Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Corporatised Identities ≠ Digital Identities: Algorithmic Filtering on Social Media and the Commercialisation of Presentations of Self

Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical identity theory requires modification when theorising about presentations of self on social media. This chapter contributes to these efforts, refining a conception of digital identities by differentiating them from ‘corporatised identities’. Armed with this new distinction, I ultimately argue that social media platforms’ production of corporatised identities undermines their users’ autonomy and digital well-being. This follows from the disentanglement of several commonly conflated concepts. Firstly, I distinguish two kinds of presentation of self that I collectively refer to as ‘expressions of digital identity’. These digital performances (boyd 2007) and digital artefacts (Hogan 2010) are distinct, but often confused. Secondly, I contend this confusion results in the subsequent conflation of corporatised identities – poor approximations of actual digital identities, inferred and extrapolated by algorithms from individuals’ expressions of digital identity – with digital identities proper. Finally, and to demonstrate the normative implications of these clarifications, I utilise MacKenzie’s (2014, 2019) interpretation of relational autonomy to propose that designing social media sites around the production of corporatised identities, at the expense of encouraging genuine performances of digital identities, has undermined multiple dimensions of this vital liberal value. In particular, the pluralistic range of authentic preferences that should structure flourishing human lives are being flattened and replaced by commercial, consumerist preferences. For these reasons, amongst others, I contend that digital identities should once again come to drive individuals’ actions on social media sites. Only upon doing so can individuals’ autonomy, and control over their digital identities, be rendered compatible with social media

Anticipating Ethical Issues When Designing Services that Employ Personal Data

Advancements in technology enable cross-device interactions and the creation of complex ecosystems of Internet of Things (IoT). Networked systems support the creation of services for multiple purposes such as smart transportation, health care, wellbeing. The spreading of services based on personal data is shaping current socio-technical systems; it induces innovations that are changing everyday scenarios and behaviors, posing ethical issues that should be taken into account since the very first phases of the design process. As designers, we need to understand the user experience with respect to the usual requirements of usability, acceptability and desirability of the new solutions, and manage delicate issues related to the impacts of these solutions on individuals and communities. This requires knowledge and dedicated design tools enabling designers to make conscious design choices during the design process. In this paper, we present an anticipation method aimed to support awareness of designers about critical issues related to the use of personal data in the project of complex technology-based systems and services. The paper reports the main features of the methods and of the research activity that generated our approach. Furthermore, we illustrate the results obtained applying the anticipation method on a case study, the MEMoSa project. The case study refers to an innovative service offering tailored services for safer driving; this research involved several partners, including a telecommunication company, and insurance offerings services for safer driving. The case study supports the validation of the anticipation method and the discussion of its potentials