Finding graphene flakes on the moon

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It seems like there’s graphene on the moon according to an August 1, 2024 news item on phys.org , Note: A link has been removed,

A study, published in National Science Review, reveals the existence of naturally formed few-layer graphene, a substance consisting of carbon atoms in a special, thin-layered structure.

The team, led by professors Meng Zou, Wei Zhang and senior engineer Xiujuan Li from Jilin University and Wencai Ren from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Metal Research, analyzed an olive-shaped sample of lunar soil, about 2.9 millimeters by 1.6 mm, retrieved from the Chang’e 5 mission in 2020.

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Caption: (a) Laser scanning confocal microscopy image and height distribution. (b) Backscattered electron SEM image and (c) Raman spectra corresponding to different areas. (d) TEM image, Cs-corrected HAADF-STEM image, and the corresponding EELS Fe L-edge spectra for different areas. (e) Cs-corrected HRTEM images. (f) HAADF-STEM image. (g) EDS elemental maps showing spatial distributions of the elements. (h) HRTEM images of the corresponding regions marked in (f). Credit: ©Science China Press

An August 1, 2024 Science China Press press release on EurekAlert, which originated the news item, provides more details,

According to the team, scientists generally believe that some 1.9 percent of interstellar carbon exists in the form of graphene, with its shape and structure determined by the process of its formation.

Using a special spectrometer, researchers found an iron compound that is closely related to the formation of graphene in a carbon-rich section of the sample. They then used advanced microscopic and mapping technologies to confirm that the carbon content in the sample comprised “flakes” that have two to seven layers of graphene.

The team proposed that the few-layer graphene may have formed in volcanic activity in the early stages of the moon’s existence, and been catalyzed by solar winds that can stir up lunar soil and iron-containing minerals that helped transform the carbon atoms’ structure. They added that impact processes from meteorites, which create high-temperature and high-pressure environments, may also have led to the formation of graphene.

On Earth, graphene is becoming a star in materials sciences due to its special features in optics, electrics and mechanics. The team believes their study could help develop ways to produce the material inexpensively and expand its use.

“The mineral-catalyzed formation of natural graphene sheds light on the development of low-cost scalable synthesis techniques of high-quality graphene,” the paper said. “Therefore, a new lunar exploration program may be promoted, and some forthcoming breakthroughs can be expected.”

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Discovery of natural few-layer graphene on the Moon by Wei Zhang, Qing Liang, Xiujuan Li, Lai-Peng Ma, Xinyang Li, Zhenzhen Zhao, Rui Zhang, Hongtao Cao, Zizhun Wang, Wenwen Li, Yanni Wang, Meiqi Liu, Nailin Yue, Hongyan Li, Zhenyu Hu, Li Liu, Qiang Zhou, Fangfei Li, Weitao Zheng, Wencai Ren, Meng Zou. National Science Review, nwae211, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwae211 Published:: 17 June 2024

This paper is open access and the National Science Review looks like another China-backed journal published by Oxford Academic. If not China-backed, it’s certainly China forward, from the About page,

National Science Review is an open access, peer-reviewed journal aimed at reporting cutting-edge developments across science and technology in China and around the world. The journal covers all areas of the natural sciences, including physics and mathematics, chemistry, life sciences, earth sciences, materials science, and information sciences.

I just realized that I haven’t seen anything recently about which country or countries are the leading the science race. Going by the recent rate of publication, China is doing quite well.

Modem Futura: a podcast about where technology, society and humanity converge

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An October 9, 2024 notice from Dr. Andrew Maynard, Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society At Arizona State University (ASU) about one of his latest projects, a podcast, popped into my emailbox,


 My apologies if this is a duplicate email, but I wanted to let you know
that we’ve just launched a new podcast through the ASU [Arizona State University] Future of Being Human initiative that you may be interested in:

 Modem Futura:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modem-futura/id1771688480 [1]

 The podcast’s available on Apple Podcasts and pretty much everywhere
else you listen to your favorite podcasts. Hosted by myself and my
colleague Sean Leahy, it’s a conversational podcast that explores the
intersection between emerging technologies, society and the future in
what we hope is an authentic, nuanced and entertaining way.

