University of Leicester Open Journals
Not a member yet
2521 research outputs found
Sort by
P3_1 A Water Powered Funicular Railway
Get PDFWe are investigating the weight of water needed to overcome frictional forces to power a funicular railway. We find that the amount of water required depends on the angle of the slope, and that angles below ∼ 28◦ are forbidden, and only above ∼ 35◦ do they become physically viable
Poisonous Heritage: Chemical Conservation, Monitored Collections, and the Threshold of Ethnological Museums
Get PDFMany of the artifacts collected during the peak of colonization are made from organic materials and vulnerable to being eaten by insects or decomposition from mould. As part of the technical developments of the twentieth century, chemical treatments seemed to provide a viable solution to prevent decay of many collections. A broader awareness of the long-term effects of the employed toxic substances arose only decades later. Based on existing research, and explorative interviews in half a dozen museums in Europe, this text draws connections between the history of colonial collections, the use of chemicals in museum conservation, and the questions raised by shifting conceptions of the role of museums in the light of restitution and access-provision
The Most Powerful Material in Westeros: Fiction Exhibitions and the Authenticity of Fiction Objects
Get PDFThis article examines authenticity in relation to exhibitions about films and television series and the objects they contain, defined here as fiction exhibitions and fiction objects. The study is based on an analysis of Game of Thrones: The Touring Exhibition. Material and constructed authenticity are examined and used in the analysis. It is concluded that the exhibition relates to both categories of authenticity, as it contains authentic material from the production of the series and constructs authenticity by emphasizing the fiction objects’ value. The value of objects is also discussed in relation to the representation of different fictional cultures in the exhibition. Comparing exhibitions and objects of fiction with exhibitions and objects of cultural history, the paper concludes that their authentic qualities are similar, confirming that fiction exhibitions and objects are no less authentic than exhibitions and objects in established museums
Museums and Social Issues: Heuristics for Creating Change
Get PDFThe field of informal learning has become increasingly adept at designing, measuring, and achieving learning goals for a range of audiences. However, addressing the critical social issues of our time may require new skill sets, areas of expertise, types of partnerships and assumptions about success.To explore how informal learning practices are addressing social issues, we reviewed more than 200 articles, research studies, and evaluation reports (Morrissey et al. 2021). We examined the topics addressed or avoided, the types of impacts achieved, and patterns and trends that suggested gaps, opportunities, or barriers to advancing informal learning practices that address social issues.We paid particular attention to the impacts achieved or not achieved, and to the reflections and recommendations in these articles. Drawing from what we saw, we share six heuristics that can be used as guides and, perhaps, as steps towards building generalizable principles and theories that may inform future practice: (1) Focus on how and when to engage with social issues, rather than if; (2) Develop and support talent; (3) Don’t ignore entrenched societal systems and forces; (4) Collaborate outside the box; (5) Acknowledge inequities; (6) Rethink how to measure success
A3_4 Fly High, Gyroid!
Get PDFIn this paper, we investigated whether a small rocket in the game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would be viable, based on whether it could hold the amount of fuel required to reach its maximum altitude. We found that the volume of liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen fuel required is less than the volume of the rocket booster, so the rocket would be viable in this sense
Colonial and Post-colonial History: enhancing knowledge, capacity and networks in the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
Get PDFUnequal global structures profoundly influence inequalities in academic knowledge production. This is manifested in the under-representation of Majority World (Global South) publication in international peer-reviewed journals based in the Minority World (Global North). Whilst graduate education is available in the Majority World, the terms of appointment and promotion within institutions may depend upon networks that mirror wider social inequalities. This is partly because in some countries (e.g., India) candidates are required to publish an article before they can submit their PhD, and this can lead to significant confusion about the difference between journals published by university and other academic presses, and by private companies. Early career scholars are especially vulnerable to predatory (pay-to-publish) publishing (Collyer 2018, Raju et al. 2018). There are, of course, distinguished journals based in the Majority World, and a wealth of experience in publishing among mid-career and senior academics. Nonetheless, early career scholars who wish to publish in international journals may have English as an additional language and are far less likely to have access to informal networks of support. There are also significant knowledge gaps that constitute barriers to access (Collyer 2018).The authors of this paper attempted to address this issue by securing funding from the British Academy Writing Workshops 2021 programme to work with 30 Early Career Researchers (ECRs), researching colonial and post-colonial history and associated disciplines, from the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Anderson is editor of the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, Battell Lowman (now, former) co-editor of Settler Colonial Studies, Doyle editor of the Journal of African History, and Sutton of South Asian Studies. Anderson, Doyle, and Sutton acted as expert editor contributors and mentors, Battell Lowman served as Project Manager including designing and facilitating the workshop sessions. The programme was supported by three senior academics connected to the regions of interest - Mellissa Ifill (University of Guyana), Ali Usman Qasmi (LUMS, Pakistan), and Godfrey B. Asiimwe (Makerere University, Uganda) – and incorporated scholars from Jamaica (Sonjah N. Stanley Niaah), Mauritius (Satyendra Peerthun), Botswana (John Makgala), South Africa (Rebecca Swartz), Kenya (Peter Wafula Wekesa), India (Aparna Balachandran) and Bangladesh (Momin Chowdhury). Together, the group undertook a year-long virtual workshop programme that aimed to build new transnational collaborative networks to create a new skills and knowledge base
A5_12 World's Greatest Pitch
Get PDFThe goal of this paper was to investigate the possibility of an ordinary human to recreating a scene from the first episode of the series Invincible in which two characters throw a baseball around the Earth. It is determined that this scene would be impossible to recreate on Earth, however it could be done on a planet with a radius of 67.03 x 103m, roughly 1/100th that of Earth
P6_6 Beginner Magic
Get PDFIn many forms of media that include magic one of the earliest spells learnt creates water, be it as a flow or floating ball. This paper will calculate how much energy is required to perform this spell as well as discuss the environment required to produce this energy by using special relativity and the Stefan-Boltzman law for radiative transfer over a small circular face that connects the magic source to the world of the user. The Energy to create an orb of water with a radius of 5cm is 4.71238898 × 1016J this requires an temperature of the radiator to be between 22681040 ≈ 2.3 × 107K and 3207177 ≈ 3.2 × 106K depending on the area of the radiation sourc
A1_5 Let’s Disko para-para-paradise
Get PDFDuring this paper, the idea popularised by Coldplay’s recent sustainable concerts is explored to be utilised in the O2 Academy during Let’s Disko. By using the conservation of energy and power equations, it is found that by fitting the venue with kinetic dance floors, it would take 11 Let’s Disko nights to power the Physics Department for one day. However, if all of the energy exerted by 1500 club goers was converted into electricity, then only half of a Let’s Disko night would be required
A3_8 Lunar Magnetic Fields?
Get PDFIn this paper, we explore the effect that a lunar magnetic field would have on the magnitude of theEarth’s magnetic field at the surface. This was achieved by performing coordinate transformationsto give a resultant magnetic field strength at the Earth, which was then used to create plots ofthe resultant magnetic field strength with altered values for radius and orbital radius of the Moon. From these, we have deduced that, for a lunar magnetic field to have a significant effect on thesurface of the Earth, its orbital radius would need to be decreased by a factor of 1E4. Alternatively,the Moon’s radius would have to be increased by a factor of a million