Forget the Bat

2020 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 83-93
Author(s):  
Owen Holland
Keyword(s):  
Life Forms ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Machine Consciousness ◽  
Organic Life ◽  
The Status ◽  
Virtual System

The philosophical legacy of the idea that there must be something it is like to be a conscious organism, together with an inclination to regard organic life forms as having qualities fundamentally distinct from other physical systems, have adversely affected the development of the nascent discipline of machine consciousness. This paper highlights some of the factors involved, and as a corrective proposes a reframing of machine consciousness within a thoroughgoing engineering context. This is shown to offer some significant avenues for progress, while bringing with it some theoretical problems requiring further consideration such as the status of the possible consciousness of a wholly virtual system.

The Biography of the Earth

2021 ◽  
pp. 163-180
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Ervin-Blankenheim
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Snowball Earth ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Geologic Time ◽  
Earth Systems ◽  
Organic Life ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Geologic Record

The way the planet has changed through geologic time, and life on it, the account of the Earth, is the topic of this and the next three chapters, starting in this chapter with the Precambrian Supereon. The overarching principles of geologic time, plate tectonics, and evolution worked dynamically to create the biography of the planet. This chapter traces back to the recesses of the geologic record and early Earth, from its birth and the formation of the Moon through seven-eighths of its existence, a huge span of time. Early life forms emerged during this supereon in the Archean Eon and had a profound influence on other Earth systems. Life interacted and changed the chemistry of the atmosphere through photosynthesis, so much so that the changes are thought to have sent planetary systems over an edge into multiple “Snowball Earth” episodes when most of the planet froze over. In addition to the beginning of organic life and climate, the emergence and configuration of the continents during the Precambrian are covered. Events of this supereon set the stage for the burgeoning of life forms in the next eon, the Phanerozoic.

scholarly journals Model Based Approach to Cyber–Physical Systems Status Monitoring

Computers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Alexander Vodyaho ◽  
Saddam Abbas ◽  
Nataly Zhukova ◽  
Michael Chervoncev
Keyword(s):  
Process Mining ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Cyber Physical Systems ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Actual State ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Model Based ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Behavior

The distinctive feature of new generation information systems is not only their complexity in terms of number of elements, number of connections and hierarchy levels, but also their constantly changing structure and behavior. In this situation the problem of receiving actual information about the observed complex Cyber–Physical Systems (CPS) current status becomes a rather difficult task. This information is needed by stakeholders for solving tasks concerning keeping the system operational, improving its efficiency, ensuring security, etc. Known approaches to solving the problem of the complex distributed CPS actual status definition are not enough effective. The authors propose a model based approach to solving the task of monitoring the status of complex CPS. There are a number of known model based approaches to complex distributed CPS monitoring, but their main difference in comparison with the suggested one is that known approaches by the most part use static models which are to be build manually by experts. It takes a lot of human efforts and often results in errors. Our idea is that automata models of structure and behavior of the observed system are used and both of these models are built and kept in actual state in automatic mode on the basis of log file information. The proposed approach is based, on one hand, on the results of the authors researches in the field of automatic synthesis of multi-level automata models of observed systems and, on the other hand, on well known algorithms of process mining. In the paper typical monitoring tasks are described and generalized algorithms for solving them using the proposed system of models are presented. An example of real life systems based on the suggested approach is given. The approach can be recommended to use for building CPS of medium and high complexity, characterized by high structural dynamics and cognitive behavior.

scholarly journals Nanofiltration for Arsenic Removal: Challenges, Recent Developments, and Perspectives

Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1323 ◽  
Author(s):  
TA Siddique ◽  
Naba K. Dutta ◽  
Namita Roy Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Arsenic Removal ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Inorganic Arsenic ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Polymer Nanocomposite ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The Status

Arsenic (As) removal is of major significance because inorganic arsenic is highly toxic to all life forms, is a confirmed carcinogen, and is of significant environmental concern. As contamination in drinking water alone threatens more than 150 million people all over the world. Therefore, several conventional methods such as oxidation, coagulation, adsorption, etc., have been implemented for As removal, but due to their cost-maintenance limitations; there is a drive for advanced, low cost nanofiltration membrane-based technology. Thus, in order to address the increasing demand of fresh and drinking water, this review focuses on advanced nanofiltration (NF) strategy for As removal to safeguard water security. The review concentrates on different types of NF membranes, membrane fabrication processes, and their mechanism and efficiency of performance for removing As from contaminated water. The article provides an overview of the current status of polymer-, polymer composite-, and polymer nanocomposite-based NF membranes, to assess the status of nanomaterial-facilitated NF membranes and to incite progress in this area. Finally, future perspectives and future trends are highlighted.