 Please do check it out if you have a moment (or are an avid podcast
listener), and if you enjoy it, please do spread the word, subscribe,
and even leave us a review.

 We believe there’s a real hunger for nuanced and balanced discussions
in this area, and are expecting the podcast to have considerable reach
— but every bit helps us in achieving this.

I listened to the episode, “The Pilot – Exploring the Future of Being Human” and it was an engaging 22 mins. The two hosts, Andrew Maynard and his colleague, Dr. Sean Leahy, obviously like and get along well with each other. Here are some episode notes, from https://modem-futura.simplecast.com/episodes (click on the Pilot episode for the notes),

In this pilot episode of Modem Futura, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard explore the intersection of technology, society, and the human experience. They discuss the origins of the podcast, the significance of the Future of Being Human Initiative, and the importance of inclusive conversations about the future. The episode highlights personal journeys into futurism, the need for diverse voices in discussions about emerging technologies, and the wonder of scientific exploration. The hosts also tease future topics and themes for upcoming episodes, emphasizing the podcast’s goal of inspiring curiosity and dialogue.

Key takeaways

The podcast aims to explore the intersection of technology and humanity.

Modems symbolize the translation of complex signals into understandable insights.

The Future of Being Human Initiative seeks to create inclusive conversations about the future.

Personal experiences shape our understanding of futurism and technology.

Everyone has valuable insights to contribute to discussions about the future.

Creating spaces for difficult conversations is essential in a polarized world.

Science and wonder can coexist in discussions about the future.

The podcast will cover a wide range of intriguing topics.

Engaging with diverse voices enriches the conversation about the future.

Sean and Andrew are excited to explore the unknown and challenge conventional thinking.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Modem Futura

01:53 The Concept of Modems and Futures

04:51 The Future of Being Human Initiative

08:41 Personal Journeys into Futurism

12:21 The Importance of Inclusive Conversations

16:24 Exploring the Intersection of Science and Wonder

19:05 Looking Ahead: Topics and Themes for Future Episodes

Modem Futura is a production of the Future of Being Human initiative at Arizona State University.

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The Future of Being Human Initiative is describe this way on its homepage,

We are a unique community of bold, audacious and visionary thinkers who are inspired by what it might mean to be human in a technologically transformed future and who are passionate about exploring how this influences our thinking and actions in the present.

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We create and curate ways of bringing people together to explore compelling questions and transformative ideas around the future of being human.

Some of these are intimate informal hangouts, others are cutting edge online discussions. And some are high profile public events and even retreats.

We are even developing educational opportunities unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else!

All of these are driven by a passion to bring together audacious, original and passionate thinkers to push the boundaries of how we imagine the future of being human in a technologically complex world, and how this can inform our ideas, aspirations, and actions, in the present.

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As a community we are captivated andinspired by compelling questions around the how emerging technologies may challenge and transform what it means to be human.

Questions like:

  • Will we live our future lives in a computer simulation?
  • Will aging one day become a thing of the past?
  • Will artificial intelligence upend our notions of personhood and autonomy?
  • Could cryopreservation transform how we think about the future?
  • What will life in a post-scarcity future look like?
  • Will we be able to design and create synthetic consciousness in the future?
  • How will quantum computing change our understanding of ourselves and what is possible?
  • How could atomically precise manufacturing transform our lives?
  • Will we be able to upload our memories and personalities to the cloud in the future?
  • How will advanced technologies transform the future of travel?
  • Could advanced gene editing allow us to radically rethink our biological selves?
  • How do we successfully navigate Advanced Technology Transitions?
  • Is longtermism a viable approach to designing the future?
  • Will future technologies radically catalyze our creative potential?

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Enjoy!

New sound tech could save animals from extinction

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I was expecting a data sonification story but according to the published paper’s introduction, this is a data visualization story. An August 1, 2024 news item on phys.org describes the latest animal sound research, Note: A link has been removed,

Research, conducted by The University of Warwick and the University of New South Wales in Australia, analyzes animal sounds from endangered species including types of elephants, whales and birds.

