Galactic Punctuated Equilibrium: How to Undermine Carter's Anthropic Argument in Astrobiology

We investigate a new strategy which can defeat the (in)famous Carter's "anthropic" argument against extraterrestrial life and intelligence. In contrast to those already considered by Wilson, Livio, and others, the present approach is based on relaxing hidden uniformitarian assumptions, considering instead a dynamical succession of evolutionary regimes governed by both global (Galaxy-wide) and local (planet- or planetary system-limited) regulation mechanisms. This is in accordance with recent developments in both astrophysics and evolutionary biology. Notably, our increased understanding of the nature of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, as well as of strong coupling between the Solar System and the Galaxy on one hand, and the theories of "punctuated equilibria" of Eldredge and Gould and "macroevolutionary regimes" of Jablonski, Valentine, et al. on the other, are in full accordance with the regulation- mechanism picture. The application of this particular strategy highlights the limits of application of Carter's argument, and indicates that in the real universe its applicability conditions are not satisfied. We conclude that drawing far-reaching conclusions about the scarcity of extraterrestrial intelligence and the prospects of our efforts to detect it on the basis of this argument is unwarranted.Comment: 3 figures, 26 page

Changes in the spatial pattern of net earnings: Evidence from Serbia

Spatial autocorrelation analysis is an important method that can reveal the structure and patterns of economic spatial variables. It can be used to identify not only global spatial patterns in the country, but also characteristic locations at micro levels. In this research, we used spatial autocorrelation methodologies, including Global Moran’s I and Local Getis—Ord Gi statistics to identify the intensity of the spatial clustering of municipalities in Serbia by the level of average monthly net earnings from 2001 to 2010. We identified and mapped local clusters (hot and cold spots) by the level of average monthly net earnings for the same period. The results show that overall spatial segregation between municipalities with high and low average monthly net earnings was predominantly increasing during the investigated period. Local statistics illustrated that overall spatial segregation followed a broad north—south divide, with a concentration of municipalities with high net earnings in the north of Serbia, and low net earnings in the south. Closer inspection showed that at the beginning of the study period, there were three statistically significant hot spots in the north. As time passed, only one highly clustered hot spot remained — the Belgrade region. One cold spot retained a relatively stable position in the country’s southeast. This research shows that spatial changes of net earnings can be successfully studied with respect to statistically significant global and local spatial associations in the variables using spatial autocorrelation analysis

Snail meat: Significance and consumption

The consumption of snail meat goes back to prehistoric times. Different ancient nations had snails on their menu, but Helices culture as a productive activity was born as a Roman culture. Some of the most economically important edible species are: Helix aspersa (Mtiller) Helixpomatia (Linne), Helix iucorum (Linne), Helix aperta (Born), Eobania vermiculata (Miiller). Together with its tasie, snail meat has several advantages over others: quite low lipid rate and calorie values versus rich mineral, essential amino acid and fatty acid content. The composition of snail meat is presented. In addition, the composition of different snail species and the part analyzed (pedal mass and visceral mass) is presented. Also, the differences in composition according to the species (snail meat horse/chicken meat, beef, swine meat, fish meat) are presented. The French are the world's leading consumers of snails. !n France snails come to market in a variety of ways. Estimated consumption of snails in France is around 40 000 tones/year. Total French imports account for 25% of world imports. France is also the leading exporter of prepared snails, mainly sold as preserved snails and prepared dishes. Snail imports have been much higher than exports (65 tones exported in 2002. vs. 2.700 tones imported). Despite the large consumption, only 3% of snails in France come from production (farming). Italy is in second place in the world consumption of snails, and Spain and Germany are in the third and fourth place. The development of snails consumption in Italy is followed with the same amount of production of snails in the whole biological circle. In 2001, from 24,700 tons, 9,350 tons (37.8%) came from production, 6 00 tons (2.4%) came from nature, and 14,750 tons (59.70%) came from imports (frozen, fresh and prepared snails). In Serbia, at the beginning of 2005, we had over 400 registered farms for snail production

Liverworts from the Morača River basin: Taxonomic and ecological analysis

During the period of 1997-2007, we carried out detailed bryological research in the Morača River basin, Montenegro. Liverworts were collected at 45 locations. Thirty-five liverworts were recorded, including representatives of 24 genera and 19 families. The most frequent liverwort was Radula complanata, which was found at 17 localities. Seventeen taxa were registered at only one location in the investigated area. Scapania aequiloba is treated as endangered, and Athalamia hyalina as critically endangered, Leiocolea collaris, L. bantriensis and L. turbinata as vulnerable species. In addition, Fossombronia caespitiformis, Lophocolea bidentata var. bidentata, Riccia cavernosa, and Tritomaria quinquedentata are here registered for the first time in the bryoflora of Montenegro

Digital elevation model and satellite images an assessment of soil erosion potential in the Pcinja catchment

