indeed, fat consumption is associated with clogging up of arteries, and restricting the blood flow to the heart which can result in heart attacks and restricting blood flow to the brain, which can result in strokes. These are serious life-threatening conditions.
Nevertheless, it is a scientific fact that fat is an essential requirement of a healthy diet. Cholesterol is produced from fat in the liver, in a series of steps by the action of enzymes, and released into the bloodstream. Cholesterol is a constituent of every cell membrane and is involved in the production of many useful chemicals including vitamin D. The cholesterol contained in low density lipoprotein (LDL) is known as "bad" cholesterol because it is associated with the build-up of plaque clogging the arteries. That contained in high density lipoprotein (HDL) is called "good" because it removes cholesterol from circulation and artery walls and returns it to the liver for excretion.
Statins are widely prescribed to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood. They were first proved to be effective in reducing the risk of heart attacks in a Scandinavian study in 1994 and swiftly followed by other studies, all confirming that statins can reduce the incidence of heart attacks by 30%. Statins work by interfering in the first stage of the manufacture of cholesterol in the liver.
The structure of saturated fatty acids, which are considered "bad" in the diet, and unsaturated (containing carbon to carbon double bond) which are considered "good" was explained. Poly-unsaturated fatty acids, (PUFAs with more than one carbon-to-carbon double bond), and omega 3 fatty acids (with the carbon-to-carbon double bond 3 carbon atoms from the end of the chain) are considered particularly beneficial. They are found in fish oils, nuts, seeds.
Research carried out to find out whether saturated fat is a killer found no conclusive proof. Excess carbohydrate consumption however did increase the risk of death, probably related to poverty.
A recent study in 2019 looked at the risk of heart disease and stroke related to a diet of fish and vegetarian diets when compared to meat eaters. The results show that there is less of a risk of heart disease to fish and vegetarian dieters, but a greater risk of stroke!
The NHS recommends a Mediterranean diet to ensure good health but, to quote our speaker, "the quest for immortality through diet is futile"
Valerie Conniff
November 2021
The International Space Station by Dr Charles Emes
The November talk was about the International Space Station (ISS), presented by our own member, Dr Charles Emes (would-be astronaut!). He started with how the ISS was built in a modular way, taking 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble. The first segment was launched in 1998 but it was a further 2 years until the first astronauts could occupy the station. In the intervening 20 years, the ISS has always been occupied.
Charles went into who has been there, how cargo and supplies are delivered, and the wide variety of experiments that are conducted there. I found the details of how almost everything is recycled, and how it is recycled, really fascinating.
A couple of “incidences” Charles told us about included:
1)an early spacewalk, condensation from some equipment in the space suit ended up in the astronaut’s helmet. In near weightless conditions, the water floated anywhere, so to prevent his “breathing” in the water, the astronaut had to get back into the space station asap (which took 23 mins as nothing can be done fast outside the space station!) The consequence of this is that now, astronauts have to wear nappies on their heads when in their space suits!
2)The time when some astronauts were due to return to earth, the toilet in the return module wasn’t working, so the normal return sequence of 20 ish hours had to be shortened to 6 hours.
The talk ended with a summary of some of the research that has been conducted over the years, including, Human research, Space medicine, Life sciences, Physical sciences, Astronomy and Meteorology.
Thanks to Charles for a very informative and enjoyable talk. His enthusiasm for the topic came across throughout.
Wendy Lefevre
12 October 2021
My involvement with the BSE outbreak by Mike Ansfield
Mike Ansfield set the scene by explaining his early role in the State Veterinary Service, with a particular interest in monitoring freshly imported meat and inspecting abattoirs.
In 1985 'cow 133' was the first to be identified as having a range of symptoms relating to a neurological condition, later to be known as BSE. Gradually a long list of potential symptoms was drawn up ranging from grinding teeth to being generally over reactive. Examination of cow brain tissue identified a similarity to scrapie in sheep. Historically scrapie was first recognised in sheep 1732, and a case in cattle in 1883. In 1920 the process of rendering meat products into cattle feed started, and about that time the first human case of CJD in humans was recognised in a tribe where the practice of eating the brains of deceased family members was present.
Attention focused on prions, a protein normally found on the surface of many cells, and how they were developing into fibrils, or chains, when infected. Meanwhile, in 1988, legislation banned the use of all cattle and sheep over 30 months in the human food chain and said that the brain and spinal cord had to be removed from all cattle destined for human consumption.
A Research Team was set up and led by Ansfield to look for the illegal use of ruminant prions in animal feeds. He described a project known as ELISA, and the problems involved in detecting particular prion proteins in cattle feed ingredients. Eventually a procedure was developed and patented and became the standard internationally. The national UK Testing Centre with 24 branches was set up [only to be closed down and privatised 20 years on!]. Mike's role extended into being the lead UK representative at international conferences on the subject and having to brief ministers on PQs arising from the human variant of CJD. Even involved in being an expert witness in court proceedings unsuccessfully seeking to challenge the research conclusions.
As an aside Mike mentioned the infamous case of John Gummer, when Minister responsible, feeding his daughter a beef burger made from MRM [Mechanically Recovered Meat} at a time when research into the risks was far from clear!
By the time Mike retired in 2004, BSE cases had fallen from a peak of about 100,000 cases in 1993 to near zero. During that time, 4.4 million cattle had been slaughtered, costs had topped £5 billion, and there had been 177 cases where CJD had occurred in humans.
The unknown question remains as to whether there is still any residual risk to humans, as it may take at least 20 years for symptoms to show.
Jim Handley
10 August 2021
Visit to the Jenner Museum, Berkeley
Having heard the talk on Zoom earlier this year by Prof. Gareth Williams about Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823), we now had a chance to visit the Jenner Museum in Berkeley. This is housed in his impressive house named The Chantry, where Jenner lived for many years.
The museum has recreated Jenner’s study, which includes much memorabilia illustrating the wide intellectual interests and curiosities of this medical doctor. Other rooms are given over to detailed information about Jenner’s life, his amazing network of contacts and his work on the smallpox vaccination. There was considerable analysis of how the human body is geared to fight invasive bodies, leading into an explanation of how vaccinations work, and why they are so important for us.
Outside there is quite a large garden. One area is a recent re-creation of a Physic Garden, growing the herbs and other plants that would have been used to treat various ailments in Jenner’s time. There is also an intriguing thatched Temple of Vaccinia, where local inhabitants were given their vaccinations. Finally, an impressive glasshouse where five grape vines planted by Jenner in 1821 still flourish.
Both an educational and enjoyable trip out, especially after the 18 months of covid restrictions. Jenner, I am sure, would certainly approve of the speed and extent of our own recent vaccination programmes.
Jim Handley
13 July 2021
Dinosaurs – New Visions of a Lost World by Professor Michael Benton, University of Bristol
If all you have is a fossil, how can you possibly predict what colour a dinosaur was? Mike Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol, over the course of an hour revealed just how scientists are now able to determine the colour of an animal that died 60 million years ago.
