Water Mass Transport Changes through the Venice Lagoon Inlets from Projected Sea-Level Changes under a Climate Warming Scenario

In this study, an ensemble of numerical simulations with a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model for coastal applications is used to characterize, for the first time, the expected mid-21st-century changes in circulation and associated sea-level height inside the Venice lagoon induced by projected Mediterranean sea level rise and atmospheric circulation changes over the Adriatic Sea under the RCP8.5 emission scenario. Our results show that water transports through the three inlets connecting the Venice lagoon to the open sea are expected to change significantly, with consequent significant persistent alterations of the circulation and sea-level height inside the lagoon. The projected water mass redistributions motivate further studies on the implications of climate change for the lagoon environment

The Way of Water: ALMA resolves H2O emission lines in a strongly lensed dusty star-forming galaxy at z ∼\sim 3.1

We report ALMA high-resolution observations of water emission lines $p-{\rm{H_2O}} (2_{02}-1_{11}$), $o-{\rm{H_2O}} (3_{21}-3_{12})$, $p-{\rm{H_2O}} (4_{22}-4_{13})$, in the strongly lensed galaxy HATLASJ113526.2-01460 at redshift z $\sim$ 3.1. From the lensing-reconstructed maps of water emission and line profiles, we infer the general physical properties of the ISM in the molecular clouds where the lines arise. We find that the water vapor lines $o-{\rm{H_2O}} (3_{21}-3_{12})$, $p-{\rm{H_2O}} (4_{22}-4_{13})$ are mainly excited by FIR pumping from dust radiation in a warm and dense environment, with dust temperatures ranging from 70 K to $\sim 100$ K, as suggested by the line ratios. The $p-{\rm{H_2O}} (2_{02}-1_{11})$ line instead, is excited by a complex interplay between FIR pumping and collisional excitation in the dense core of the star-forming region. This scenario is also supported by the detection of the medium-level excitation of CO resulting in the line emission CO (J=8-7). Thanks to the unprecedented high resolution offered by the combination of ALMA capabilities and gravitational lensing, we discern the different phases of the ISM and locate the hot molecular clouds into a physical scale of $\sim$ 500 pc. We discuss the possibility of J1135 hosting an AGN in its accretion phase. Finally, we determine the relation between the water emission lines and the total IR luminosity of J1135, as well as the SFR as a function of water emission intensities, comparing the outcomes to local and high-$z$ galactic samples from the literature.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Astrophysical Journa

The IBISCO survey: I. Multiphase discs and winds in the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 509

We present the analysis of the ALMA CO(2 1) emission line and the underlying 1.2mm continuum of Mrk 509 with spatial resolution of similar to 270 pc. This local Seyfert 1.5 galaxy, optically classified as a spheroid, is known to host an ionised disc, a starburst ring, and ionised gas winds on both nuclear (ultra-fast outflows) and galactic scales. From CO(2 1) we estimate a molecular gas reservoir of M-H2 = 1.7 x10(9) M-circle dot, located within a disc of size similar to 5.2 kpc, with M-dyn = (2.0 +/- 1.1) x 10(10) M-circle dot inclined at 44 +/- 10 deg. The molecular gas fraction within the disc is mu(gas) = 5%, consistent with that of local star-forming galaxies with similar stellar mass. The gas kinematics in the nuclear region within r similar to 700 pc, that is only marginally resolved at the current angular resolution, suggests the presence of a warped nuclear disc. Both the presence of a molecular disc with ongoing star formation in a starburst ring, and the signatures of a minor merger, are in agreement with the scenario where galaxy mergers produce gas destabilisation, feeding both star formation and AGN activity. The spatially resolved Toomre Q-parameter across the molecular disc is in the range Q(gas) = 0.5-10, and shows that the disc is marginally unstable across the starburst ring, and stable against fragmentation at nucleus and in a lopsided ring-like structure located inside of the starburst ring. We find complex molecular gas kinematics and significant kinematics perturbations at two locations, one within 300 pc of the nucleus and one 1.4 kpc away close to the region with high Q(gas), that we interpret as molecular winds with velocity v(98) = 200-250 km s(-1). The total molecular outflow rate is in the range 6.4-17.0 M-circle dot yr(-1) for the optically thin and thick cases, respectively. The molecular wind total kinetic energy is consistent with a multiphase momentum-conserving wind driven by the AGN with P-of/P-rad in the range 0.06-0.5. The spatial overlap of the inner molecular wind with the ionised wind, and their similar velocity suggest a cooling sequence within a multiphase wind driven by the AGN. The second outer molecular wind component overlaps with the starburst ring, and its energy is consistent with a supernova-driven wind arising from the starburst ring

