32,735 research outputs found
Quantum Theory and Human Perception of the Macro-World
We investigate the question of 'why customary macroscopic entities appear to
us humans as they do, i.e. as bounded entities occupying space and persisting
through time', starting from our knowledge of quantum theory, how it affects
the behavior of such customary macroscopic entities, and how it influences our
perception of them. For this purpose, we approach the question from three
perspectives. Firstly, we look at the situation from the standard quantum
angle, more specifically the de Broglie wavelength analysis of the behavior of
macroscopic entities, indicate how a problem with spin and identity arises, and
illustrate how both play a fundamental role in well-established experimental
quantum-macroscopical phenomena, such as Bose-Einstein condensates. Secondly,
we analyze how the question is influenced by our result in axiomatic quantum
theory, which proves that standard quantum theory is structurally incapable of
describing separated entities. Thirdly, we put forward our new 'conceptual
quantum interpretation', including a highly detailed reformulation of the
question to confront the new insights and views that arise with the foregoing
analysis. At the end of the final section, a nuanced answer is given that can
be summarized as follows. The specific and very classical perception of human
seeing -- light as a geometric theory -- and human touching -- only ruled by
Pauli's exclusion principle -- plays a role in our perception of macroscopic
entities as ontologically stable entities in space. To ascertain quantum
behavior in such macroscopic entities, we will need measuring apparatuses
capable of its detection. Future experimental research will have to show if
sharp quantum effects -- as they occur in smaller entities -- appear to be
ontological aspects of customary macroscopic entities.Comment: 28 page
Mathematics Is Biology's Next Microscope, Only Better; Biology Is Mathematics' Next Physics, Only Better
Joel Cohen offers a historical and prospective analysis of the relationship between mathematics and biolog
Smartphones, time-lapse and responsible use in the school laboratory
Reports how observing and recording simple biological phenomena over an extended timescale could be enhanced by digital technology, the journey took surprising turns and twists into questions relating to ethics, child protection and reviewing acceptable use policies on information and communication technology
The Ribbon of Love: Fuzzy-Ruled Agents in Artificial Societies
The paper brings two motivations to the theoretical explorations of social analysis. The first is to enrich the agent based computational sociology by incorporating the fuzzy set theory in to the computational modeling. This is conducted by showing the importance to include the fuzziness into artificial agentâs considerations and her way acquiring and articulate information. This is continued with the second motives to bring the Darwinian sexual selection theory â as it has been developed broadly in evolutionary psychology â into the analysis of social system including cultural analysis and other broad aspects of sociological fields. The two was combined in one computational model construction showing the fuzziness of mating choice, and how to have computational tools to explain broad fields of social realms. The paper ends with some opened further computer program development
From Big Bang to Galactic Civilizations
Each scientific study emerges in its own particular time and
marks a new step in the development of human thought.1 Big History materialized to satisfy the human need for a unified
vision of our existence. It came together in the waning decades of the twentieth century, in part, as a reaction to the specialization of scholarship and education that had taken hold around the world. While this specialization had great results, it created barriers that stood in contrast to a growing unity among our global communities. These barriers were increasingly awkward to bridge, and, thus, Big History emerged as a successful new framework
EPSRC IMPACT Exhibition
This exhibition was conceived by Dunne (PI) and comprised 16 mixed-media speculative design research projects. It marked the culmination of an EPSRC-funded initiative also partly supported by NESTA. Dunne supervised and then curated the projects by staff, graduates and students of the RCA Design Interactions programme. Each was conducted in collaboration with an external research partner organisation already supported by the EPSRC.
The topics covered ranged from renewable energy devices and security technologies to the emerging fields of synthetic biology and quantum computing. Dunne and an advisory panel from EPSRC and NESTA selected themes on the basis of diversity of topic, design opportunities, intellectual and creative challenges, and public relevance. Dunne invited the designers to take a radical, interrogative approach, exploring the social, ethical and political implications of the research. Each designer visited the relevant science lab, consulted with the scientists throughout the project, and participated in a one-day workshop hosted by NESTA between scientists and designers on such forms of collaboration. Designers carried out literature, journal, and project surveys before developing their projects through iterative prototypes.
The exhibition, held at the RCA in 2010, was considered by EPSRC to offer a powerful insight into how todayâs research might transform our experience of the world. It was reviewed in the Guardian (2010), Wired (2010) and Design Week (2010).
Dunne presented âIMPACT!â in conferences including the IDA Congress, âDesign at the Edgesâ, Taipei (2011) and at the Wellcome Trust, London (2011). He gave a related lecture to researchers at Microsoft Research Asia, Beijing (2011). Individual exhibits from the project featured in exhibitions: Museum of Modern Art (2011), National Museum of China (2011); Z33 (2010â11); Wellcome Trust (2010â11); Saint-Ătienne International Design Biennial (2010); Ars Electronica (2010); The Times Cheltenham Science Festival (2010); and V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media (2010)
Still minding the gap? Reflecting on transitions between concepts of information in varied domains
This conceptual paper, a contribution to the tenth anniversary special issue of information, gives a cross-disciplinary review of general and unified theories of information. A selective literature review is used to update a 2013 article on bridging the gaps between conceptions of information in different domains, including material from the physical and biological sciences, from the humanities and social sciences including library and information science, and from philosophy. A variety of approaches and theories are reviewed, including those of Brenner, Brier, Burgin and Wu, Capurro, CĂĄrdenas-GarcĂa and Ireland, Hidalgo, Hofkirchner, Kolchinsky and Wolpert, Floridi, Mingers and Standing, Popper, and Stonier. The gaps between disciplinary views of information remain, although there has been progress, and increasing interest, in bridging them. The solution is likely to be either a general theory of sufficient flexibility to cope with multiple meanings of information, or multiple and distinct theories for different domains, but with a complementary nature, and ideally boundary spanning concepts
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