The story started in 1996 when a small group of Chinese paleontologists arrived at a conference in New York and released news of “dinosaur fossils with feathers”. The specimen they revealed was incredibly well-preserved and showed a complete skeleton of a small dinosaur with tufts along the back and tail that looked like feathers. The fossil was named Sinosauropteryx. A paper published in Nature two years later from a different group in China also claimed discovery of a feathered dinosaur. Later it turned out these were two halves of the same specimen.
Previously it had been the discovery of the fossil of Archaeopteryx in 1861 that had caused a stir with Thomas Huxley describing it as “a dinosaur in bird’s clothing”. It was the so-called missing link between dinosaurs and birds, because it not only had feathers but also teeth in the jawbone. There are just 10 fossils of Archaeopteryx that have been found to date, but in the northern provinces of China they have discovered thousands of new fossil specimens of feathered dinosaurs and birds.
Apart from Sinosauropteryx, other species include Caudipteryx, which has complex pernate feathers, and Microraptor which has feathers on four limbs and tail. Presently there are some 50 feathered species of dinosaur which have helped to show how birds evolved from dinosaurs by a gradual decrease in size and the development of complex feathers.
Evidence of the colour of dinosaurs comes from modern animals following studies of hair and feather pigmentation. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) pictures reveal that it is the packing of structures called melanosomes that give hair and feathers their colour. By viewing feathers from Sinosauropteryx in an SEM, it revealed the same structures as those in modern birds and this also applies to skin pigmentation in mammals. Thus a “chain of inference” is used to deduce the pigmentation in the feathers and body of dinosaurs.
We were also treated to an array of artist illustrations of dinosaur species reconstructed from fossils, as well as giant-headed birds and 10-ton armoured, land-based monsters.
In a final footnote Prof. Benton described how scientists have deduced other characteristics of dinosaurs such as running speed, bite force, feeding style and growth rate. Steven Spielberg got it all wrong, apparently T. rex could not run very fast at all; you could easily out-run it. Good to know.
Charles Emes
11 May 2021
A virtual tour of the Diamond Light Source facility
This month’s meeting was a double bill featuring two members of the Diamond Light Source staff. In the first hour Amy Griffin, Public Engagement co-ordinator, gave us a detailed, well-illustrated presentation on the Diamond facility, explaining how it works and the numerous experimental procedures currently being carried out there, not least of which is important research on the efficacy of drugs to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Diamond synchrotron consists of an electron gun to produce a stream of low energy electrons, a linear accelerator to increase their energy and a booster synchrotron to further accelerate the electrons to their final energy before entering the storage ring. This maintains their energy and confines the electron beam as it produces synchrotron light for a wide variety of experiments. There are 32 beam lines leading off the storage ring servicing laboratories using radiation of different wavelengths.
The unique set of characteristics displayed by synchrotron light - high brilliance, high intensity, sharp focus, tunability - gives it advantages over conventional techniques. This is why so many scientists use it in an extensive range of research areas, furthering knowledge, which helps to foster breakthroughs in fields ranging from health, the environment and engineering, to astrophysics and archaeology.
Over 14,000 researchers from across life and physical sciences both from academia and industry use Diamond to conduct experiments, assisted by approximately 700 staff. 90% of the facility is given to academic research and 10% to industry. Approximately 7000 articles a year are published in Research Journals.
In the second hour, Dr David Price took us on a virtual tour of the vast machine, visiting every section and answering our many questions on the way. Our attention was drawn to the health and safety aspect and the need for shielding from the radiation. The photographs enabled us to see close-ups which would be difficult to achieve on a personal visit. Nevertheless, our appetite was whetted for a face-to-face tour as soon as circumstances permit.
The Diamond Light Source is a not-for-profit limited company funded as a joint venture between UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust.
Valerie Conniff
13th April 2021
How weather forecasts are made
Our April meeting on zoom was by Colin McAllister from the Met. Office on ‘How a weather forecast is made’. With 40 years’ experience, an infectious personality and excellent images in support, he brought his subject alive.
He took us through the history of the Met Office focusing on the skills of individuals working with limited information input and no computer help to gradually improve their forecast outputs. Just looking at the four relative positions of low and high pressure areas near the British Isles, brought home why our weather is so variable. In those days short-term daily forecasts were good on temperature ranges and not too bad on rain arriving. But sometime the timing was a bit out.
Increasingly sophisticated computers and other technology has enabled the organisation to vastly improve the accuracy, timing, and range of its forecasts, not just for the UK but throughout the world. Things have rapidly advanced from systems primarily based on surface land measurements to those which take into account all variable factors in the atmosphere and the oceans (a key driver). Satellites have taken the information available into new realms.
One key in all the work of the Met Office these days is to run repeated computer modelling of a range of data inputs from which, as Colin illustrated, surprisingly accurate predictions can be drawn. Thus, as he said, they can pass on information about when snow will arrive in Bournemouth on a particular day with a considerable degree of accuracy. It is then up to their customers to decide when to salt the roads.
Another fascinating aspect we were shown was how a range of UK wide maps can be rapidly produced to show the probability of, say, 40, 80, or 120 mm of rain falling in the time ahead, so as to enable emergency responders to initiate action to reduce its impact and prepare for flooding.
This was an amazing insight into what goes on behind the scenes. Even down to which TV channels do (or don’t) use Met Office trained presenters for their upfront forecasts!
Jim Handley
9th March 2021
Is Your Phone Seducing You? by Dr Tom Chatfield
We were treated to a fascinating talk by Tom Chatfield who spoke about the emotional relationship we have with our “tech”. Tom started with a brief history of computing when in the 40s and 50s computing was dominated by enormous mainframe computers. Allegedly the IBM CEO of the time thought there might be “potential for 9 or 10 computers in the world”. All that changed in the 1980s with the emergence of personal computing (and Microsoft’s goal of having a computer on every desk and in every home).
In 1990, however, we moved into a much more intimate relationship with our tech with hand-held devices (phones and tablets) which are, for some people, the first thing they touch in the morning and the last thing they touch at night. Tom referred to “doom scrolling” - the habit of some insomniacs to lie in bed and scroll endlessly through the doom-laden news.
The appalling statistic is that there are now more phones than people on the planet. In some countries, which do not have a broadband infrastructure, all internet access is by phone.
Tom went on to explain that what is good for machines is not good for humans. Machines are all about speed and volume and you cannot get the best out of humans with the same approach. Technology companies have been reverse-engineering how humans behave so they can deliver more (dis)information but bear no responsibility for ensuring it’s truthful or accurate.
Tom then described his 10 commandments to aid us with critical thinking when assessing on-line information.
1. Slow down – to pause and question the reliability of the information or the urgent need to follow up.
2. Conserve mental energy – recognise that we have limited will-power and not to be drawn in (like gamblers are to Vegas).
