Centre for Interdisciplinary Science - University of Leicester

Congratulations to all of the Natural Sciences students who will be graduating this afternoon! We are so proud of all that you have achieved whilst you have been with us and we wish you the very best in your future careers.

Leicester Fiesta
Join us to celebrate the end of the academic year and the beginning of summer on 29 & 30 May!
You've just completed another amazing year at the University of Leicester. Now join us to celebrate the end of the academic year and the beginning of summer, with a programme of arts, crafts, food, and some incredible student performers. Leicester Fiesta is our grand finale. It’s also your chance to find support for over the vacation period. More at:
https://www2.le.ac.uk/students/studying/events/leicester-fiesta?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=uol-shorturl&utm_campaign=leicester-fiesta

Leicester Fiesta — University of Leicester Join us to celebrate the end of the academic year and the beginning of summer on 29 & 30 May!

Could Elastigirl stop the “METROLEV” train in Incredibles 2?
Sean Elliott, Rajvir Singha Flora

This paper examines the feasibility of Elastigirl being able to stop the runaway “METROLEV” train, by stretching into the form of a parachute, in the film, Incredibles 2. Based on the “METROLEV” travelling at a speed of 150 mph, Elastigirl would need to stretch to a diameter of 6.16 m. This value appears too large given the relative dimension of the train and a construction worker, as shown in the scene. However, when using a speed of 375 mph (the maximum speed a maglev train can reach) her diameter would be 3.90 m instead. This is a more accurate value in comparison to the relative dimensions of the train and the construction worker.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3085

Could Elastigirl stop the “METROLEV” train in Incredibles 2? | Elliott | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Could Elastigirl stop the “METROLEV” train in Incredibles 2?

Would it be feasible if everyone drove a car in the UK?
Shivani Kerai

This paper investigates whether it would be feasible if everyone drove a car in the UK, considering the age population of 17 and over in the year 2019. In the context of this paper it is assumed that each person would drive a Vauxhall Corsa 1.0T Eco FLEX SE 5dr, and the whole land area of the UK was considered. It was shown that the total area taken up by cars would be 374.800 km^2. In consideration of the whole land mass of the UK, there is enough space if everyone drove a car. By considering the road area of approximately 15284.74 km^2 it will still be feasible, but may cause significant traffic.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3061

Would it be feasible if everyone drove a car in the UK? | Kerai | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Would it be feasible if everyone drove a car in the UK?

What Does Kirks Radiation Poisoning Tell Us About The USS Enterprise?
Peter Daniel Jacob Weller, Leon Rozing

This paper calculates the power output of Star Treks’ USS Enterprise warp core if modelled as a uranium powered fission reactor using Captain Kirk’s radiation poisoning symptoms as seen in the movie, Star Trek Into Darkness. Kirk was said to have received a dose of >30 Gy and through subsequent calculations the power output was determined to be 32 MW.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3095

What Does Kirks Radiation Poisoning Tell Us About The USS Enterprise? | Weller | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics What Does Kirks Radiation Poisoning Tell Us About The USS Enterprise?

If Given a Penny Every Time Ferb Says a Word, How Many Cadbury Freddos Could He Buy?
Carl Naybour

This paper describes and calculates the number of times Ferb, from the Disney animated programme ‘Phineas and Ferb’, speaks and with this, if given a single English penny for each spoken word, how much money Ferb would have made as a result. It was found that Ferb would gain a total of £25.98. In the year 2000, it was calculated that Ferb could buy 259 Freddos (4403 g of chocolate) with this money, however in 2018 it was found that Ferb could only afford 103 Freddos (1854 g of chocolate) in total. As a result of this, it would be recommended that for better value for money, Ferb travels back in time using their time machine if he ever wishes to bulk buy Cadbury’s Freddos.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3093

How Many Maxim Tomatoes Would Kirby Need to Consume to Fuel an Attack Against Bowser?
Carl Naybour

