Esperienze di strettura e filosofia pratica

This essay is a review of Riccardo Fanciullacci’s book L’esperienza etica and his concept of ‘experience of narrowness’. The experiences of narrowness are situations of awkwardness and suffering, in which human subjects are not able to mediate their ideals, their desires, their practical motivations and social articulations of their life-world. Nevertheless, these forms of suffering are not mere private or psychological experiences, since they concern symbolic order of our everyday life: the human experience, the world-openness of our existence, is always and structurally woven with social habitus, lifestyles, values and cultural significations. Thus, related to ‘spiritual’ sufferings, the aim of practical philosophy is to fluidify symbolic mediations that stifle and petrify human experience, so that people themselves can solve their existential difficulties and not give up on their desires

Is the compact object associated with HESS J1731-347 a strange quark star?

The analysis of the central compact object within the supernova remnant HESS J1731-347 suggests that it has a small radius and, even more interestingly, a mass of the order or smaller than one solar mass. This raises the question of which astrophysical process could lead to such a small mass, since the analysis of various types of SN explosions indicate that is it not possible to produce a neutron star with a mass smaller than about $1.17 M_\odot$. Here we show that masses of the order or smaller than one solar mass can be obtained in the case of strange quark stars and that it is possible to build a coherent model explaining not only the mass and the radius of that object, but also its slow cooling suggested in various analyses. We also show that an astrophysical path exists which leads to the formation of such an object, and we discuss the role played in that scenario by strangelets assumed to constitute the dark matter.Comment: 6 pages, 2 Figures, 1 Table. New version significantly expanded. One section and one figure adde

Psicopatologia e diagnosi culturale: integrazioni sull'eredità di Karl Jaspers nelle apocalissi di Ernesto de Martino

The proposed research is oriented to re-propose the theme of the incidence of psychopathology in Ernesto de Martino's thought. In particular, this study focuses on de Martino's reception of Karl Jaspers' thought especially in relation to his reflections on the apocalypses. This teoric survey is based on recent bibliographical contributions specifically referring to the psychopathological issues addressed by de Martino, and on the investigative suggestions expressed by critics in the new Einaudi edition of End of the world. This aim is ultimately oriented towards reflection on a perspective of an "integrated apocalyptic", that is, of the possibility of theoretical conjugation between "psychopathological apocalypses" and "cultural apocalypses" in the problematic context of a "morphology of decadence"

Merger of a Neutron Star with a Black Hole: one-family vs. two-families scenario

A kilonova signal is generally expected after a Black Hole - Neutron Star merger. The strength of the signal is related to the equation of state of neutron star matter and it increases with the stiffness of the latter. The recent results obtained by NICER suggest a rather stiff equation of state and the expected kilonova signal is therefore strong, at least if the mass of the Black Hole does not exceed $\sim 10 M_\odot$. We compare the predictions obtained by considering equations of state of neutron star matter satisfying the most recent observations and assuming that only one family of compact stars exists with the results predicted in the two-families scenario. In the latter a soft hadronic equation of state produces very compact stellar objects while a rather stiff quark matter equation of state produces massive strange quark stars, satisfying NICER results. The expected kilonova signal in the two-families scenario is very weak: the Strange Quark Star - Black Hole merger does not produce a kilonova signal because, according to simulations, the amount of mass ejected is negligible and the Hadronic Star - Black Hole merger produces a much weaker signal than in the one-family scenario because the hadronic equation of state is very soft. This prediction will be easily tested with the new generation of detectors.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

La via filosofica italiana al concetto di presenza n Ernesto de Martino: una teoria del valore oltre la negatività dell'esistenza

The objective of this study is the analysis of the concept of presence through the critical confrontation that de Martino conducted with the philosophy of German and Italian existence. In this way, an attempt is made to identify the reasons for the greatest controversy that de Martino has directed, above all, towards Heidegger's existential analytics formulated in Being and Time and to focus attention on the reasons for consonance and introjection of Italian existentialism, which belongs to Nicola Abbagnano, thus outlining the fundamental theoretical references that have contributed to the maturation of this category which, together with that of 'ethos of transcendence', constitutes the backbone of Ernesto de Martino's work on the concept of presence. Finally, once this reconnaissance has been carried out, a panoramic view is taken of the suggestions that the concept of presence would have exercised in the psychiatric and psychological field

Afferrare il crepuscolo: annotazioni sulla visione apocalittica di de Martino e il pensiero della crisi

In recalling the tortuosity of the theoretical path that led de Martino to conceive that editorial project - emblematic of his apocalyptic vision - called The end of the world, which was followed by an equally troubled drafting that has engaged scholars to reconstruct the clear expository order and thematic, this research intends to dwell on the comparison already identified by the critical literature between de Martino and the German thought of the crisis attributable to Spengler, author of The decline of the West to clarify the overlapping as much as possible. Secondly, broadening the initial hermeneutical understanding, an attempt is made to connect Demartin's vision of decline with greater elective affinity with those of Huizinga and Toynbee. Finally, in the light of the investigative results achieved, a balance sheet of de Martino's intellectual contribution is ventured, highlighting some specific controversies and particular points of reflection concerning its possible developments

Development of an Embedded Myokinetic Prosthetic Hand Controller

The quest for an intuitive and physiologically appropriate human machine interface for the control of dexterous prostheses is far from being completed. In the last decade, much effort has been dedicated to explore innovative control strategies based on the electrical signals generated by the muscles during contraction. In contrast, a novel approach, dubbed myokinetic interface, derives the control signals from the localization of multiple magnetic markers (MMs) directly implanted into the residual muscles of the amputee. Building on this idea, here we present an embedded system based on 32 magnetic field sensors and a real time computation platform. We demonstrate that the platform can simultaneously localize in real-time up to five MMs in an anatomically relevant workspace. The system proved highly linear (R2 = 0.99) and precise (1% repeatability), yet exhibiting short computation times (4 ms) and limited cross talk errors (10% the mean stroke of the magnets). Compared to a previous PC implementation, the system exhibited similar precision and accuracy, while being ~75% faster. These results proved for the first time the viability of using an embedded system for magnet localization. They also suggest that, by using an adequate number of sensors, it is possible to increase the number of simultaneously tracked MMs while introducing delays that are not perceivable by the human operator. This could allow to control more degrees of freedom than those controllable with current technologies