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Is Deception in Emulated Empathy Innately Bad?
Get PDFThis white paper draws on interdisciplinary academic knowledge and real-world examples to think through the parameters of debate about deception and empathy-based human-artificial intelligence (AI) partnering. While a common human reaction is to instinctively reject, and be repulsed by, the idea of deception in AI partners, this paper offers an overview and analysis of a wider range of positions on such deception before coming to a considered conclusion. Mindful that deception in relation to humans and in AI are broad topics, the paper draws on studies that examine deception in both human-human relationships and human-AI/robot relationships. The paper then considers deception in human-AI partnerships, drawing on IEEE P7014.1, Recommended Practice for Ethical Considerations of Emulated Empathy in Partner-based General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence Systems. This white paper is a first take at distilling the issues, bearing in mind that at the time of writing (late 2024), this recommended practice is still under development and the roll-out of human-AI partners displaying qualities of empathy is in flu
The role of intraspecific trait variation in driving post-metamorphic survival: Implications for recruitment in open populations
Get PDFMost ecological studies attempting to understand causes of population dynamics and community structure disregard intraspecific trait variation. We quantified the importance of natural intra-cohort variation in body size and density of juveniles for recruitment of a sessile marine organism, the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides. Barnacles are representative of species organised in metapopulations, that is, as open local populations connected by larval dispersal. We tracked the individual growth and survival of a cohort of juvenile barnacles from two shores of North Wales. Barnacles settled as larvae in spring of 2002 on previously cleared rock. The density of these new recruits was experimentally manipulated in June and randomly selected individuals were monitored from June to October to evaluate the role of barnacle size and density in predicting survival. In doing so we characterised density at three spatial scales (quadrat: 25 cm 2, cells within quadrats: 25 mm 2 and neighbourhood: number of neighbours in physical contact with the target barnacle). At all scales, variations in juvenile body size exacerbated the effect of density-dependent mortality on population size. While density-dependent mortality was very intense in the small-sized individuals, large-sized individuals experienced very weak density-dependent mortality and showed high survival rates. Using the concept of 'Jensen inequality', we show that important biases in estimations of survival, based on population size only, occur at high barnacle densities, where survival is low. Our study highlights the role of body size variation in understanding dynamics of open populations. </p
Thousands of trait-specific KASP markers designed for diverse breeding applications in rice (Oryza sativa)
Get PDFThis study aimed to broaden applicability of KASP for Oryza sativa across diverse genotypes through incorporation of ambiguous (degenerate) bases into their primer designs and to validate 4,000 of them for genotyping applications. A bioinformatics pipeline was used to compare 129 rice genomes from 89 countries with the indica reference genome R498 and generate ∼1.6 million KASP designs for the more common variants between R498 and the other genomes. Of the designs, 98,238 were for predicted functional markers. Up to 5 KASP each for 1,024 breeder-selected loci were assayed in a panel of 178 diverse rice varieties, generating 3,366 validated KASP. The 84% success rate was within the normal range for KASP demonstrating that the ambiguous bases do not compromise efficacy. The 3,366-trait-specific marker panel was applied for population structure analysis in the diversity panel and resolved them into 4 expected groups. Target variations in 13 genomes used for designs were compared with the corresponding KASP genotypes in different accessions of the same 13 varieties in the diversity panel. There was agreement for 79% or more markers in 12 varieties; 10 having agreement &gt;88%. One variety, a selection from a landrace, had only 46.5% marker agreement. Breeders can search for the validated KASP and more than a million so-far untested designs in three reference genomes (including Niponbare MSU7) with a search tool, that includes designs in proximity to previously published microsatellite markers, and retrieve target variations for 129 rice genomes plus their genomic locations with ±25 bp flanking sequences
Simplified coherent optical network units for very-high-speed passive optical networks