3. If in doubt, wait – don’t be forced into a decision. Check and be cautious.
4. Beware of good stories – a good story may be simplified and seductive because it reinforces our beliefs.
5. Know your limits – recognise that we are clueless on a lot of subjects, so do the research.
6. What you see is never all there – the information we may be provided with is only a small fraction of what is available.
7. Recent is not the same as relevant – our devices deliver recent information which may not be the most relevant.
8. Put claims to a meaningful test – claims that the moon landings were fake do not bear up under scrutiny.
9. Pick your own frames of reference – we may be offered a choice where the frame of reference is deliberately misleading
10. Every option can be wrong – just because you are given two choices does not mean that they are the only ones available.
And on that note, I shall put my device firmly away in a drawer and grab a book.
Charles Emes
9th February 2021
Artificial Intelligence by Leigh Edwards
Leigh started with the history of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which started before WWII.
AI isn’t robots, it’s actually the software that does some sort of function, like face recognition or reading mammograms.
There are 3 types of AI:
Each previous generation of engineers and scientist has predicted that AGI is just around the corner. But it is stubbornly elusive, with the current predications having moved out to being 100 years off. Basically, the human brain is just so complex and clever!
As for ASI, who knows when that will happen? It is ASI that produced the “self-aware” computer in the film “Terminator”. Let’s hope that we will have programmed in Isaac Asimov’s 3 Laws into computers well before that day!
Write up by Wendy Lefevre
12th January 2021
Rockets, Satellites, Space Lasers and the Internet: how SpaceX plans to connect everyone everywhere by Professor Mark Handley, UCL.
Mark described how Elon Musk’s ultimate ambition is to colonise Mars. He took us through the successes and issues involved in developing rocket systems to provide both the means and sources of funding to support this ultimate aim. Today the SpaceX company provides the Falcon 9 to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station and this rocket now has a reusable booster system which is much cheaper to operate. Testing is now progressing on what will be a fully reusable Starship rocket for the Mars missions.
But optimum travel alignment to Mars only occurs every 18 months, so how to use the rocket capability to make money meanwhile? The answer -- rebuild the internet in space using thousands of satellites. Why? It will get the internet to anywhere not connected now and will reduce transmission delays [albeit measured in milliseconds] compared with current speeds via optic fibre. Speed is of the essence for various high frequency traders or even for carrying out telesurgery and those users will pay for this.
Mark showed how 60 flat packed satellites can be put into a 550k orbit using one launch of a reusable rocket. Using simulation he showed how speeds could be improved for a return message between New York and London using lasers linking 6 satellites – down from 76ms now to 42ms. So far 955 satellites have been launched with plans for 4200 by mid 2021 and ultimately 12000.
The use of lasers may come on stream later this year. Even without this there are plans to use multiple narrow beamed radio links bouncing information between ground relay stations and satellites, which will still considerably improve current coverage and speeds.
To many this seems like science fiction but it is happening now. Only in December you could see 30 or so newly launched satellites following each other across the sky above Monmouth on their way into orbit.
A great presentation with wonderful images and videos. As Mark’s parents it was lovely for Pat and I to find out more about what he gets up to!
Jim Handley
8th December 2020
The Bloodhound Project by Allan Reid
We had a fascinating talk by Allan Reid about Land Speed Record attempts by the British car called the Bloodhound. Allan is a STEM and Bloodhound Ambassador for South Wales. He is one of hundreds of volunteers who share their passion in this project and try to engage young people in STEM projects.
The Bloodhound Programme is a registered charity that receives no government funding. It started up in 2008 and split off from the Bloodhound SSC company when it went into administration in 2019.
Allan gave us a history of the land speed records which began surprisingly as far back as 1898 with an electric vehicle that reached 39mph. For the first half of the 20th century land speed records were dominated by British vehicles but in 1969 the records were held by American vehicles when jet propulsion became prevalent.
Another Briton, Richard Noble, became the holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997. He crashed in his first car Thrust 1 but achieved a new land speed record of 633mph in Thrust 2 powered by a Rolls Royce jet turbine. In 1997 it was Andy Green who drove Thrust SSC supersonic by breaking the sound barrier at 763mph.
The Bloodhound SSC project had a vision to design and build a car that would reach speeds of 1000mph. CAD (computer-aided design) was used to design the car and its components. We learnt CFD (computational fluid dynamics) is used to optimise the shape of the car and reduce drag while 3D printing is used to build various components including the titanium steering wheel.
Ian Warhurst bought Bloodhound SSC and the IPR in 2019 and the car in its new livery reached 628mph on a new track in South Africa. It is hoped that in the next few years, with the appropriate funding, that the team will return to South Africa for an attempt to reach the car’s design speed of 1000mph. Just don’t blink or you’ll miss it. Charles Emes
10th November 2020
On the Trail of the Ice Age in the West Midlands Conurbation and Herefordshire -- Prof. Ian Fairchild.
Ian delivered a far reaching talk linking broader geological research into ice ages to what happened during the most recent advance and retreat of glaciers in the West Midlands Conurbation and western Herefordshire.
Within the broader research he embraced the work of historical figures like Charles Darwin and Louis Agassiz, the latter first recognising the significance of ice worn pebbles and erratics moved by glaciers.
He then turned to the work of the Rev. Crosskey and his Erratics Block Group who first mapped the erratics found in the West Midlands in the late 1800s. This work is being updated by the Earth Heritage Trust [of which Ian is the chair]
He showed us how the chemical and physical analysis of these erratics has become a key factor in determining the source and scale of the glaciers that impacted into the more local areas to our north.
Finally he gave us the details of an ongoing lottery funded EHT and Wildlife Trust project in western Herefordshire. This is identifying and researching ponds which originated in depressions—kettle holes -- in the landscape caused by the slow melting of ice blocks. Jim Handley
Tuesday 6th October 2020
Game Theory, Strategies, Decisions and the Prisoner’s Dilemma – Phil Charlesworth
Phil Charlesworth is becoming a regular contributor to the science group having previously talked about amateur rocketry and solar powered flight. He turned a seemingly opaque topic into a simple to follow mixture of history, familiar games and only a tiny amount of formal mathematics.
The history of games and game theory can be traced from 1838 and then through the mid twentieth century when the subject was formalised by mathematician John von Neumann.
A game has two or more competitors and has some form of structure or rules. One example used was rock-paper-scissors where one player’s gain is the other’s loss (zero sum). Over time both players will expect to win half the games. Another example is where two companies compete for market share and can advertise and gain business unless the other company does the same, in which case neither wins and both suffer the cost of the advertising.
Although described as games such thinking has many serious applications and has been widely used in economics, but also auctions, biology and most seriously politics. We were asked to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy was faced with Kruschev, leader of the USSR, in a stand-off over a missile base on Cuba. This can be analysed as a “game” with competing players and a small range of strategies. Fortunately the outcome for the world was “benign”.
Modern “game theory” has developed with ever more complex situations and the availability of serious computing resources. There have been several Nobel prize winners in the field.
