New Kids on the Net. Deutschsprachige Philosophie elektronisch\ud

Mailing lists tend to be shaped by core groups of dedicated participants, developing their interests and opinions in front of a predominantly receptive audience of subscribers. A new kind of communicative praxis is established on top of some guidelines on how computers should exchange data: participation in quasi-instantaneous, globally distributed, non-hierarchical discursive interchange. Computer networks, as is well known, are not confined by any historical or geographical borders. As a consequence, the cultural impact of the technical devices seems to affect arbitrary collections of users availing themselves of the necessary equipment and know-how. One of the most dazzling experiences of communication on the net, it has correctly been pointed\ud out, is its global egalitarianism. While it is true that large parts of the planet are still excluded and the predominance of the English language imposes important\ud constraints on the participants, it is difficult to avoid an initial euphoria, a cosmopolitan state of mind, as one becomes familiar with a machinery that can support spatially unlimited cooperation between equals with a minimum of\ud administrative overhead

Homebound: STS-M1301 A Study on Television Writing in the Science Fiction Genre

This project is a scene-by-scene outline of an original television pilot script in the science fiction genre. The outline is based on research conducted in both the television and science fiction fields, providing the project with a firm foundation in television screenwriting structure as well as insights into the characteristics of the science fiction genre. Additional research was carried out on the topic of developing realistic, engaging characters for the screen. This project serves to broaden the writer’s portfolio upon graduation while giving him a chance to study the world of television, which contains numerous differences from the field of cinematic arts

GLOBAL WARMING CHALLENGES AND TACTICAL RAMIFICATIONS: ADDRESSING ECOLOGICAL SECURITY CONCERNS

Humanity has been facing frequent trials in the contemporary era. One seriously emerging challenge is global warming. It has a record of disastrous impacts on earth that are severe and cataclysmic. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change attributes mega-disasters to global warming. These environmental calamities have raised serious concerns for leaders, scientists, environmentalists as well as public. The defence experts warn about gradually changing weather tendencies and emerging of new security challenges. Global warming is causing continuous fluctuations in our fragile ecosystem, and any persistent malfunctioning in the ecosystem would affect the politico-economic, strategic, and even very existence of humanity. It would require rational choices and new strategic approaches for saving humanity and numerous organism species under global warming impacts. Strategists, in the future, will inevitably explore looming tactical security concerns to safeguard defence capabilities. Against this backdrop, this paper argues that global warming will create severe strategic complications. In the coming decades, traditional national defence systems will have to undergo a new transformation supportive to cope with emerging cataclysmic security issues due to global warming. Therefore, innovative lines of tactical ecological rationale will become an essential part of national defence.   Bibliography Entry Shah, Syed Muhammad Ali, Shaheen Akhtar, and Fozia Bibi. 2021. "Global Warming Challenges and Tactical Ramifications: Addressing Ecological Security Concerns." Margalla Papers 25 (1): 12-22

ChemMatters: Special Issue on NASA's EOS Aura Mission (Oct. 2003)

This is the third in a series of four ChemMatters issues devoted to NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura mission and it focuses on the chemistry of the mission. ChemMatters is designed and published for teachers to use as a supplement to their first year high school chemistry course, and as a resource for other high school science teachers. Article titles are: Whose Air Is It Anyway (global circulation of the atmosphere), Alien Atmospheres (atmospheres of other planets), Clouds (how clouds form, and cloud research), Life in a Greenhouse (how the greenhouse effect works and how people study it), Chemistry in the Sunlight (about formation of the ozone we breathe), Beefing Up Atmospheric Models (how modeling helps us understand the atmosphere), and Nobel Prize Winner: Sherwood Rowland (interview). The issue also includes a challenge asking students to determine which activities on a list would be possible on a planet with no atmosphere; and an activity, Cloud in a Bottle. A 62-page teacher's guide accompanies the issue and provides additional information on articles, follow-up hands-on activities, classroom demonstrations, and additional resources. Educational levels: High school

Re-nuclearization or Disarmament: A Fateful Choice for Humanity

In light of the real possibility that terrorists could acquire and use nuclear weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people, never has the need to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons been more urgent. Tragically, this sense of urgency was not shared by many delegates to thethird and final meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT). The meeting at the U.N. in New York ended May 7, 2004 in disarray, the delegates unable to agree even on an agenda and background documentation for the Review Conference. Acrimony and weak leadership characterized the PrepComm. Issues of substance concerning the future of nuclear weapons were lost in the procedural wrangling that dominated the final two days of the two-week meeting. This is the last of three reports on the meetings in 2002, 2003 and 2004, of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The first two reports, "The NPT: Crisis and Challenge" (2002) and "Ritualistic Facade" (2003), are available on Senator Roche's website (http://www.sen.parl.gc.ca/droche)

The Hum of Distant Novas

The Hum of Distant Novas is a science fiction story about a woman in need of a community. It builds on the medieval frame narrative tradition and existing works of speculative fiction to create a world in which storytelling is a very grounding, very human part of the day. The protagonist, Jo Wake, books passage aboard a spaceship captained by Tempest Lane in order to reunite with her younger brother across the galaxy. The crew and passengers of Fascination tell each other stories to entertain, to react, to speculate, to hurt, and––most vitally––to feel together as they travel through the merciless void of space; they are part of a trend in science fiction that looks to interplanetary space voyages and extraterrestrial expansion with hope