The London and South East branch operates several centres:
London
Berkshire
Hertfordshire
Kent
Milton Keynes
Retired Members' Section

Video recordings of previous lectures
Branch eNewsletter
Branch Newsfeed
East of England Engineering Science and Technology Association Regional Events List

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LONDON CENTRE

The IoP, 76 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT MAP

                              Our lectures are FREE to attend, are open to non-members and take place on Wednesday evenings starting at 1830.
                              Tea and coffee available from 1800. Please register beforehand by emailing londonsoutheast@physics.org

05 Oct 2011

The Turin Shroud - A Physicist's View
Dr Wojciech Zajac, Krakow University

The Shroud of Turin is an interesting archaeological object that poses serious questions both with respect to its age and the origin of the image. While no definitive answers are known, sensible hypotheses have been formulated. This is what the scientific method, applied in a methodologically rigorous way, can offer. We will not address the so called “authenticity issue” nor even take either position in the dispute, as it exceeds the scope of physics, chemistry or even forensic sciences. Let’s look at the Turin Shroud with the eyes of a physicist.

19 Oct 2011

Finding a way forward on Climate Change
Professor Chris Rapley CBE, Director Science Museum

There is evidence to suggest that human activities are driving climatic change. This will be presented, along with the risks that the changes pose to human wellbeing. Professor Rapley will also outline the underlying link to human energy needs, and the nature of the challenge to achieve a "low carbon" future

02 Nov 2011

The Square Kilometer Array
Professor Steve Rawlings, University of Oxford

The SKA will give astronomers insight into the formation and evolution of the first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang, the role of cosmic magnetism, the nature of gravity, and possibly life beyond Earth. If history is any guide, the SKA will make many more discoveries than we can imagine today.

16 Nov 2011

From Bits to Qubits: Quantum Information Processing using quantum optics
Sir Professor Peter Knight FRS

The quantum world allows information to be encoded and manipulated in ways quite different from classical physics. When applied to computing, quantum concepts such as parallelism and entanglement could improve encryption, accelerate algorithms and information processing tasks, and may even open the door to quantum teleportation. Professor Knight will describe progress towards such quantum processors using quantum bits (‘qubits’).
This lecture will be followed by the annual branch dinner.

07 Dec 2011

Faster, Higher, Stronger: Hero Materials in Sport
Ms Jenni Tilley, University of Oxford

International athletes push their bodies to the limit in their bid to break records, but would they be able to do so well without the help of Materials Scientists? This talk will explore three seemingly mundane polymeric materials - polyurethane, carbon fibre and tendon - that have made 'Faster, Higher, Stronger' an exciting, and sometimes controversial, reality in recent years.

BERKSHIRE CENTRE

The William Penney Theatre (a.k.a Rec Soc), AWE, Aldermaston.
The theatre entrance can be found on the A340 Basingstoke to Newbury road, just before the Heath End Roundabout at Tadley. MAP

                              Our lectures are FREE to attend, are open to non-members and take place on Monday evenings starting at 1930.
                              Please register beforehand by emailing our Berkshire representatives David Parkes or Stephen Elsmere

31 Oct 2011

The Physics of Superheroes
Alan Davies, Hertfordshire University

14 Nov 2011

Nuclear Warhead Science in the CTBT ERA
Daryl Landeg, AWE plc

HERTFORDSHIRE CENTRE

Meetings are usually held in the Lindop Building, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield. Special lectures are held in the Weston Auditorium on the de Havilland Campus. Further information can be obtained from Dr Diane Crann, School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB (tel 07770 444 614, e-mail d.crann@herts. ac.uk), who will add members’ e-mail addresses, if provided, to her reminder list.

05 Oct 2011

Making Waves
Alan Davies, University of Hertfordshire

We all know something about waves; we’ve seen them in the sea and as ripples on a pond. We know that sound travels to our ears as a wave and that some properties of light can be explained by its wave nature. However, the mechanisms by which waves are propagated is perhaps not so well known. A particular feature of waves is that they are vibrations and it is this oscillatory behaviour which allows us to describe them in a quantitative sense. We shall start with this simple idea to show that energy is transferred from one location to another. Many of the properties of waves, eg travelling and standing waves, interference, Doppler effect etc, will be described and illustrated by a wide variety of examples including waves on strings, water waves, seismic waves and tsunamis, waves in quantum mechanics and electromagnetic waves. The lecture is suitable for a broad audience and it will be accompanied by many pictures to illustrate the ideas.

