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Assessing the extent and connectivity of animal burrows using smoke: a practical tool for levee inspections
Get PDFThis short communication presents a practical tool for assessing the subsurface connectivity of animal burrows, with emphasis on its potential for early detection and evaluation of animal-induced damages in levees that can compromise the structure during high water emergencies.
Drawing inspiration from fundamental biology research and plumbing leak testing, the technique involves injection of coloured smoke into burrows using smoke bombs. A leaf blower then propels the smoke through the burrow network, enabling the identification of openings and providing insights into subsurface connections.
Systematically tested in various environments and applied to investigate burrow networks of diverse animal species, including crabs, voles, and moles, the results underscore the efficacy of the smoke test as a rapid, non-destructive, and cost-effective approach for detecting interconnected burrow networks
EURAS 2023 – (Responsible) Standardisation for Smart Systems
No full textEURAS 2023 took place 28-30.06.2023 in Aachen, Germany. The 27th edition of the conference was heavily focused on standardisation while it also included another event called SIIT (Standardisation and Innovation in Information Technology) within its program. For 2023, the conference\u27s main theme was "(Responsible) Standardisation for Smart Systems". The topics varied from one end of standardization to another, and in this brief report, I will go through the content discussed at the event
Standardisation of a terminology for blockchains: Distributed ledger technology. Standardisation of a terminology for blockchains.
No full textBlockchain technology is a revolutionary approach in the context of decentralised data systems. Starting with the introduction of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, it has seen rapid growth in importance and investment. The clarification of basic terminology is particularly relevant for this young field of technology. To this end, the BlockOne project is developing a terminology specification based on the accelerated DIN-SPEC process. This article presents the method developed to prepare the terminology and the current status of the standardisation work
Reviews and Responses for Generation of Parametric Climb Trajectories considering Operational Inputs for Aircraft Engine Thrust Extraction
Get PDFSee detailed reviews and responses in the PDF file.
DOI for the original paper: https://doi.org/10.59490/joas.2023.721
Towards a new Existenzminimum: Defining principles for the co-design of affordable collaborative housing
Get PDFThis thesis brings forward the design dimension, and, more specifically, co-design, to the study of housing affordability. Co-design occurs when end-users and professionals work together towards a common goal. It is a process often applied in collaborative housing, an umbrella concept encompassing different housing forms based on collective self-organisation and collaboration, where residents choose to share certain spaces. The aim of this research is to assess if and how co-design processes applied in collaborative housing may reduce building costs, thereby making these housing projects not only affordable, but even more affordable than mainstream housing. It does so by combining a case study approach with a building costs simulation. Findings indicate that co-design decisions based on a collective self-redefinition of Existenzminimum (minimum dwelling) affect the housing layout and contribute to reduce building costs. By conceptualising housing design through the lenses of affordability, this thesis highlights the understated role of architectural design and building costs as key components in the study and provision of affordable housing solutions; and enriches the existing body of knowledge on affordable collaborative housing. Moreover, it draws attention to the way some outdated building regulations and standards hamper design innovation in housing. This research ends up with a set of general principles for the co-design of affordable collaborative housing. These design principles may assist professionals supporting co-design and, more importantly, people who want to design, build and live in a collaborative manner
Platforms and Palimpsests: Urban Landscapes of Data in Northern Virginia