Temporally Consistent Simulation of Robots and Their Controllers

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Taylor ◽  
Evan M. Drumwright ◽  
Gabriel Parmer
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Collision Detection ◽  
Robot Control ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Robot Dynamics ◽  
Control Software ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Detection Algorithms ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
The Status

Researchers simulate robot dynamics to optimize gains, trajectories, and controls and to validate proper robot operation. In this paper, we focus on this latter application, which allows roboticists to verify that robots do not damage themselves, the environments they are situated within, or humans. In current simulations, robot control code runs in lockstep with the dynamics integration. This design can result in code that appears viable in simulation but runs too slowly on physical systems. Addressing this problem requires overcoming significant challenges that arise due both to the speed of dynamic simulation running time (simulations may run 1/10 or 1/100 of real-time or slower) and to the variability of the running times (e.g., the speed of collision detection algorithms depends on pairwise object proximities). These difficulties imply that one must not only slow the control software but also scale controller running speeds dynamically. We describe the numerous architectural and OS-level technical challenges that we have overcome to yield temporally consistent simulation for modeling robots that use only real-time processes, and we show that our system is superior to the status quo using simulation-based experiments.

scholarly journals Macrophyte diversity and trophic status of Sakhya Sagar Lake, Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, India.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2398
Author(s):  
Mohit Arya ◽  
Anand Kumar Mishra ◽  
Musadiq Hussain Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Macrophytes ◽  
Trophic Status ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Madhya Pradesh ◽  
Potamogeton Crispus ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
Trapa Natans ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Common ◽  
Suitable Environment

Aquatic habitats provide suitable environment for supporting survival of a diversity of aquatic life forms. The study was conducted in Sakhya Sagar Lake which is situated inside the Madhav National Park Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh. To assess the status and distribution of macrophytes, frequent trips were conducted in the study area. The plants were classified based on their habit and their presence was visually observed. A total of 16 plant species were recorded, of which 16 species, 5 species were sub-dominant, 6 species were common and 5 species were un-common. Among all the 16 plants 9 species are free floating, 4 species are submerged hydrophytes, 1 species is emergent type hydrophyte and 2 species are marginal hydrophytes. Aquatic macrophytes like Nymphaea nouchali, Nelumbo nucifera, Trapa natans, Ipomoea aquatica, Vallisnaria spiralis, Potamogeton crispus, and Azolla pinnata were recorded as the common plants of this lake. The trophic status and macrophyte diversity of Sakhya Sagar Lake has been discussed in the paper.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Sensitivity of Algorithms for Assessing the Harmful Information Indicators in the Interests of Cyber-Physical Security

Electronics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Kotenko ◽  
Igor Parashchuk
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Cyber Physical Systems ◽  
Estimation Accuracy ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Digital Network ◽  
The Status ◽  
Allowable Range ◽  
Analytical Processing ◽  
Stationary Conditions ◽  
A Priori Uncertainty

The secure functioning of cyber-physical systems depends on the presence and amount of harmful (unwanted and malicious) information in its digital network content. The functioning of cyber-physical systems is carried out in non-stationary conditions and in conditions of continuous exposures. This leads to the uncertainty of indicators (parameters, features) of harmful information that must be assessed in the analytical processing of digital network content. The paper proposes an approach to analyse the sensitivity of algorithms for estimating the status of indicators of harmful information observed in noise. This approach allows one to consider possible errors in the estimation accuracy. It gives the possibility to identify the allowable range of changes in the parameters of the digital network content of cyber-physical systems, within which the requirements for the assessment reliability are met. This, in turn, makes a significant contribution to the effectiveness of harmful information detection and counteraction against it. Accounting for a priori uncertainty of the indicators under various influences is advisable to carry out on the basis of expressions for the sensitivity coefficients (functions) described in the paper.

scholarly journals A Novel Intrusion Detection Model Using a Fusion of Network and Device States for Communication-Based Train Control Systems

Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Yajie Song ◽  
Bing Bu ◽  
Li Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Intrusion Detection ◽  
True Positive Rate ◽  
Cyber Attacks ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Detection Model ◽  
Detection Systems ◽  
Train Control ◽  
The Status ◽  
Positive Rate ◽  
Systems Simulation

Security is crucial in cyber-physical systems (CPS). As a typical CPS, the communication-based train control (CBTC) system is facing increasingly serious cyber-attacks. Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) are vital to protect the system against cyber-attacks. The traditional IDS cannot distinguish between cyber-attacks and system faults. Furthermore, the design of the traditional IDS does not take the principles of CBTC systems into consideration. When deployed, it cannot effectively detect cyber-attacks against CBTC systems. In this paper, we propose a novel intrusion detection method that considers both the status of the networks and those of the equipment to identify if the abnormality is caused by cyber-attacks or by system faults. The proposed method is verified on a hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform of CBTC systems. Simulation results indicate that the proposed method has achieved 97.64% true positive rate, which can significantly improve the security protection level of CBTC systems.

