Das Schmelzen der Wassertürme : Was der Verlust von Gletschereis für Folgen hat

Schwindendes Gletscher- und Meereseis ist schon länger bekannt als ein klarer und besorgniserregender Effekt des Klimawandels. Larissa van der Laan und Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristian Förster vom Institut für Hydrologie und Wasserwirtschaft zeigen anhand von Klima- und hydrologischen Daten, wie der Verlust messbar ist und welche Folgen er für die Wasserversorgung in den Alpen haben kann

Transforming Knowledge Orders: Museums, Collections and Exhibitions

The history of museums is closely connected not only with the history of collecting and collections, but also with the history of science and humanities. Collections and exhibitions reflect scientific theory and scholarly practice, and in turn shape them. Hence, museums transmit and disseminate, yet also produce knowledge. On the one hand, they visualise and stabilise orders of knowledge through assembling, classifying and fixing objects in exhibitions; on the other hand, new academic paradigms and political changes lead to rearrangements of facts and artefacts in museum storerooms and displays. This volume brings together case studies from various historical and cultural contexts that illuminate such dynamics. Its point of departure is transcultural collections and exhibitions such as cabinets of curiosities and ethnographic collections, whose attempts to inventorise and display the world testify to the desire for, but also the difficulties in establishing and maintaining orders of knowledge. A particular focus is on transformative moments in the history of museums, in particular on the early 1900s, when science and technology museums were established, and on more recent times, which have seen the refurbishment of numerous art and ethnographic museums

From 'One Namibia, One Nation' towards 'Unity in Diversity? Shifting representations of culture and nationhood in Namibian Independence Day celebrations, 1990-2010

In 2010 Namibia celebrated its twentieth anniversary of independence from South African rule. The main celebrations in the country’s capital Windhoek became the stage for an impressively orchestrated demonstration of maturing nationhood, symbolically embracing postcolonial policy concepts such as ‘national reconciliation’, ‘unity’ and ‘diversity’. At the same time, nation building in post-apartheid Namibia is characterised by a high degree of social and political fragmentation that manifests itself in cultural and/or ethnic discourses of belonging. Taking the highly significant independence jubilee as our vantage point, we map out a shift of cultural representations of the nation in Independence Day celebrations since 1990, embodied by the two prominent slogans of ‘One Namibia, one Nation’ and ‘Unity in Diversity’. As we will argue, the difficult and at times highly fragile postcolonial disposition made it necessary for the SWAPO government, as primary nation builder, to accommodate the demands of regions and local communities in its policy frameworks. This negotiation of local identifications and national belonging in turn shaped, and continues to shape, the performative dimension of Independence Day celebrations in Namibia.Web of Scienc

Cryo-Electron Tomography of Marburg Virus Particles and Their Morphogenesis within Infected Cells

Ultrastructural analysis of a filovirus assembling within infected eukaryotic cells reveals differences in structure and assembly mechanisms between related RNA viruses

Figurationen des Porträts

Mit dem Fokus auf Figurationen des Porträts wird ein Spannungsfeld kulturellen Wissens eröffnet, anhand dessen sich der historische Bezugsraum von Artefakten diskutieren lässt. Porträt meint also nicht (nur) die kunsthistorische Gattung, sondern ein Wahrnehmungsmodell, das sich zwischen einmaliger Ausprägung und der Wiedererkennbarkeit der Form entfaltet. Die Studien zielen in einem Bogen vom frühesten (Herrscher-) Porträt aus dem Alten Mesopotamien bis in die Gegenwartskunst hinein auf historisch variable Formen, individuelles Leben als besonders darzustellen. Neben genuin bild- und skulpturorientierten Beiträgen von antiken Centauren-Porträts und Statuenbasen im kaiserzeitlichen Sagalassos über die ›Antike der Fotografie‹ bis hin zu Schwitters’ Merzbild 9b und Twomblys Selbstbildnissen behandeln textorientierte Beiträge Fragen der Lesbarkeit von Porträts, etwa in apokryphen Paulus-Texten, an der Schnittstelle von biographischem Porträt und byzantinischer Philosophie oder anhand von Poes Oval Portrait. Ein eigener Fokus gilt den kulturellen Praktiken der Bedeutungsstiftung, von Stalins Herrscherbildnissen bis hin zur anthropologischen Funktion beispielsweise von Masken

Recent applications and potential of near-term (interannual to decadal) climate predictions

Following efforts from leading centres for climate forecasting, sustained routine operational near-term climate predictions (NTCP) are now produced that bridge the gap between seasonal forecasts and climate change projections offering the prospect of seamless climate services. Though NTCP is a new area of climate science and active research is taking place to increase understanding of the processes and mechanisms required to produce skillful predictions, this significant technical achievement combines advances in initialisation with ensemble prediction of future climate up to a decade ahead. With a growing NTCP database, the predictability of the evolving externally-forced and internally-generated components of the climate system can now be quantified. Decision-makers in key sectors of the economy can now begin to assess the utility of these products for informing climate risk and for planning adaptation and resilience strategies up to a decade into the future. Here, case studies are presented from finance and economics, water management, agriculture and fisheries management demonstrating the emerging utility and potential of operational NTCP to inform strategic planning across a broad range of applications in key sectors of the global economy

Urban Cultural Politics of Graffiti. City-Marketing, Protests, and the Arts in the Production of Urban Imaginaries in Vancouver and Oaxaca

Kaltmeier O. Urban Cultural Politics of Graffiti. City-Marketing, Protests, and the Arts in the Production of Urban Imaginaries in Vancouver and Oaxaca. In: Youkhana E, Förster L, eds. Grafficity. Visual Practices and Contestations in Urban Space. Morphomata. Vol 28. Paderborn: Fink; 2015: 193-220