New political actors in Europe: Beppe Grillo and the M5S

New social and political movements from radically different political positions are emerging across Europe using social media, posing a new challenge to existing political parties and structures. The Pirate Party in Germany and the Occupy movement are examples of movements that have employed social media to grow rapidly and create a significant political and social impact – all in the last three years. Beppe Grillo, the Italian comedian and blogger, is one of the first political figures to have embraced this change. He has used social media to communicate, recruit and organise, growing the Moviment 5 Stelle from practically nothing to a major political force in Italy in the space of three years, with it expected to play a crucial role in the 2013 Italian elections. His anti-establishment message has resonated with many against a backdrop of declining trust in political institutions, falling political party membership and ever-lower voter turnout. This report presents the results of a survey of 1,865 Facebook fans of Beppe Grillo and the Movimento 5 Stelle. It includes data on who they are, what they think, and what motivates them to shift from virtual to real-world activism. It also compares them with other similar parties in Western Europe and their attitudes to those of the Italian population. This report is the seventh in a series of country specific briefings about the online support of populist parties across Europe

Technology requirements for advanced earth-orbital transportation systems, dual-mode propulsion

The application of dual-mode propulsion concepts to fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles is discussed. Dual-mode propulsion uses main rocket engines that consume hydrocarbon fuels as well as liquid hydrogen fuel. Liquid oxygen is used as the oxidizer. These engine concepts were integrated into transportation vehicle designs capable of vertical takeoff, delivering a payload to earth orbit, and return to earth with a horizontal landing. Benefits of these vehicles were assessed and compared with vehicles using single-mode propulsion (liquid hydrogen and oxygen engines). Technology requirements for such advanced transportation systems were identified. Figures of merit, including life-cycle cost savings and research costs, were derived for dual-mode technology programs, and were used for assessments of potential benefits of proposed technology activities. Dual-mode propulsion concepts display potential for significant cost and performance benefits when applied to SSTO vehicles

A republic of consumers: Jo Littler in discussion with Clive Barnett and Kate Soper

Clive Barnett is a human geographer at the Open University and is part of a team working on a project entitled ‘Governing the Subjects and Spaces of Ethical Consumption’. Kate Soper, a professor of philosophy and a cultural theorist based at London Metropolitan University, is working with Lyn Thomas on their ‘Alternative Hedonism and the Theory and Politics of Consumer Culture’ project.1 Jo Littler interviewed them both about the cultural and political implications of the expansion of green, ethical and anti-consumerism

Technology requirements for advanced earth-orbital transportation systems: Summary report

Areas of advanced technology that are either critical or offer significant benefits to the development of future Earth-orbit transportation systems were identified. Technology assessment was based on the application of these technologies to fully reusable, single-state-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle concepts with horizontal landing capability. Study guidelines included mission requirements similar to space shuttle, an operational capability beginning in 1995, and main propulsion to be advanced hydrogen-fueled rocket engines. The technical and economic feasibility of this class of SSTO concepts were evaluated as well as the comparative features of three operational take-off modes, which were vertical boost, horizontal sled launch, and horizontal take-off with subsequent inflight fueling. Projections of both normal and accelerated technology growth were made. Figures of merit were derived to provide relative rankings of technology areas. The influence of selected accelerated areas on vehicle design and program costs was analyzed by developing near-optimum point designs

‘We haven’t got here just on our own. It’s a conversation’. Jo Littler interviews Carol Tulloch.

Carol Tulloch is an author, curator, maker and academic, and Professor of Dress, Diaspora and Transnationalism at the University of the Arts in London. She grew up in Doncaster in the North of England and studied BA Fashion and Textile Design at Ravensbourne College Design and Communication, and MA History of Design at the Royal College of Art and Victoria and Albert Museum. She is known for her innovative work on heritage, personal archives, style narratives and auto/biography, and her books include Black Style (2004) and The Birth of Cool: Style Narratives of the African Diaspora (2016). She has curated and co-curated a wide range of exhibitions, including Grow Up! Advice and the Teenage Girl (The Women’s Library, 2002); The March of the Women: Suffragettes and the State (National Archives, 2003); Picture This: Representations of Black People in Product Promotion (Archives and Museum of Black Heritage, 2002); Black British Style (V&A, 2004); and Rock Against Racism (Autograph, 2015). In this interview, conducted online in summer 2021, she talks to Jo Littler about her work and the contexts and cultures it emerged out of