Les Rodgers brought us up to date on the development of Fusion Reactor Technology. Fusion Technology aimed at the production of electricity is rapidly moving towards the so called Holy Grail, where the output is equal to or greater than the electrical input. A surprising number of Fusion Machines already exist, none of them yet producing electricity. However new machines are being built with one prototype aiming to produce electricity by 2024 and a number expecting to in useable amounts by the end of the decade.
We also listened to a lecture by Ian Maver on the James Webb Deep Space Telescope. This telescope was only launched in late December but is now in a position to start operating. Literally, it is parked well off shore so to speak - way out in space and held rigidly in place by the gravitational forces of three bodies - the sun, the moon and earth. Such is the nature of physics it will not require any external source of energy to hold it in place. It will sit facing away from the earth and will look deep into the infra-red spectrum in space.
Neville Gibb