University of Leicester Open Journals
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P 5 4 The Thermodynamics behind the E-Suites Cooling Problem
No full textIn this paper we examine the effect that powerful gaming computers have on the temperature ofthe E-Suite, a room in the David Wilson library at the University of Leicester. We found that,when left on until the room reaches thermal equilibrium with its surroundings, the computers inthe E-Suite increase the temperature of the room by 6.48 K, whereas computers in a neighbouringroom only increase the temperature by 1.76
P2 5 [W][O][R][D][L][E] vs the World
No full textIn this paper we discuss the environmental impact of a large number of people playing the Wordleminigame every day, assessing if it is a significant factor in global environmental decline. Wecalculate that the total daily CO2 emission from global Wordle players is 3.04 kg. Overall, weconclude that daily actions like playing the Wordle are minimal in the overall discussion aboutthe environment, and that the biggest factors in environmental decline are not due to the actionsof an average citizen playing a simple puzzle every day
P4 4 Car Park Cooling
No full textIn this paper we discuss the viability of paving over sections of the Earth’s vast oceans in anattempt to increase the planetary albedo and reduce acquired thermal energy from the Sun. Wedetermine that it would require us to cover ≈ 14% of the Earth’s oceans with paver or concreteor ≈ 3% with white acrylic painted plastic, a minimum of ≈ 10 Million square kilometres, an arealarger than Australia
On Loss, Language and Poetry: Reading Ecological Grief in Kamau Brathwaite’s ‘scarscape’
No full textAn ecological reading of Kamau Brathwaite's essay 'Caribbean Culture: Two Paradigms’. Responding to Ferdinand’s notion of ‘double fracture’, I suggest in this essay that there are at least two ways in which ‘Caribbean Culture’ speaks to what Cunsolo and Ellis (2018) call “ecological grief”. Firstly, the neologism of ‘scarscape’ highlights the ways in which space, like the body, bears the marks of its subjugation: a geography of scars that are continually reopened and obscured by further lacerations. Secondly, just as significant as ‘scarscape’ itself, is the poetics of its exposition, the particular kind of interpretative reading or listening that it demands
The Artist’s Museum as Reversed Cultural Space: Theaster Gates' Black Chapel at the Haus der Kunst (Munich)
No full textDuring 2019-20, visitors to the Haus der Kunst (HDK), a non-collecting museum for contemporary art in Munich, could view Black Chapel, created by the Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates. Black Chapel was a platform for Gates’ "museum within a museum", or an artist’s museum, composed of Gates’ sculptures, collections of images, and artefacts, including Jesse Owens’ music album collection. This article examines how Gates’ project deploys the historical signifiers and artefacts of Black urban experience in order to challenge the historical space of the Haus der Kunst. I argue that Black Chapel not only contributes to artistic experiments in museum making, it also creates a reversed cultural space and counternarratives within the architectural space of the HDK - a museum which was originally commissioned by Adolf Hitler as a platform for National Socialist art and cultural politics
Physics underlying a childhood show: Mechanics Behind 64 Zoo Lane
No full textIn every episode of the classic childhood show “64 Zoo Lane" the main character Lucy slides down Georgina the Giraffe's neck from her bedroom window to the zoo next door, the 7-year-old does this every night for story time with her neighbouring animals. This paper will investigate the physics behind this motion, calculating the friction generated along Georgina’s neck, the acceleration in which this occurs, the derived velocity that Lucy travels at and the energy required.
Why does Michael sleep for hours after consuming a family size chicken pot pie?
No full textThe classic US sitcom “The Office” follows the day-to-day working life of a Dunder Mifflin paper office in Scranton, with Michael Scott being the incredibly erratic yet surprisingly successful boss. Michael decides to ingest a whole family-size pot pie for lunch, resulting in him falling into a deep sleep for hours. Whilst doing so, everyone else in the office changes the clocks and tricks him into leaving work early. This paper will investigate the relationship between digestion, hormones, and neurotransmitters to explain the mechanisms by which Michael fell into his deep slumber
Community Museums In India: Rooted In Care
No full textThis reflection explores the role of community based museums in India through two communities- the folk artists from Kathputli Colony in Delhi, and the fishermen communities in Mumbai. It illustrates the identity struggles of folk and tribal artists in India, their marginalisation in urban development and the precariousness of their livelihoods, and advocates for community-rooted museums that have a grounding in social justice, enabling ownership and active engagement of these communities. The emergence of community-based museums and grassroots initiatives in India, such as the Tandel Fund of Archives in Mumbai, is presented as a caring and hopeful response. Keywords: community, museums, identity, ownership, care
Keywords: community, museums, identity, ownership, care
Diamonds and Emotions in the Minerals Gallery: Civilizing Emodities in the Age of Liberal Empire
No full textThis article examines discourse about diamonds and affect in London’s major geological and mineralogical galleries in the nineteenth century. While these institutions offered services to industries built around mineral extraction, their exhibition galleries also did important cultural work to promote the value of specific minerals to consumer publics. I argue that the metropolitan space of mineralogical exhibits was understood to create a tempered, and thus ‘civilized,’ emotional experience for visitors. In general consumer culture, diamonds were understood as emotional commodities (emodities) that derived value from both marking and eliciting heightened emotions; knowing this, the minerals galleries trustees offered the public a place to engage with diamonds in a ‘sobering’ manner. Gallery designers encouraged visitors to trade their whimsically romantic feelings about diamonds with ‘interested,’ patriotic ones. Galleries did this by promoting the idea that diamonds were intrinsically interesting and objectively superior minerals that deserved special scientific attention for the good of the nation-empire. By extension, diamonds also merited their high market value and national-imperial investment. Mineral galleries rationalized the diamond market for consumers by scientifically validating diamonds as emodities; diamonds also worked to animate mineral galleries as spaces of heritage-making in London. That legacy continues today
Industrial Imperialism and the Museum: A Coal Biography
No full textIn the nineteenth century, coal was an invaluable resource that served as the foundation and power of British imperialism. This object biography traces the journey of a piece of coal from its primeval formation in Aoteroa New Zealand to its current home in Britain’s national science collection. As it travelled through Wellington’s Colonial Museum, the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873, the British metallurgist John Percy’s Collection, and finally the Science Museum Group’s collections, the rock took on different meanings and values. Examining the specimen’s biography provides a perspective on industrial imperialism that centres museums as technologies of empire and extraction within the context of climate crisis and ongoing Indigenous struggles for land and sovereignty