It uses a new method adapted from tech used to analyze brain waves in neuroscience. The study is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

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A July 30, 2024 University of Warwick press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides information about animal sound research and describes how this new technique differs from previous techniques,

Analysis of animal sounds can be used to estimate their population size, to identify what animals live in a particular area, to understand their migration patterns, and to understand any negative impacts they may experience due to the increasing levels of noise created by human activity that are occurring in most of their habitats. Such insights are vital in developing environmental management and conservation strategies.

The new method was shown to be more accurate than the conventional methods for analysis of animal sounds. While testing this new method, called the Superlet transform, the study also revealed some previously unreported or disputed details in animal sounds:

  • The Asian elephant call isn’t just made up of continuous tones, but also contains sounds that are “pulsed”, or comprised of regularly timed bursts of sound energy.
  • Pulsing was also shown in the southern cassowary (a large bird similar to an emu) and American crocodile calls.
  • New evidence was uncovered that helps to solve a debate around the characteristics of the Chagos pygmy blue whale’s song.

These are not conclusive findings, as each one is based on just a single recording. To confirm them more sounds will need to be analysed. They illustrate however, the power of this new method to clarify details that previously might have been ambiguous.

Lead Researcher Ben Jancovich, a PhD candidate from The University of New South Wales, and visiting PhD student at The University of Warwick’s Mathematics Institute, said: “Our new study highlights that sometimes, the accepted tools that we’ve become comfortable with, may not actually be the best tools for the job.”

“This is especially true in cross-disciplinary fields like bioacoustics, where the methods are highly technical, and require expertise in multiple fields.”

“The new method we demonstrated offers increased accuracy and requires less expertise to use, so it should prove to be a hugely valuable tool for animal sound researchers that don’t have an engineering background.”

Current methods (including the “Short-Time Fourier Transform”, STFT) have difficulties in accurately revealing both the rhythms and pitch of sounds at the same time.

These limitations are more pronounced at lower frequencies, affecting the analysis of sounds like those made by blue whales – gentle giants of the sea, sadly listed as an endangered species.

The new technology will be available for people to use for free, via a simple to use app, making it easy for researchers from different fields to use, without needing extensive knowledge of audio signal analysis.

Hopefully their new app featuring this technology will be available soon. Meanwhile, here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

BASSA: New software tool reveals hidden details in visualisation of low-frequency animal sounds by Benjamin A. Jancovich, Tracey L. Rogers. Ecology and Evolution Volume 14, Issue 7 July 2024 e11636 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11636 First published: 03 July 2024

This paper is open access.

October 29, 2024 Woodrow Wilson Center event: 2024 Canada-US Legal Symposium | Artificial Intelligence Regulation, Governance, and Liability

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An October 9, 2024 notice from the Wilson Center (or Woodrow Wilson Center or Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars received via email) announces an annual event, which this year will focus on AI (artificial intelligence),

The 2024 Canada-US Legal Symposium | Artificial Intelligence Regulation, Governance, and Liability

Tuesday
Oct. 29, 2024
9:30am – 2:00pm ET
6th Floor Flom Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson Center

Time is running out to RSVP for the 2024 Canada-US Legal Symposium!

This year’s program will address artificial intelligence (AI) governance, regulation, and liability. High-profile advances in AI over the past four years have raised serious legal questions about the development, integration, and use of the technology. Canada and the United States, longtime leaders in innovation and hubs for some of the world’s top AI companies, are poised to lead in developing a model for responsible AI policy.

This event is co-organized with the Science, Technology, and Innovation Program and the Canada-US Law Institute.

The event page for The 2024 Canada-US Legal Symposium | Artificial Intelligence Regulation, Governance, and Liability gives you the option of an RSVP to attend the virtual or in-person event.

For more about international AI usage and regulation efforts, there’s the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program CTRL Forward blog. Here’s a sampling of some of the most recent postings, Note: CTRL Forward postings cover a wide range of science/technology topics often noting how the international scene is affected; it seems September saw a major focus on AI

For anyone curious about the current state of Canadian legislation and artificial intelligence, I have a May 1, 2023 posting which offers an overview of the current state of affairs, (Note: The bill has yet to be passed)

Bill C-27 (Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022) is what I believe is called an omnibus bill as it includes three different pieces of proposed legislation (the Consumer Privacy Protection Act [CPPA], the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act [AIDA], and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act [PIDPTA]). You can read the Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada summary here or a detailed series of descriptions of the act here on the ISED’s Canada’s Digital Charter webpage.