25 Jan 2012

Natural Calligraphy – how nature draws beautiful lines
Jim Collett, University of Hertrtfordshire

Jim will present a natural history of the line, investigating the questions of how lines are drawn in the physical world and what determines their qualities. Natural lines and trajectories often display surprising sharpness, unlike familiar ink figures on blotting paper. He will draw on some of his own photographs of lines and curves that we can see around us. However the discussion will take in lines drawn on the very smallest quantum scales and those of cosmological dimensions, Image: James Collett 2008 as well as philosophical aspects of the line and its manifestation in the arts. Dr James Collett is an astrophysicist and artist-photographer working in the Science and Technology Research Institute at the University of Hertfordshire.

22 Feb 2012

Do we owe everything to the stars?
Jim Hough, University of Hertfordshire

The discovery of hundreds of extrasolar planets has raised the possibility of discovering life elsewhere in the next few decades, and yet the origin of life on Earth remains one of the key questions for science. The talk will cover how stars play a key role, not only in producing the elements for life, but also in providing the unique handedness in the building blocks of life.

KENT CENTRE

Meetings will be held on Tuesday evenings at 7.30 p.m. in Rutherford College Lecture Theatre 1, University of Kent. Further information can be obtained from Dr C Isenberg (tel 01227 823 768, e-mail c.isenberg@kent.ac.uk).

11 Oct 2011

HYBRID IMAGING : A MULTIDISCIPLINARY IMAGING TECHNIQUE OF THE
21 st CENTURY
Dr Gordon Ellul, Kent and Canterbury Hospital

Hybrid imaging relies on a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The scientific discoveries that make it possible are one fascinating aspect of this diagnostic tool. Hybrid imaging depends on close collaboration between clinical and non-clinical scientists. The Ultimate success of this imaging modality in probing the innermost secrets of human disease is testament to the team approach in implementing such a diagnostic test. Beneath the diagnostic images lie stories of scientific success and of personal experiences of countless patients in confronting disease.

01 Nov 2011

HOW ROUND IS THE ELECTRON AND WHY DOES IT MATTER ?
Dr Michael Tarbutt, Imperial College London

How can you measure the shape of something so small? This lecture will be about an experiment that measures the shape of electrons. Are they spherical or slightly egg-shaped? The shape of an electron is important in physics because it is connected to the basic symmetries of nature. The first is the symmetry between the forward and backward flow of time. The second is the symmetry between matter and anti-matter. The talk will explore these connections, showing how extremely precise measurements, made in a small laboratory experiment, can answer some of the big physics questions.

22 Nov 2011

CRIME, RADIO AND SMART BUILDINGS
Dr John Batchelor, School of Engineering and Digital Arts, University of Kent

This talk discusses how radio from its earliest beginnings has been used to avoid disaster as well as to fight and commit crime. Starting from Marconi’s first radio shipping system in Kent, the talk will discuss the part radio played in the Titanic disaster, how the murderous Dr Crippen was apprehended and how modern prisons might be modified to prevent mobile phones being used to commit crimes. The subject is brought up to date by discussing some of the latest wireless research at the University of Kent.
Joint meeting with SEKAS.

29 Nov 2011

CHRISTMAS SCIENCE LECTURES FOR SCHOOLS: BUBBLES EVERYWHERE
Dr Gianluca Memoli, National Physical Laboratory

What have a Christmas pudding, a marshmallow and a glass of champagne in common? What can be found on the International Space Station and in the darkest abysses of the sea? Which branch of science has something to say about, where the stars and planets are born, and the inside a malfunctioning washing machine?Dr Gianluca Memoli is a ‘bubble scientist’ and, more importantly, a bubble enthusiast. This interactive talk will be a tour across the ‘bubble world’, paced by demonstrations and stories and following the direct , with the ambitious goal of demonstrating that bubbles are everywhere !On the route, selected by the audience like a multi-ending book, the speaker might pass from innovative techniques to cure cancer to sonoluminescence (and quest for clean energy), from coke/chocolates to New York Fashion’s week, from Vomit Comet to inside a volcano.
11.00 am and 2.30 pm, Gulbenkian Theatre Booking Essential Tel. 01227 769075

30 Nov 2011

CHRISTMAS SCIENCE LECTURES FOR SCHOOLS: HOW DO WE SEE COLOUR ?
Professor Mohamed Sobhy, School of Engineering and Digital Arts, University of Kent

Colour vision involves the physical world, the eye and the brain. The role of each will be explained during the lecture. In fact many scientists believe that the colours we see exist only exist in our brains. The lecture will include several demonstrations in order to understand how we discriminate between colours,. Some demonstrations will include audience participation and some have unexplained and surprising results. These include the generation of colour without using pigments.Instructions on how to reproduce some of the experiments at home will be given together with internet addresses where to get more information and relevant software.
11.00 am and 2.30 pm, Gulbenkian Theatre Booking Essential Tel. 01227 769075

29 May 2012

THE GENIUS OF MICHAEL FARADAY
Sir John Meurig Thomas FRS, Former Director of The Royal Institution, and Former Director of the Cambridge University Chemistry Laboratory

How did Michael Faraday, a deeply religious man who left school at 13 and never attended high school or university, become one of the greatest experimenters of all time? Professor Thomas will tell Faraday’s story, one of the most romantic in the history of science.
Joint lecture with The School of Engineering and Digital ArtsRutherford Lecture Theatre 1

MILTON KEYNES CENTRE

Lectures held at 7.30pm on the following Tuesdays, in the Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AB. All are welcome to attend free of charge. For further information contact: Prof. Ray Mackintosh, email: r.mackintosh@open.ac.uk or Tracy Bartlett; 01908 655253; email: t.a.bartlett@open.ac.uk.