A question afterwards related to the current pandemic and we can all hope that game theory might contribute to an optimal solution. Michael Bone
September 8th 2020
River Usk: Source to sea. Part 1: Black Mountain to Abergavenny
This presentation given by Alan Bowring, Development Officer for Fforest Fawr Geopark, took us on an hours’ long virtual journey from the source of the River Usk in the Black Mountain to the point it reaches Abergavenny. Each stop throughout the length of the journey was accompanied by detailed information, beautiful photographs and useful map references. As well as highlighting the salient geological aspects, we learnt much about its archaeological, historical and industrial heritage. Our attention was drawn to important Grade 1 listed buildings and bridges along the way.
From the point of flowing out of the Usk reservoir, the river and its tributaries have been designated as a SAC ( special area of conservation) and SSSI ( site of special scientific interest). Unsullied by industrial effluent, the water is pure enough to sustain a wide variety of aquatic life, making it attractive to anglers (George Melly amongst them) and it is also home to otters.
Alan had interesting comments, observations and anecdotes to share, which we will take with us on our next visit to the area. We are very grateful to Alan and his colleagues in the Geopark for their work in conserving this unique environment. Valerie Conniff
June 2022
Our presentation this month was given by Kim Bell, a professional star storyteller, with a wide experience of talking to groups of all ages on the fascinating topic of our solar system. His well-illustrated, fluent and fact-filled commentary took us on tour of our planets, starting wit the sun.
Our Sun is the star around which our planets orbit, and the energy released by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium molecules supports all life on our planet Earth. The sun comprises 99.9% of the mass of our solar system.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun with some interesting geological features, but no significant atmosphere.
Venus is significantly further away from the sun and the closest planet to earth. It is the brightest object on the night sky, apart from the moon, and has a thick atmosphere full of carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid vapour. It is the hottest planet in our solar system with a surface temperature of 480 degrees centigrade.
Earth is the only planet with liquid water on its surface and the only planet known to support life.
Mars is the focus of many space explorations seeking evidence of the existence of life. Known as the red planet because of the layer of iron oxide on its surface, it also has volcanoes larger than any on Earth. Valleys and sedimentary rocks are evidence of the existence of liquid water sometime in the past.
Jupiter is the largest planet but still much smaller than the sun. It is notable for having 79, perhaps more, moons, due to its large gravitational force. One of these, Europa, has similarities to Earth in that it contains a lot of water. There is a thick crust of ice on its surface.
Saturn is the most distant planet that can be seen by the naked eye. It is the least dense planet and the second largest. It has the most extensive rings in the solar system and 83 moons.
Uranus was the first to be discovered by using a telescope, by William Herschell in 1781. It is known as an ice giant because of its low surface temperature.
Neptune is known as the blue planet because of its methane atmosphere. It is the coldest planet and furthest from the sun.
There is a possibility of finding further, more distant, planets.
Pluto, once considered to be part of our solar system, is no longer recognised as such because it does not orbit the sun in the same way as the rest. It is called a "dwarf planet".
Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy which contains hundreds of billions of stars like our sun. In the centre of every galaxy is a black hole i.e. a place in space where gravity is so strong that not even light can get out.
There were many questions put to our speaker, during and after the presentation, which reflected the interest of the audience.
Valerie Conniff
May 2022
How gene editing is used to correct genetic diseases.
Professor Mark Szczelkum, School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol
There are 3 billion base pairs in human DNA. Most, but not all of it, has been mapped into genes that we know what they are responsible for, from hair colour to intelligence. Unfortunately, sometimes, the base pairs in the DNA get corrupted, and sometimes those corruptions produce disease and/or deformity.
Gene editing, or splicing, techniques have been developed over the last few decades that now allow these corrupted genes to be either corrected or removed. Professor Mark Szczelkun explained [in very basic terms] how the editing is done.
The newest editing around is CRISPER-cas9; it's cheap and accurate [all comparative!!]. A short piece of RNA [think one half of the DNA double helix] is specially made to match the bit of damaged DNA. The RNA finds and binds to the damaged bit of DNA that it matches. Then the cas9 enzyme cuts the DNA where the RNA has attached. Simple!
DNA then does its own [normal] thing and repairs the break.
However, there is the big question, should we actually use this DNA/gene editing? Is it morally right? Even with good intentions, could we end up introducing unintended changes that we lose control of? When and how could we us it safely?
If you want to read more, try these 2 web sites:
https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-crispr-cas9#:~:text=CRISPR%2DCas9%20is%20a%20unique,buzz%20in%20the%20science%20world.
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/basics/gene/#:~:text=In%20humans%2C%20genes%20vary%20in,between%2020%2C000%20and%2025%2C000%20genes.
Wendy Lefevre
April 2022
The Detection of Exoplanets in the Quest for Universal Life - Amaury Triaud, Professor Exoplanetolgy, Birmingham University
Even the Ancient Greeks we were told, were thinking about the origins of life on Earth. In the last few centuries as our knowledge of the universes increased we have been wondering if we are alone in the universe or if there is life on other planets.
There are several theories about how life may have started on Earth, Panspermia supposes that life could travel through space on comets, but this would require such life to survive the extreme cold of space and the extreme heat of impacting a planet. And Panspermia does not answer the question on how life got started.
The study of exoplanets can help answer the question of how life started by analysing the atmosphere of exoplanets. Scientists are now searching for an exoplanet that is a twin of Earth - one of similar size, surface temperature and near enough to be studied.
If a planet can be observed transiting across its star it is possible to measure a small dip in the brightness of the star. We were shown a video of Venus transiting across the Sun with the associated dip in brightness of 1%. This is the method the Keplar space craft has been using to detect the presence of exoplanets.
Professor Triaud explained the ways that the atmosphere of an exoplanet can be analysed using ground based telescopes. Firstly by examining the reflected light from the star bouncing off an exoplanet as it transits across the star. Spectroscopy measures the absorption of light across the spectrum and signature peaks allow detection of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen and water.
But attempting to search for an Earth-size planet orbiting a star about the same size as the Sun would exhibit an undetectable amount of dimming (about 0.01%). However, if you try and look for exoplanets orbiting a smaller star than the sun, the task is easier. Exoplanets that orbit in the habitable zone of a smaller star will be closer to the star, which means they orbit faster and this is important from a practical point.
For example, if we were observing Earth from afar we would see it transit the sun just once a year and to collect enough data you would really want to observe 15 transits in about a year.
It turns out that our sun is not the most common type of star but far more common are smaller stars called ultra cool dwarfs. A collection of telescopes located high up in the Atacama desert in Chile have been used to study one such star called Trappist One, which has 7 exoplanets, 3 of which fall into the habitable zone. The exoplanets' orbits are so close to each other that they can distort the time interval for a complete rotation. The gravitational pull between the planets causes the outermost planet to be pulled closer to the star, speeding it up with a converse effect of the inner planet, causing that to move to a higher orbit and slowing it down. Measurement of the mass of these exoplanets show them to be rocky planets, though less dense than Earth.
