Related papers: Britannia Rule the Waves
In this article, we consider a swimmer (i.e. a self-deformable body) immersed in a fluid, the flow of which is governed by the stationary Stokes equations. This model is relevant for studying the locomotion of microorganisms or micro robots…
The considered model will be formulated as related to "the fishing problem" even if the other applications of it are much more obvious. The angler goes fishing. He uses various techniques and he has at most two fishing rods. He buys a…
Helping students become proficient problem-solvers is one of the primary goals of physics courses. In part 1 of this article, we summarized the vast research on problem-solving relevant for physics instruction, and here we discuss a…
A group of line drawings in recent reports made by physics students during experimenting is investigated in order to describe the attitudes that can be related to the act of drawing. These attitudes represent time behavior and are related…
Over two hundred years ago Capt. James Cook sailed up Whitsunday Passage, just a few miles where we now sit, on a voyage of astronomical observation and discovery that remains an inspiration to us all. Since the prospects of our visiting…
We perform a statistical analysis of measured time series of sea levels at various coastal locations in the UK, measured at time differences of 15 minutes over the past 20 years. When the astronomical tide and other deterministic components…
In a first course of general relativity it is usually quite difficult for students to grasp the concept of a geodesic. It is supposed to be straight (auto-parallel) and yet it 'looks' curved. In these situations it is very useful to have…
High-level Chinese cartographic developments predate European innovations by several centuries. Whereas European cartographic progress -- and in particular the search for a practical solution to the perennial "longitude problem" at sea --…
In our daily lives, we observe objects sinking, floating, or rising when immersed in a fluid. The Archimedes principle, which explains an object's behavior when immersed in a fluid, is important in fluid mechanics; however, it is a…
Global citizenship plays an important role in today's schools. Many subjects taught in schools have already incorporated such ideas. Science and physics have also followed suit. However, when dealing with astronomy - a topic so seemingly…
The aim of the paper is to extend the model of "fishing problem". The simple formulation is following. The angler goes to fishing. He buys fishing ticket for a fixed time. There are two places for fishing at the lake. The fishes are caught…
Social media provides many opportunities to monitor and evaluate political phenomena such as referendums and elections. In this study, we propose a set of approaches to analyze long-running political events on social media with a real-world…
Popular accounts of exciting discoveries often draw students to physics and astronomy, but at the introductory level it is challenging to connect with these in a meaningful way. The use of real astronomical data in the classroom can help…
When driving, people make decisions based on current traffic as well as their desired route. They have a mental map of known routes and are often able to navigate without needing directions. Current self-driving models improve their…
The circular twin paradox and Thomas Precession are presented in a way that makes both accessible to students in introductory relativity courses. Both are discussed by examining what happens during travel around a polygon and then in the…
The traceroute utility on any computer connected to the Internet can be used to record the roundtrip time for small Internet packets between major Internet traffic hubs. Some of the routes include transmission over transoceanic fiber optic…
Ocean wave climate has a significant impact on near-shore and off-shore human activities, and its characterisation can help in the design of ocean structures such as wave energy converters and sea dikes. Therefore, engineers need long time…
Vision to audition substitution devices are designed to convey visual information through auditory input. The acceptance of such systems depends heavily on their ease of use, training time, reliability and on the amount of coverage of…
Zermelo's navigation problem seeks the trajectory of minimal travel time between two points in a fluid flow. We address this problem for an agent -- such as a micro-robot or active particle -- that is advected by a two-dimensional flow,…
The study of navigation behaviour and the associated brain dynamics have been a focus increasing research over the last decades. Coinciding with this has been an increased focus on a more ecological understanding of cognition. Here we…