Recent Stories
- Geography student sets up film company
- Eco-innovation businesses invited to attend pioneering project launch
- First Science and Technology Business Partnerships and Enterprise Annual Report 2011-2012 available to download now
- Lancaster University Coffeemat Challenge won by Science and Technology student Seb
- Competition finalists to present at the House of Commons
- Free talks from Lancaster University statisticians
- Doctoral Scholarships in Computer Science and Communication Systems
- Soil expert seeks effective management of revolutionary land use changes
- International Collaboration Prize for First Unified EU-Russia Flight Analysis Project
- 'Making Sense of Microposts' Workshop Accepted for WWW2013
Lecturer recreates hoopla game for trading standards
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Dr David Lucy from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics has played a crucial role in an investigation into the operation of a hoopla stall in Blackpool. Trading standards officers were called in after members of the public complained about the stall on the Golden Mile, where customers attempted to land hoops over pegs in order to win a stuffed toy or bottle of champagne.
Trading standards officers secretly filmed two girls carrying out a test purchase at the stall where they paid for five attempts at the game. Items from the stall were later seized and passed to Dr Lucy, who often helps evaluate forensic evidence for the police. He recreated the game in laboratory conditions with the help of students and staff from his department.
Dr Lucy said: "What we found is that you could place many of the hoops over the pegs, but the pegs were cut at an angle such that all low angle trajectories were precluded from succeeding. An attempt made employing a high trajectory would require the hoop to be thrown over a parabola which would be on the whole 1.4 meters high, and with an accuracy of half a millimetre. We made nearly 600 throws and observed no successes, and from this calculated that in excess of 2,600 attempts would have to be made to stand a high probability of observing a single successful throw."
His experiment led to a successful prosecution by Blackpool Council of two men who admitted breaching gambling laws.
Fri 28 May 2010
Associated Links
- Blackpool hoopla scam's 2,600 to 1 odds - BBC news story from 25 May 2010
- Department Of Mathematics And Statistics - Maths and Statistics' home page
Latest News
Geography student sets up film company
It is well known that Geography graduates are highly employable and use their degrees in many different ways. One of the more unusual we have heard about recently is Lancaster geographer Greg Tomaszewicz who has set up his own Video Production Company - Lanor Productions.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Fri 22 February 2013
Eco-innovation businesses invited to attend pioneering project launch
Ambitious North West SMEs keen to drive forward eco-innovative ideas and products are invited to a major event in Manchester on March 4.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Thu 21 February 2013
First Science and Technology Business Partnerships and Enterprise Annual Report 2011-2012 available to download now
2011-2012 saw the development of a new theme-based strategy for Business Partnerships and Enterprise in Science and Technology. The seven interdisciplinary themes are: Advanced Manufacturing, Energy, Environment, Health and Human Development, Information and Communication Technologies, Quantum Technology and Security. Each theme has dedicated professional staff to work with businesses and source the expertise they need.
Tue 19 February 2013
Lancaster University Coffeemat Challenge won by Science and Technology student Seb
The concept of a new university website, complete with mobile application, to capture the campus social scene at a glance, earned an enterprising student an iPad.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Tue 19 February 2013