Picture of a MRI scan of a head.
  • Is the above a scan of YOUR LocSec? Find out on p.7
  • Want a fun way of losing weight? See p.6
  • Prefer to eat, drink and be merry? Check out pp.2-5
 

Regional News

Picture of Maxine with Wellington members at the Dockside restaurant.

In this issue one of our Mensa 'twins', Trish Kennett, recalls her experience of the zero gravity flight she took during the World Gathering in Orlando. Trish lives in Perth, though is originally from High Wycombe, and is currently Chair of Australian Mensa. We hope to report on other activities our Mensa 'twins' in Western Australia have been doing in future issues of Empress.

Are you aware of the SIGHT service? This stands for Service for Information, Guidance and Hospitality to Travellers and is run by Mensa volunteers. The aim is to put members in touch with each other whilst travelling whether they are looking for accommodation, to meet up for a coffee, or just want local advice via phone or email. My partner Andy and I used this service on our recent round-the-world trip and had the opportunity to meet up with members in Wellington. They are currently organising 'alphabet eating meetings' and had reached D so took us for a meal at the Dockside restaurant on the harbour which was very pleasant (photo right).

We have contacted various SIGHT hosts in the past and managed to meet members around the world which always makes our travels more interesting. For further information contact the UK SIGHT Co-ordinator at sight@mensa.org.uk

As usual we have a variety of events on offer throughout the East Midlands this month. Please contact your Local Secretary if you have event suggestions for the summer months. Or contact me on [Phone Number] or [Email]

Maxine Bates

Regional Officer

Events and Meetings

High Wycombe & Amersham

On Thu 22nd Mar at 8.00pm - Chinese Meal

Let's do a meal for a change :>). Join us at the popular Beijing Gourmet at 21 High St High Wycombe. Handy for parking in Easton Street. Call me by Tue 20th on [Phone Number] to reserve your place at the table.

It is now March and Christmas is a distant memory. Hopefully the year has started well for you.

If you haven't been to a local Mensa meeting before, well, give it a try. We had a lot of new faces last year, some of whom have become regulars.

I am always looking for ideas for future events so if there is anywhere you would like to go just let me know. It doesn't have to be a restaurant or even a pub. Hopefully this year I will arrange some more active events including a return of popular walks.

Looking forward to catching you at an event.

Alistair Blackett

photo of Tara Morgan

Dunstable

On Sat 24th Mar at 7.30pm - Z is for Zebra

This is my last activity as LocSec for the LU post codes. Come and join us at the First and Last (Hungry Horse) in Dunstable. Everyone who attends gets an entry into the Alphabet raffle which will be drawn this evening. Call me on [Phone Number] or [Email] to book your place.

Tara Morgan

photo of Richard Allen

Herts & South Beds

On Thu 1st Mar at 8.00pm - FThOTM

Our First Thursday meeting has now changed venue and we are meeting at the Millstream, Cambridge Road, Hitchin, which is about ten minutes' walk from the station (away from the town centre) and is also served by buses between Hitchin and Letchworth. Food is available. See you then!

On Watch this space! - Pub Quiz

Owing to a change in ownership at the Plume of Feathers, we have had to abandon the monthly quiz there. We are presently looking for an alternative venue, so watch this space or contact me on [Phone Number] for further details.

On Tue 20th Mar at 7.30pm - Monthly Meal

We're at the Three Horse Shoes, Norton, for our monthly meal. The pub is in Norton village, about a mile north-east of Letchworth, which is the nearest station. There are no buses in the evening, unfortunately. Ring Helen on [Phone Number] for details and encouragement.

On Fri 23rd Mar at From 6.00pm - Hitchin Beer Festival

It's Hitchin beer festival time again at the usual venue of the Town Hall, Brand Street, Hitchin (about 15 minutes' walk from the station and close to the main bus terminating area. I'll be there from about 6.00pm onwards and hope to see you there.

On Fri 30th Mar at 8.00pm - LFOTM

Join us in the lounge of the White Horse, Hertingfordbury to chill out at the end of the month - look for the mag and Mblem. Ring Gwen on [Phone Number] for details and encouragement. (Richard's on holiday!) The hotel is about 20 minutes' walk from Hertford North station or alternatively bus 724 (Harlow - Hertford - Hatfield - St Albans) stops outside. Meals are available.