Get PDFData platforms increasingly mediate the relationship of society to the data it produces and therefore form a critical layer of the contemporary link between data and urbanisation. However, the current discussion of the impact of data platforms on urbanisation is limited on one hand by an overly metaphoric articulation of platforms, which obscures the material geographies and infrastructural landscapes of data production; and on the other hand, by an administratively bounded reading of platforms, which confines the discussion to only their most visible impact in cities. In this article I argue that to fully capture the impact of platforms on urbanisation we need to overcome these limitations by examining the ‘operational landscapes’ of data production and circulation. This extended ontology of platforms positions the spatial discourse of technology in relationship with other forms of capitalist spatial production and opens up the material geographies and infrastructural landscapes of data production for critical engagement as integral parts of the sociotechnical construction of platforms. By examining the data landscapes of Northern Virginia, I illustrate how historic and contemporary forces, actor networks, and urban dynamics contribute to the construction and maintenance of the extended geography of data platforms
Compulsive Desires: On the Entangled Realities of Lithium Extraction and the Limitless Quest for Energy
Get PDFIn this essay I analyse how energy dreams and epistemologies, constructed on cravings for productivity and profit, connect the spaces that epitomise the ‘Cartesian enclosure’ with the technologies and spaces of everyday life. I examine how destructive habits of extracting, procuring and consuming energy follow predictions that assume the inevitability of growth. Estimates that, even in the face of climate catastrophe, render the need for more energy inevitable and rely on finding new fixes rather than embracing other forms of living. Focusing on the case of lithium extraction in Atacama, I address the struggles sustained by indigenous communities for their lives, sovereignty and rights. Battles that emphasise how, in what has been described as ‘green colonialism’, the development of the ‘green energy futures’ too often is to the detriment of indigenous peoples
The Destruction of Architecture: German Cities in Literature during and after World War II
Get PDFThe Allied bombing campaigns over the German cities during World War II produced a vast landscape of destruction, which has been the object of reports, accounts and fictional narratives. Cities and buildings, a fundamental architectural heritage binding individuals and communities to their existential spaces, were annihilated in the most extensive act of deliberate destruction in human history. In this article, I look into the work of three authors – Heinrich Böll, Stig Dagerman and Hans Erich Nossack – to outline the effects of the bombings on the survivors, and on their relationship to both urban space and architectural heritage
Planning ideas in post-Brasilia Brazil
Get PDFWhich ideas shaped the town planning practice in Brazil after the construction of Brasilia? To answer this question, four important facts in the country’s planning history are explored: the establishment of the Municipal Institute of Research and Town Planning in Curitiba in the mid-1960s; the creation new towns along the Transamazonian Highway in the early 1970s; the Seminars on Urban Design held in Brasilia in the early 1980s; and the construction of Palmas in 1989, the last capital city planned in 20th century Brazil. Brasilia (1957-1960) was planned during the democratic period, but its initial development is strongly linked to the dictatorial regime (1964-1986). The new towns later implemented in the Amazon by the federal government, adopted the rationalist urban layout, again endorsing the national- building discourse. In contrast, the pragmatic urban proposals implemented in Curitiba were in line with the postmodernist rationale. The criticism of the modernist town planning was more emphatically expressed when the first of the Seminars on Urban Design was held. Nevertheless, the layout of Palmas, a city planned in the re-democratization, postmodernist period, still emulated features of Brasilia. The framing of this ambivalent panorama is a much-needed contribution to the country’s recent planning history
A Typo-Morphological Analysis to Trace the Historical Transformation of Urban Blocks Around Ramna Race Course Between 1947-200
Get PDFDue to negligence in planning and deficient urban governance, Dhaka city ranks very low in
various liveability indexes and global surveys carried out annually. Unlike Chandigarh or
Islamabad, the city was not developed with the guidance of renowned and established city
planners. And yet, its physical characteristics have been gradually transforming over the past
400 years. This raises the question, how is that transformation happening over the course of
time, and what are the causes? To understand this, this paper aims to look at the
transformation of Ramna, one of the historically and politically significant neighbourhoods
of Dhaka. The paper focuses on typo morphological analysis of urban blocks in and
surrounding the area formerly known as Ramna Race Course, between the time period 1947
and 2000. Using typo morphological analysis, this study identified the main reasons for the
transformation of some selected parts of the area in and surrounding the Ramna Race Course
area. The results show that power play by political parties, development to support
institutional needs of University of Dhaka and encroachment by newer buildings are the
primary reasons for the transformation of the six selected study areas