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The omnibus bill, C-27, which includes Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) had passed its second reading in the House of Commons at the time of the posting. Since May 2023, the bill has been the subject of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology according to the Parliament of Canada’s LEGISinfo’s C-27 , 44th Parliament, 1st session Monday, November 22, 2021, to present: An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts webpage.

You can find more up-to-date information about the status of the Committee’s Bill-27 meetings on this webpage where it appears that September 26, 2024 was the committee’s most recent meeting. If you click on the highlighted meeting dates, you will be given the option of watching a webcast of the meeting. The webpage will also give you access to a list of witnesses, the briefs and the briefs themselves.

Printing and growing lung tissue from mucus-based bioink?

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I’m always surprised by the uses scientists can find for mucus. This time, it’s being used as the based for growing lung tissue as this July 30,2024 news item on phys.org announced, Note: A link has been removed,

Lung diseases kill millions of people around the world each year. Treatment options are limited, and animal models for studying these illnesses and experimental medications are inadequate. Now, writing in ACS Applied Bio Materials, researchers describe their success in creating a mucus-based bioink for 3D printing lung tissue. This advancement could one day help study and treat chronic lung conditions.

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Caption: Researchers developed a mucus-based bioink for 3D-printed lung tissue. Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Bio Materials 2024, DOI:10.1021/acsabm.4c00579

A July 30, 2024 American Chemical Society (ACS) press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, delves further into the topics of lung disease, medication testing, and the importance of lung tissue,

While some people with lung diseases receive transplants, donor organs remain in short supply. As an alternative, medications and other treatments can be used to manage symptoms, but no cure is available for disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. Researchers continue to seek better medications, often relying on testing in rodents. But these animal models may only partially capture the complexities of pulmonary diseases in humans, and they might not accurately predict the safety and efficacy of new drugs. Meanwhile, bioengineers are exploring the production of lung tissue in the lab, either as a more accurate model to study human lungs or as a potential material to use in implants. One technique involves 3D printing structures that mimic human tissue, but designing a suitable bioink to support cell growth remains challenging. So, Ashok Raichur and colleagues set out to overcome this obstacle.

The team began with mucin, a mucus component that hasn’t been widely explored for bioprinting. Segments of this antibacterial polymer’s molecular structure resemble epidermal growth factor, a protein that promotes cell attachment and growth. Raichur and colleagues reacted mucin with methacrylic anhydride to form methacrylated mucin (MuMA), which they then mixed with lung cells. Hyaluronic acid — a natural polymer found in connective and other tissues — was added to increase the bioink’s viscosity and enhance cell growth and adhesion to MuMA. After the ink was printed in test patterns including round and square grids, it was exposed to blue light to crosslink the MuMA molecules. The crosslink bonds stabilized the printed structure in the form of a porous gel that readily absorbed water to support cell survival.

The researchers found that the interconnected pores in the gel facilitated diffusion of nutrients and oxygen, encouraging cell growth and formation of lung tissue. The printed structures were nontoxic and slowly biodegraded under physiological conditions, making them potentially suitable as implants in which the printed scaffold would gradually be replaced by newly grown lung tissue. The bioink could also be used to make 3D models of lungs to study lung disease processes and evaluate potential treatments.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

3D Bioprinting with Visible Light Cross-Linkable Mucin-Hyaluronic Acid Composite Bioink for Lung Tissue Engineering by Sruthi C. Sasikumar, Upashi Goswami, Ashok M. Raichur. ACS Appl. Bio Mater. 2024, 7, 8, 5411–5422 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.4c00579 Published July 12, 2024 Copyright © 2024 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Geoffrey Hinton (University of Toronto) shares 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics with John J. Hopfield (Princeton University)

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What an interesting choice the committee deciding on the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics have made. Geoffrey Hinton has been mentioned here a number of times, most recently for his participation in one of the periodic AI (artificial intelligence) panics that pop up from time to time. For more about the latest one and Hinton’s participation see my May 25, 2023 posting “Non-human authors (ChatGPT or others) of scientific and medical studies and the latest AI panic!!!” and scroll down to ‘The panic’ subhead.

