Cafe Scientifique

THANK you to members for your considered responses on the question of when Henley Café Scientifique should restart face-to-face meetings at Henley Hockey Club.

There was always going to be a wide range of views, from starting straight away to deferring to 2022.

Interestingly, even with those saying start in the autumn a note of caution is also recommended.

Comments included:

Third wave, Indian variant could still hinder progress

Beware the autumn/ winter months for covid and flu

Start ater the third vaccination as two jabs may offer only time-limited protection

Henley Hockey Club not well ventilated, doors/windows open in winter?

Temperature checks on entry

Social distancing not really possible

Ensure the speakers are entirely happy

Wait until 2022 as not possible to say yet.

The most constructive idea was to set up hybrid session with a reduced number of face-to-face attendees and a camera to relay the event on, say, YouTube.

We will evaluate this approach to see if this can start in the autumn. It needs speaker acceptance, of course. There is work to do but it would be progress.

In the meantime, our schedule has changed a little. We will now take a break until September 15 (Pollution absorbing ceramics), then October 13 (Soil) and November (Gravitational waves) .

Still working on December as it is our 100th event, all being well.

David Dickie, co-host