The ethical challenge of Touraine's 'living together'

In Can We Live Together? Alain Touraine combines a consummate analysis of crucial social tensions in contemporary societies with a strong normative appeal for a new emancipatory 'Subject' capable of overcoming the twin threats of atomisation or authoritarianism. He calls for a move from 'politics to ethics' and then from ethics back to politics to enable the new Subject to make a reality out of the goals of democracy and solidarity. However, he has little to say about the nature of such an ethics. This article argues that this lacuna could usefully be filled by adopting a form of radical humanism found in the work of Erich Fromm. It defies convention in the social sciences by operating from an explicit view of the 'is' and the 'ought' of common human nature, specifying reason, love and productive work as the qualities to be realised if we are to move closer to human solidarity. Although there remain significant philosophical and political differences between the two positions, particularly on the role to be played by 'the nation', their juxtaposition opens new lines of inquiry in the field of cosmopolitan ethics

The quasi-free-standing nature of graphene on H-saturated SiC(0001)

We report on an investigation of quasi-free-standing graphene on 6H-SiC(0001) which was prepared by intercalation of hydrogen under the buffer layer. Using infrared absorption spectroscopy we prove that the SiC(0001) surface is saturated with hydrogen. Raman spectra demonstrate the conversion of the buffer layer into graphene which exhibits a slight tensile strain and short range defects. The layers are hole doped (p = 5.0-6.5 x 10^12 cm^(-2)) with a carrier mobility of 3,100 cm^2/Vs at room temperature. Compared to graphene on the buffer layer a strongly reduced temperature dependence of the mobility is observed for graphene on H-terminated SiC(0001)which justifies the term "quasi-free-standing".Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letter

Pyrocumulonimbus Stratospheric Plume Injections Measured by the ACE‐FTS

The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is a satellite‐based mission that probes Earth\u27s atmosphere via solar occultation. The primary instrument on board is a high‐resolution infrared Fourier transform spectrometer (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer, ACE‐FTS), providing altitude‐resolved volume mixing ratio measurements for numerous atmospheric constituents, including many biomass burning products. The ACE mission has observed the aftermath of three major pyrocumulonimbus events, in which extreme heat from intense fires created a pathway for directly injecting into the stratosphere plumes of gaseous and aerosol pollutants. These three events were associated with severe Australian bushfires from 2009 and 2019/2020, along with intense North American wildfires from summer 2017. The ACE‐FTS measured stratospheric plumes containing aerosols, enhanced levels of gaseous fire products, and tropospheric air transported into the stratosphere. Infrared spectral features indicate strikingly similar aerosol composition for all three events, characteristic of oxygenated organic matter

Happiness, environmental protection and market economy

The manufacturing sector is leaving the West for Asia’s low wages and good working culture. Europe would be better off keeping these manufacturing activities, slowing down wage inflation and what is more, letting a young, cheaper workforce from the East settle down within their borders. This would aid in preserving the diverse economic structure which has been characteristic for Europe.Beside the economic growth there are two more concepts which have turned into the “holy cows” of economics during the last fifty years. One is the need to constantly improve labor productivity and the other is increasing competitiveness of nations. The high labor productivity of some countries, induces severe unemployment in the globalized world. In the other hand it is high time we understood that it is not competition, but cooperation that brings more happiness to humanity.Should we still opt for “happiness” and “sanity”, it is quite obvious that we all should, in economists’ terms, define our individual welfare functions corresponding to our own set of values, staying free from the influence of media, advertisements and fashion. The cornerstone to all this is the intelligent citizen who prefers local goods and services

F-GAMMA: On the phenomenological classification of continuum radio spectra variability patterns of Fermi blazars