I have almost nothing about John J. Hopfield other than a tangential mention of the Hopfield neural network in a January 3, 2018 posting “Mott memristor.”

An October 8, 2024 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences press release announces the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics,

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 to

John J. Hopfield
Princeton University, NJ, USA

Geoffrey E. Hinton
University of Toronto, Canada

“for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”

They trained artificial neural networks using physics

This year’s two Nobel Laureates in Physics have used tools from physics to develop methods that are the foundation of today’s powerful machine learning. John Hopfield created an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data. Geoffrey Hinton invented a method that can autonomously find properties in data, and so perform tasks such as identifying specific elements in pictures.

When we talk about artificial intelligence, we often mean machine learning using artificial neural networks. This technology was originally inspired by the structure of the brain. In an artificial neural network, the brain’s neurons are represented by nodes that have different values. These nodes influence each other through con­nections that can be likened to synapses and which can be made stronger or weaker. The network is trained, for example by developing stronger connections between nodes with simultaneously high values. This year’s laureates have conducted important work with artificial neural networks from the 1980s onward.

John Hopfield invented a network that uses a method for saving and recreating patterns. We can imagine the nodes as pixels. The Hopfield network utilises physics that describes a material’s characteristics due to its atomic spin – a property that makes each atom a tiny magnet. The network as a whole is described in a manner equivalent to the energy in the spin system found in physics, and is trained by finding values for the connections between the nodes so that the saved images have low energy. When the Hopfield network is fed a distorted or incomplete image, it methodically works through the nodes and updates their values so the network’s energy falls. The network thus works stepwise to find the saved image that is most like the imperfect one it was fed with.

Geoffrey Hinton used the Hopfield network as the foundation for a new network that uses a different method: the Boltzmann machine. This can learn to recognise characteristic elements in a given type of data. Hinton used tools from statistical physics, the science of systems built from many similar components. The machine is trained by feeding it examples that are very likely to arise when the machine is run. The Boltzmann machine can be used to classify images or create new examples of the type of pattern on which it was trained. Hinton has built upon this work, helping initiate the current explosive development of machine learning.

“The laureates’ work has already been of the greatest benefit. In physics we use artificial neural networks in a vast range of areas, such as developing new materials with specific properties,” says Ellen Moons, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

An October 8, 2024 University of Toronto news release by Rahul Kalvapalle provides more detail about Hinton’s work and history with the university.

Ben Edwards wrote an October 8, 2024 article for Ars Technica, which in addition to reiterating the announcement explores a ‘controversial’ element to the story, Note 1: I gather I’m not the only one who found the award of a physics prize to researchers in the field of computer science a little unusual, Note 2: Links have been removed,

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Hopfield and Hinton’s research, which dates back to the early 1980s, applied principles from physics to develop methods that underpin modern machine-learning techniques. Their work has enabled computers to perform tasks such as image recognition and pattern completion, capabilities that are now ubiquitous in everyday technology.

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The win is already turning heads on social media because it seems unusual that research in a computer science field like machine learning might win a Nobel Prize for physics. “And the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics does not go to physics…” tweeted German physicist Sabine Hossenfelder this morning [October 8, 2024].

From the Nobel committee’s point of view, the award largely derives from the fact that the two men drew from statistical models used in physics and partly from recognizing the advancements in physics research that came from using the men’s neural network techniques as research tools.

Nobel committee chair Ellen Moons, a physicist at Karlstad University, Sweden, said during the announcement, “Artificial neural networks have been used to advance research across physics topics as diverse as particle physics, material science and astrophysics.”

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For a comprehensive overview of both Nobel prize winners, Hinton and Hopfield, their work, and their stands vis à vis the dangers of AI, there’s an October 8, 2024 Associated Press article on phys.org.