On Every Fri evening - Cinema - Stevenage

Join Helen at the cinema in Stevenage on Friday evenings. Cineworld's screens give plenty of choice! Call Helen for details.

Richard Allen

Leicestershire

On Fri 16th Mar at 8.00pm - Meal and Drinks

Come along to The Flying Childers in Kirby Bellars for a drink and a chat. The pub is situated on the A607 so easy access from Leicester and Melton Mowbray. Please let me know if you are coming by Tuesday 13th on [Email] or [Phone Number].

Rebecca Mawby

photo of Jenny Habib

Berkhamsted

On Wed 28th Mar at 7.45pm - LWOTM

The White Horse Pub, Bourne End, on the Hemel Hempstead Road (the old A41) half way between Hemel and Berkhamsted. Do come and drink, eat or just join us for a quiet chat. All members welcome. Any ideas for other meetings also welcome. Just come and explain; we would love to hear from you.

Jenny Habib

photo of Maxine Bates

Notts News

On Mon 5th Mar at From 8.00pm - 5OTM

Join me for a drink and chat at the Vat & Fiddle. The venue is on Queensbridge Road near the railway station and has ample free parking right outside. Look for the yellow Mblem on the table, usually to the left of the bar. New and old faces, male and female, all welcome!

On Wed 14th Mar at 7.00pm - "Chicks & Flicks"

All are welcome to join us for "Chicks and Flicks". Meet inside the doors to the Cornerhouse in the city centre at 7.00pm prompt so we can buy tickets for a later film at Cineworld before dining at Nando's peri-peri chicken restaurant. Contact Paul on [Phone Number] to find out film options or just turn up on the night.

On Tue 27th Mar at 7.30pm - "Postcode Pubcrawl"

For our "Postcode Pubcrawl" event this month we are visiting the Test Match, Gordon Square, West Bridgford. The pub has won an award for its art deco interior so come and inspect it whilst dining from the Hardy & Hanson menu. They have a two-meals-for-£9 deal so bring a friend! It's quiz night later too. Contact me on [Phone Number] or [Email] for directions.

Ciao for now!

Maxine Bates

Derby Doings

On Wed 21st Mar at 7.30pm - 3WOTM

Please join us in the Standing Order on Irongate to celebrate the first day of spring and explain to me what the Vernal bit of Vernal Equinox means. Good variety of food and drinks. More info on either event on [Phone Number] or [Email]

On Fri 23rd Mar at 8.00pm - Derby Jazz Week

As part of Derby Jazz Week, Alex Wilson's Latino Band appears in the Great Hall of the Assembly Rooms. Last year, in another episode from the great house moving fiasco, I managed to lose my ticket and all the blurb, so missed the show. Hopefully, there'll be no such blunder this year.

Cheers

Bernie Briggs

photo of Ian Sargent

Northants NNotes

On Thu 8th Mar at 9.00pm - 2ThOTM: Pub

If you drive north from Northampton on the A428 be careful not to knock over any Mad March Hares tonight. Also be careful to stop when you get to Harlestone so that you can join all the regulars at the Dusty Fox.

On Thu 22nd Mar at 8.00pm - Roadshow

We're off to another new venue this month: The Locomotive in Finedon Road, Wellingborough. Street parking is available, but don't leave your car in the access road down the side of the pub as you may get clamped!

To find us at both venues look for the Mensa mag on one of the tables. Details from [Phone Number] or [Email].

Ian Sargent

photo of Jo Sidebottom

Milton Keynes & Bedford

On Thu 1st Mar at 8.00pm - FTh: Moveable Feast

Join us at Sam & Maxie's under the Ramada Encore hotel in CMK. See www.samandmaxies.co.uk for location, menus, etc. Booking with me essential by Tuesday 27th February.

On Sun 18th Mar at 2.30pm - Walk

Stony Stratford has just published a circular walk of about an hour taking in points of interest in this historic town. Meet 2.30pm in the Market Square (parking available). We may end up in one of the many hostelries. Please let me know you're coming so we know whom to expect.

On Wed 21st Mar at 8.00pm - 3WOTM

We're continuing at our 3WOTM venue, the Suffolk Punch at Heelands, Saxon Street just below H3 (beside Novotel) - drive into Heelands and approach from back. Real ales/good value food - look for Mblem in lounge bar on right.