The exoplanets around Trappist One will be some of the first observations that the James Webb telescope will make. It carries instruments that can analyse the gases within the atmosphere so we may get closer to understanding if the signatures of gases indicates the presence of life.
Charles Emes
March 2022
Deep geological disposal of nuclear waste in the UK - Dr Jonathan Turner, Chief Geologist,
Nuclear Waste Services
The timing of this talk was rather fortuitous. With the war going on in Ukraine, and the UK not wanting to rely on Russian gas and oil any more, it looks like we may be using nuclear power stations a little longer than we had previously been planning.
So what happens to all the spent (i.e. used) nuclear fuel from our nuclear power stations, past and present? Most countries with nuclear power stations are looking at similar ideas. Dr Jonathan Turner is heading up the programme to work out how to store all our spent nuclear waste in the UK. Currently, most of our spent fuels are stored in massive ponds Sellafield, Cumbria. However, nuclear fuels take 100s and 1000s of year to decay and become safe, therefore the waste cannot stay there that long.
The plan is to build a few underground facilities around the country. However, the locations are severally limited due to geological requirements: the rocks need to be physically strong enough, not be liable to earthquakes or volcanoes (not a huge problem for the UK), not likely to affect any water sources, and many other reasons. These facilities need to be approximately 100m below the surface, and could actually be located under the sea, with the entrance on dry land.
The low grade waste would be stored in big containers, on huge shelving racks. The high grade "hot" waste would be vitrified (i.e. encased in glass), loaded into metal canisters, and placed in special holes cut in the rock to take the canisters.
A big part of determining where to locate these facilities, is getting the buy-in of the local community. The whole point is that the facility will be safe (or as safe as possible), and there would be lots of well-paid jobs. A big thing that surprised me was that it will take at least 140 years to find the site, complete the plans, build the facilities and load the nuclear martial into them.
Wendy Lefevre
February 2022
Unravelling the Double Helix - Prof. Gareth Williams
Gareth started his talk with the Nobel prize recognition that James Watson and Francis Crick received for their work on the DNA double helix. He highlighted what this helix contains and how it met the key criteria of making sense, of spelling out the genetic instructions for life and of being able to copy itself.
But then the story gets seriously more complex by focusing on the 5 fundamental aspects that Watson and Crick did not do:
- Discover DNA - credit for this goes back to 1868 when Friedrich Mieschler isolated what he called Nuclein from human pus.
- Prove genes are made of DNA - here Frederick Griffith's and Oswald Avery's work from 1928 to 1945 established how genetic material could be passed on in pneumococcus.
- Discover the key relationship between the 4 bases of the helix - A C G & T. The so called Chargaff's rules developed from DNA work on different species.
- Deduce that DNA is a helix - Maurice Wilkins first realised this from his work taking X-rays of squid sperm.
- Any experiments on DNA - Watson and Crick produced a paper analysis without personal data input. They failed to give credit to the work of Rosalind Franklin but must have known about it since it figured in another article published at the same time in Nature. Tensions clearly existed in both the recruitment of Franklin and her later removal.
A fascinating piece of detective work which dissected the roles and work of others lying behind the Nobel prizes awarded to Watson Crick and Maurice Wilkins 'for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material'.
James Handley
January 2022
Physics Conserving the Past - and what happens when things go wrong
This presentation, given by Prof. Averil MacDonald, (one of our group members), was a whirlwind guide to the multiple techniques utilised by scientists to investigate the past. In relation to physics, archaeology is a relatively recent science but archaeologists rely on modern scientific methods of analysis to verify the age and composition of specimens. There are various non-invasive techniques in wide use e.g. X-ray analysis, infra-red spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and radiocarbon dating to name a few. The provenance of works of art and detection of forgeries is another example where physics plays an important role.
The first synthetic pigment, Egyptian Blue, can be traced back to 3200BC. It was widely used in Egypt for thousands of years but fell from use after the Roman era and the formula was lost. Cave paintings use pigments derived from iron oxides.
It is important to conserve precious artefacts and attempts to achieve this using modern chemicals have not always been successful. For example, in the 1970s PVA and acrylic glues were used to apply support netting to fragile silk fabrics. Decades later it was discovered that these go brown and brittle causing the silk fabric to deteriorate. Efforts are now being made to remove these adhesives to prevent further destruction. Averil described her own research involving confocal Raman spectroscopy to identify the adhesives used. Similarly, the practice of laminating ancient manuscripts can produce chemical reactions between the laminate and the ink over time necessitating a review of this practice.
Reconstruction of ancient wooden vessels like the Mary Rose and the Newport Ship involve painstaking work. The timbers were immersed in polyethylene glycol in order to replace water in the cellular structure of the wood. Again, over time this has had a negative effect as complex chemical reactions, catalysed by iron remains in the timber, result in the formation of sulphuric acid. Prolonged submersion can also cause the timber to shrink.
The field is still wide open for research into improved methods of conservation!
Valerie Conniff
December 2021
A good lot of fat or a fat lot of good? By Ned Kelly.
In an informative, entertaining and well-illustrated talk, Ned Kelly with 40 years' experience in the Pharmaceutical industry, set out to explode some of the myths surrounding fat consumption and explain the jargon surrounding the subject.
In the 1950s, from the observation that more heart disease occurred where a lot of fat is eaten, the conclusion was made that fat was bad for us. Indeed, fat consumption is associated with clogging up of arteries, and restricting the blood flow to the heart which can result in heart attacks and restricting blood flow to the brain, which can result in strokes. These are serious life-threatening conditions.
Nevertheless, it is a scientific fact that fat is an essential requirement of a healthy diet. Cholesterol is produced from fat in the liver, in a series of steps by the action of enzymes, and released into the bloodstream. Cholesterol is a constituent of every cell membrane and is involved in the production of many useful chemicals including vitamin D. The cholesterol contained in low density lipoprotein (LDL) is known as "bad" cholesterol because it is associated with the build-up of plaque clogging the arteries. That contained in high density lipoprotein (HDL) is called "good" because it removes cholesterol from circulation and artery walls and returns it to the liver for excretion.
Statins are widely prescribed to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood. They were first proved to be effective in reducing the risk of heart attacks in a Scandinavian study in 1994 and swiftly followed by other studies, all confirming that statins can reduce the incidence of heart attacks by 30%. Statins work by interfering in the first stage of the manufacture of cholesterol in the liver.
The structure of saturated fatty acids, which are considered "bad" in the diet, and unsaturated (containing carbon to carbon double bond) which are considered "good" was explained. Poly-unsaturated fatty acids, (PUFAs with more than one carbon-to-carbon double bond), and omega 3 fatty acids (with the carbon-to-carbon double bond 3 carbon atoms from the end of the chain) are considered particularly beneficial. They are found in fish oils, nuts, seeds.