Nanoscopic 3-D imaging of ancient bone

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Nanoscopic, banded collagen protein fibrils from an Ice Age woolly mammoth hip bone. Credit: Landon Anderson Courtesy: North Carolina State University

(Looks like a moody seascape to me but it’s not.) A July 23, 2024 news item on ScienceDaily announces the results from a pilot study of nanoscopic imaging of ancient bones,

A pilot study from North Carolina State University shows that nanoscopic 3-D imaging of ancient bone not only provides further insight into the changes soft tissues undergo during fossilization, it also has potential as a fast, practical way to determine which specimens are likely candidates for ancient DNA and protein sequence preservation.

“Paleontologists have studied fossilized bones for centuries, but we still don’t completely understand the fossilization process for organic soft tissues of bone, like collagen protein or blood vessels, and how they preserve over extended periods of time,” says Landon Anderson, NC State graduate student and author of the research.

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A July 22, 204 North Caroline State University (NCSU) news release (also on EurekAlert but published July 23, 2024), which originated the news item, describes the research in more detail,

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Anderson compared small samples of modern cow, alligator and ostrich leg bones to those from Pleistocene-era woolly mammoth, steppe bison, reindeer, and horse. The Pleistocene samples were all recovered from thawed, ancient permafrost in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

Applying a dilute acid solution to the samples dissolved the mineral portion of the bones, leaving behind their underlying collagen protein frameworks. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) up to 150,000x magnification, Anderson was able to image the collagen protein fibrils and blood vessels within the demineralized bone samples.

Anderson scanned the surfaces of the imaged structures using time-of-flight secondary ionization mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), which identified the chemical signatures present in the structures and helped further confirm them as collagen protein and blood vessels.

“The imaging data and ToF-SIMS showed that the Ice Age samples still consist of original, unfossilized bone tissue – they are subfossils and still preserve much of their original, unaltered organic tissue and proteins, similar to modern bones,” Anderson says. “The underlying idea of this pilot study is that this nanoscopic approach could be used on bones all across the fossil record to better understand the chemical and structural changes that occur to organic tissues during fossilization.”

The technique could potentially also be used as a proxy for screening ancient bone specimens for DNA and protein sequence preservation.

“The electron microscope imaging allows you to directly view the nanoscopic collagen fibrils of bone, which are essentially bundles of collagen protein molecules,” Anderson says. “Collagen protein is robust, so for an ancient bone specimen lacking these fibrils, if they’ve been degraded away, then there is also unlikely to be any recoverable DNA present in the sample and protein content would be reduced, at a minimum. This technique could be a practical first step to screen candidate specimens for further molecular analysis.”

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Nanoscopic imaging of ancient protein and vasculature offers insight into soft tissue and biomolecule fossilization by Landon A. Anderson. iScience 110538 July 19, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110538 Also available on ScienceDirect Published online July 19, 2024 Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.

This paper is open access.

Critical Networked Experience (part of the international Leonardo LASER series) event on October 10, 2024 in Toronto, Canada

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Toronto’s ArtSci Salon, one of the hosts, has announced (in an undated notice) an upcoming event,

LASER Toronto – Critical Networked Experience – Jonah Brucker-Cohen – Oct 10, 2024

Critical Networked Experience. An artist talk with Jonah Brucker-Cohen

Thursday, October 10, 2024
5:30-7:30 pm [ET]
The Fields Institute for research in Mathematical Sciences
222 College Street

Register here

Jonah will discuss his projects and work in the theme of “Critical Networked Experience” that challenge and subvert accepted notions of network interaction and socialization. His presentation will cross themes related to social justice and police surveillance, Artificial Intelligence and the loss of human skills, environmental artwork that challenges notions of sustainability, critical networked interfaces and more. Some projects he will discuss include “BumpList”, an email community for the determined, “Weapon of Protest”, a modified game controller that protests gun violence in the US, “To Protect and Server” a critical modification of Google’s ReCaptcha software to emphasis police brutality and social justice, “Killer Route” a GPS navigation system that integrates live crime data, “Human Error” a series of works that emphasize humanity’s inability to understand technical interfaces, “ContactRot” an iPhone app that challenges our reliance on the cloud, “Alerting Infrastructure!”, a website hit counter that destroys a building, “WordPlay” a public installation for the New York Hall of Science, and he will end with his interactive SMS visualization, “Rhetoricall”, that everyone in the audience can participate in.