Contact me at [Email], or [Phone Number] / [Phone Number] for directions/encouragement.

Jo Sidebottom

photo of Jacquie Harrison

Lincoln

On Sun 25th Mar at 8.00pm - Pub Quiz

Back to the Tap and Spile, Motherby Lane, for their varied, friendly quiz. Everyone welcome. Also please remember I am very keen to get your suggestions for venues/times of meetings.

Jacquie Harrison

"I eat my peas with honey; I've done it all my life. They do taste rather funny - but it keeps them on the knife!"

M-Force One

Picture of Trish Kennett.

Trish Kennett has an uplifting time at the World Gathering in Orlando.

Ever wondered what it feels like to be weightless? My husband, Neill, and I had this ultimate experience last year. Let me describe this for the armchair travellers out there:

On the morning of the flight we arrive at Kennedy Space Center where a specific "light" breakfast of muffins, pastries and juice awaits us. We had been instructed to eat nothing previously; the flight crew control the food intake - I guess they want to know what the risks are!

We munch through a presentation and instructions, and are given flight suits and socks. The 15 passengers divide into 3 groups, the leaders build team spirit and ensure we know how to respond to emergencies and shouted instructions - without question. Very difficult for a group of Mensans.

Eventually we go by bus to the jet. Wearing our ordinary clothes under flight suits, you can imagine how hot we are. One at a time we are taken from the bus, scanned, and padded down by security, then stand in the sun while the rest of the bus go through the same. By now we are definitely limp!

Finally we board the jet. The inside is amazing, the back has seats to accommodate the passengers and crew, the rest is covered in a padded lining to reduce risk of damaging ourselves when weightless - no windows visible! We fly to normal aircraft flight level, remove our seat belts, and move into the padded area, each group assigned a section. Neill and I are at the front, separated from the pilot's cabin by a padded wall. We go straight into the set routine for each parabola that had been explained to us earlier.

I find myself a position on the floor, sit down and wait for the command to prepare for extra Gs, and then I lie flat while the jet climbs. As it climbs the pressure increases to 3 Gs - an amazing experience in itself. We had been instructed to keep down, not try to get up. I can see why - I try moving my fingers - I can do that easily, but my arm is pinned to the floor, I can barely move my head, and the pressure feels as though my body is being compressed and my skull distorted. Suddenly we reach weight and the pressure decreases and decreases and decreases . . . . . way past normal until I feel . . . . . totally free, just floating around. I use whatever I can to push myself around the cabin; I try to avoid collisions with other passengers - or I head straight for them! Certainly a way to make new friends.

Each parabola lasts for 30 seconds, which seems a long time as I float free, bounce off everything and everyone. A command goes out to prepare to drop, and it happens quickly. The gravity increases and I fall to the floor, hurriedly disentangle my limbs and find a place to lie flat again before the gravity increases too much to move.

The first parabola reduced to the level of the Moon's gravity, the second and third to Mars's gravity, then Z gravity for 10 parabolas. At the end of this cycle the crew decide to go for another 3 parabolas! Needless to say the passengers all agree.

During weightlessness there is a lot of hooting, laughing, water squirting, the occasional "ouch!", apologies, attempts at roll overs, etc. A lot of fun. During increased gravity it is pretty silent as we think about what we are going through, some of us wondering if our bodies can take the pressure.

Returning to our seats for the flight back, we all feel fine; however, when we disembark and try to walk a straight line four of us find it very difficult. It takes a few days before I can walk without bumping into walls, missing doorways, etc.

Is it value for money? Hell, yes, for a one-off experience. Would I go again? Yes, but not under the same conditions.

"They went looking for a brain - and they found one!"

Picture of a MRI scan of a head.

Ian Sargent, LocSec for Northants, finds proof that he really does have a brain!

The December issue of the Mensa magazine included a plea from University College London for volunteers to take part in a study of the brain and how memory skills affect its development. This would include an MRI scan of the brain. As my New Year resolution each year is "to do something I've never done before or to go somewhere I've never been before", this seemed right up my street. I work in London so it was not going to be difficult to get to UCL and an e-mail was duly sent off offering my services.