Research carried out to find out whether saturated fat is a killer found no conclusive proof. Excess carbohydrate consumption however did increase the risk of death, probably related to poverty.
A recent study in 2019 looked at the risk of heart disease and stroke related to a diet of fish and vegetarian diets when compared to meat eaters. The results show that there is less of a risk of heart disease to fish and vegetarian dieters, but a greater risk of stroke!
The NHS recommends a Mediterranean diet to ensure good health but, to quote our speaker, "the quest for immortality through diet is futile"
Valerie Conniff
November 2021
The International Space Station by Dr Charles Emes
The November talk was about the International Space Station (ISS), presented by our own member, Dr Charles Emes (would-be astronaut!). He started with how the ISS was built in a modular way, taking 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble. The first segment was launched in 1998 but it was a further 2 years until the first astronauts could occupy the station. In the intervening 20 years, the ISS has always been occupied.
Charles went into who has been there, how cargo and supplies are delivered, and the wide variety of experiments that are conducted there. I found the details of how almost everything is recycled, and how it is recycled, really fascinating.
A couple of “incidences” Charles told us about included:
1)an early spacewalk, condensation from some equipment in the space suit ended up in the astronaut’s helmet. In near weightless conditions, the water floated anywhere, so to prevent his “breathing” in the water, the astronaut had to get back into the space station asap (which took 23 mins as nothing can be done fast outside the space station!) The consequence of this is that now, astronauts have to wear nappies on their heads when in their space suits!
2)The time when some astronauts were due to return to earth, the toilet in the return module wasn’t working, so the normal return sequence of 20 ish hours had to be shortened to 6 hours.
The talk ended with a summary of some of the research that has been conducted over the years, including, Human research, Space medicine, Life sciences, Physical sciences, Astronomy and Meteorology.
Thanks to Charles for a very informative and enjoyable talk. His enthusiasm for the topic came across throughout.
Wendy Lefevre
12 October 2021
My involvement with the BSE outbreak by Mike Ansfield
Mike Ansfield set the scene by explaining his early role in the State Veterinary Service, with a particular interest in monitoring freshly imported meat and inspecting abattoirs.
In 1985 'cow 133' was the first to be identified as having a range of symptoms relating to a neurological condition, later to be known as BSE. Gradually a long list of potential symptoms was drawn up ranging from grinding teeth to being generally over reactive. Examination of cow brain tissue identified a similarity to scrapie in sheep. Historically scrapie was first recognised in sheep 1732, and a case in cattle in 1883. In 1920 the process of rendering meat products into cattle feed started, and about that time the first human case of CJD in humans was recognised in a tribe where the practice of eating the brains of deceased family members was present.
Attention focused on prions, a protein normally found on the surface of many cells, and how they were developing into fibrils, or chains, when infected. Meanwhile, in 1988, legislation banned the use of all cattle and sheep over 30 months in the human food chain and said that the brain and spinal cord had to be removed from all cattle destined for human consumption.
A Research Team was set up and led by Ansfield to look for the illegal use of ruminant prions in animal feeds. He described a project known as ELISA, and the problems involved in detecting particular prion proteins in cattle feed ingredients. Eventually a procedure was developed and patented and became the standard internationally. The national UK Testing Centre with 24 branches was set up [only to be closed down and privatised 20 years on!]. Mike's role extended into being the lead UK representative at international conferences on the subject and having to brief ministers on PQs arising from the human variant of CJD. Even involved in being an expert witness in court proceedings unsuccessfully seeking to challenge the research conclusions.
As an aside Mike mentioned the infamous case of John Gummer, when Minister responsible, feeding his daughter a beef burger made from MRM [Mechanically Recovered Meat} at a time when research into the risks was far from clear!
By the time Mike retired in 2004, BSE cases had fallen from a peak of about 100,000 cases in 1993 to near zero. During that time, 4.4 million cattle had been slaughtered, costs had topped £5 billion, and there had been 177 cases where CJD had occurred in humans.
The unknown question remains as to whether there is still any residual risk to humans, as it may take at least 20 years for symptoms to show.
Jim Handley
10 August 2021
Visit to the Jenner Museum, Berkeley
Having heard the talk on Zoom earlier this year by Prof. Gareth Williams about Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823), we now had a chance to visit the Jenner Museum in Berkeley. This is housed in his impressive house named The Chantry, where Jenner lived for many years.
The museum has recreated Jenner’s study, which includes much memorabilia illustrating the wide intellectual interests and curiosities of this medical doctor. Other rooms are given over to detailed information about Jenner’s life, his amazing network of contacts and his work on the smallpox vaccination. There was considerable analysis of how the human body is geared to fight invasive bodies, leading into an explanation of how vaccinations work, and why they are so important for us.
Outside there is quite a large garden. One area is a recent re-creation of a Physic Garden, growing the herbs and other plants that would have been used to treat various ailments in Jenner’s time. There is also an intriguing thatched Temple of Vaccinia, where local inhabitants were given their vaccinations. Finally, an impressive glasshouse where five grape vines planted by Jenner in 1821 still flourish.
Both an educational and enjoyable trip out, especially after the 18 months of covid restrictions. Jenner, I am sure, would certainly approve of the speed and extent of our own recent vaccination programmes.
Jim Handley
13 July 2021
Dinosaurs – New Visions of a Lost World by Professor Michael Benton, University of Bristol
If all you have is a fossil, how can you possibly predict what colour a dinosaur was? Mike Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Bristol, over the course of an hour revealed just how scientists are now able to determine the colour of an animal that died 60 million years ago.
The story started in 1996 when a small group of Chinese paleontologists arrived at a conference in New York and released news of “dinosaur fossils with feathers”. The specimen they revealed was incredibly well-preserved and showed a complete skeleton of a small dinosaur with tufts along the back and tail that looked like feathers. The fossil was named Sinosauropteryx. A paper published in Nature two years later from a different group in China also claimed discovery of a feathered dinosaur. Later it turned out these were two halves of the same specimen.
Previously it had been the discovery of the fossil of Archaeopteryx in 1861 that had caused a stir with Thomas Huxley describing it as “a dinosaur in bird’s clothing”. It was the so-called missing link between dinosaurs and birds, because it not only had feathers but also teeth in the jawbone. There are just 10 fossils of Archaeopteryx that have been found to date, but in the northern provinces of China they have discovered thousands of new fossil specimens of feathered dinosaurs and birds.
Apart from Sinosauropteryx, other species include Caudipteryx, which has complex pernate feathers, and Microraptor which has feathers on four limbs and tail. Presently there are some 50 feathered species of dinosaur which have helped to show how birds evolved from dinosaurs by a gradual decrease in size and the development of complex feathers.
Evidence of the colour of dinosaurs comes from modern animals following studies of hair and feather pigmentation. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) pictures reveal that it is the packing of structures called melanosomes that give hair and feathers their colour. By viewing feathers from Sinosauropteryx in an SEM, it revealed the same structures as those in modern birds and this also applies to skin pigmentation in mammals. Thus a “chain of inference” is used to deduce the pigmentation in the feathers and body of dinosaurs.