This paper describes and calculates both the forces of three types of attack (punching, kicking and headbutting) from Kirby directed onto Bowser, and the number of Maxim Tomatoes Kirby would need to consume to complete each of the attacks, within the Smash Bros title, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is found that, at a pre-set damage of 300%, Bowser is launched at maximum recorded speeds of 2037 km hr^‑1, 2093 km hr^-1 and 1043 km hr^-1 for punching, kicking and headbutting respectively. This then gave forces of 6.68x10^6 N, 6.86x10^6 N and 3.42x10^6 N for these attacks, and would require a respective Maxim Tomato count of 2050, 2169 and 537.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3098

How Many Maxim Tomatoes Would Kirby Need to Consume to Fuel an Attack Against Bowser? | Naybour | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How Many Maxim Tomatoes Would Kirby Need to Consume to Fuel an Attack Against Bowser?

Does Crash Bandicoot Have a ‘Fast’ Metabolism?
Carl Naybour

This paper describes the process of calculating Crash Bandicoot’s expended energy on spinning, jumping and running through the entirety of the first game released in the series, with his total calorific intake via wumpa fruit also being calculated. With these values, it was then possible to estimate Crash’s metabolism, and compare it to that expected from a character of his nature. It is found that Crash Bandicoot has an extremely fast metabolism, burning an estimated 41 times his recommended intake.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3044

Does Crash Bandicoot Have a ‘Fast’ Metabolism? | Naybour | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Does Crash Bandicoot Have a ‘Fast’ Metabolism?

What if from now on, we start shooting all waste produced worldwide into space?
Leon Rozing

This article explores the difficulties and the consequences of shooting all waste produced on Earth into space. It is found that if we do not want the waste to orbit Earth, the energy required to shoot one years’ worth of garbage into space would be one third of the total yearly energy consumption of humanity. If it is brought into orbit instead, in 50 years it will be massive enough to have a gravitational field strong enough to let people walk around on it as long as they do not go faster than 8 kmh^-1.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3102

What if from now on, we start shooting all waste produced worldwide into space? | Rozing | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics What if from now on, we start shooting all waste produced worldwide into space?

What would be the effect of having ‘nerves of steel’ on the ability to bend your elbow?
Leon Rozing

This article makes assumptions of the consequences of having coaxial steel cables for nerves. Where regular nerves are very flexible, for coaxial cables this is not necessarily the case since it is steel that has to be bent. It is found through calculations on the required momentum, taking the yield stress of steel into account, that having coaxial steel cables for nerves adds about 45 nN per axon through the elbow to the force required to lift the lower arm. Through calculations in two ways on the number of nerves that go through the lower arm, it is found that this number is around 2.4x10^7 so that the total additional force required to lift the lower arm is about 1.1 N.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3100

Could 'nerves of steel' guide sensory signals?
Leon Rozing

This article makes assumptions of the consequences of having coaxial steel cables for nerves. It is found that if a person would have coaxial steel cables instead of axons, the body would have to find a way to impose an initial potential of about 90 mV onto the beginning of this axon since the signal is now passed on passively instead of actively. This signal is however not seriously damped within the cable. This nerve would however be able to handle impulses of a higher frequency at a higher speed, allowing one to have a higher maximally ‘feelable’ intensity of sensations.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3099

Could 'nerves of steel' guide sensory signals? | Rozing | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Could 'nerves of steel' guide sensory signals?

Would The Doctor and Martha Have Survived on the Moon with the Judoon?
Peter Daniel Jacob Weller

This paper investigates a Doctor Who episode, Smith and Jones, where a hospital and its inhabitants are transported to the moon by an alien race and whether it was feasible for them to have survived for as long as they did or longer due to a limited air supply. The finding was that they had nearly 105 days of oxygen supply, a considerably longer amount of time than the half an hour of supply shown in the episode.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3106

How many Calories are needed when running in Old School RuneScape?
Rajvir Flora

This paper aims to calculate the energy needed in the form of Calories when running in the game of Old School RuneScape. A value of 27 Calories was calculated to be needed if the in-game character were to run from 100% run energy to 0% run energy. This was under the assumption the in-game character had a mass of 83.6 kg and that act of running for a male of this mass requires 17 Calories per minute. Then the energy needed to run without stopping from the beginner town to various cities was calculated and summarised in table 1. A key result found that 32.3 Calories are needed to run from Lumbridge to the Grand Exchange.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3030

How many Calories are needed when running in Old School RuneScape? | Flora | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How many Calories are needed when running in Old School RuneScape?

