Gordon Fong: Food, drink, restaurants, reviews and life in general. #southbourne #bournemouth

Air quality and heat risks - moving home?

I've been to a few knowledge sharing, networking events, over at the Technopole in Portsmouth hosted by the South Coast Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications. I wanted to learn more about the Space domain, especially with regards to work and opportunities at the Dorset Innovation Park where we are already involved in the Land, Sea, Air and Cyber domains.

Only starting to understand the wide range of satellite applications and it has moved away from the pure comms side of things into data. Everything is data and what insight and intelligence you can get from it, for both societal and security purposes.

One particular session really caught my mind and that was by 4 Earth Intelligence. The day centred around air quality and it really brought home the idea that bad air quality is a public health burden. It's not just a hazy day every now and again. Living close to congested roads, roundabouts and crossings, means you are enveloped in the pollution and particulates every day of the year. Your lungs will be in continual decline, whether slowly or quickly, if you don't get respite from it.

There was a doctor that did a quite technical/medical presentation but you could understand the issues if not the phrases.

The Sunflowers of Southbourne 2021 video

It took me a while but here is a lovely little video from the footage I shot walking around our Southbourne community.

Growing sunflowers was to bring some colour to the area and act as a little reminder about charity. Charity organisations have all suffered too under the pandemic restrictions, which curtailed many fundraising activities.

We sourced packets of sunflowers from Lewis Manning Hospice Care and we wanted to raise some money for them via this dedicated Just Giving page. If you took part or enjoyed the flowers on your walkabout, please consider a small donation, either to Lewis Manning or your own favourite charity.

The Defence BattleLab in the Dorset Innovation Park

A lot more has been happening in the Dorset Innovation park with the Defence BattleLab being used more and more.

This is some drone footage of a recent Army Hackathon event.

Our business installed the wifi, Internet fibre and the 3 by 3 video wall too.

Full STEAM ahead, don’t just STEM the tide.

We talk about inclusivity; we say that arts and culture are important in a society but the talk of just STEM in education leaves me feeling cold. I say that as a techie that finds creativity from an art, design, writing and marketing perspective quite alien.

Even in the most technical of arenas, there is a need to convey information and concepts to a wider and unfamiliar audience, in a simple way.

Even techies love playing computer games consoles. That’s all visual, the packing is visual, the promotional material is visual and so there will be a world of creative behind that too.

We must talk about it all together. We must be multi-disciplinary in this because the real world is, even if we play just one part of it. We must be inclusive in thought and talking about STEAM shows everything is important.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.