1,721,043 research outputs found
Low levels of light pollution may block male glow-worm’s (Lampyris noctiluca L.) ability to locate females
No full textLight pollution has been proposed as a factor in the reported decline of Lampyris noctiluca as it has the potential to interfere with reproductive signalling. To test this effect on the ability of males to find females, imitation females were set out under light polluted and control conditions at varying light intensities with the numbers of males attracted to each being recorded. Very low levels of light pollution were found to significantly interfere with phototaxis: no males were attracted at either 0.3 or 0.18 lux, with a custom model predicting 0.065 lux as a critical value below which the light no longer has an effect. These illumination levels are much lower than that of 1.5 lux which is recommended by local city councils in Britain to light footpaths and well below any previous published levels of light shown to affect this species. A survey of female L. noctiluca was also conducted with their number and distribution being recorded; a trend towards female clumping was observed but was not statistically significant
Security and Privacy: Why Privacy Matters
No full textA long-overdue discussion of security and privacy is taking place within the US and among its friends and associates in many parts of the globe. In large part, this is due to the revelations of Edward Snowden, the employee of a government contractor, who leaked secret information about the extent of US government data collection on the calling habits of US residents. Privacy is often pitted against security, thereby creating a false dichotomy that is a discussion for another time. However, if it is granted, for the time being, that security and privacy are at opposing ends of a continuum along which a balance point can and should be found, that is, that there is a theoretical point at which “enough security” can be balanced against “enough privacy”. How is the balance attained? Those who are concerned about security have a point: the tragedy of victims' lives, hopes, and futures torn apart by the misplaced violent anger and frustration of terrorists or other criminals clearly elicits an immediate and deep-seated, visceral response, and underscores the importance of security. But does security outweigh or even trump privacy? More importantly, should it
Science and Engineering Ethics Enters its Third Decade
No full textDuring the last 20 years public discourse in the developed and developing worlds has changed radically. The terms “ethics”, “morals”, “rights”, “safety”, “privacy”, “media”, “genetic engineering”, “information technology”, “big data”, “robots”, “satellites”, “environment”, “climate”, “fracking”, and “security” have loomed large and are set to grow larger. How do these concerns, topics and technological developments affect the way people will think and behave in the years ahead
Editors’ Overview Perspectives on Teaching Social Responsibility to Students in Science and Engineering
No full textGlobal society is facing formidable current and future problems that threaten the prospects for justice and peace, sustainability, and the well-being of humanity both now and in the future. Many of these problems are related to science and technology and to how they function in the world. If the social responsibility of scientists and engineers implies a duty to safeguard or promote a peaceful, just and sustainable world society, then science and engineering education should empower students to fulfil this responsibility. The contributions to this special issue present European examples of teaching social responsibility to students in science and engineering, and provide examples and discussion of how this teaching can be promoted, and of obstacles that are encountered. Speaking generally, education aimed at preparing future scientists and engineers for social responsibility is presently very limited and seemingly insufficient in view of the enormous ethical and social problems that are associated with current science and technology. Although many social, political and professional organisations have expressed the need for the provision of teaching for social responsibility, important and persistent barriers stand in the way of its sustained development. What is needed are both bottom-up teaching initiatives from individuals or groups of academic teachers, and top-down support to secure appropriate embedding in the university. Often the latter is lacking or inadequate. Educational policies at the national or international level, such as the Bologna agreements in Europe, can be an opportunity for introducing teaching for social responsibility. However, frequently no or only limited positive effect of such policies can be discerned. Existing accreditation and evaluation mechanisms do not guarantee appropriate attention to teaching for social responsibility, because, in their current form, they provide no guarantee that the curricula pay sufficient attention to teaching goals that are desirable for society as a whole
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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