Could a Dalek download the Internet in just 22 seconds?
Sean Richard Elliott, Rajvir Singh Flora

This paper investigates the feasibility of a Dalek, a villain from the popular British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who, being able to download the Internet in just 22 s, as shown in the episode “Dalek”. A number of assumptions were made regarding the size of the surface Internet in the release year of the episode (2005) and the download speeds of both 2005 and also the year the episode was set (2012). The various calculations made, led to the conclusion that the time taken in the episode was far too short, both when using download speeds of 0.27 MBs^-1 in 2005 and 3.25 TBs^-1 in 2012. The time needed was calculated to be 25,502 years in 2005 and 140 minutes in 2012.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3076

Could a Dalek download the Internet in just 22 seconds? | Elliott | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Could a Dalek download the Internet in just 22 seconds?

The Global Importance of Zero-Emission Vehicles
Elizabeth O'Meara

This paper discusses the effect that zero-emission vehicles, such as the Tesla model 3, could have first in the reduction of CO_2 emissions in the UK and then its global potential. This paper only investigates the CO_2 emissions released by vehicles when being driven, and disregards those which are produced during production of the vehicle, and when charging a Tesla. Given the average CO_2 emissions per car, the number of registered cars in the UK, and the average annual mileage per vehicle, it is found that the entirety of the registered cars in the UK produces 48.6 million imperial tons of CO_2 each year. In comparing this value to those of countries which account for large percentages of the global CO_2 emissions, such as the United States and China, 511 million and 1.4 billion imperial tons respectively, it is evident that replacing all vehicles with a zero-emission vehicle such as the Tesla model 3 has great potential for the global reduction of annual CO_2 emissions.
https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3097

The Global Importance of Zero-Emission Vehicles | O'Meara | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics The Global Importance of Zero-Emission Vehicles

The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Consumption
Christopher Chan, Elizabeth O'Meara

This paper looks to provide insight on the Canadian stereotype of using and producing maple syrup, investigating if the Canadian production of the sweetener could support each Canadian having maple syrup at breakfast every day for a year. First, it is estimated how much maple syrup would be consumed for a specific age group and s*x using suggested daily Calorie (kcal) values and Canadian demographic population estimates. A sample calculation is outlined for males aged 20-24, finding that solely for this age group it would require 6.24x10^4 L of maple syrup for one day’s consumption. This method is then repeated for each age group and s*x (see supplementary file), then summed and multiplied by 365, getting a final value of 5.11x10^8 L of maple syrup in total for the whole year. Therefore, it was determined that since the annual production of maple syrup in 2017 was only 5.69x10^7 L, it would not be sustainable for every Canadian to have maple syrup at breakfast for an entire year.
https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3084

The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Consumption | Chan | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Consumption

When New York Freezes – An Exploration into the Ice Formation in the Movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’
Hannah Mahoney, Elizabeth O'Meara

This paper discusses whether the ‘big freeze’ caused by an extreme polar vortex in the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ would be possible. It was assumed that the water covering New York had similar behavioural characteristics to that of a shallow lake and that the width of ice formed was large enough to support a medium truck. Using re-arranged thermodynamic equations, it was concluded that temperatures dropping to -150˚F would not be enough to freeze the ice since it would take 45.66 hours. Since the ice froze overnight as the characters slept, this aspect of the movie is not plausible.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3069

