Natural Sciences in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

A Special Issue of the international journal Sustainability under the section Sustainability of Culture & Heritage has been made, entitled Natural Sciences in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. The bridge between science/technology and the humanities (archaeology, anthropology, history of art, and cultural heritage) has formed a well-established interdisciplinary subject with several sub-disciplines; it is growing exponentially, spurred by the fast development of technology in other fields (space exploration, medical, military, and industrial applications). On the other hand, art and culture struggle to survive due to neglect, lack of funding, or the dangers of events such as natural disasters and war. This volume strengthens and exerts the documentation of the sustainability of the issue that arises from the outcome of resulting research and the application of such a duality link. The sustainable dimension emerges from society, education, and economics through the impact of cultural growth, all of which produce a balanced society, in which prosperity, harmony, and development are merged at a sustainable local/regional/national/social level. A wide range of subjects linking the applied natural sciences with archaeology and the cultural heritage of innovative research and applications are presented in this volume

Picturing the Invisible

Picturing the Invisible presents different disciplinary approaches to articulating the invisible, that which is not known or that which is not provable. The challenge that we have seen is how to articulate these concepts, not only to those within a particular academic field but beyond, to other disciplines and society at large. As our understanding of the complexity of the world grows incrementally, so does our realisation that issues and problems can rarely be resolved within neat demarcations. Therefore, the importance of finding means of communicating across disciplines and fields becomes a priority. Whilst acknowledging the essential importance of the specialist academic, the capacity to understand other disciplines, their priorities, methodologies and even the language used can become crucial in being an effective instrument for change. This book brings together insights from leading academics from a wide range of disciplines including Art and Design, Curatorial Practice, Literature, Forensic Science, Fashion, Medical Science, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Philosophy, Astrophysics and Architecture with a shared interest in exploring how, in each discipline, we strive to find expression for the invisible or unknown, and to draw out and articulate some of the explicit and tacit ways of communicating those concepts that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries

Picturing the Invisible: Exploring interdisciplinary synergies from the arts and the sciences

Picturing the Invisible presents different disciplinary approaches to articulating the invisible, that which is not known or that which is not provable. The challenge that we have seen is how to articulate these concepts, not only to those within a particular academic field but beyond, to other disciplines and society at large. As our understanding of the complexity of the world grows incrementally, so does our realisation that issues and problems can rarely be resolved within neat demarcations. Therefore, the importance of finding means of communicating across disciplines and fields becomes a priority. Whilst acknowledging the essential importance of the specialist academic, the capacity to understand other disciplines, their priorities, methodologies and even the language used can become crucial in being an effective instrument for change. This book brings together insights from leading academics from a wide range of disciplines including Art and Design, Curatorial Practice, Literature, Forensic Science, Medical Science, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Philosophy, Astrophysics and Architecture with a shared interest in exploring how, in each discipline, we strive to find expression for the invisible or unknown, and to draw out and articulate some of the explicit and tacit ways of communicating those concepts that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries

Picturing the Invisible

Picturing the Invisible presents different disciplinary approaches to articulating the invisible, that which is not known or that which is not provable. The challenge that we have seen is how to articulate these concepts, not only to those within a particular academic field but beyond, to other disciplines and society at large. As our understanding of the complexity of the world grows incrementally, so does our realisation that issues and problems can rarely be resolved within neat demarcations. Therefore, the importance of finding means of communicating across disciplines and fields becomes a priority. Whilst acknowledging the essential importance of the specialist academic, the capacity to understand other disciplines, their priorities, methodologies and even the language used can become crucial in being an effective instrument for change. This book brings together insights from leading academics from a wide range of disciplines including Art and Design, Curatorial Practice, Literature, Forensic Science, Fashion, Medical Science, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Philosophy, Astrophysics and Architecture with a shared interest in exploring how, in each discipline, we strive to find expression for the invisible or unknown, and to draw out and articulate some of the explicit and tacit ways of communicating those concepts that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries

Emergent properties of microbial activity in heterogeneous soil microenvironments:Different research approaches are slowly converging, yet major challenges remain

