A geometric Schur functor

We give geometric descriptions of the category C_k(n,d) of rational polynomial representations of GL_n over a field k of degree d for d less than or equal to n, the Schur functor and Schur-Weyl duality. The descriptions and proofs use a modular version of Springer theory and relationships between the equivariant geometry of the affine Grassmannian and the nilpotent cone for the general linear groups. Motivated by this description, we propose generalizations for an arbitrary connected complex reductive group of the category C_k(n,d) and the Schur functor.Comment: 15 pages, v2 - notation made consistent and assumptions on coefficients clarified. Accepted for publication in Selecta Mat

How Rights Became "Subjective"

What is commonly called a right has since about 1980 increasingly come to be called a subjective right. In this paper the origin and rise of this solecism is investigated. Its use can result in a lack of clarity and even confusion. Some aspects of rights-concepts and their history are also discussed. A brief postscript introduces Leibniz's Razor

Space-Based Genetic Cryoconservation of Endangered Species

Genetic materials of endangered species must be maintained, for cryoconservation, permanently near liquid nitrogen temperatures below 77 K. Due to the instability of human institutions, permanent safety is best provided at storage sites that maintain passively the needed low temperatures, and provide barriers to access. The required conditions are available in permanently shaded polar lunar craters with equilibrium temperatures of 8 to 40 K, on the moons of Saturn, and unshielded storage satellites. A genetic depository can be incorporated readily into planned lunar programmes

Planetary Bioresources and Astroecology 1. Planetary Microcosm Bioassays of Martian and Carbonaceous Chondrite Materials: Nutrients, Electrolyte Solutions, and Algal and Plant Responses

The biological fertilities of planetary materials can be assessed using microcosms based on materials in martian and carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Their biological fertilities are rated based on soluble electrolyte nutrients, on the growth of mesophile and cold-tolerant algae, and of plant tissue cultures. The Murchison CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorite and DaG 476 martian shergottite contain high levels of water-extractable Ca, Mg, and SO4–S. The martian meteorites DaG 476 and EETA 79001 also contain high levels of extractable nutrients NO3–N (0.013–0.017 g kg−1) and PO4–P (0.019–0.046 g kg−1). The yields of most of the water-extractable electrolytes vary little under wide planetary conditions, but the longterm extractable phosphate increases significantly under a CO2 atmosphere. The yields of algae and plant tissue cultures correlate with extractable NO3–N and PO4–P that are the limiting nutrients. Mesophilic algae and Asparagus officinalis are useful bioassay agents. A fertility rating system based on meteorite microcosms is proposed. The fertilities are rated as martian basalts \u3e terrestrial basalt, agricultural soil \u3e carbonaceous chondrites, lava ash \u3e cumulate igneous rocks. The extractable materials in Murchison show that internal solutions in carbonaceous asteroids (3.8 mol L−1 electrolytes and 10 g L−1 organics) can support microorganisms in early solar systems, and that carbonaceous asteroids and martian basalts can serve as future for substantial populations in the Solar System

The two levels of natural law thinking

Central parts of the natural law theories of Grotius and Pufendorf assume that persons by nature have individual realms of their own (suum), violations of which constitute a wrong. This is the basis for their accounts of promises, ownership and reactions against wrongs. These accounts are significantly independent of any assumption that a superior being imposes obligations: rather, the individuals themselves create obligations by their own acts of will. The translator's introducton draws attention to the author's relation to Hägerström, and remarks briefly on related points in Ames, Köhler and Georges Dav