The F-GAMMA program is a coordinated effort to investigate the physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) via multi-frequency monitoring of Fermi blazars. In the current study we show and discuss the evolution of broad-band radio spectra, which are measured at ten frequencies between 2.64 and 142 GHz using the Effelsberg 100-m and the IRAM 30-m telescopes. It is shown that any of the 78 sources studied can be classified in terms of their variability characteristics in merely 5 types of variability. It is argued that these can be attributed to only two classes of variability mechanisms. The first four types are dominated by spectral evolution and can be described by a simple two-component system composed of: (a) a steep quiescent spectral component from a large scale jet and (b) a time evolving flare component following the "Shock-in-Jet" evolutionary path. The fifth type is characterised by an achromatic change of the broad band spectrum, which could be attributed to a different mechanism, likely involving differential Doppler boosting caused by geometrical effects. Here we present the classification, the assumed physical scenario and the results of calculations that have been performed for the spectral evolution of flares.Comment: Proceedings of the conference: "The Central Kiloparsec in Galactic Nucleic: Astronomy at High Angular Resolution 2011", August 29 - September 2, 2011, Bad Honnef, German

The Chisholm firestorm: observed microstructure, precipitation and lightning activity of a pyro-Cb

International audienceA fire storm that occured on 28 May 2001 devastated the town of Chisholm, ~150 km north of Edmonton, Alberta, induced a violent fire-invigorated cumulonimbus cloud. This pyro-cumulonimbus (pyro-Cb) had overshooting tops of 2.5?3 km above the tropopause, and injected massive amounts of smoke into the lower stratosphere. Fortunately, this event occurred under good coverage of radar, rain gauge, lightning and satellite measurements, which allowed in-depth documentation of the event. The combination of heat and smoke created a cloud with extremely small drops, which ascended rapidly in violent updrafts. There appeared to be little freezing up to the homogeneous freezing isotherm level of ?38°C. A cloud with such small and short-lived highly supercooled drops is incapable of producing precipitation except for few large graupel and hail, which produced the observed radar echoes and charged the cloud with positive lightning. The small cloud drops froze homogeneously to equally small ice particles, for which there is no mechanism to aggregate into precipitation particles that hence remain in the anvil. The small precipitation efficiency implies that only a small fraction of the smoke is scavenged, so that most of it is exhausted through the anvil to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Comparisons with other cases suggest that a pyro-Cb does not have to be as violent as the Chisholm case to have strongly suppressed precipitation. However, this level of convective vigor is necessary to create the overshooting updraft that injects the smoke into the lower stratosphere

The Chisholm firestorm: observed microstructure, precipitation and lightning activity of a pyro-cumulonimbus

International audienceA fire storm that occurred on 28 May 2001 and devastated the town of Chisholm, ~150 km north of Edmonton, Alberta, induced a violent fire-invigorated cumulonimbus cloud. This pyro-cumulonimbus (pyro-Cb) had overshooting tops of 2.5?3 km above the tropopause, and injected massive amounts of smoke into the lower stratosphere. Fortunately, this event occurred under good coverage of radar, rain gauge, lightning and satellite measurements, which allowed in-depth documentation of the event, and gave us an opportunity to study the cloud top morphology and microstructure, precipitation and cloud electrification of the pyro-Cb. The combination of heat and smoke created a cloud with extremely small drops, which ascended rapidly in violent updrafts. There appeared to be little freezing up to the homogeneous freezing isotherm level of ?38°C. A cloud with such small and short-lived highly supercooled drops is incapable of producing precipitation except for few large graupel and hail, which produced the observed radar echoes and charged the cloud with positive lightning. The small cloud drops froze homogeneously to equally small ice particles, for which there is no mechanism to aggregate into precipitation particles, and which hence remain in the anvil. The lack of significant precipitation implies that only a small fraction of the smoke is scavenged, so that most of it is exhausted through the anvil to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Comparisons with other cases suggest that a pyro-Cb does not have to be as violent as the Chisholm case for precipitation to be strongly suppressed. However, this level of convective vigor is necessary to create the overshooting updraft that injects the smoke into the lower stratosphere