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The Art and Craftivism of Exhibiting Species and Habitat Loss in Natural History Museums
Get PDFIn recent years the presentation of anthropogenic extinction narratives in natural history museums has occurred through temporary exhibitions, curatorial and artistic interventions in permanent collections displays and public engagement events. Such work has enabled institutions to re-orientate historical collections and permanent galleries towards this pressing contemporary issue. This article examines a subset of this wider field of curatorial activity by considering how contemporary handicrafts including knitting and crochet have been displayed to engage visitors with species and habitat loss in natural history museums, situating this work within craftivist practices and the longer history of craft being mobilized for political and ethical ends. While the habitat diorama alerted audiences to disappearing species and threatened ecosystems in the twentieth century through a combination of art, science and craft, I reveal how recent exhibitions and events have reconfigured a similar interdisciplinary mix to raise awareness of species and habitat loss in the twenty-first century
Could nature turn a hare into a jackalope?
Get PDFThe jackalope is a chimera of a hare and antelope found in North American folklore, taking the entirety of hare features with the addition of antelope horns. Biological processes which could naturally give rise to horn like protrusions on a hare were explored, namely cottontail rabbit papilloma virus and cutaneous horns. While these methods may give rise to horn like growths, it is impossible to control their number and location such that a ‘true’ jackalope appearance i.e., two horns on the top of the head, is achieved
Homo loompis: are Oompa-Loompas a distinct hominin species?
Get PDFOompa-Loompas work in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, where they also live, having been brought there from their previous home on the island of Loompa. Here we explore whether they can be considered a distinct hominin species. Their inclusion into the hominin clade is first established through traits and characteristics because molecular evidence is unavailable. Using the limited evidence (largely visual observations) their species status is then validated under both the phenetic and biological species concepts
P1_8 Ballet Dancer
Get PDFIn this paper, we investigated the effect of a female dancer’s arms on their rotational kinetic energy and therefore how fast they are turning during a pirouette. We did this by calculating the rotational kinetic energy change of a dancer when they have their arms fully outstretched and when they have their arms 50% closer to their rotation axis. In this case, the arm length of the dancer is the dancer’s radius when turning. Using the dancer’s moment of inertia in both scenarios, we found that the rotational kinetic energy change was a 320% (2 s.f) increase when the dancer’s radius was halved. This implies that the dancer’s angular velocity will also increase
P3 12 More Star Wars? We are all Doonium-ed!
Get PDFIn our previous paper, we discussed which of our chosen materials was most similar to Doonium [1]. Here, we build upon this paper, using the suggested improvements to establish a more accurate picture. Using the iconic scene from The Phantom Menace, where Qui-Gon Jinn cuts through the door with his green lightsaber in 14s [2], we find that aluminium most closely resembles Doonium, taking 13.8s to cut through the door, compared to 29.8s for titanium and 39.6s for carbon steel
P3_2 Railguns! Miniaturised?
Get PDFRail-guns (RG) are theorised to be the weapons of the future, with the ability to propel ordinance at large velocities in excess of ∼ 2kms−1 [1]. We are investigating whether this technology can be miniaturised into mobile soldier equipment. We find that these weapons could be miniaturised to ∼ 700mm barrel length, however there is currently no power source small and powerful enough to be deployed in this manner
A4_9 Can Human Screams Power A Roller Coaster?
Get PDFIn this paper the energy collected from people screaming on the popular roller-coaster ride, Stealth, is explored using the sound intensity of their screams. This is then compared against the actual energy needed to power Stealth. It is found that the energy collected from the screams is 66.1 J and the energy needed to power the ride is 5.57 MJ, so unfortunately human screams would not be able to power the roller-coaster
P3 8 Which Earth material is most similar to doonium?
Get PDFWe aim to explore which of the primary metallic candidates (carbon steel, titanium, and aluminium) would most closely resemble doonium, a heavy metal found in the Star Wars universe for constructing starships [1]. Here, we compare the time taken to cut vertically through a 2m tall door with a lightsaber from Season 1 Episode 5 of Star Wars Rebels [2], as the Ghost crew flees from the Grand Inquisitor to the time taken to cut through the three identical doors made from Earth materials mentioned above. We find that the time taken to cut through two doors made from carbon steel, titanium and aluminium are 31.6s, 25.7s, and 15.7s respectively
A3_1 Distortion: The Maths Behind The Magic
Get PDFIn this paper, we are investigating and creating mathematical models for two different distortion types. We have succeeded in creating these models, as proven from our plots, and have explored the idea of applying these models to a simple speaker circuit
P6_5 Simulating Charged Particle Motion in Electromagnetic Fields using Numerical Methods
Get PDFWe investigated the motion of a charged particle within an electromagnetic field using both the Euler and Boris methods. It has been shown that if the electric and magnetic field are perpendicular to one another then a charged particle will follow a cycloidal motion. We have also shown that the Euler method breaks down in the presence of a magnetic field and conclude that the Boris method is superior for simulating charge particle motion in fields