scholarly journals The IAU Working Group on Reference Systems

1990 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 47-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Hughes

The IAU Working Group on Reference Systems (WG) was founded by a Commission Resolution passed at the XXth General Assembly in Baltimore in 1988. Since most, if not all, participants in this meeting are familiar with that resolution, it will not be discussed here. Background material may be found, for example, in Highlights of Astronomy, XX General Assembly (1988, Ed. D. McNally). Particular attention is called to the reports by B. Morando, R. Duncombe and J.A. Hughes (pp. 482-500) which were given as part of the Joint Commission Meeting, Towards Milliarcsecond Accuracy, chaired by P.K. Seidelmann. This short presentation will provide a description of the current state of affairs of the WG, which is chaired by the speaker.

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 125-129
Author(s):  
Toshio Fukushima

The IAU Working Group on Reference Systems (WGRS) Sub-Group on Astronomical Constants (SGAC) was established in June, 1989, as a consequence of resolutions adopted by Commissions 4, 7, 8 and 24 at the IAU General Assembly at Baltimore in 1988. The given missions of this sub-group were stated clearly by J. Hughes, the chairman of the WGRS.


1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6

This report covers the period from 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1990. The ephemerides that have been published during this period have made use of the system of astronomical constants adopted at the 16th General Assembly of the IAU in Grenoble. At the same time that the use of the FK5 system on the J2000 epoch is increasing and catalogues are becoming available for that system, there is an IAU Working Group on Reference Systems with subgroups on astronomical constants, nutation of the Earth, time and reference frames/origin. The purpose is to define a future reference system and resolve some of the difficulties that occur in the system. It is anticipated that this Working Group will develop recommendations for consideration at the 21st General Assembly of the IAU.


Chelovek RU ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 217-220
Author(s):  
Natalia Rostova ◽  

The article analyzes the current state of affairs in philosophy in relation to the question «What is hu-man?». In this regard, the author identifies two strategies – post-humanism and post-cosmism. The strat-egy of post-humanism is to deny the idea of human exceptionalism. Humanity becomes something that can be thought of out of touch with human and understood as a right that extends to the non-human world. Post-cosmism, on the contrary, advocated the idea of ontological otherness of the human. Re-sponding to the challenges of anthropological catastrophe, its representatives propose a number of new anthropological projects.


2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-67
Author(s):  
Sayed Sikandar Shah ◽  
Mek Wok Mahmud

As an intellectual process, critical thinking plays a dynamic role in reconstructing human thought. In Islamic legal thought, this intellectual tool was pivotal in building a full-fledged jurisprudential system during the golden age of Islamic civilization. With the solidification of the science of Islamic legal theory and the entrenchment of classical Islamic jurisprudence, this process abated somewhat. Recent Islamic revival movements have engendered a great zeal for reinstituting this process. The current state of affairs in constructing and reconstructing Islamic jurisprudence by and large do not, however, reflect the dynamic feature of intellectual thought in this particular discipline. Thus this article attempts to briefly delineate this concept, unveil the reality on the ground, and identify some hands-on strategies for applying critical thinking in contemporary ijtihad.


Author(s):  
Farhan Zahid

Pakistan remains a country of vital importance for Al-Qaeda. It is primarily because of Al-Qaeda’s advent, rise and shelter and not to mention the support the terrorist organization found at the landscape of Pakistan during the last two decades. The emergence of in Pakistan can be traced back to the Afghan War (1979-89), with a brief sabbatical in Sudan the Islamist terrorist group rose to gain prominence after shifting back to Afghanistan. It then became a global ‘Islamist’ terrorist entity while based in neighboring Afghanistan and found safe havens in the erstwhile tribal areas of Pakistan in the aftermath of the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Prior to its formation in 1988 in Peshawar (Pakistan), it had worked as Maktab al-Khidmat (Services Bureau) during the Afghan War.2 It had its roots in Pakistan, which had become a transit point of extremists en route to Afghanistan during the War. All high profile Al-Qaeda leaders, later becoming high-value targets, and members of its central Shura had lived in Pakistan at one point in their lives. That is the very reason the Al-Qaeda in Pakistan is termed as Al-Qaeda Core or Central among law enforcement practitioners and intelligence communities. Without going into details of Al-Qaeda’s past in Pakistan the aim of this article is to focus on its current state of affairs and what future lies ahead of it in Pakistan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 703
Author(s):  
Megan Drewniak ◽  
Dimitrios Dalaklis ◽  
Anastasia Christodoulou ◽  
Rebecca Sheehan

In recent years, a continuous decline of ice-coverage in the Arctic has been recorded, but these high latitudes are still dominated by earth’s polar ice cap. Therefore, safe and sustainable shipping operations in this still frozen region have as a precondition the availability of ice-breaking support. The analysis in hand provides an assessment of the United States’ and Canada’s polar ice-breaking program with the purpose of examining to what extent these countries’ relevant resources are able to meet the facilitated growth of industrial interests in the High North. This assessment will specifically focus on the maritime transportation sector along the Northwest Passage and consists of four main sections. The first provides a very brief description of the main Arctic passages. The second section specifically explores the current situation of the Northwest Passage, including the relevant navigational challenges, lack of infrastructure, available routes that may be used for transit, potential choke points, and current state of vessel activity along these routes. The third one examines the economic viability of the Northwest Passage compared to that of the Panama Canal; the fourth and final section is investigating the current and future capabilities of the United States’ and Canada’s ice-breaking fleet. Unfortunately, both countries were found to be lacking the necessary assets with ice-breaking capabilities and will need to accelerate their efforts in order to effectively respond to the growing needs of the Arctic. The total number of available ice-breaking assets is impacting negatively the level of support by the marine transportation system of both the United States and Canada; these two countries are facing the possibility to be unable to effectively meet the expected future needs because of the lengthy acquisition and production process required for new ice-breaking fleets.


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