11 Oct 2011

Exoplanets and how to find them
Dr Andrew Norton, The Open University

Twenty years ago, planets around other stars were the stuff of science fiction; yet today that fiction is a reality and we know of over 500 so called exoplanets, with thousands of further possible ones identified. In this talk I will tell a little of the history of this remarkable advance, and show just how exoplanets are discovered using a range of models and demonstrations. Some highlights from recent discoveries will be discussed, including those from the SuperWASP project which staff at the OU are involved with, and the prospects for future discoveries of habitable Earth-like planets with the proposed European PLATO mission will be outlined.

08 Nov 2011

The working brain: what physics can tell us about autism, shopping and learning algebra
Professor Stephen Swithenby, The Open University

Over the last 40 years physicists have developed many new ways of studying the living brain. The first instruments simply imaged brain structure, but then came systems that imaged brain function. One of these, magnetoencephalography MEG, images brain activity dynamically. It is making a major contribution to unravelling complex brain processes.I will first explain the particular power and relevance of MEG, illustrating its use in recent studies of autism and real-life decision making, aka shopping. You will see how we can interpret the 'brain waves' picked up in MEG.Recently, I have begun MEG studies of people doing algebra. The results appear to show startling differences in the brains of experts and non-experts. This might help us to find new approaches to teaching and ways of helping individual students.

13 Dec 2011

Astronomy by Microscope
Professor Monica Grady, Faculty of Science, The Open University

Astronomers traditionally study stars and planets using telescopes. But we can also learn about them by using microscopes – through studying meteorites. From meteorites, we can learn about the processes and materials that shaped the Solar System and our planet. Tiny grains in meteorites have come from earlier exploding stars, the stuff from which the Sun was born. This can be studied in the lab.Meteorites are ancient natural objects that survive their fall to Earth from space. Theyare the oldest things that we have for study. Some are metallic but most are stony. Almost all are fragments from asteroids and were formed at the birth of the Solar System about 4570 million years ago. They vary widely in composition, spanning a whole range of planetary materials: some are completely unmelted stony `chondrites' while others are different forms of iron. Meteorites carry records of all stages of Solar System history. For example, meteorites from the Moon and Mars help us understand how those bodies formed and evolved.In her lecture, Monica will describe how the microscope is another tool that can be employed to trace stellar and planetary processes.

RETIRED MEMBERS' SECTION

We provide a series of events and visits for retired branch members. Each quarter, those on the mailing list are sent descriptions of forthcoming events and an application form. We have more than 200 members, so some events get over-booked. Where there is sufficient demand, they may be repeated. The next mailing will go out at the end of October. To be put on the mailing list and to offer suggestions for future REMS visits, contact John Belling, REMS visit secretary (tel 07986 379935, e-mail john.a.belling.secrems@gmail.com). The programme and detailed descriptions of each of the events can be found on the branch website (london.iop.org) by clicking on the “Retired Members” link or by going to www.johnabelling.webspace.virginmedia.com/

Video recordings of previous lectures.

You will need your membership username and password to view

Starbursts - the juicy sweets of the universe
14 April 2010
Modern astronomy is concerned with understanding the evolution of the Universe. Dr Mark Westmoquette discusses how starbursts are defined, where they are found, what they are made of, and what consequences they have for their host galaxies and the Universe as a whole.

Materials issues for nuclear generation
24 March 2010
Prof. Chris Grovenor describes the work using the latest generation of analytical techniques to study key degradation mechanisms in a number of different classes of nuclear materials.

From lodestone to spintronics and magnonics
10 February 2010
Prof Peter de Groot describes how magnetic materials have helped to shape our world, in data-storage, magneto-optical devices, high-power electromotors, etc, and also in our understanding of many-body systems.

Man-made materials: Blessing or curse
27 January 2010
Dr Barbara J Gabrys questions whether man-made materials have increased global prosperity or whether their success has a more sinister side.

The route to laser fusion energy - creating a star on Earth
14 October 2009
Prof. Mike Dunn discusses laser fusion energy and the HiPER project

Metrology: the science of measurement
11 February 2009
Prof. Ian Mills outlines the history of the International System of Units and shows the changes currently being considered.