An artificial life approach to studying niche differentiation in soundscape ecology

Artificial life simulations are an important tool in the study of ecological phenomena that can be difficult to examine directly in natural environments. Recent work has established the soundscape as an ecologically important resource and it has been proposed that the differentiation of animal vocalizations within a soundscape is driven by the imperative of intraspecies communication. The experiments in this paper test that hypothesis in a simulated soundscape in order to verify the feasibility of intraspecies communication as a driver of acoustic niche differentiation. The impact of intraspecies communication is found to be a significant factor in the division of a soundscape's frequency spectrum when compared to simulations where the need to identify signals from conspecifics does not drive the evolution of signalling. The method of simulating the effects of interspecies interactions on the soundscape is positioned as a tool for developing artificial life agents that can inhabit and interact with physical ecosystems and soundscapes.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, The 2019 Conference on Artificial Lif

THE HYBRONAUT AND THE UMWELT: WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY AS ARTISTIC STRATEGY

This dissertation explores the use of irony in networked wearable technology art as a strategy to emphasise the complexity of conjunction between techno-organic human and the techno-organic world. The research addresses the relationship between technologically enhanced human and networked hybrid environment, and speculates on the impact of technological enhancements to the subjective construction of Umwelt through ironic interventions. The project employs both artistic practice and critical theory. The practice-based part of the dissertation is comprised of three wearable technology artworks produced during the study. These concrete artefacts employ irony as a means to expose the techno-organic relationship between humans and their environment under scrutiny. The works highlight the significance of technological modifications of the human for the formation of subjective worldview in an everyday hybrid environment. The theoretical part navigates between the fields of art, design, technology, science and cultural studies concerning the impact of technology and networks on human experience and perception of the world. In the background of this research is biologist Jakob von Uexküll’s concept of the Umwelt, which is a subjective perception created by an organism through its active engagement with the everyday living environment. This dissertation focuses on the Umwelt that is formed in an interaction between hybrid environment and the technologically enhanced human, the Hybronaut. 4 Hybrid environment is a physical reality merged with technologically enabled virtual reality. The Hybronaut is an artistic strategy developed during the research based on four elements: wearable technology, network ability, irony and contextualised experience for the public. Irony is one of the prominent characteristics of the Hybronaut. Irony functions as a way to produce multiple paradoxical perspectives that enable a critical inquiry into our subjective construction of Umwelt. The research indicates that ironic networked wearable technology art presents an opportunity to re-examine our perception concerning the human and his environment

Living Biotechnical Lives:noise, parasites, and relational practices

Life in the era of biotechnology opens up opportunities but also poses challenges related to our values ​​and questions regarding the way we want to see coexistence on our planet, which is inhabited by many species. The parasite is our case study and an interesting concept that we inherit from biology but which is also addressed in humanism and philosophy. As humans, we commonly understand the concept of a parasite as a negative one that suggests someone or something which benefits at our expense. However, French philosopher Michel Serres had a different view of the parasite. According to him, the parasite is based on relationships between different entities, and there is often noise in these relationships. Serres refers to biologist Henri Atlan, who has argued that said noise forces the system to reorganize itself in a way that incorporates the noise into the complex system. The idea of ​​noise as an integrated part of the system is quite far from today’s thought processes with the development of bio/technology that typically aims to be noiseless and error-free and have aesthetically attractive results. Therefore, although parasites are often associated with terms such as inhospitable, undesirable, and disgusting and are seen to be located outside of art and technology, in this paper, we argue that the concept of something parasitical is tightly intertwined with our contemporary biotechnical lives. The article relates Serres’ parasitic thinking to an artistic mediation of the biological parasite: the tick.Peer reviewe

The Right to Dignified Living Conditions and the Position of Vulnerability in the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court

Over the years, but particularly in the last decade, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter IACHR) and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (hereinafter IACtHR) have tried out diverse argumentative strategies for grounding the exigible character of social rights

The right to dignified living conditions and the situation of vulnerability in the decisions of the Inter-American Court

En este trabajo sostenemos que el desarrollo jurisprudencial de la Corte IDH sobre el derecho a condiciones de existencia digna se basa en la igualdad material. Para sostener nuestra tesis primero reconstruiremos la estrategia argumentativa que parte de la faz de derecho de prestación del derecho a la vida; luego reconstruiremos la estrategia de la justificación a través de los DESC. Destacamos que ninguna de las dos se presenta en forma excluyente cuando se trata de determinar el contenido del derecho a las condiciones de existencia digna. La (in)suficiencia de las condiciones de existencia digna se mide en el caso concreto en relación con el acceso al derecho al agua, la alimentación, la educación, entre otros derechos sociales. Por último, resaltamos las bondades del enfoque de igualdad material para la justificación y exigibilidad de este derecho. A su vez, discutimos las ventajas y desventajas del uso del argumento de grupos vulnerables o el de situación de vulnerabilidad en relación con la obligación de generar condiciones de existencia digna.In this work we argue that the jurisprudential development of the right to dignified life and the subsequent affirmative obligations of the State to generate conditions lie in the argument of material equality. In order to support our thesis, we reconstruct the argumentative strategy that departs from the affirmative nature of the right to life. Later, we reconstruct the strategy for justifying it under ESCR rights. We highlight that neither of them are excluded to determine the content of the right of dignified life. The (in) sufficiency of the conditions of decent living is evaluated under the light of social, cultural, and economic rights: the right to access to water, to food, to health, and to education. Finally, we argue for the benefits of the material equality approach. At the same time, it allows us to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the use of vulnerable groups or situation of vulnerability arguments with regards to the obligation of generating conditions for a decent life.Fil: Beloff, Mary Ana. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Clérico, María Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Towards a Plant Bio-Machine

Plants are very efficient computing machines. They are able to sense diverse environmental conditions and quickly react through chemical and electrical signaling. In this paper, we present an interface between plants and machines (a cybernetic plant), with the goal of augmenting the capabilities of plants towards the creation of plant biosensors. We implement a data acquisition system able to stimulate the plant through different electrical signals, as well as record the electrical activity of plants in response to changing electrical stimulations, light conditions, and chemicals. The results serve as a proof of concept that sensing capabilities of plants are a viable option for the development of plant bio-machines. Different future scenarios (some speculative) are discussed. The work herein is carried out as a collaboration between the EU project Flora Robotica and the EU project NASCENCE