About the Artist:
Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Ph.D., is an artist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Lehman College / CUNY in the Bronx. He was a visiting artist at Cornell Tech and designer in residence at the New York Hall of Science. He received his Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin. His work focuses on “Deconstructing Networks” with works that challenge and subvert accepted perceptions of network interaction. His artwork has been exhibited at venues such as SFMOMA, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Art, MOMA, ICA London, Whitney Museum of American Art, Palais du Tokyo, Tate Modern, Ars Electronica, Transmediale, and more. His artworks, “Bumplist” and “America’s Got No Talent” are in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has written for WIRED, Make, Gizmodo, Neural and more. His Scrapyard Challenge workshops have been held in over 15 countries in Europe, South America, North America, Asia, and Australia since 2003.
Projects and Work: http://www.coin-operated.com

This event is part of the international Leonardo LASER series 
LASER Toronto is hosted by Nina Czegledy and Roberta Buiani

About Leonardo and more

For anyone curious about LASER and international Leonardo, here’s the scoop starting with international Leonardo. From the “Leonardo, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology” Wikipedia entry, Note: Links have been removed,

Leonardo, The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 1982[1][2][3] as an umbrella organization for the journals Leonardo and the Leonardo Music Journal. In 2018, Leonardo/ISAST was awarded the Golden Nica Prix Ars Electronica[4][5] as Visionary Pioneers of New Media Art.[6]

…

Leonardo/ISAST existed before it became a registered nonprofit according to the About Leonardo webpage on the Leonardo.info website,

Fearlessly pioneering since 1968, Leonardo serves as THE community forging a transdisciplinary network to convene, research, collaborate, and disseminate best practices at the nexus of arts, science and technology worldwide. Leonardo’ serves a network of transdisciplinary scholars, artists, scientists, technologists and thinkers, who experiment with cutting-edge, new approaches, practices, systems and solutions to tackle the most complex challenges facing humanity today.

As a not-for-profit 501(c)3 enterprising think tank, Leonardo offers a global platform for creative exploration and collaboration reaching tens of thousands of people across 135 countries. Our flagship publication, Leonardo, the world’s leading scholarly journal on transdisciplinary art, anchors a robust publishing partnership with MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] Press; our partnership with ASU [Arizona State University] infuses educational innovation with digital art and media for lifelong learning; our creative programs span thought-provoking events, exhibits, residencies and fellowships, scholarship and social enterprise ventures.

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I think Arizona State University (ASU) is effectively housing Leonardo/ISAST but they don’t describe it that way, from the About Leonardo webpage,

ASU-Leonardo Initiative(link is external)

The ASU-Leonardo Initiative drives innovation at the intersection of arts, sciences, and technology. As an enterprising think tank, ASU-Leonardo integrates hybrid, creative inquiry and practice as catalysts to solve compelling problems, explore timeless mysteries, and shape a finer future. We build on the history of Leonardo, the International Society of Arts, Sciences, and Technology, and forge new pathways forward for all.

LASER Talks

Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) was an initiative started in 2008 by cultural historian Piero Scaruff (according to this now defunct call for papers). The initiative seems to have grown into a series of programmes including LASER Talks.

Finally, LASER Talks is this, from the Leonardo.info/lasertalks webpage,

Leonardo/ISAST LASER Talks is a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of LASER is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities and 5 continents worldwide.

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Upcoming LASER Events

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For some reason the Toronto event is not listed as an upcoming LASER event. One more thing, the Toronto event seems to be an in-person only event.

Nano-enabled precision delivery methods for agriculture

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A July 23, 2024 news item on Nanowerk provides an introduction to nanoparticles and their potential use in agriculture, Note: Links have been removed,

Nanoparticles could potentially help address agricultural and environmental sustainability issues on a global scale.

Those issues include rising food demand, increasing greenhouse gas emissions generated by agricultural activities, climbing costs of agrochemicals, reducing crop yields induced by climate change, and degrading soil quality. A class of nanoscale particles called “nanocarriers” could make crop agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climate change, according to a group of specialists that includes Kurt Ristroph, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University.

