Perception

Wednesday 3rd September 2014 – “Perception” by Sylvia Dillon: Making sense of what we see – an introduction to Visual Perception and the neuro-physiological processes whereby a person becomes aware and interprets external stimuli.

Sylvia talked about how photons of light are processed – at first by the eye, then the brain, then how the individual perceives the world they live in. Covering physics, biology and psychology, she gave examples showing how perception is an active process and how early life experience, especially as a toddler influences the development of perception.

Health & Safety – the Science bit

Wednesday, 6th February 2012 – Paul Davies, one of our own members, gave us a great talk about The Science of Health & Safety. With references to Michael Faraday and Humphrey Davy’s invention of the miners’ safety lamp, and brought up to recent times with the scientific investigation into the King’s Cross tube fire in 1987, Paul illustrated the role of science in making the world a safer place, and raised the notion of ‘Tolerability of Risk’. Paul’s experience as former Chief Scientist and Head of the Hazardous Installations Directorate at HSE was evident in all he said.

Why are human beings living longer?

The monthly U3A talk on Thursday, 6th September 2012 in the Church was given by Professor Tom Kirkwood, CBE, FMedSci, Associate Dean for Ageing and Health in the Centre for Ageing and Vitality, University of Newcastle. One of the world’s leading authorities on Ageing and Health, he leads a large team of research scientists at the world famous campus for “Ageing and Vitality”. He is a former BBC Reith Lecturer, experienced in making the science attractive and easily understood. He is a government advisor and is in demand internationally for lay and medical science audiences.

His talk, entitled “Why are human beings living longer?” gave a broad picture of the factors leading to increased longevity seen, not just in the UK, but across most of the world. This is something that was clearly forecast decades ago, but the implications have been ignored by politicians until recently. Professor Kirkwood brought home to us many of the dilemmas faced by both individuals and governments in contemplating an ever more elderly, yet still fairly healthy, population.