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Facts and Fictions: Emotional Authenticity and Narrative in Natural History Exhibitions
No full textThis article explores the role of narrative in the generation of emotional authenticity, a feeling that something is real rather than the fact of its authenticity, arguing that the fictive (the structures of literature) can work to obscure the fictions (what is invented or untrue) at work in all museum displays. By looking at two natural history exhibitions with varying levels of cultural authority, the Natural History Museum London and the Loch Ness Centre in Scotland, this article argues for the need for literature and science to work together in museums to create an authentic experience for visitors
Abi Dahlzim’s Horrible Wilting Spell – Severe Dehydration
No full textOne spell in the fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons, is Abi Dahlzim’s horrible wilting spell. When cast, this spell sucks the moisture out of all creatures within a 30ft cube, causing them to take 12d8 damage. However, in reality, losing moisture from the body would not result in arbitrary damage. Instead, it would trigger a series of biological failures with severe biological and physical consequences
The Potential for Silicon-Based Life on Io
No full textWhat if Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon, could host life based on silicon rather than carbon? With intense volcanic activity and a sulphur-rich atmosphere, Io’s conditions could support silicon-based biochemistry, challenging our understanding of life’s potential. Further research and exploration are needed to determine if life beyond Earth could exist here
“Devouring The Soil’s Words” – Margaux Schwab from 'Foodculture Days' In Vevey on Multispecies Curating as Grounded Practice and Entangled Metabolisms
No full textFounded in 2017 in Vevey, Switzerland, by Margaux Schwab, 'foodculture days' is a publicly funded cultural format that provides a platform –understood in the broadest sense of institutional framing– to share and build knowledge around food as a medium for convivial practices of nourishment for all species. By fostering longstanding relations and collaborations between local practitioners, such as farmers, cooks, gastronomes, winemakers, activists, and gardeners, with a globally interconnected network of artists, scientists, philosophers and researchers, the complexities of environmental and social justice in the realm of food are addressed in different strands and activities of the initiative. Its main project, a ten-day long festival that emerges every two years in the town of Vevey, is a moment of reflection, gathering and dialogue that allows the public and practitioners involved to rediscover the urban space and everyday locations, such as markets, streets, cafes, shops, agricultural initiatives, museums, and galleries, from a perspective where food, art and ecology intersect. Our conversation about the emergence, the different strands of 'foodculture days' and their vision for the future is based on a shared conviction that cultural programming attempting to address global topics rooted in a local context and focussing on more-than-human timescales and process-oriented art practices needs formats within different spatial and temporal regimes.
Keywords: multispecies curating, radical hospitality, conviviality, grounded practice
Chronicles From A Closed Museum
No full textThis contribution addresses the strategies of public engagement, heritage reinterpretation, and knowledge co-production recently implemented by the MAET - Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin. As with many Western museums founded in 19th and 20th centuries, it must contend with a legacy tied to the racist and colonial ideologies of its past. Its ethnographic collections, particularly those from non- European contexts, highlight critical challenges such as its colonial history, ‘sensitive heritage’ and the issue of ‘archival silence’. The MAET has recently started a process of reassessing its non-European collections in an effort to deconstruct its institutional history. This paper will provide an analysis of the museum’s efforts to engage local communities – students, citizens, and migrants – through a decolonial lens, focusing on projects like Around the World in 90 Minutes – an educational workshop for primary school students – and Voices from the Forgotten Collections – conceived to promote the exhibition Africa. The forgotten collections (Royal Museum of Turin, 27th October 2023 – 25th February 2024). Although small in scale, these activities prepare for the museum’s future reopening and foster participatory museology.
Keywords: Museums; Ethnographic collections; Colonial heritage; Archival silence; Decolonisation; Public Engagement
Internationalization in Early Chinese Industrialization (1840s-1911): Representations and Perceptions in the Museum
No full textThis paper discusses how industrial museums within the People’s Republic of China represent the international interferences and influences that characterised the first stages of China’s modern industrialization. In terms of methodology, this is a cross-disciplinary exercise that combines museum studies and discourse analysis to examine seven case studies. The investigation is developed on two levels: on the one hand, the production and delivery of narratives about the role of international factors in Chinese industrialization during the Late Qing dynasty (1840s-1911); on the other, the reception of such narratives by national and international audiences. The study concludes that the museums’ narratives of early internationalization are heterogeneous and present nuances depending on the institutions that produce them and the countries involved. Our results also evidence that visitors do not interact significantly with these narratives. Nevertheless, these narratives can still be understood as playing an important role in how Chinese industrial museums present and define China as a modern nation
A1 1 The First Butterflight
No full textIn this study, the viability of human flight with butterfly wings is discussed. It is determined that when considering an adult man with wings of a painted lady butterfly, the surface area of wings needed must be approximately 84.0 m2, suggesting a wingspan of 30.4 m
P1 8 Blasters, Beskar and the Physics of Heat Transfer
No full textThis paper estimates the physical requirements for the fictional material beskar from The Mandalorian to resist a high-energy blaster bolt. Using thermodynamics and heat transfer principles, we model the blaster bolt as a plasma bolt and calculate the resulting temperature rise and heat distribution in a breastplate of armour. We find that if a bolt deposits 342 MJ of energy into a few kilograms of material, the local temperature change would exceed a million kelvin, which is enough to vaporise any known material. To survive, beskar must possess exotic thermal and structural properties beyond current materials science
P5 6 The Gnarliest Paper Ever Written
No full textThis paper looks to examine the mechanics behind how many stairs a skateboarder can ollie ona skateboard, this is done by looking at the theoretical maximum velocities that a skateboardercould achieve before structural failure of their wheels, as well as the maximum ollie height, andthen utilising projectile mechanics to determine a maximum number of stairs that can be cleared.It was found that theoretically with perfect conditions a skateboarder could clear 79533 steps, witha more realistic estimate for the upper limit being 1132 stairs
A4 10 It's Dragging
No full textElevated ambient temperatures can enhance Formula 1 car performance because the reduction in air density outweighs the accompanying increase in viscosity. This study models these effects using Sutherland’s law for viscosity and ideal-gas scaling for density over a 10◦C to 35◦C range at sea level, where viscosity rises by ≈ 6.8% and density decreases by ≈ 8.1%. Drag scalings with an 80:20 form-to friction split yield a ≈ 7.6% total drag reduction at fixed speed, implying comparable savings in required power and energy per unit distance