The Placement of Lucian’s Novel True History in the Genre of Science Fiction

Among the works of the ancient Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata, well-known for his scathing and obscene irony, there is the novel True History. In this work Lucian, being in an intense satirical mood, intended to undermine the values of the classical world. Through a continuous parade of wonderful events, beings and situations as a substitute for the realistic approach to reality, he parodies the scientific knowledge, creating a literary model for the subsequent writers. Without doubt, nowadays, Lucian’s large influence on the history of literature has been highlighted. What is missing is pointing out the specific characteristics that would lead to the placement of True History at the starting point of Science Fiction. We are going to highlight two of these features: first, the operation of “cognitive estrangement”, which aims at providing the reader with the perception of the difference between the convention and the truth, and second, the use of strange innovations (“novum”) that verify the value of Lucian’s work by connecting it to historicity

Measuring the progress and impacts of decarbonising British electricity

Britain’s ambitious carbon targets require that electricity be immediately and aggressively decarbonised, so it is reassuring to report that electricity sector emissions have fallen 46% in the three years to June 2016, their lowest since 1960. This paper analyses the factors behind this fall and the impacts they are having. The main drivers are: demand falling 1.3% per year due to efficiency gains and mild winters; gas doubling its share to 60% of fossil generation due to the carbon price floor; and the dramatic uptake of wind, solar and biomass which now supply up to 45% of demand. Accounting conventions also play their part: imported electricity and biomass would add 5% and 2% to emissions if they were included. The pace of decarbonisation is impressive, but raises both engineering and economic challenges. Falling peak demand has delayed fears of capacity shortage, but minimum net demand is instead becoming a problem. The headroom between inflexible nuclear and intermittent renewables is rapidly shrinking, with controllable output reaching a minimum of just 5.9 GW as solar output peaked at 7.1 GW. 2015 also saw Britain’s first negative power prices, the highest winter peak prices for six years, and the highest balancing costs

Studies on the polarization transfer coefficients C_x and C_z in the gamma p -> K^+ Lambda(1520,3/2^-) reaction process

We investigate the polarization transfer coefficients C_(x,z) for the gamma p -> K^+ Lambda(1520,3/2^-) reaction process, in which the photon is polarized circularly and the Lambda(1520,3/2^-) along the x- or z-axis. To this end, we employ the effective Lagrangian method at tree level and the gauge-invariant form factor scheme. In addition to the Born terms, (s,u,t_K,t_K^*)-channels and contact term, we include the nucleon resonance D_{13}(2080) in the s-channel. We compute the C_(x,z) as functions of theta_K as well as E_cm. It turns out that the K^*-exchange and D_{13} contributions are negligible within available experimental and theoretical inputs for them. In contrast, we observe that the contact and K-exchange contributions play dominant roles for determining the C_(x,z). Especially, the $K$-exchange enhances the transverse polarization transfer C_x considerably.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure

Modification of The Transition Rate in The Hydrogen Atom placed in Finite Space

When a hydrogen atom trapped in finite space formed by two parallel perfectly conducting plates, the transition rates can be modified. Life-time of the hydrogen $2P_{1/2}$-state is estimated to be shorter as much as $56.3ps$ with a separation distance of $b = 1.2 \mu m$ between two plates. Although the modification is dependent on position of the atom, the life-time can be shorten or lengthen by adjusting the separation distance even for the case that the atom is placed at the center between two plates.Comment: LaTeX file , 17 pages, no figure, to be published in Z. Phys.