Over the last 60 years, soil microbiologists have accumulated a wealth of experimental data showing that the usual bulk, macroscopic parameters used to characterize soils (e.g., granulometry, pH, soil organic matter and biomass contents) provide insufficient information to describe quantitatively the activity of soil microorganisms and some of its outcomes, like the emission of greenhouse gases. Clearly, new, more appropriate macroscopic parameters are needed, which reflect better the spatial heterogeneity of soils at the microscale (i.e., the pore scale). For a long time, spectroscopic and microscopic tools were lacking to quantify processes at that scale, but major technological advances over the last 15 years have made suitable equipment available to researchers. In this context, the objective of the present article is to review progress achieved to date in the significant research program that has ensued. This program can be rationalized as a sequence of steps, namely the quantification and modeling of the physical-, (bio)chemical-, and microbiological properties of soils, the integration of these different perspectives into a unified theory, its upscaling to the macroscopic scale, and, eventually, the development of new approaches to measure macroscopic soil characteristics. At this stage, significant progress has been achieved on the physical front, and to a lesser extent on the (bio)chemical one as well, both in terms of experiments and modeling. In terms of microbial aspects, whereas a lot of work has been devoted to the modeling of bacterial and fungal activity in soils at the pore scale, the appropriateness of model assumptions cannot be readily assessed because relevant experimental data are extremely scarce. For the overall research to move forward, it will be crucial to make sure that research on the microbial components of soil systems does not keep lagging behind the work on the physical and (bio)chemical characteristics. Concerning the subsequent steps in the program, very little integration of the various disciplinary perspectives has occurred so far, and, as a result, researchers have not yet been able to tackle the scaling up to the macroscopic level. Many challenges, some of them daunting, remain on the path ahead

Aiding the conservation of two wooden Buddhist sculptures with 3D imaging and spectroscopic techniques

The conservation of Buddhist sculptures that were transferred to Europe at some point during their lifetime raises numerous questions: while these objects historically served a religious, devotional purpose, many of them currently belong to museums or private collections, where they are detached from their original context and often adapted to western taste. A scientific study was carried out to address questions from Museo d'Arte Orientale of Turin curators in terms of whether these artifacts might be forgeries or replicas, and how they may have transformed over time. Several analytical techniques were used for materials identification and to study the production technique, ultimately aiming to discriminate the original materials from those added within later interventions

Mapping Beyond Cartography: the Experimental Maps of Artists Working with Locative Media

The experimental maps produced by artists working with locative media both bear witness to and participate in a radical reworking of the way in which space is conceived and encountered that destabilizes longstanding assumptions about the nature of representation, knowledge, and power. These mapmaking practices, it is argued, operate at the juncture of a cartographic tradition that entails distinctively modern ways of seeing, knowing, and acting in the world, and digital technologies and software operations that propose alternative ways of linking the world up. The thesis charts how these art maps engage in a critique of cartography, the extent to which they remain indebted to it, but also their use of coded operations to pioneer novel apprehensions of space that mark a decisive ‘break’ with a modern worldview. The map works of locative media are accordingly positioned in relation to what is seen as a paradigmatic shift from Cartographic Space to Code Space, and the analysis of case studies supplies a means of comprehending this ongoing transformation, demonstrating that mapping survives beyond cartography but entails a tearing apart of the cartographic surface and the representational epistemology that accompanies it. Gone are the compass, scale and fix-points by which, for centuries, a sense of place was anchored and the world made knowable, yet to be set adrift in this way is not to be left ‘all at sea’. Working with the novel intuitions, forms and geometries that arise from the operations of software code, post-cartographical mapping practices continue to supply a sense of orientation. However, they also pioneer novel forms of territory, and power over territory, that call for new strategies of counter-mapping and, with it, a ‘post-cartographical’ reframing of the study of locative media. Now pictured as a site of contestation between antithetical spatial paradigms, locative media is rehabilitated as a vital force, operating at a pivotal moment, in a broadly epoch-defining reshaping of space and spatial representation

Stadiums x covid-19: a new way to twist

Amid the global pandemic, football stadiums have been recruited to fight COVID-19 and others have been used behind closed doors. Thus, this research aims to examine how football stadiums have been utilized in the face of COVID19. The results indicate use as field hospitals, shelters, testing sites, storage for donations and materials, or isolation centers in single cheer for life

Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch

In order to warrant a good present and future for people around the planet and to safe the care of the planet itself, research in architecture has to release all its potential. Therefore, the aims of the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture are: - To focus on the most relevant needs of humanity and the planet and what architectural research can do for solving them. - To assess the evolution of architectural research in traditionally matters of interest and the current state of these popular and widespread topics. - To deepen in the current state and findings of architectural research on subjects akin to post-capitalism and frequently related to equal opportunities and the universal right to personal development and happiness. - To showcase all kinds of research related to the new and holistic concept of sustainability and to climate emergency. - To place in the spotlight those ongoing works or available proposals developed by architectural researchers in order to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. - To underline the capacity of architectural research to develop resiliency and abilities to adapt itself to changing priorities. - To highlight architecture's multidisciplinarity as a melting pot of multiple approaches, points of view and expertise. - To open new perspectives for architectural research by promoting the development of multidisciplinary and inter-university networks and research groups. For all that, the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture is open not only to architects, but also for any academic, practitioner, professional or student with a determination to develop research in architecture or neighboring fields.Cabrera Fausto, I. (2023). Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/VIBRArch2022.2022.1686