Faulkner’s Biopolitical Fable of Modernity

2019 ◽  
pp. 289-310
Author(s):  
Jay Watson
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Great War ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
Organic Life ◽  
The One ◽  
The Great War

A Fable returns to the Great War to reframe it as the scene of a different modernity than the one diagnosed in Faulkner’s early fiction. A Fable concerns itself less with the modernization of death than with the modernization of life, the management of biological being by emergent biopolitical state formations that the Great War presented with a crucial opportunity to tighten their grip on living populations. Thus the defining conflict of A Fable is not between war and peace, nor between death and life, but between life and life, the struggle of autonomous life to rise above life regulated and instrumentalized, life surveilled, administered, and subordinated to the interests of industry, army, media, state: the global consortium that puts all organic life forms at risk. In A Fable, the conceit of world war finds its resonance in this opposition between global cabal and planetary, interspecies collectivity.

Against Allegory

boundary 2 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-61
Author(s):  
Ruth Y.Y. Hung
Keyword(s):  
Final Analysis ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
The Status ◽  
Literary Intellectuals ◽  
Important Quality ◽  
Fictional Memoir ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
Ideological Context

More than ten years on from the 2008 financial crisis, two trends of global statism remain dominant: Beijing-led “exceptional neoliberalism” and the emerging “illiberal democracy” topped by Trumponomics, with racist populism looming at the back of both. Even though these persistent programs are remnants of the ideological, national, and economic wars of the previous century, the boundary separating them is permeable. Jiang Rong 姜 戎’s prizewinning novel, Wolf Totem 《狼图腾》, helps us see this porosity. Wolf Totem is the first “Chinese Cultural Revolution” (fictional) memoir written explicitly for Chinese nationals and yet goes on to engage the sensibility of readers from a Western historical and ideological context. This essay critically identifies certain acts of reading Wolf Totem and looks at the way these selected readings, all allegorical in their approach, step across the literary subject to build symbolic extensions that stretch thin the wolves for various purposes. Collectively, such acts of reading expose both an important quality of our historical moment and the ideological function of literary intellectuals within it. They show that our era is one of skepticism about the status quo, one in which certain antidemocratic drives commiserate over historical conflicts and strategize for an extended, ongoing, and relentless process of global dominance. The popular reception of Wolf Totem crystallizes the thrust and conduct of these seeming competing drives. In the final analysis, this essay follows through the symptoms of these drives to reveal a kind of energetics or “primitivist social ethos” alive in the unified way humanity makes extinct any life forms unsubscribed to global statisms in their Beijing or “illiberal democratic” forms.

scholarly journals Taxonomic Enumeration of Angiosperm Flora of Sreenagar Upazila, Munshigang, Dhaka, Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-172
Author(s):  
Zakia Mahmudah ◽  
Md Muzahidul Islam ◽  
Tahmina Haque ◽  
Mohammad Zashim Uddin
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rare Species ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Calotropis Procera ◽  
Poisonous Plant ◽  
The Status ◽  
Total Plant ◽  
Passiflora Foetida ◽  
Trees And Shrubs

The present article focuses the status of angiosperm flora of Sreenagar upazila under Munshiganj district. The study was done from July 2015 to June 2016. A total of 219 plant species of angiosperms was identified belonging to 165 genera and 70 families. Among them 38 species were monocotyledons and 181 plant species were dicotyledons. Herbs were the largest life forms among the angiosperms and contained about 58% of total plant species occurring in this area. Trees and shrubs occupied 23% and 12% respectively. Climbers were 6% but epiphytes (1%) were very negligible in number in the study area. About 51 medicinal plants were recorded from this study. The following species viz. Lasia spinosa, Calamus tenuis, Tinospora crispa, Passiflora foetida and Calotropis procera were recorded only once and hence considered as rare species in Sreenagar upazila. An invasive poisonous plant Parthenium hysterophorus was also found in Sreenagar. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 43(2): 161-172, December 2017

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