GEORGE - The University of the Third Age (U3A) is presenting a February programme with some fascinating talks to be held at Emmaüs in Memoriam Street.
The programme starts on Thursday 6 February with a talk by Hugo Leggatt called 'Australopithecine anniversaries'.
Two significant archaeological discoveries are currently being celebrated. Firstly, the Taung child, discovered in November 1924 in Taung (now the Northwest Province), is among the most important early human fossils ever found. It was the first to establish that early fossil humans occurred in Africa, a very controversial matter at the time.
Then, 50 years later, a similar, but distinct, find was made in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Initially nicknamed Lucy, the fossil skeleton is around 40% complete - at the time of her discovery, she was by far the most complete early hominin known. This talk will focus on these two discoveries and their significance and starts at 10:30.
Leggatt spent much of his working life as a teacher within range of either the Drakensberg or the Cedarberg, both of which are well known for their rock art.
Armchair Travel
On Wednesday 12 February in Armchair Travel, Teresa de Beer will talk about 'Snippets of Cambodia and Vietnam'.
De Beer loves to explore adventurous, unfamiliar destinations.
One such trip was in 2019 when she and her husband visited Cambodia and Vietnam, exploring century-old temples and pagodas, rice paddies, war museums and even the famous Cu Chi Tunnels.
In this presentation Teresa will share some snippets of her colourful journey from Seam Reap in Cambodia to Northern Vietnam Lao Cai-Sapa. Then further on to Ha Long Bay, Bana Hills and moving on to the south ending in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The meeting starts at 10:30.
Teresa de Beer will be talking about their fascinating trip to Cambodia and Vienam.
Solar PV: Challenges and opportunities
On Friday 21 February, Nicolaas Faure van Schalkwyk will talk about 'Solar PV and energy storage: the challenges, limitation and opportunities'.
By mid-2024, more that 6000MW of rooftop solar PV had been installed countrywide in South Africa. This not only contributes to the reduced loadshedding we observed in the second and third quarters of 2024, but also reduces our dependency on fossil fuels.
The presentation will set the scene of the status quo and future outlook of solar PV and storage in South Africa. It will also provide some guidance and practical tips on how to ensure that your solar PV system is safe, compliant and operates to provide the maximum benefit.
Faure Van Schalkwyk is an electrical and electronic engineer with more than a decade of experience. He has consulted on numerous solar PV, hybrid and battery energy storage projects worldwide. Tea will be at 10:00 and the talk starts at 10:30.
International Affairs
On Monday 24 February, Case Rijsdijk returns with another edition of International Affairs to be discussed. This meeting starts at 14:00.
AGM and Digiclub photo exhibit
After the annual general meeting on Wednesday 26 February, the Digiclub will present their annual photographic display and presentation of awards.
Tea is at 10:00 and the meeting starts promptly at 10:30.
Visitors are always welcome to the U3A events.
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