Biogeochemical, isotopic and bacterial distributions trace oceanic abyssal circulation

We explore the possibility of tracing routes of dense waters toward and within the ocean abyss by the use of an extended set of observed physical and biochemical parameters. To this purpose, we employ mercury, isotopic oxygen, biopolymeric carbon and its constituents, together with indicators of microbial activity and bacterial diversity found in bottom waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. In this basin, which has been considered as a miniature global ocean, two competing sources of bottom water (one in the Adriatic and one in the Aegean seas) contribute to the ventilation of the local abyss. However, due to a recent substantial reduction of the differences in the physical characteristics of these two water masses it has become increasingly complex a water classification using the traditional approach with temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen alone. Here, we show that an extended set of observed physical and biochemical parameters allows recognizing the existence of two different abyssal routes from the Adriatic source and one abyssal route from the Aegean source despite temperature and salinity of such two competing sources of abyssal water being virtually indistinguishable. Moreover, as the near-bottom development of exogenous bacterial communities transported by convectively-generated water masses in the abyss can provide a persistent trace of episodic events, intermittent flows like those generating abyssal waters in the Eastern Mediterranean basin may become detectable beyond the availability of concomitant measurements.We explore the possibility of tracing routes of dense waters toward and within the ocean abyss by the use of an extended set of observed physical and biochemical parameters. To this purpose, we employ mercury, isotopic oxygen, biopolymeric carbon and its constituents, together with indicators of microbial activity and bacterial diversity found in bottom waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. In this basin, which has been considered as a miniature global ocean, two competing sources of bottom water (one in the Adriatic and one in the Aegean seas) contribute to the ventilation of the local abyss. However, due to a recent substantial reduction of the differences in the physical characteristics of these two water masses it has become increasingly complex a water classification using the traditional approach with temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen alone. Here, we show that an extended set of observed physical and biochemical parameters allows recognizing the existence of two different abyssal routes from the Adriatic source and one abyssal route from the Aegean source despite temperature and salinity of such two competing sources of abyssal water being virtually indistinguishable. Moreover, as the near-bottom development of exogenous bacterial communities transported by convectively-generated water masses in the abyss can provide a persistent trace of episodic events, intermittent flows like those generating abyssal waters in the Eastern Mediterranean basin may become detectable beyond the availability of concomitant measurements. © 2016 Rubino et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

An abrupt weakening of the subpolar gyre as trigger of Little Ice Age-type episodes

We investigate the mechanism of a decadal-scale weakening shift in the strength of the subpolar gyre (SPG) that is found in one among three last millennium simulations with a state-of-the-art Earth system model. The SPG shift triggers multicentennial anomalies in the North Atlantic climate driven by long-lasting internal feedbacks relating anomalous oceanic and atmospheric circulation, sea ice extent, and upper-ocean salinity in the Labrador Sea. Yet changes throughout or after the shift are not associated with a persistent weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or shifts in the North Atlantic Oscillation. The anomalous climate state of the North Atlantic simulated after the shift agrees well with climate reconstructions from within the area, which describe a transition between a stronger and weaker SPG during the relatively warm medieval climate and the cold Little Ice Age respectively. However, model and data differ in the timing of the onset. The simulated SPG shift is caused by a rapid increase in the freshwater export from the Arctic and associated freshening in the upper Labrador Sea. Such freshwater anomaly relates to prominent thickening of the Arctic sea ice, following the cluster of relatively small-magnitude volcanic eruptions by 1600 CE. Sensitivity experiments without volcanic forcing can nonetheless produce similar abrupt events; a necessary causal link between the volcanic cluster and the SPG shift can therefore be excluded. Instead, preconditioning by internal variability explains discrepancies in the timing between the simulated SPG shift and the reconstructed estimates for the Little Ice Age onset

