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Knutsford SciBAr attendees discussing Nanotechnology with Professor Paul O'Brien -Head of Chemistry at Manchester University in November 2004 . Professor O'Brien is the one with the white football. He is comparing the size of a Nanotechnology object ( molecule of Buckminster fullerene known as a"buckyball") with a foot ball and the planet Earth. The number of footballs which will fit in the Earth are the same as the number of buckyballs which will fit in a football
Knutsford SciBAr meets on the first Monday of the month at 6:30 pm except for Bank Holiday -when it's the 2nd Monday.If you would like to see a 17 minute Video of Knutsford SciBAr in operation CLICK HERE
See Knutsford SciBAr Web Discussion group
Knutsford SciBAR Future Program
7th of July 2008 " Consciousness - What is it ??-- and How might it work"
Professor
John Jefferys from
Birmingham University
will
help us understand what we know about Consciousness. Of course some things
are not yet known but good progress is being made. Among other areas ,Prof
Jefferys has been researching how the brain solves a key problem known
as “ The binding problem” The problem is that lots (and I
do mean lots )of different information about different aspects of an object
arrive at different points in the brain and require different brain processing
time to be dealt with by the brain. And yet we just sense a single object
not each aspect separately eg the shape and the colour. How does the brain
get all these things from their different places and “construct”
an integrated proposition. What are the necessary things that consciousness
would need to have in order to function and what do we know of the different
brain functions that would be needed to produce consciousness How far
have we got in identifying these neural correlates in the brain. Well
I don’t know ! But I expect to know more about the problems and
the real and possible future answers after this SciBAr.
NO SciBAr ON
4th of August 2008 "
Meanwhile some pictures of rockets made by ten/eleven year olds at Mill Hill Primary school in Stoke for a Science Day that Roger and I ran for them.
1st of Sepember 2008"
Emulating biology to make thin film Solar cells"
Professor
Paul O'Brien from
Manchester University
returns to inform and entertain us, yet again.
Paul led our very first SciBAr on the topic of Nanotechnology and returns
to lead our discussion on what's new in Nanotechnology and discuss with
us how he is trying to emulate photosynthesis in plants using microscopically
thin films .
6th of October 2008"
Mining Space -- What's out there? and how could we get it back here?"
Dr
Benny Peiser from
Liverpool John Moores University
returns to inform and entertain
us, yet again, and leads the discussion on Mining in Space. We are talking
about minerals in vast quantities but which minerals and how do we get
them to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere. Space ships is the
obvious answer but how do we get millions of tons of payload down to the
earth's surface without it costing so much as to make it economically
totally infeasible. Does it need to come down . And its not just minerals
- There is a lot of He3 on the moon - It could be very useful fuel if
we ever realise the Nuclear Fusion opportunity. There have been countless
feasibility studies but who/what is going to make it happen?
When is it likely to happen? What are the implications for colonising
the Moon , the Planets and indeed Space itself. What about manufacturing
out in Space? and which country owns all this stuff and how would we decide?-How
would we get the factories out there? There would be a lot to resolve
but is it just pie in the sky? or a real opportunity
3rd of November 2008 " LIQUID CRYSTALS-- What are they and why are they appearing everywhere?"
Professor
Helen Gleeson 
from
Manchester
University will
help us understand how something can be both a liquid and a crystal. Normally,
we consider matter to have three distinct states: solid, liquid, and gas.
However, there are states of matter which do not meet the necessary requirements
of any of these three categories. For example, a substances such as mayonnaise
is somewhere between a liquid and a solid. Mayonnaiseis not a liquid crystal
but liquid crystals do seem to occupy a place in between a liquid and
a solid . Liquid crystals seem to manage to preserve their orientation
in space like a crystal even though, like a liquid, they can move freely
around. How can they do this ? and how do you make them? and most importantly
what possible use could these things have? They seem to be popping up
everywhere in electronic devices from phones to televisions - why is this
and where are they going next?
1st of December 2008 "The
effects of Space and Ageing on the human physiology"
Professor Mario Narici from Manchester University Will lead the discussion on the effects of Space trips on the physiology of Astronauts. Astronauts have the urgent requirement for physio treatment on return from Space, if they are not to fracture a limb -- even if they have only been out there for a short time.Professor Narici's work also has implications for the ageing process and automatic monitoring the efficiency of bodily processes with a view to applying timely interventions.It sounds fascinating and I look forward to learning how to live forever ---
So long as I don't have to give up....................No! Not that !!..... ..........Beer!!
2nd of February 2009 "
Nuclear Fusion -- Another approach -- The HiPER Project"
Professor
Mike Dunne
Dire4ctor of the Rutherford Labs HiPER Project will
introduce us to their approach to Fusion research which addresses some
of the issues ,like containment inherent in the Tokomak approach. He will
explain how they plan to fire lasers at pellets of fuel to cause "
rapid fire" fusion reactions one after another .The laser and the
pellets need to fire around 5 times a second and the laser compresses
the hydrogen pellet with a pressure like that which an aircraft carrier
would exert if resting on your thumb. Sounds tricky but it does largely
address the fusion confinement problem ie what do you put your star in
when you've made it.
"Science book reading club "
We have finished " The Extended Phenotype" by Richard Dawkins and are well into
"It must be Beautiful" - Great Equations of Modern Science by Graham Farmaloe
The book consists of 11 chapters by different authors who each examine the origin and implications of such classically beautiful equations as "E=Mc squared" Each chapter is a different style and looks at one of the equations, the impact on and reception it had by the scientists of the day . What they previously fervently believed and how their beliefs weere shattered(and when was science not like this?)and what a weird world took theplace of the old orders.
The next meeting( on Schrodingers wave equation for Quantum mechanics and The Dirac Equation which ammong other things predicted electron spin and showed that every electron operated likea tiny bar magnet) will take place on Wednesday 12th March as usual in the week after the SciBAr meeting ( not the SciBAr week)at 8:30pm at the Lord Eldon in Knutsford,
The discussion will also include
"What is the significance of Pi and also the speed of light-- They
seem to poke their noses in everywhere and the discussion will probably
continue from 13th of February2008
You are very welcome to join us
at this session
If you are interested and have not yet registered your interest just send an e-mail to. knutsford.scibar@ntlworld.com
or ring me - Dave Thompson --07768-355-814
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