When New York Freezes – An Exploration into the Ice Formation in the Movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ | Mahoney | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics When New York Freezes – An Exploration into the Ice Formation in the Movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’

Is Pokemon Evolution Dangerous: The Lake of Rage
Felix Steven Bamford

This paper will explore the effects of one of Team Rocket’s schemes in the games Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver using values calculated in a previous paper “Is Pokémon Evolution Dangerous?”. In these games Team Rocket use a radio signal to force Magikarp in a nearby lake to evolve into Gyarados. A model relating the Magikarp population in two lakes is deduced in order to find the total number of Magikarp evolved by Team Rocket. It is found that forcing the Magikarp to evolve would require 1.62x10^21 J of energy, causing the Earth to go dark for 46.4 s.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3110

Is Pokemon Evolution Dangerous: The Lake of Rage | Bamford | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Is Pokemon Evolution Dangerous: The Lake of Rage

Is Pokémon Evolution Dangerous?
Felix Steven Bamford

This paper will look at the effect of Pokémon evolution using Einstein’s equation for mass-energy equivalence E = mc^2. The energy required to create the mass gained by a Pokémon in evolution will be calculated and compared to some real world energy values for perspective. The specific examples amalysed in this paper are the evolution of Magikarp and the mega evolution of Rayquaza.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3082

Is Pokémon Evolution Dangerous? | Bamford | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Is Pokémon Evolution Dangerous?

How many haters can Brandon block?
Louisa Perry

Vine artist Brandon Bowen has publicised his invention for a device that blocks out haters. The paper investigates the extent to which this ‘hater blocker’ can block haters by looking at the estimated light absorbance of the material. It is conjectured that the spoons, that the device is made up of, is polyethylene with an absorption coefficient of 103.85 cm-1 and an average thickness of 1.12 mm. It is calculated that the hater blocking device would be able to block 99.99% of haters but it has design faults which may hinder this value. Limitations in the amount of information known about the spoon’s material properties impact the reliability and accuracy of the determined value.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3124

How many haters can Brandon block? | Perry | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How many haters can Brandon block?

How many vets would be needed if every household in the UK owned a dog?
Louisa Perry

Using data for the number of households in the UK between 2012 and 2017, it is estimated that if every household in 2019 was to own a dog then 4922(-22,+52) vets would be needed if they each had the recommended 20 minute check-up each year. The range on the estimation is based on the nonlinearity of data over the period and is limited by the small data set and external factors that would affect the number of households and the number of dogs. It is projected that, on average, there is an increase in 0.59 % every year on the number of households and thus the number of vets needed.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3101

How many vets would be needed if every household in the UK owned a dog? | Perry | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How many vets would be needed if every household in the UK owned a dog?

Is ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Unusually Hungry for a Caterpillar?
Louisa Perry

Caterpillars are known for being a larval insect with a big appetite. The Antheraea polyphemus in particular is able to eat 86,000 times its own body mass in 56 days. When modelled as a caterpillar with a mass of 0.04 g, The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats 1918.8 g (2006.5 kcal) of food over seven days which is approximately 48,000 times its own body mass. On a day to day basis, this value is found to be much more than known caterpillars. The model does not take into account the growth of the caterpillar over time which may limit the extent of the accuracy of the values calculated.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3080

Is ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Unusually Hungry for a Caterpillar? | Perry | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics Is ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Unusually Hungry for a Caterpillar?

How much would it have cost Kelis to provide all the boys, she brought to the yard, milkshakes?
Domenic Marrone

With the release of Kelis’ R&B classic Milkshake in 2003 many have wondered what was so special about her milkshake that brought all the boys to the yard. Therefore, to much delight, in 2017 Kelis finally released a recipe video for her infamous milkshake. This allows the question of ‘how expensive would it be for Kelis to provide a serving of milkshake to all the boys who came to her yard?’ to be asked. To answer this question, the number of eligible boys was determined as 2,725,115,365 meaning that Kelis would need to spend approximately £11.1 billion on ingredients; comparable to Shell’s 2017/18 profits.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3113

How much would it have cost Kelis to provide all the boys, she brought to the yard, milkshakes? | Marrone | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How much would it have cost Kelis to provide all the boys, she brought to the yard, milkshakes?