XQR-30: the ultimate XSHOOTER quasar sample at the reionization epoch

The final phase of the reionization process can be probed by rest-frame UV absorption spectra of quasars at z>6, shedding light on the properties of the diffuse intergalactic medium within the first Gyr of the Universe. The ESO Large Programme "XQR-30: the ultimate XSHOOTER legacy survey of quasars at z~5.8-6.6" dedicated ~250 hours of observations at the VLT to create a homogeneous and high-quality sample of spectra of 30 luminous quasars at z~6, covering the rest wavelength range from the Lyman limit to beyond the MgII emission. Twelve quasar spectra of similar quality from the XSHOOTER archive were added to form the enlarged XQR-30 sample, corresponding to a total of ~350 hours of on-source exposure time. The median effective resolving power of the 42 spectra is R~11400 and 9800 in the VIS and NIR arm, respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio per 10 km/s pixel ranges from ~11 to 114 at $\lambda \simeq 1285$ \AA rest frame, with a median value of ~29. We describe the observations, data reduction and analysis of the spectra, together with some first results based on the E-XQR-30 sample. New photometry in the H and K bands are provided for the XQR-30 quasars, together with composite spectra whose characteristics reflect the large absolute magnitudes of the sample. The composite and the reduced spectra are released to the community through a public repository, and will enable a range of studies addressing outstanding questions regarding the first Gyr of the Universe.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Revised version resubmitted to MNRAS after minor referee repor

European summer temperatures since Roman times

The spatial context is critical when assessing present-day climate anomalies, attributing them to potential forcings and making statements regarding frequency and severity in the long-term perspective. Recent initiatives have expanded the number of high-quality proxy-records and developed new reconstruction methods. These advances allow more rigorous regional past temperature reconstructions and the possibility of evaluating climate models on policy-relevant, spatio-temporal scales. We provide a new proxy-based, annually-resolved, spatial reconstruction of the European summer temperature fields back to 755 CE based on a Bayesian hierarchical modelling (BHM), together with estimates of the European mean temperature variation since 138 BCE based on Composite-plus-Scaling. Our reconstructions compare well with independent instrumental and proxy-based temperature estimates, but suggest a larger amplitude in summer temperature variability than previously reported. Temperature differences between the medieval period, the recent period and Little Ice Age are larger in reconstructions than simulations. This may indicate either inflated variability of the reconstructions, a lack of sensitivity to external forcing on sub-hemispheric scales in the climate models and/or an underestimation of internal variability on centennial and longer time scales including the representation of internal feedback mechanisms

XQR-30: The ultimate XSHOOTER quasar sample at the reionization epoch

The final phase of the reionization process can be probed by rest-frame UV absorption spectra of quasars at z ≳ 6, shedding light on the properties of the diffuse intergalactic medium within the first Gyr of the Universe. The ESO Large Programme 'XQR-30: the ultimate XSHOOTER legacy survey of quasars at z ≃ 5.8-6.6' dedicated ∼250 h of observations at the VLT to create a homogeneous and high-quality sample of spectra of 30 luminous quasars at z ∼6, covering the rest wavelength range from the Lyman limit to beyond the Mg ii emission. Twelve quasar spectra of similar quality from the XSHOOTER archive were added to form the enlarged XQR-30 sample, corresponding to a total of ∼350 h of on-source exposure time. The median effective resolving power of the 42 spectra is R ≃ 11 400 and 9800 in the VIS and NIR arm, respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio per 10 km s-1 pixel ranges from ∼11 to 114 at λ ≃ 1285 Å rest frame, with a median value of ∼29. We describe the observations, data reduction, and analysis of the spectra, together with some first results based on the E-XQR-30 sample. New photometry in the H and K bands are provided for the XQR-30 quasars, together with composite spectra whose characteristics reflect the large absolute magnitudes of the sample. The composite and the reduced spectra are released to the community through a public repository, and will enable a range of studies addressing outstanding questions regarding the first Gyr of the Universe

ELSA in industrial robotics

Purpose of ReviewIndustry is changing; converging technologies allow a fourth Industrial Revolution, where it is envisaged that robots will work alongside humans. We investigate how the research community is responding to the ethical, legal, and social aspects of industrial robots, with a primary focus on manufacturing industry.Recent FindingsThe literature shows considerable interest in the impact of robotics and automation on industry. This interest spans many disciplines, which is to be expected given that the ELS impacts of industrial robotics may be profound in their depth and far-reaching in their scope.SummaryWe suggest that the increasing importance of human-robot interaction (HRI) reduces the differentiation between industrial robotics and other robotic domains and that the main challenges to successful adoption for the benefit of human life are above all political and economic. Emerging standards and legal frameworks may scaffold this success, but it is apparent that getting it wrong might have repercussions that last for generations