Nam June Paik, cybernetics and machines at play.

Nam June Paik's playful, imperfect and often ambiguous use of cybernetics has left an important legacy for contemporary media art. Paik's works demonstrate that it is essential to temper aesthetics with ethics in order to question the utopian dreams of the very materials electronic artists work with. Paik's works also suggest a new way to think about the machine in art. This paper focuses on the impacts of communication and control in the machine (and subsequently the network) in Paik's Robot K-456 and suggests a reconceptualization of Paik's cybernetic machine as a machinic process enmeshed in communication systems

Curiosity

oai:junctures.org:article/

A robot walks into a room: google art project, the new aesthetic, and the accident of art

On the 1st February 2011 Google unleashed the Google Art Project, a new way to engage with the major collections of the world’s art galleries. With the Google Art Project came a new way of viewing, not just art but the other objects that inhabit art galleries. Google Art Project depends on a robot looking machine. This aesthetic machine is a different form of digital material that has entered into what have for a long time been quiet still spaces for human, and not machine contemplation. With an equal focus on the spaces between things as much as on the things themselves, Google Art Project suggests a new way of understanding art, in the interval. Except it is not new at all. This essay draws a connection between the Google Art Project, James Bridle’s new aesthetic tumblr log and Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas in order to suggest that accidental encounters and ghost images formed in the spaces between things remain key to contemporary understandings of aesthetics

Diagnosing horizontal and inter-channel observation error correlations for SEVIRI observations using observation-minus-background and observation-minus-analysis statistics

It has been common practice in data assimilation to treat observation errors as uncorrelated; however, meteorological centres are beginning to use correlated inter-channel observation errors in their operational assimilation systems. In this work, we are the first to characterise inter-channel and spatial error correlations for Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) observations that are assimilated into the Met Office high-resolution model. The errors are calculated using a diagnostic that calculates statistical averages of observation-minus-background and observation-minus-analysis residuals. This diagnostic is sensitive to the background and observation error statistics used in the assimilation, although, with careful interpretation of the results, it can still provide useful information. We find that the diagnosed SEVIRI error variances are as low as one-tenth of those currently used in the operational system. The water vapour channels have significantly correlated inter-channel errors, as do the surface channels. The surface channels have larger observation error variances and inter-channel correlations in coastal areas of the domain; this is the result of assimilating mixed pixel (land-sea) observations. The horizontal observation error correlations range between 30 km and 80 km, which is larger than the operational thinning distance of 24 km. We also find that estimates from the diagnostics are unaffected by biased observations, provided that the observation-minus-background and observation-minus-analysis residual means are subtracted

Isolation, small population size, and management influence inbreeding and reduced genetic variation in K’gari dingoes

Small island populations are vulnerable to genetic decline via demographic and environmental stochasticity. In the absence of immigration, founder effects, inbreeding and genetic drift are likely to contribute to local extinction risk. Management actions may also have a greater impact on small, closed populations. The demographic and social characteristics of a species can, however, delay the impact of threats. K’gari, a ~ 1 660 km2 island off the Australian east coast and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Fraser Island 1842–2023), supports an isolated population of approximately 70–200 dingoes that represent an ideal opportunity to explore the small island paradigm. To examine temporal and spatial patterns of genetic diversity in this population we analysed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype data (72 454 SNPS) for 112 K’gari dingoes collected over a 25-year period (1996 to 2020). Genetic diversity was lower in K’gari dingoes than mainland dingoes at the earliest time point in our study and declined significantly following a management cull in 2001. We did not find any spatial genetic patterns on the island, suggesting high levels of genetic connectivity between socially discrete packs. This connectivity, combined with the social structure and behaviour of dingoes, may act in concert to buffer the population from the impacts of genetic drift in the short term. Nevertheless, a general decline in genetic variation via inbreeding and drift has occurred over the past 20 years which we suggest should be considered in any future management planning for the population. Monitoring patterns of genetic variation, together with a clearer understanding of the social ecology of K’gari dingoes, will aid in the development of measurable genetic targets set over ecologically meaningful timelines, and help ensure continued survival of this culturally important population

A pragmatic strategy for implementing spatially correlated observation errors in an operational system: an application to Doppler radial winds

Recent research has shown that high resolution observations, such as Doppler radar radial winds, exhibit spatial correlations. High resolution observations are routinely assimilated into convection permitting numerical weather prediction models assuming their errors are uncorrelated. To avoid violating this assumption observation density is severely reduced. To improve the quantity of observations used and the impact that they have on the forecast requires the introduction of full, correlated, error statistics. Some operational centres have introduced satellite inter-channel observation error correlations and obtained improved analysis’ accuracy and forecast skill scores. Here we present a strategy for implementing spatially correlated observation errors in an operational system. We then provide the first demonstration of the practical feasibility of incorporating spatially correlated Doppler radial wind error statistics in the Met Office numerical weather prediction system. Inclusion of correlated Doppler radial winds error statistics has little impact on the computation cost of the data assimilation system, even with a four-fold increase in the number of Doppler radial winds observations assimilated. Using the correlated observation error statistics with denser observations produces increments with shorter length scales than the control. Initial forecast trials show a neutral to positive impact on forecast skill overall, notably for quantitative precipitation forecasts. There is potential to improve forecast skill by optimising the use of Doppler radial winds and applying the technique to other observation types

Reversible vancomycin susceptibility within emerging ST1421 Enterococcus faecium strains is associated with rearranged vanA-gene clusters and increased vanA plasmid copy number

Vancomycin variable enterococci (VVE) are van-positive enterococci with a vancomycin-susceptible phenotype (VVE-S) that can convert to a resistant phenotype (VVE-R) and be selected for during vancomycin exposure. VVE-R outbreaks have been reported in Canada and Scandinavian countries. The aim of this study was to examine the presence of VVE in whole genome sequenced (WGS) Australian bacteremia Enterococcus faecium (Efm) isolates collected through the Australian Group on Antimicrobial resistance (AGAR) network. Eight potential VVEAus isolates, all identified as Efm ST1421, were selected based on the presence of vanA and a vancomycin-susceptible phenotype. During vancomycin selection, two potential VVE-S harboring intact vanHAX genes, but lacking the prototypic vanRS and vanZ genes, reverted to a resistant phenotype (VVEAus-R). Spontaneous VVEAus-R reversion occurred at a frequency of 4-6 × 10−8 resistant colonies per parent cell in vitro after 48 h and led to high-level vancomycin and teicoplanin resistance. The S to R reversion was associated with a 44-bp deletion in the vanHAX promoter region and an increased vanA plasmid copy number. The deletion in the vanHAX promoter region enables an alternative constitutive promoter for the expression of vanHAX. Acquisition of vancomycin resistance was associated with a low fitness cost compared with the corresponding VVEAus-S isolate. The relative proportion of VVEAus-R vs. VVEAus-S decreased over time in serial passages without vancomycin selection. Efm ST1421 is one of the predominant VanA-Efm multilocus sequence types found across most regions of Australia, and has also been associated with a major prolonged VVE outbreak in Danish hospitals