Get PDFFuture passive optical networks (PONs) for 200Gb/s/, and beyond, pose a significant technological challenge. The use of coherent technology in access networks provides a great solution based on concepts from mature technologies to achieve the speeds needed for very-high-speed PON (VHSP). In this paper, we provide an overview of the currently demonstrated technologies and propose a possible simplified optical network unit (ONU) for time division multiplex PON (TDM-PON). The proposed ONU uses a single polarization heterodyne receiver, using either a balanced photodiode or a single-ended one and an electro-absorption modulated laser (EML)-based transmitter. The experimental demonstration using the proposed ONU in a bidirectional, symmetrical transmission over fiber distances of 20 km and 40 km shows the viability of the technology. The downstream direction achieves a power budget of 34.3/29.3 dB for 20 km and 33.9/29 dB for 40 km, for a balanced/single-ended receiver, whereas the upstream transmission achieves 29.3 dB for both scenario
Lake ice quality in a warming world
Get PDFIce phenology has shifted with anthropogenic warming such that many lakes are experiencing a shorter ice season. However, changes to ice quality — the ratio of black and white ice layers — remain little explored, despite relevance to lake physics, ecological function, human recreation and transportation. In this Review, we outline how ice quality is changing and discuss knock-on ecosystem service impacts. Although direct evidence is sparse, there are suggestions that ice quality is diminishing across the Northern Hemisphere, encompassing declining ice thickness, decreasing black ice and increasing white ice. These changes are projected to continue in the future, scaling with global temperature increases, and driving considerable impacts to related ecosystem services. Rising proportions of white ice will markedly reduce bearing strength, implying more dangerous conditions for transportation (limiting operational use of many winter roads) and recreation (increasing the risk of fatal spring-time drownings). Shifts from black to white ice conditions will further reduce the amount of light reaching the water column, minimizing primary production, and altering community composition to favour motile and mixotrophic species; these changes will affect higher trophic levels, including diminished food quantity for zooplankton and fish, with potential developmental consequences. Reliable and translatable in situ sampling methods to assess and predict spatiotemporal variations in ice quality are urgently needed
Disproportionate impact of atmospheric heat events on lake surface water temperature increases
Get PDFHot temperature extremes (HTEs) in the atmosphere can also affect lake surface water temperature, but how this impact changes with global warming is not well understood. Here we use numerical modelling and satellite observations to quantify the contribution of HTEs to variations in summer lake surface water temperature and lake heatwaves in 1,260 water bodies worldwide between 1979 and 2022. Over this time period, HTE duration and cumulative intensity over the studied lakes increased significantly, at average rates of 1.4 days per decade and 0.92 °C days per decade, respectively. Despite only accounting for 7% of the total summer days, HTEs are responsible for 24% of lake surface summer warming trends, with the most pronounced effect observed in Europe at 27%. Moreover, HTEs are key drivers of both the duration and cumulative intensity of lake heatwaves. Our findings underscore the pivotal role played by short-term climatic extreme events in shaping long-term lake surface water temperature dynamics
Scandal in the voluntary carbon market must not impede tropical forest conservation
Get PDFRecent media coverage gives the impression that the very idea of tackling climate change by slowing tropical deforestation is a scam — this is not true and the idea could harm forests
What is a unit of nature? Measurement challenges in the emerging biodiversity credit market
Get PDFBending the curve of biodiversity loss requires the business and financial sectors to disclose and reduce their biodiversity impacts and help fund nature recovery. This has sparked interest in developing generalizable, standardized measurements of biodiversity—essentially a ‘unit of nature’. We examine how such units are defined in the rapidly growing voluntary biodiversity credits market and present a framework exploring how biodiversity is quantified, how delivery of positive outcomes is detected and attributed to the investment and how the number of credits issued is adjusted to account for uncertainties. We demonstrate that there are deep uncertainties throughout the process and question if the benefits of biodiversity credits, and other efforts to abstract nature to a single unit, outweigh the harms. Credits can only be positive for biodiversity if they are used with unprecedentedly strict regulation that ensures businesses mostly avoid negative impacts and if they are purchased to quantify positive contributions rather than as direct offsets. While there may be a role for markets in attracting conservation funding, they will only ever be part of the solution, especially for the many aspects of nature that cannot be reduced to a unit