We were also treated to an array of artist illustrations of dinosaur species reconstructed from fossils, as well as giant-headed birds and 10-ton armoured, land-based monsters.
In a final footnote Prof. Benton described how scientists have deduced other characteristics of dinosaurs such as running speed, bite force, feeding style and growth rate. Steven Spielberg got it all wrong, apparently T. rex could not run very fast at all; you could easily out-run it. Good to know.
Charles Emes
11 May 2021
A virtual tour of the Diamond Light Source facility
This month’s meeting was a double bill featuring two members of the Diamond Light Source staff. In the first hour Amy Griffin, Public Engagement co-ordinator, gave us a detailed, well-illustrated presentation on the Diamond facility, explaining how it works and the numerous experimental procedures currently being carried out there, not least of which is important research on the efficacy of drugs to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Diamond synchrotron consists of an electron gun to produce a stream of low energy electrons, a linear accelerator to increase their energy and a booster synchrotron to further accelerate the electrons to their final energy before entering the storage ring. This maintains their energy and confines the electron beam as it produces synchrotron light for a wide variety of experiments. There are 32 beam lines leading off the storage ring servicing laboratories using radiation of different wavelengths.
The unique set of characteristics displayed by synchrotron light - high brilliance, high intensity, sharp focus, tunability - gives it advantages over conventional techniques. This is why so many scientists use it in an extensive range of research areas, furthering knowledge, which helps to foster breakthroughs in fields ranging from health, the environment and engineering, to astrophysics and archaeology.
Over 14,000 researchers from across life and physical sciences both from academia and industry use Diamond to conduct experiments, assisted by approximately 700 staff. 90% of the facility is given to academic research and 10% to industry. Approximately 7000 articles a year are published in Research Journals.
In the second hour, Dr David Price took us on a virtual tour of the vast machine, visiting every section and answering our many questions on the way. Our attention was drawn to the health and safety aspect and the need for shielding from the radiation. The photographs enabled us to see close-ups which would be difficult to achieve on a personal visit. Nevertheless, our appetite was whetted for a face-to-face tour as soon as circumstances permit.
The Diamond Light Source is a not-for-profit limited company funded as a joint venture between UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust.
Valerie Conniff
13th April 2021
How weather forecasts are made
Our April meeting on zoom was by Colin McAllister from the Met. Office on ‘How a weather forecast is made’. With 40 years’ experience, an infectious personality and excellent images in support, he brought his subject alive.
He took us through the history of the Met Office focusing on the skills of individuals working with limited information input and no computer help to gradually improve their forecast outputs. Just looking at the four relative positions of low and high pressure areas near the British Isles, brought home why our weather is so variable. In those days short-term daily forecasts were good on temperature ranges and not too bad on rain arriving. But sometime the timing was a bit out.
Increasingly sophisticated computers and other technology has enabled the organisation to vastly improve the accuracy, timing, and range of its forecasts, not just for the UK but throughout the world. Things have rapidly advanced from systems primarily based on surface land measurements to those which take into account all variable factors in the atmosphere and the oceans (a key driver). Satellites have taken the information available into new realms.
One key in all the work of the Met Office these days is to run repeated computer modelling of a range of data inputs from which, as Colin illustrated, surprisingly accurate predictions can be drawn. Thus, as he said, they can pass on information about when snow will arrive in Bournemouth on a particular day with a considerable degree of accuracy. It is then up to their customers to decide when to salt the roads.
Another fascinating aspect we were shown was how a range of UK wide maps can be rapidly produced to show the probability of, say, 40, 80, or 120 mm of rain falling in the time ahead, so as to enable emergency responders to initiate action to reduce its impact and prepare for flooding.
This was an amazing insight into what goes on behind the scenes. Even down to which TV channels do (or don’t) use Met Office trained presenters for their upfront forecasts!
Jim Handley
9th March 2021
Is Your Phone Seducing You? by Dr Tom Chatfield
We were treated to a fascinating talk by Tom Chatfield who spoke about the emotional relationship we have with our “tech”. Tom started with a brief history of computing when in the 40s and 50s computing was dominated by enormous mainframe computers. Allegedly the IBM CEO of the time thought there might be “potential for 9 or 10 computers in the world”. All that changed in the 1980s with the emergence of personal computing (and Microsoft’s goal of having a computer on every desk and in every home).
In 1990, however, we moved into a much more intimate relationship with our tech with hand-held devices (phones and tablets) which are, for some people, the first thing they touch in the morning and the last thing they touch at night. Tom referred to “doom scrolling” - the habit of some insomniacs to lie in bed and scroll endlessly through the doom-laden news.
The appalling statistic is that there are now more phones than people on the planet. In some countries, which do not have a broadband infrastructure, all internet access is by phone.
Tom went on to explain that what is good for machines is not good for humans. Machines are all about speed and volume and you cannot get the best out of humans with the same approach. Technology companies have been reverse-engineering how humans behave so they can deliver more (dis)information but bear no responsibility for ensuring it’s truthful or accurate.
Tom then described his 10 commandments to aid us with critical thinking when assessing on-line information.
1. Slow down – to pause and question the reliability of the information or the urgent need to follow up.
2. Conserve mental energy – recognise that we have limited will-power and not to be drawn in (like gamblers are to Vegas).
3. If in doubt, wait – don’t be forced into a decision. Check and be cautious.
4. Beware of good stories – a good story may be simplified and seductive because it reinforces our beliefs.
5. Know your limits – recognise that we are clueless on a lot of subjects, so do the research.
6. What you see is never all there – the information we may be provided with is only a small fraction of what is available.
7. Recent is not the same as relevant – our devices deliver recent information which may not be the most relevant.
8. Put claims to a meaningful test – claims that the moon landings were fake do not bear up under scrutiny.
9. Pick your own frames of reference – we may be offered a choice where the frame of reference is deliberately misleading
10. Every option can be wrong – just because you are given two choices does not mean that they are the only ones available.
And on that note, I shall put my device firmly away in a drawer and grab a book.
Charles Emes
9th February 2021
Artificial Intelligence by Leigh Edwards
Leigh started with the history of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which started before WWII.
AI isn’t robots, it’s actually the software that does some sort of function, like face recognition or reading mammograms.
There are 3 types of AI:
- ANI – artificial narrow intelligence: the ability to do a very specific and narrow function
- AGI - artificial general intelligence: this is where the capability is equal to humans
- ASI - artificial super intelligence: this is where the capability exceeds humans. This requires the AI to be self-improving.
Each previous generation of engineers and scientist has predicted that AGI is just around the corner. But it is stubbornly elusive, with the current predications having moved out to being 100 years off. Basically, the human brain is just so complex and clever!
As for ASI, who knows when that will happen? It is ASI that produced the “self-aware” computer in the film “Terminator”. Let’s hope that we will have programmed in Isaac Asimov’s 3 Laws into computers well before that day!
