Ledbury & District

Science & Technology

January & February 2023 were presentations by our own members. In January we learned about Black Holes. A quite mysterious subject but with superior illustrations and excellent prose our Presenter made the subject pretty understandable so next time Prof. Brian Cox talks about BH’s we can at least say “Oh, I know what he’s on about.”

The following month, February, having been let down at short notice by the arranged speaker, one of our own Members who had put together a miscellany of archive film sequences including the building of New York’s Empire State Building which was started on 17 March, (St. Patrick’s Day) 1930 and completed in a record breaking 1 year and 45 days. Other topics included German WW2 V2 rocket testing, Tacoma Suspension Bridge collapse, evolution of Boston Dynamics Robots, Rubik Cube and Moon setting behind Teide Volcano. The presentation was well received and Members were not disappointed for the Feb. meeting after all.

The Group’s March meeting was a presentation entitled Exploring Genetics given by Bill Sayer. He pointed out that it was 70 years since James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin discovered the double helix form of the DNA Polymer. Bill told us that cell structure had been known of since the 17th century with the birth of the microscope. Gregor Mendel, a 19th century friar’s work on the study of pea plants started the science of genetics.

Our programme for the rest of 2023 is now nearly complete -

June – ABE (Ledbury)Ltd,
July – Western Power, developments in the Electricity Supply Industry,
August – No meeting, summer break
September – Activity to be determined,
October – Cider apple harvesting,
November – Agricultural lime, production and uses,
December – No meeting, winter break.

We have space for some new members so do come along we look forward to seeing you. Please get in touch with the leader first via the link above.