Fibre laser hydrophones for cosmic ray particle detection

The detection of ultra high energetic cosmic neutrinos provides a unique means to search for extragalactic sources that accelerate particles to extreme energies. It allows to study the neutrino component of the GZK cut-off in the cosmic ray energy spectrum and the search for neutrinos beyond this limit. Due to low expected flux and small interaction cross-section of neutrinos with matter large experimental set-ups are needed to conduct this type of research. Acoustic detection of cosmic rays may provide a means for the detection of ultra-high energetic neutrinos. Using relative low absorption of sound in water, large experimental set-ups in the deep sea are possible that are able to detect these most rare events, but it requires highly sensitive hydrophones as the thermo-acoustic pulse originating from a particle shower in water has a typical amplitude as low as a mPa. It has been shown in characterisation measurements that the fibre optic hydrophone technology as designed and realised at TNO provides the required sensitivity. Noise measurements and pulse reconstruction have been conducted that show that the hydrophone is suited as a particle detector.Comment: Submitted to the proceedings of "13th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors (IPRD13)

THE STUDY OF INDONESIA’S READINESS TO COPE WITH DEMOGRAPHIC BONUS: A REVIEW OF POPULATION LAW

The shift from a population mapping to investigate the population bonus on demographic aspect enhances the economic value this study might contribute for. Indonesian population as the fourth largest number requires some policies to cope with the millennium challenges. Improving nationwide database maintains government on-going strategy to manage its population that is expected to serve all stakeholders for any quest towards economic development. The study uses mixed method with the explanatory sequential strategy. The qualitative approach is used, using social network analysis, supported by desk study, in-depth interview, focus group discussion, and literature studies. This study attempts to provide for improvement to the extant regulations on identity card, mostly electronic-KTP. Demographic bonus is an interesting topic given that the younger the population, the higher the employment demand rate will be. Having systematic database bank and access is expected to alleviate the challenge on high population growth rate in Indonesia. Besides, recommendations are addressed to the policy maker (the Government), mostly on the review or amendment of the extant regulations that might not in line with the database systematic improvements. The study is a primary thesis from a review of population law, using multidisciplinary approach, i.e. population economics (demography), legal study, and public policy that can be used as a testing basis to answer further demographic bonus from an exploration of other scientific inquiries.Keywords: demographic economy, demographic bonus, population administration law, e-ID, social network analysi

Social touch in human–computer interaction

Touch is our primary non-verbal communication channel for conveying intimate emotions and as such essential for our physical and emotional wellbeing. In our digital age, human social interaction is often mediated. However, even though there is increasing evidence that mediated touch affords affective communication, current communication systems (such as videoconferencing) still do not support communication through the sense of touch. As a result, mediated communication does not provide the intense affective experience of co-located communication. The need for ICT mediated or generated touch as an intuitive way of social communication is even further emphasized by the growing interest in the use of touch-enabled agents and robots for healthcare, teaching, and telepresence applications. Here, we review the important role of social touch in our daily life and the available evidence that affective touch can be mediated reliably between humans and between humans and digital agents. We base our observations on evidence from psychology, computer science, sociology, and neuroscience with focus on the first two. Our review shows that mediated affective touch can modulate physiological responses, increase trust and affection, help to establish bonds between humans and avatars or robots, and initiate pro-social behavior. We argue that ICT mediated or generated social touch can (a) intensify the perceived social presence of remote communication partners and (b) enable computer systems to more effectively convey affective information. However, this research field on the crossroads of ICT and psychology is still embryonic and we identify several topics that can help to mature the field in the following areas: establishing an overarching theoretical framework, employing better research methodologies, developing basic social touch building blocks, and solving specific ICT challenges