P2_7 Close Encounters of the Unkind

 Possible effects on satellites in Earth orbit caused by the unusually close encounter between the asteroid 9942 Apophis and Earth in 2029 are assessed. A worst case scenario for GPS, the most important system at risk, showed that the gravitational perturbation of orbits is negligible. Furthermore, it was found that Apophis will remain intact during the encounter, as its closest possible approach occurs at approximately twice the Roche limit

P2_9 Superconducting vs. Overhead Lines

  High temperature (below liquid nitrogen boiling temps.) superconductors have potential applications in power transmission lines as they can carry currents with effectively no resistance. This report gives a first order estimate of losses in presently used overhead cables at around 15% of power output. To better this efficiency a superconductor would need to be clad in an insulator with an outer diameter of greater than 1.93 times that of its inner diameter, provided a liquid nitrogen refrigeration pump could work at 10% efficiency

P2_1 James' Giant Peach Transport across the Atlantic

In Roald Dahl's children's classic James and the Giant Peacha magically enlarged fruit travels across the Atlantic Ocean, partly floated on the water and partly airlifted by a flock of seagulls. Through examining the buoyancy and modelling the seagulls as aerofoils it has been found that although the initial part of the journey is possible, given a sufficiently hollow peach, James would have to tether approximately two and a half million Common Gulls, rather than the 501 as described in the book

P2_5 Wiggle Your Washing Dry!

An investigation is conducted to determine what frequency one would need to wiggle a washing line at, in order for the wave to provide enough energy to dry a sheet. For a modelled line it is found that a frequency of around 324 Hz would be needed for 0.1m amplitude of oscillation. A more realistic frequency of 5Hz would require an amplitude of 6.47m

P2_8 The tide is high but I am still short

This work considers the acceleration due to tidal forces on Earth due to the Moon and due to Earth and the amount it would stretch a human’s cortical bones. It is found that a human’s change in height is negligible and therefore cannot be measured. It is estimated that in order for humans to feel tidal accelerations due to breaking bones, they would have to be at a distance of 151 km from a Neutron star of mass 3.98×1030 kg

P2_6 A Solar Diet Plan

The solar mass loss per year from fusion and solar wind outflow was estimated, and found to be 1.836x1017 kg. Calculations showed that the contribution from fusion amount to approximately three times that of the solar wind. The effect on Earth was determined to be an increase in orbital radius of 1.38 cm per year

P2_2 Hot Air in the House of Commons

The power output associated with the heat flow from respiration of 650 MPs debating in the House of Commons was calculated. Heat flow directly into the air and from latent heat release during re-condensation of water vapour added to the exhaled breath was found to be 10.34 kW in total

P2_3 Like Looking for an Assassin in a Haystack

The “Leap of Faith†is an extraordinary and repeatable stunt, whereby people jump from buildings into haystacks, performed by characters in the popular computer game series Assassin’s Creed. By considering the elastic deformation of wheat straw it was found that if a person were to attempt this they would experience deceleration nearly 8000 times that of gravity, resulting in certain death

P2_4 Heat Loss in the House of Commons

A simple static thermal equilibrium model was used to approximate the heat transfer through the House of Commons chamber to the outside surroundings. Comparison to the heat input from respiration of 650 MPs, found in a previous study, showed that heating is necessary once the outside temperature is 0.2 K below that of the chamber