Ontological co-belonging in Peter Sloterdijk's spherological philosophy of mediation

(Winner of the 2017 Paragraph annual essay prize competition, on the theme of ‘Belongings’) This article examines the ontology and politics of Peter Sloterdijk's Spheres trilogy, focusing in particular upon the notion of microspherical enclosure explicated in the first volume of this series. Noting Sloterdijk's unusual alignment of his philosophy with media theory, three main contentions are put forward. Firstly, that Sloterdijk's reconfiguration of Heidegger's fundamental ontology represents a largely unacknowledged renunciation of the primacy of Being-towards-death in the authentic existence of Dasein, foregrounding instead an originary co-belonging between mother and child. Secondly, that Sloterdijk borrows from media theory a concern regarding the facticity of all communication, grounding philosophical discourse in the determinate locality of its origin, but does so while exalting a pre-natal communicative immediacy that would seem to disparage the everydayness of Dasein. Finally, that Sloterdijk's oft-justified scepticism regarding globalization often retreats into an anti-cosmopolitanism that, in its nostalgia for the comfort, security and immediacy of the matrixial co-belonging (and the various attempts by humans to replicate this enclosure), evinces a covert but potentially noxious politics of exclusion

Rethinking LEO Constellations Routing with the Unsplittable Multi-Commodity Flows Problem

This study investigates the performance of an innovative routing protocol inspired by the Unsplittable Multi-Commodity Flow (UMCF) problem. LEO routing schemes are often based on Shortest Path (SP) algorithms, the Floyd-Warshall algorithm is usually chosen to compute these network paths within the constellation and their end-to-end latency. Instead of considering latency as a criterion, we seek to optimize the overall amount of IP traffic crossing the constellation. This criterion can be optimized by considering the Unsplittable Multi Commodity Flow problem associated with the system. To solve this problem, we use a heuristic algorithm based on randomized rounding that was shown to return solutions of good quality of the Unsplittable Multi Commodity Flow problem in the optimization literature. Using network simulation over Telesat constellation, we show this proposal significantly reduces the overall congestion level compared to the standard SP routing schemes

Introduction to the French GEOTRACES North Atlantic transect (GA01): GEOVIDE cruise

© 2018 Author(s). The GEOVIDE cruise, a collaborative project within the framework of the international GEOTRACES programme, was conducted along the French-led section in the North Atlantic Ocean (Section GA01), between 15 May and 30 June 2014. In this special issue (https://www.biogeosciences.net/special-issue900.html), results from GEOVIDE, including physical oceanography and trace element and isotope cyclings, are presented among 18 articles. Here, the scientific context, project objectives, and scientific strategy of GEOVIDE are provided, along with an overview of the main results from the articles published in the special issue

The large-scale evolution of neodymium isotopic composition in the global modern and Holocene ocean revealed from seawater and archive data

Neodymium isotopic compositions (143Nd/144Nd or εNd) have been used as a tracer of water masses and lithogenic inputs to the ocean. To further evaluate the faithfulness of this tracer, we have updated a global seawater εNd database and combined it with hydrography parameters (temperature, salinity, nutrients and oxygen concentrations), carbon isotopic ratio and radiocarbon of dissolved inorganic carbon. Archive εNd data are also compiled for leachates, foraminiferal tests, deep-sea corals and fish teeth/debris from the Holocene period (< 10,000 years). At water depths ≥ 1500 m, property-property plots show clear correlations between seawater εNd and the other variables, suggesting that large-scale water mass mixing is a primary control of deepwater εNd distribution. At ≥ 200 m, basin-scale seawater T-S-εNd diagrams demonstrate the isotopic evolution of different water masses. Seawater and archive εNd values are compared using property-property plots and T-S-εNd diagrams. Archive values generally agree with corresponding seawater values although they tend to be at the upper limit in the Pacific. Both positive and negative offsets exist in the northern North Atlantic. Applying multiple regression analysis to deep (≥ 1500 m) seawater data, we established empirical equations that predict the main, large-scale, deepwater εNd trends from hydrography parameters. Large offsets from the predicted values are interpreted as a sign of significant local/regional influence. Dominant continental influence on seawater and archive εNd is observed mainly within 1000 km from the continents. Generally, seawater and archive εNd values form gradual latitudinal trend in the Atlantic and Pacific at depths ≥ 600 m, consistent with the idea that Nd isotopes help distinguish between northern/southern sourced water contributions at intermediate and deep water depths

Mathematics, capitalism and biosocial research

In my previous work, I criticised studies within the sociopolitical turn for disavowing a comprehension of schools as places of capitalist production. Here, I extend this critique to what is being flagged as a new turn in educational research. I am referring to biosocial research, particularly in the way it is coupled with new materialist and more than human philosophies in the work of Elizabeth de Freitas. I use elements from Marxian theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis to explore the concomitances between mathematics and capitalism, showing how both mathematics and capital need to suture the subject in order to thrive. Biosocial research epitomises this drive towards automation and totality, and, notwithstanding de Freitas’ attempts to rescue it from the logic of control, I will argue that agent-centred intentions dismiss the underlying workings of capital as a real abstraction. I do so by engaging with elements of Deleuze’s philosophy, showing how the more than human frame in which de Freitas’ biosocial research rests contradicts her own perception of how biosocial research can be rescued for inclusive purposes

The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2014

The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2014 (IDP2014) is the first publicly available data product of the international GEOTRACES programme, and contains data measured and quality controlled before the end of 2013. It consists of two parts: (1) a compilation of digital data for more than 200 trace elements and isotopes (TEIs) as well as classical hydrographic parameters, and (2) the eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas providing a strongly inter-linked on-line atlas including more than 300 section plots and 90 animated 3D scenes. The IDP2014 covers the Atlantic, Arctic, and Indian oceans, exhibiting highest data density in the Atlantic. The TEI data in the IDP2014 are quality controlled by careful assessment of intercalibration results and multi-laboratory data comparisons at cross-over stations. The digital data are provided in several formats, including ASCII spreadsheet, Excel spreadsheet, netCDF, and Ocean Data View collection. In addition to the actual data values the IDP2014 also contains data quality flags and 1-? data error values where available. Quality flags and error values are useful for data filtering. Metadata about data originators, analytical methods and original publications related to the data are linked to the data in an easily accessible way. The eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas is the visual representation of the IDP2014 data providing section plots and a new kind of animated 3D scenes. The basin-wide 3D scenes allow for viewing of data from many cruises at the same time, thereby providing quick overviews of large-scale tracer distributions. In addition, the 3D scenes provide geographical and bathymetric context that is crucial for the interpretation and assessment of observed tracer plumes, as well as for making inferences about controlling processes

Masses d'eau des mers nordiques et de l'atlantique subarctique tracées par les isotopes du néodyme

TOULOUSE3-BU Sciences (315552104) / SudocTOULOUSE-Observ. Midi Pyréné (315552299) / SudocSudocFranceF