The Real-World Impacts of Woodcutting in Old School RuneScape
Christopher Chan, Rajvir Singh Flora

This paper looks at the process of achieving a maximum woodcutting level (99) within the game Old School RuneScape (OSRS) and looks at the potential effects if these actions occurred in real life. An assumption made is that only teak trees are cut, as this is the most prevalent type of tree cut within the game while levelling up. The value obtained is 153,082 teak logs per player. Then the conversion between logs obtained in the game to real-life trees is calculated to be 8 logs for each real-life tree. Using real-world values from teak farms, it is found that 172,224 m2 of space and 19,136 teak trees are needed for one player to achieve level 99. The potential consequences of these actions are discussed in the case that every single account with level 99 woodcutting within OSRS completed a similar process in real life. The potential result is that 14.7% of the world’s teak farms would need to be cut and the carbon storage of these trees can be compared to the addition of 1,009,200 cars over 10 years, approximately 3.2% of the total cars in the UK.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3077

The Real-World Impacts of Woodcutting in Old School RuneScape | Chan | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics The Real-World Impacts of Woodcutting in Old School RuneScape

How Many Pairs of Running Shoes would Sonic Need?
Christopher Chan

This paper describes and calculates the number of pairs of running shoes that Sonic would need while completing the original 1991 version of the game Sonic the Hedgehog if he did not have his Power Sneakers. Calculations show that only one pair of running shoes would be needed, as the total distance ran in the entire game is 6.17 km. As running shoes are suggested to be replaced every 500 km in order to ensure effective shock absorption, it is concluded that Sonic would be only need a single pair of regular running shoes.

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3115

How Many Pairs of Running Shoes would Sonic Need? | Chan | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How Many Pairs of Running Shoes would Sonic Need?

How viable is the use of 60 cm Dyneema slings in a Magic X anchor system?
Domenic Marrone

In recent times, one of the most contentious issues within the climbing community is the building and form of belay anchors. Self-equilibrating anchors have seen a rise in popularity with the Magic X being one of the most common. Despite the popularity, the Magic X breaks the “no extension” rule of anchor construction. This means if one of the anchor points fails the system will be shock loaded with the weight of the climber. Therefore, this paper presents a simple mathematical model to show if this anchor system should be considered as an option. The results show that for a 30 cm fall, a force of 11.4 kN is exerted on the sling and anchor point. Whilst this will not break the sling, there is high chance of causing the failure of the last remaining anchor point. Consequently, this system should be only considered for high strength anchor points such as bolted sport climbing routes.
https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3081

How viable is the use of 60 cm Dyneema slings in a Magic X anchor system? | Marrone | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How viable is the use of 60 cm Dyneema slings in a Magic X anchor system?

How high does Paper Mario have to jump to match the strength of his regular counterpart?
Nadia Al Hashemi

The video game superstar Mario is well known for his jumping ability. In the spin-off game, Paper Mario is similarly well-known but is physically made of paper. This paper explores the differences in the impact force between regular and Paper Mario and calculates the jump height Paper Mario would need to attain in order for him to carry the same impact force as regular Mario. To do this, Paper Mario is assumed to be a rectangular sheet of paper, and the same height as regular Mario, but much less dense. From calculating the impact force from regular Mario to be 17.3 kN, it was found that in order to match this force, Paper Mario would need to attain a height of 47.6 m. As a result, while it is possible for Paper Mario to match Mario in damage, it is unrealistic that he would be able to do so. He can however, jump multiple times on enemies which would increase his damage output.
https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/jist/article/view/3086

How high does Paper Mario have to jump to match the strength of his regular counterpart? | Al Hashemi | Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics How high does Paper Mario have to jump to match the strength of his regular counterpart?