278 research outputs found
Lessons to be learned: Reviving advocacy organisations after the neo-con men
The article assesses the impact of the Howard years on non-government advocacy organisations in Australia. It stresses the importance of advocacy in civil society, and in representative democracy. It outlines how this role was undermined, including with regard to the manipulation of contracting-out arrangements. It argues that to regain their former role advocacy organisations will need to reassess their relationships with governmentâincluding their funding relationshipsâand reassert their role as independent analysts and legitimate critics of government power and policy
Growing dust grains in protoplanetary discs - I. Radial drift with toy growth models
In a series of papers, we present a comprehensive analytic study of the
global motion of growing dust grains in protoplanetary discs, addressing both
the radial drift and the vertical settling of the particles. Here we study how
the radial drift of dust particles is affected by grain growth. In a first
step, toy models in which grain growth can either be constant, accelerate or
decelerate are introduced. The equations of motion are analytically integrable
and therefore the grains dynamics is easy to understand.
The radial motion of growing grains is governed by the relative efficiency of
the growth and migration processes which is expressed by the dimensionless
parameter Lambda, as well as the exponents for the gas surface density and
temperature profiles, denoted p and q respectively. When Lambda is of order
unity, growth and migration are strongly coupled, providing the most efficient
radial drift. For the toy models considered, grains pile up when -p+q+1/2<0.
Importantly, we show the existence of a second process which can help discs to
retain their solid materials. For accelerating growth, grains end up their
migration at a finite radius, thus avoiding being accreted onto the central
star.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. v2: typos
correcte
Planet gaps in the dust layer of 3D proto-planetary disks: Observability with ALMA
Among the numerous known extrasolar planets, only a handful have been imaged
directly so far, at large orbital radii and in rather evolved systems. The
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) will have the capacity to
observe these wide planetary systems at a younger age, thus bringing a better
understanding of the planet formation process. Here we explore the ability of
ALMA to detect the gaps carved by planets on wide orbits.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symp. 299:
Exploring the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems (Victoria, Canada
Stable habitable zones of single Jovian planet systems
With continued improvement in telescope sensitivity and observational
techniques, the search for rocky planets in stellar habitable zones is entering
an exciting era. With so many exoplanetary systems available for follow-up
observations to find potentially habitable planets, one needs to prioritise the
ever-growing list of candidates. We aim to determine which of the known
planetary systems are dynamically capable of hosting rocky planets in their
habitable zones, with the goal of helping to focus future planet search
programs. We perform an extensive suite of numerical simulations to identify
regions in the habitable zones of single Jovian planet systems where Earth mass
planets could maintain stable orbits, specifically focusing on the systems in
the Catalog of Earth-like Exoplanet Survey Targets (CELESTA). We find that
small, Earth-mass planets can maintain stable orbits in cases where the
habitable zone is largely, or partially, unperturbed by a nearby Jovian, and
that mutual gravitational interactions and resonant mechanisms are capable of
producing stable orbits even in habitable zones that are significantly or
completely disrupted by a Jovian. Our results yield a list of 13 single Jovian
planet systems in CELESTA that are not only capable of supporting an Earth-mass
planet on stable orbits in their habitable zone, but for which we are also able
to constrain the orbits of the Earth-mass planet such that the induced radial
velocity signals would be detectable with next generation instruments.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication by MNRA
The Truth Will Set You Free? The Promises and Pitfalls of TruthâTelling for Indigenous Emancipation
First Nations in Australia are beginning to grapple with processes of treatyâmaking with state governments and territories. As these processes gain momentum, truthâtelling has become a central tenet of imagining Indigenous emancipation and the possibility of transforming relationships between Indigenous and settler peoples. Truth, it is suggested, will enable changed ways of knowing what and who "Australia" is. These dynamics assume that truthâtelling will benefit all people, but will truth be enough to compel change and provide an emancipated future for Indigenous people? This article reports on Australian truthâtelling processes in Victoria, and draws on two sets of extant literature to understand the lessons and outcomes of international experience that provide crucial insights for these processes - that on truthâtelling commissions broadly, and that focusing specifically on a comparable settler colonial state process, the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The article presents a circumspect assessment of the possibilities for Indigenous emancipation that might emerge through truthâtelling from our perspective as a team of Indigenous and nonâIndigenous critical scholars. We first consider the normative approach that sees truthâtelling as a potentially flawed but worthwhile process imbued with possibility, able to contribute to rethinking and changing Indigenous - settler relations. We then consider the more critical views that see truthâtelling as rehabilitative of the settler colonial state and obscuring ongoing colonial injustices. Bringing this analysis into conversation with contemporary debate on truthâtelling in Australia, we advocate for the simultaneous adoption of both normative and critical perspectives to truthâtelling as a possible way forward for understanding the contradictions, opportunities, and tensions that truthâtelling implies
Young women in the contemporary Australian womenâs movement: collective identity, discursive politics and âpostsocialistâ dilemmas
[Introduction]: In the mid to late 1990s the Australian womenâs movement was consumed by suggestions of inter-generational warfare that distracted movement actors from some important tasks. Questions were raised about the presence and visibility of young women in the movement. Assertions that some forms of feminist praxis were âgoodâ, and some were not, undervalued the value of the important work being done in this âbetween the wavesâ moment. In this paper I contend that young women are playing a key role in maintaining the political space available for Australian feminist activism in a âpostsocialistâ context. I argue against the generational paradigm as a model for understanding changes that occur within social movements over time. Further I argue that, despite both media rhetoric and the claims of some young feminists, there is little to suggest that the activism of contemporary young feminists constitutes a âthird waveâ of the womenâs movement. I offer an understanding of this âcross-generational momentâ (Zita 1997:1) that draws a more productive and inclusive picture of the role of young women in the contemporary Australian womenâs movement
Predicting Dust Distribution in Protoplanetary Discs
We present the results of three-dimensional numerical simulations that
include the effects of hydrodynamical forces and gas drag upon an evolving
dusty gas disk. We briefly describe a new parallel, two phase numerical code
based upon the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) technique in which the gas
and dust phases are represented by two distinct types of particles. We use the
code to follow the dynamical evolution of a population of grains in a gaseous
protoplanetary disk in order to understand the distribution of grains of
different sizes within the disk. Our ``grains'' range from metre to
submillimetre in size.Comment: 2 pages, LaTeX with 1 ps figure embedded, using newpasp.sty
(supplied). To appear in the proceedings of the XIXth IAP colloquium
"Extrasolar Planets: Today and Tomorrow" held in Paris, France, 2003, June 30
-- July 4, ASP Conf. Se
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