Pcinja is large left tributary of Vardar River (135 km long, 2877,3 km2 catchment’s area), which drainages surface waters from northeastern Macedonia, and small part of southeastern Serbia. Because of suitable physical-geographic factors (geology, terrain morphology, climate, hydrology, vegetation coverage, soil composition, and high human impact), some parts of the catchment’s suffer significant erosion process. For this reason, it is necessary to research properly spatial distribution of erosion, then influence of physical and anthropogenic factors for the intensity of soil erosion, related erosion landforms (with morphology, genesis, evolution, soil erosion protection etc.). Earlier researches in the area have been performed generally with combination of cartographic and classic field analysis. But in last decades, there are new possibilities available like satellite images and digital elevation models. In this work has been presented the methodology of utilization of satellite images and DEM for erosion research, with analysis and comparisons of outcome data

Two moss species from Mt Durmitor new to the bryophyte flora of Montenegro

The present paper reports the first records of two moss species, Orthotrichum obtusifolium Brid. and Dicranoweisia cirrata (Hedw.) Lindb., in the flora of Montenegro. The mosses were found in the Tepacki kraj area on Mt Durmitor. Some morphological features, the ecological characteristics and the distribution of the species are given, along with photographs of diagnostic details and their threat status in the countries of SE Europe

Faktori nastanka poplava na teritoriji opštine Obrenovac

Frequent floods in the area of the municipality of Obrenovac have initiated the establishing, classification and analysis of the starting factors of their genesis in this area. After the dam had been constructed on the right bank of the Sava River (in the 80’s of the 20th century) along the northern border of the municipality of Obrenovac, there were no more floods in this part of the area caused by its overflows. Recent floods have still been caused by a very frequent flooding of the River Kolubara near Poljana, even several times during the year. For that reason the factors of flooding the Kolubara River from its riverbed have been analyzed in this paper. Except the pluviometric and hydrological regime analysis as direct factors of flooding the indirect causes have also been analyzed in details, the most important of which are: the morphological characteristics of terrain, balance of deposits and anthropogenic impacts. Perceiving the causes of flooding, the conditions for analysis of undertaken measures and giving the possible solutions for their prevention have also been realized. The results of this research can be used in making the strategy for solving the existing waterpower problems of this area.Česta pojava poplava na prostoru opštine Obrenovac inicirala je utvrđivanje klasifikaciju i analizu odredišnih faktora njihove geneze na ovom prostoru. Nakon izgradnje nasipa na desnoj obali Save (80-tih godina 20. veka) duž severne granice opštine Obrenovac, nisu se više dešavala plavljenja ovog prostora njenim izlivanjima. Recentna plavljenja su i dalje uslovljena veoma čestim izlivanjima reke Kolubare kod Poljana, čak i više puta u toku godine. Iz tog razloga, u ovom radu su analizirani faktori izlivanja Kolubare iz korita. Osim analize pluviometrijskog i hidrološkog režima, kao direktnih faktora nastanka poplava, detaljno su analizirani i indirektni uzroci, od kojih su najvažniji morfološke odlike terena, bilans nanosa i antropogeni uticaji. Sagledavanjem uzroka nastanka poplava ostvareni su i uslovi za analizu preduzetih mera i iznošenje mogućih rešenja za njihovo sprečavanje. Rezultati ovog istraživanja mogu se iskoristiti pri izradi strategije rešavanja postojećih vodoprivrednih problema ovog prostora

Assessment of forms and extent of tourism web promotion in Serbia

The subject of this paper is Web promotion of tourism in Serbia. Promotion was understood as one of the four basic elements of marketing on the Web. The paper analyses the main forms and the extent of use of Web tourism promotion. The focus is on domain characteristics, quality of presentation, visibility and search engine rank, Internet promotion techniques and number of visitors. Structural observation was the main method used to analyze 260 travel and tourism related websites in Serbia. However, as Serbia is in the process of political and economic transition, it is still characterized by insufficient technical development of the Internet and its low level of utilization by the tourism industry. Based on the obtained results the extent of use of Web tourism promotion in Serbia and its forms were assessed

Statistical and expert-based landslide susceptibility modeling on a national scale applied to North Macedonia

This article presents a Geographic Information System (GIS) assessment of Landslide Susceptibility Zonation (LSZ) in North Macedonia. Because of the weak landslide inventory, statistical method (frequency ratio) is combined with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). In this study, lithology, slope, plan curvature, precipitations, land cover, distance from streams, and distance from roads were selected as precondition factors for landslide occurrence. There are two advantages of the approach used. The first is the possibility of comparing of the results and cros svalidation between the statistical and expert based methods with an indication of the advantages and drawbacks of each of them. The second is the possibility of better weighting of precondition factors for landslide occurrence, which can be useful in cases of weak landslide inventory. The final result shows that in the case of weak landslide inventory, LSZ map created with the combination of both models provide better overall results than each model separately