À la recherche du « temps mantra » perdu

La série de quatre conférences se rapporte à une période peu comprise d’un grand changement religieux et social dans l’Inde ancienne. La période « mantra » est ainsi nommée parce que c’est la période de composition des mantras, « énoncés sacrés », du Yajurveda. C’est aussi la période où le Rigveda a plus ou moins trouvé la forme sous laquelle nous le connaissons. Cette période est postérieure à la composition des poèmes individuels du Rigveda, mais antérieure à la fixation du Yajur-, Sāma- et..

Adhiyajña: Towards a Performance Grammar of the Vedas

Recent scholarship has challenged the anachronistic projection of the modern category of the poem onto premodern texts. This article attempts to theorize how one might construct an alternative to modern conceptualizations of “the poem” that more closely appropriates the conceptualization of textuality in the Rigveda, an anthology of 1028 sūktas “well-spoken (texts)” that represents the oldest religious literature in South Asia. In order to understand what these texts are and what they were expected to do, this article examines the techniques by which the Rigveda refers to itself, to its performer, to its audience, and to the occasion of its performance. In so doing, this article theorizes a “performance grammar” comprising three axes of textual self-reference (spatial, temporal, and personal); these axes of reference constitute a scene of performance populated by rhetorically constructed speakers and listeners. This performance narrative, called here the adhiyajña level, frames the mythological narratives of the text. By examining the relationship between mythological narrative and performance narrative, we can better understand the purpose of performing a text and thus what kind of an entity Rigvedic “texts” really are. While this article proposes a rubric specifically for the Rigvedic context, its principles can be adapted to other premodern texts in order to better understand the performance context they presuppose

Human impact on atolls leads to coral loss and community homogenisation : a modeling study

We explore impacts on pristine atolls subjected to anthropogenic near-field (human habitation) and far-field (climate and environmental change) pressure. Using literature data of human impacts on reefs, we parameterize forecast models to evaluate trajectories in coral cover under impact scenarios that primarily act via recruitment and increased mortality of larger corals. From surveys across the Chagos, we investigate the regeneration dynamics of coral populations distant from human habitation after natural disturbances. Using a size-based mathematical model based on a time-series of coral community and population data from 1999–2006, we provide hind- and forecast data for coral population dynamics within lagoons and on ocean-facing reefs verified against monitoring from 1979–2009. Environmental data (currents, temperatures) were used for calibration. The coral community was simplified into growth typologies: branching and encrusting, arboresent and massive corals. Community patterns observed in the field were influenced by bleaching-related mortality, most notably in 1998. Survival had been highest in deep lagoonal settings, which suggests a refuge. Recruitment levels were higher in lagoons than on ocean-facing reefs. When adding stress by direct human pressure, climate and environmental change as increased disturbance frequency and modified recruitment and mortality levels (due to eutrophication, overfishing, pollution, heat, acidification, etc), models suggest steep declines in coral populations and loss of community diversification among habitats. We found it likely that degradation of lagoonal coral populations would impact regeneration potential of all coral populations, also on ocean-facing reefs, thus decreasing reef resilience on the entire atoll

SHOTPUT: A JPL Planetary Summer Science School study

During 2015, a unique launch opportunity exists that allows for a New-Frontiers-class mission to discover a compositional gradient of small bodies in our solar system. The proposed seven year mission includes a flyby of main belt asteroid (108144) 2001 HM1, a flyby and impactor release (a la Deep Impact) at the Trojan asteroid (624) Hektor (a suspected contact binary) with companion P/2006, and a flyby with impactor release at the Centaur asteroid 39P/Oterma. The variety of types and positions of these small bodies will help answer some of the fundamental questions we have for the evolution and composition of our solar system. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Planetary Science Summer School team has designed a mission designed to address all of these scientific questions and design objectives. We will describe instrument selection, launch dates and mission timetables, measurement and encounter strategies, impactor design and benefits, data acquisition and communication tradeoffs and provide background into the mission science goals. Furthermore, cost estimates and a work breakdown will be provided to prove the practicality 978-1-4244-2622-5/09/$25.00 copy2009 IEEE. IEEEAC paper #1634, Version 2, Updated Jan 7, 2009 of meeting all the science objectives within a short period of time. A strategy for the development of our system based upon previously used instruments and hardware will also be presented.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administratio