Oceanography using remote sensors Status report, 1 Sep. 1967 - 1 Jan. 1968

Aircraft and spacecraft remote sensing of oceanographic features and interpretation of photography taken during Apollo 501 missio

Investigation of the role of neutron transfer in the fusion of 32,34S with 197Au,208Pb using quasi-elastic scattering

Excitation functions for quasi-elastic scattering have been measured at backward angles for the systems 32,34S+197Au and 32,34S+208Pb for energies spanning the Coulomb barrier. Representative distributions, sensitive to the low energy part of the fusion barrier distribution, have been extracted from the data. For the fusion reactions of 32,34S with 197Au couplings related to the nuclear structure of 197Au appear to be dominant in shaping the low energy part of the barrier distibution. For the system 32S+208Pb the barrier distribution is broader and extends further to lower energies, than in the case of 34S+208Pb. This is consistent with the interpretation that the neutron pick-up channels are energetically more favoured in the 32S induced reaction and therefore couple more strongly to the relative motion. It may also be due to the increased collectivity of 32S, when compared with 34S.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Digital futures : A brief essay on sustainable life in the digital age

The following reflections are based on the premise that individual and social life is open not only to a single goal, in a deterministic historical process, but rather, to a number of possibilities, among which we can find digitalisation. Society, understood as interaction among free citizens and between them and their government, must now promote everyone?s participation in the creation of potential digital futures. These must be based on fair rules and also promote digital literacy both in the sense of educating citizens in the management of digital technologies and in giving them the tools to reflect critically upon them in relation to sustainable lifestyles

Beyond Humanisms

In the first part of this paper a short history of Western humanisms (Socrates, Pico della Mirandola, Descartes, Kant) is presented. As far as these humanisms rest on a fixation of the ‘humanum’ they are metaphysical, although they might radically differ from each other. The second part deals with the present debate on trans- and posthumanism in the context of some breath-taking developments in science and technology.Angeletics, a theory of messengers and messages, intends to give an answer to the leading question of this paper, namely: ‘what does it mean to go beyond humanisms?’ The conclusion exposes briefly an ethics of hospitality and care from an angeletic perspective

The Italian Museums of Shrines. Specificities and Relations with Pilgrimage

Italy is a country very rich of Shrines in all her regions, destinations of more or less important local pilgrimages. A lot of them have a specific museum deeply connected with the sacred place and its history. The aim of this research is to verify in which way visiting one of those museums is part of the pilgrimage itself, and in which way it is possible to find a link between the religious identity of the pilgrims and the cultural content of the museum. A few case-studies, chosen among museums of little dimensions and representative of different Italian regions, will be provided

Religious Tourism and TV Serials: the Case of Two Italian Papal Birthplaces

In this paper the authors examine two of Italy’s lesser religious tourism destinations: Sotto il Monte and Concesio, small towns in northern Italy which have the distinction of being the birthplaces of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. In 2002 and 2008 respectively, two of the country’s national television networks broadcast during prime time short television serials dedicated to the two popes. Despite being very successful with the viewing public, the serials proved to have little impact in terms of tourism, as demonstrated by comprehensive tourist surveys and in-depth conversations with the parties concerned. The aim of the present research is to ascertain, using a visual geographical research approach, whether the reasons for this can be identified, taking account of the pull factors of place, personality and performance referred to by Macionis in 2004. In the first part of the study the authors put forward a definition of film-induced religious tourism based on the commonly agreed definitions of film-induced tourism and religious tourism, and outline the unique characteristics ofItaly’s religious-themed television productions. In the second part the two case studies are analysed, with an outline of the geographical features of the locations and biographical aspects of the two men, and an assessment of the degree of success in terms of tourism achieved by their home towns, with particular reference to the years following the screening of the TV serials

Museums and Shrines: Reflecting on Relationships and Challenges

The aim of this paper is to introduce a method for analysing a specific kind of contemporary tourism positioned between two different traditional customs: visiting museums and going to pilgrimage sites. The case studies provided are focused on Italian shrine museums where it is difficult to ascertain whether visitors are cultural tourists or pilgrims or a combination of both. Regardless, the tourist flows and networks created by Italian shrine museums can provide promising elements for local development. Four case studies that are representative of different regions in Northern Italy and have specific features in common have been chosen: shrines dedicated to the Holy Virgin; museums that exhibit different types of objects; and smaller museums and shrines. The case studies are the Shrine of the Madonna delle Grazie in Garessio (Piedmont), the Madonna del Bosco Shrine in Imbersago (Lombardy), the Madonna della Misericordia Shrine in Genoa (Liguria) and, the Santuario delle Grazie in Rimini (Emilia Romagna). Each of the case studies is significant not only for how it illustrates both the different ways in which shrines and museums can be connected, but also how they impact on the cultural enhancement of the territory. The method we illustrate also makes it possible to evaluate different kinds of connections between other tourism institutions and experiences, with the aim of introducing well-defined actions capable of enhancing tourist experiences elsewhere