Recent Stories
- Lancaster set to receive funding boost to stimulate UK's economy
- Billion-year-old water could hold clues to life on Earth and Mars
- How do we find out about cyber criminals?
- First, carbon footprints... now you can calculate your 'nitrogen footprint'
- Lancaster to play leading role in UK-India cyber security team
- LEC PhD student, Beth Brockett, organises knowledge-exchange event for farmers
- Florence Nightingale Day successfully raises profile of women in mathematics and statistics
- LEC Volcanology Field Course sees erupting Mount Etna
- Company rewards Security Lancaster students for business solutions
- Environment: Over 80 people attend book launch for 'The Burning Question'
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
Lancaster set to receive funding boost to stimulate UK's economy
Lancaster is amongst leading universities who are set to benefit from a £50 million investment in cutting-edge research and innovation projects to drive growth. Lancaster's project will use the strong international reputation and links in China, in particular with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to address the Government's priorities to focus on high-growth SMEs and to increase exports. Using expertise from across the University, it focuses on improved leadership and new technology...
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Fri 17 May 2013
Billion-year-old water could hold clues to life on Earth and Mars
A UK-Canadian team of scientists has discovered ancient pockets of water, which have been isolated deep underground for billions of years and contain abundant chemicals known to support life.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Thu 16 May 2013
How do we find out about cyber criminals?
Security Lancaster and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics held a workshop to form a new collaborative group who will widen the knowledge of cybercrime and start developing innovative approaches to obtaining information on cyber criminals. The workshop included security researchers and statisticians, solicitors specialising in cybercrime, and experts from government agencies.
Thu 16 May 2013
First, carbon footprints... now you can calculate your 'nitrogen footprint'
Scientists at Lancaster, Virginia and Oxford universities have produced a web-based tool that allows anyone living in the UK to see their own 'nitrogen footprint'.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Wed 15 May 2013