Write up by Wendy Lefevre
12th January 2021
Rockets, Satellites, Space Lasers and the Internet: how SpaceX plans to connect everyone everywhere by Professor Mark Handley, UCL.
Mark described how Elon Musk’s ultimate ambition is to colonise Mars. He took us through the successes and issues involved in developing rocket systems to provide both the means and sources of funding to support this ultimate aim. Today the SpaceX company provides the Falcon 9 to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station and this rocket now has a reusable booster system which is much cheaper to operate. Testing is now progressing on what will be a fully reusable Starship rocket for the Mars missions.
But optimum travel alignment to Mars only occurs every 18 months, so how to use the rocket capability to make money meanwhile? The answer -- rebuild the internet in space using thousands of satellites. Why? It will get the internet to anywhere not connected now and will reduce transmission delays [albeit measured in milliseconds] compared with current speeds via optic fibre. Speed is of the essence for various high frequency traders or even for carrying out telesurgery and those users will pay for this.
Mark showed how 60 flat packed satellites can be put into a 550k orbit using one launch of a reusable rocket. Using simulation he showed how speeds could be improved for a return message between New York and London using lasers linking 6 satellites – down from 76ms now to 42ms. So far 955 satellites have been launched with plans for 4200 by mid 2021 and ultimately 12000.
The use of lasers may come on stream later this year. Even without this there are plans to use multiple narrow beamed radio links bouncing information between ground relay stations and satellites, which will still considerably improve current coverage and speeds.
To many this seems like science fiction but it is happening now. Only in December you could see 30 or so newly launched satellites following each other across the sky above Monmouth on their way into orbit.
A great presentation with wonderful images and videos. As Mark’s parents it was lovely for Pat and I to find out more about what he gets up to!
Jim Handley
8th December 2020
The Bloodhound Project by Allan Reid
We had a fascinating talk by Allan Reid about Land Speed Record attempts by the British car called the Bloodhound. Allan is a STEM and Bloodhound Ambassador for South Wales. He is one of hundreds of volunteers who share their passion in this project and try to engage young people in STEM projects.
The Bloodhound Programme is a registered charity that receives no government funding. It started up in 2008 and split off from the Bloodhound SSC company when it went into administration in 2019.
Allan gave us a history of the land speed records which began surprisingly as far back as 1898 with an electric vehicle that reached 39mph. For the first half of the 20th century land speed records were dominated by British vehicles but in 1969 the records were held by American vehicles when jet propulsion became prevalent.
Another Briton, Richard Noble, became the holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997. He crashed in his first car Thrust 1 but achieved a new land speed record of 633mph in Thrust 2 powered by a Rolls Royce jet turbine. In 1997 it was Andy Green who drove Thrust SSC supersonic by breaking the sound barrier at 763mph.
The Bloodhound SSC project had a vision to design and build a car that would reach speeds of 1000mph. CAD (computer-aided design) was used to design the car and its components. We learnt CFD (computational fluid dynamics) is used to optimise the shape of the car and reduce drag while 3D printing is used to build various components including the titanium steering wheel.
Ian Warhurst bought Bloodhound SSC and the IPR in 2019 and the car in its new livery reached 628mph on a new track in South Africa. It is hoped that in the next few years, with the appropriate funding, that the team will return to South Africa for an attempt to reach the car’s design speed of 1000mph. Just don’t blink or you’ll miss it. Charles Emes
10th November 2020
On the Trail of the Ice Age in the West Midlands Conurbation and Herefordshire -- Prof. Ian Fairchild.
Ian delivered a far reaching talk linking broader geological research into ice ages to what happened during the most recent advance and retreat of glaciers in the West Midlands Conurbation and western Herefordshire.
Within the broader research he embraced the work of historical figures like Charles Darwin and Louis Agassiz, the latter first recognising the significance of ice worn pebbles and erratics moved by glaciers.
He then turned to the work of the Rev. Crosskey and his Erratics Block Group who first mapped the erratics found in the West Midlands in the late 1800s. This work is being updated by the Earth Heritage Trust [of which Ian is the chair]
He showed us how the chemical and physical analysis of these erratics has become a key factor in determining the source and scale of the glaciers that impacted into the more local areas to our north.
Finally he gave us the details of an ongoing lottery funded EHT and Wildlife Trust project in western Herefordshire. This is identifying and researching ponds which originated in depressions—kettle holes -- in the landscape caused by the slow melting of ice blocks. Jim Handley
Tuesday 6th October 2020
Game Theory, Strategies, Decisions and the Prisoner’s Dilemma – Phil Charlesworth
Phil Charlesworth is becoming a regular contributor to the science group having previously talked about amateur rocketry and solar powered flight. He turned a seemingly opaque topic into a simple to follow mixture of history, familiar games and only a tiny amount of formal mathematics.
The history of games and game theory can be traced from 1838 and then through the mid twentieth century when the subject was formalised by mathematician John von Neumann.
A game has two or more competitors and has some form of structure or rules. One example used was rock-paper-scissors where one player’s gain is the other’s loss (zero sum). Over time both players will expect to win half the games. Another example is where two companies compete for market share and can advertise and gain business unless the other company does the same, in which case neither wins and both suffer the cost of the advertising.
Although described as games such thinking has many serious applications and has been widely used in economics, but also auctions, biology and most seriously politics. We were asked to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy was faced with Kruschev, leader of the USSR, in a stand-off over a missile base on Cuba. This can be analysed as a “game” with competing players and a small range of strategies. Fortunately the outcome for the world was “benign”.
Modern “game theory” has developed with ever more complex situations and the availability of serious computing resources. There have been several Nobel prize winners in the field.
A question afterwards related to the current pandemic and we can all hope that game theory might contribute to an optimal solution. Michael Bone
September 8th 2020
River Usk: Source to sea. Part 1: Black Mountain to Abergavenny
This presentation given by Alan Bowring, Development Officer for Fforest Fawr Geopark, took us on an hours’ long virtual journey from the source of the River Usk in the Black Mountain to the point it reaches Abergavenny. Each stop throughout the length of the journey was accompanied by detailed information, beautiful photographs and useful map references. As well as highlighting the salient geological aspects, we learnt much about its archaeological, historical and industrial heritage. Our attention was drawn to important Grade 1 listed buildings and bridges along the way.
From the point of flowing out of the Usk reservoir, the river and its tributaries have been designated as a SAC ( special area of conservation) and SSSI ( site of special scientific interest). Unsullied by industrial effluent, the water is pure enough to sustain a wide variety of aquatic life, making it attractive to anglers (George Melly amongst them) and it is also home to otters.
Alan had interesting comments, observations and anecdotes to share, which we will take with us on our next visit to the area. We are very grateful to Alan and his colleagues in the Geopark for their work in conserving this unique environment. Valerie Conniff
Science and Technology Meetings
2019-2020
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