EcoBot-II: An artificial agent with a natural metabolism

In this paper we report the development of the robot EcoBot-II, which exhibits a primitive form of artificial symbiosis. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) were used as the onboard energy supply, which consisted of bacterial cultures from sewage sludge and employed oxygen from free air for oxidation at the cathode. EcoBot-II was able to perform sensing, information processing, communication and actuation when fed (amongst other substrates) with flies. This is the first robot in the world, to utilise unrefined substrate, oxygen from free air and exhibit four different types of behaviour

Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement for Environment and Sustainability

The Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement for Environment and Sustainability has been developed by the environment and sustainability higher education community. This statement describes the minimum or threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) that graduates of tertiary programs in Environment and Sustainability are expected to meet or exceed. The TLOs provide a curriculum reference point for designing and teaching diverse and innovative environment and sustainability programs. The TLOs are not intended to be prescriptive. The Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD ) commissioned the development of the TLOs and ‘commends the Project Team on the consultation, dissemination and evaluation process used to develop this Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement for Environment and Sustainability. The Council endorses the threshold learning outcomes identified in this document as a curriculum reference point for program design, development and delivery in this field.’ The TLOs have been developed for the following tertiary qualification levels and types, as described in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF): bachelor degree at Level 7; bachelor honours degree, graduate certificate, and graduate diploma at Level 8; and masters degree (coursework) at Level 9. The TLOs are grouped into four areas, or domains: transdisciplinary knowledge systemic understanding skills for environment and sustainability ethical practice. The TLOs were developed using a collaborative and consultative process which engaged the expertise and experience of the broad environment and sustainability stakeholder community. This process was coordinated by a Project Team who communicated with nearly 1,000 university academics, students, employers, representatives of Indigenous interests, and other education sector representatives through a website, face-to-face workshops, targeted emails, online discussion fora, questionnaires and social media. Over 250 individuals actively collaborated in the development of the TLOs by contributing over 2,500 separate pieces of advice and guidance. The Project Team drew on stakeholders’ contributions to iteratively refine the TLOs over the course of the project. Students can use these TLOs to make informed study and career choices confident that, where offered, the environment and sustainability options in their programs are authentic. The standards support greater international transferability of qualifications should students choose to study overseas (e.g. for postgraduate programs) through the standards’ alignment with other relevant international benchmarks. Employers can refer to the standards, confident that graduates from environment and sustainability programs are equipped with essential and relevant vocational skills. Finally, the standards provide clarity for others engaged in environment and sustainability education in a range of contexts (e.g. vocational education and training, schools and community education) to assist them in providing training that complements formal tertiary qualifications. The Project Team acknowledges and thanks ACEDD for its vision in commissioning this project and its strong support through the project’s term. We give special acknowledgement to the members of the external Reference Group for their expert contribution in developing the consultation draft of the TLOs. The Project Team thanks all colleagues across the environment and sustainability community who contributed their time, enthusiasm, expertise and experience towards making these TLOs both inspiring and workable. Finally, we recognise the invaluable contribution of our external evaluator, Professor Daniella Tilbury, who ensured that both the TLOs and the process of their development remained authentic and robust

Numerical atomic orbitals for linear scaling

The performance of basis sets made of numerical atomic orbitals is explored in density-functional calculations of solids and molecules. With the aim of optimizing basis quality while maintaining strict localization of the orbitals, as needed for linear-scaling calculations, several schemes have been tried. The best performance is obtained for the basis sets generated according to a new scheme presented here, a flexibilization of previous proposals. The basis sets are tested versus converged plane-wave calculations on a significant variety of systems, including covalent, ionic and metallic. Satisfactory convergence (deviations significantly smaller than the accuracy of the underlying theory) is obtained for reasonably small basis sizes, with a clear improvement over previous schemes. The transferability of the obtained basis sets is tested in several cases and it is found to be satisfactory as well.Comment: 9 pages with 2 encapsulated postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Effects of sulfide minerals on aromatic maturity parameters: Laboratory investigation using micro-scale sealed vessel pyrolysis

Sedimentary organic matter from the Here’s Your Chance (HYC) Pb–Zn–Ag deposit (McArthur Basin, Northern Territory, Australia) displays increased thermal maturity compared to nearby non-mineralised sediments. Micro-scale sealed vessel pyrolysis (MSSVpy) of an immature, organic rich sediment from the host Barney Creek Formation (BCF) was used to simulate the thermal maturation of OM from the HYC deposit, and to assess the effect of sulfide minerals on organic maturation processes. MSSVpy at increasing temperatures (300, 330 and 360 C) resulted in increased methylphenanthrene maturity ratios which were within the range reported for bitumen extracted from HYC sediments. The methylphenanthrene index ratio from MSSVpy of the BCF sample was lower than in HYC, due to a reduced proportion of methylated phenanthrenes. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with four to six rings were produced in increasing abundance as pyrolysis temperature increased, although they did not approach the levels reported from HYC. Addition of lead sulfide, zinc sulfide and pyrite to the MSSVpy experiments resulted in a reduced response of the methylphenanthrene maturity parameters, possibly due to retardation of methyl-shift and transmethylation reactions

Randomness Increases Order in Biological Evolution

n this text, we revisit part of the analysis of anti-entropy in Bailly and Longo (2009} and develop further theoretical reflections. In particular, we analyze how randomness, an essential component of biological variability, is associated to the growth of biological organization, both in ontogenesis and in evolution. This approach, in particular, focuses on the role of global entropy production and provides a tool for a mathematical understanding of some fundamental observations by Gould on the increasing phenotypic complexity along evolution. Lastly, we analyze the situation in terms of theoretical symmetries, in order to further specify the biological meaning of anti-entropy as well as its strong link with randomness