Unfortunately the magazine article was missing one important piece of information in that volunteers had to be under 40. Luckily a similar study had no such age restriction, so I put my name down for that and a few days later I found myself at the building where the tests take place. The first hour was given over to a number of different IQ and memory tests, some of which did not seem to make sense at the time: copy out a complex geometric shape, identify faces from a selection just shown, repeat a short story that was just read out to you, which of these two London landmarks is closest to this third one, which of these words was in a previous list, etc.

Then it was down to the basement for the MRI scan. Remove all metal objects ("Have you any pins in your bones?" "Have you any body piercing?"), insert earplugs and lay down on the platform. Your head has to be kept perfectly still so a plastic cage is fitted around it with some padding. The platform is then slid into the body of the scanner; it's a close fit so you have to keep your arms well in. If you are claustrophobic you really wouldn't enjoy this but you do have a panic button if things get uncomfortable.

The scan lasts about 12 minutes and the machine is very noisy, hence the earplugs. The moving parts are behind a cover but as they are quite close I found this disturbing initially. However, as the clicking and whirring is consistent I was able to relax (I'm told that some people do fall asleep) and I lost all track of time. Once out of the machine it was back into the control room to look at various views of the inside of my head and cross-sections of my brain - pictures that have subsequently been shown to friends and relatives just to prove that I have one.

Back up in the office there were two more tasks: to re-draw from memory the geometric shape and to recite the short story. Ah, now those earlier tests make sense!

It was an interesting and unusual experience and, as it's part of a long-term project I will be back in a couple of years for some similar tests and another scan. Once the study has been completed I will receive a copy of the published paper.

20 Questions (No. 66)

The menu anagrams from the January issue were fish and chips, peach melba, garlic bread, sweetcorn, prawn cocktail, profiteroles, fishfingers, spaghetti, lamb rogan josh, sherry trifle, mulligatawny, bangers and mash, apple pie, rump steak, egg fried rice, roast beef, sweet potato, ice cream, lasagne and sweet and sour. There are a lot of food fans out there so thanks to the following members for entering the competition: Penelope Penny of Leics, Don Foster of Notts, Marilyn Clark of Nottingham, Freda Bramhill of Northampton, Sue Pearson of Winslow, Paul Nicholson of Bedford, Pat Naylor of Nottingham, Andy Stevenson of Lincoln, Dawn Cox of Derby, Janie Comber of Milton Keynes, Andy Cole of Cleethorpes, Tony Dodd of Belvoir, Jocelyn Binks of Bedford, Carol Wheatcroft of Derby, Una Adams of Corby, Chris Clipstone of Kettering, Geoff Ward of Lincoln, Judith Meller of Derby, Michael Warren of Derby, Keith Jackson of Aylesbury, J E Green of St Albans, Jill Miller of Bucks, Robin Healey of Royston, Paul Henchliffe of Nottingham and David Ribbans of Luton. Pat was first out of the hat and a prize is on the way to her.

This month complete the following number and letter sequences supplied by Paul Henchliffe to win a Mensa ambigram T-shirt.

1. 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, ?

2. 1, 8, 27, 64, 125, 216, ?

3. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ?

4. 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 22, 23, 46, 47, ?

5. 729, 486, 324, 216, 144, 96, ?

6. 1, 100, 1001, 10000, 11001, 100100, 110001, 1000000, ?

7. 1, 2, 6, 24, 120, 720, ?

8. 6, 28, 496, 8128, ?

9. II, III, V, VII, XI, XIII, XVII, ?

10. X, V, T, R, P, N, L, ?

11. A, B, D, G, K, P, ?

12. Z, X, C, V, B, N, ?

13. O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, ?

14. J, F, M, A, M, J, J, ?

15. R, O, Y, G, B, ?

16. H, He, Li, Be, B, C, N, O, ?

17. PIAPT, TD, FH, CB, GR, GAL, SAS, MAM, LD, LAL, PP, ?

18. WC, CA, WC, AE, HM, ADH, HW, EH, HW, JC, MT, JM, ?

19. DN, FRWL, G, T, YOLT, OHMSS, ?

20. N, N, SE, NE, S, S, E, N, N, E, W, S, E, W, S, E, E, N, N, SE, SE, N, N, S, S, E, E, N, W, N, E, W, S, E, S, E, N, N, E, S, W, E, ?

Answers by post to '20 Questions (No. 66)', [Address] to arrive by 20th March