“Saying ‘nanoparticle’ means different things to different people,” Ristroph said. In nanodrug delivery, a nanoparticle usually ranges in size from 60 to 100 nanometers and is made of lipids or polymers. “In the environmental world, a nanoparticle usually means a 3- to 5-nanometer metal oxide colloid. Those are not the same thing, but people use ‘nanoparticle’ for both.”

Ristroph helped organize a 2022 interdisciplinary workshop on nanomethods for drug delivery in plants. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the workshop was attended by 30 participants from academia, industry and government laboratories.

Many of the workshop participants, including Ristroph, have now published their conclusions in Nature Nanotechnology (“Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants”). Their article reviews the possibility nanocarriers could make crop agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climate change.

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A July 23, 2024 Purdue University news release (also on EurekAlert but published July 19, 2024) by Steve Koppes, which originated the news item, delves further into the topic of how agriculture could be made more sustainable with nanotechnology-enabled delivery methods, Note: Links have been removed,

“Nano-enabled precision delivery of active agents in plants will transform agriculture, but there are critical technical challenges that we must first overcome to realize the full range of its benefits,” said the article’s co-lead author Greg Lowry, the Walter J. Blenko, Sr. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. “I’m optimistic about the future of plant nanobiotechnology approaches and the beneficial impacts it will have on our ability to sustainably produce food.”

Plant cells and human cells have major physiological differences. Plant cells have a cell wall while human cells don’t, for example. But certain tools can be transferred from nanomedicine to plant applications.

“People have developed tools for studying the bio-corona formation around nanoparticles in an animal. We could think about bringing some of those tools to bear on nanoparticles in plants,” Ristroph said. 

When nanoparticles are injected into the bloodstream, many components of the blood stick onto the surface of the nanoparticles. The various proteins sticking to a nanoparticle’s surface make it look different.

The task then becomes figuring out what proteins or other molecules will stick to the surface and where the particle will go as a result. A nanoparticle designed to move toward a certain organ may have its destination altered by white blood cells that detect the particle’s surface proteins and send it to a different organ.

“Broadly speaking, that’s the idea of bio-corona formation and trafficking,” Ristroph said. “People in drug delivery nanomedicine have been thinking about and developing tools for studying that kind of thing. Some of those thoughts and some of those tools could be applied to plants.” 

Researchers already have developed many different architectures and chemistries for making nanoscale delivery vehicles for nanomedicine. “Some of the particle types are transferable,” he said. “You can take a nanoparticle that was optimized for movement in humans and put it in a plant, and you’ll probably find that it needs to be redesigned at least somewhat.”

Ristroph focuses on organic (carbon-based) nanocarriers that have a core-shell structure. The core contains a payload, while the shell forms a protective outer layer. Researchers have used many different types of nanomaterial in plants. The most popular materials are metallic nanoparticles because they are somewhat easier to make, handle and track where they go in a plant than organic nanoparticles.

“One of the first questions that you want to figure out is where these nanoparticles go in a plant,” Ristroph said. “It’s a lot easier to detect a metal inside of a plant that’s made of carbon than it is to detect a carbon-based nanoparticle in a plant that’s made of carbon.”

Last March, Ristroph and Purdue PhD student Luiza Stolte Bezerra Lisboa Oliveira published a critical review of the research literature on the Uptake and Translocation of Organic Nanodelivery Vehicles in Plants in Environmental Science and Technology.

“Not a lot is understood about transformations after these things go into a plant, how they’re getting metabolized,” Ristroph said. His team is interested in studying that, along with ways to help ensure that the nanoparticles are delivered to their proper destinations, and in corona formation. Coronas are biomolecular coatings that affect nanoparticle functions. 

The manufacturability of nanocarriers is another interest area that could be transferred to agriculture from nanomedicine.

“I care a lot about manufacturability and making sure that whatever techniques we’re using to make the nanoparticles are scalable and economically feasible,” Ristroph said.

The manufacturability of nanocarriers is another interest area that could be transferred to agriculture from nanomedicine.

“I care a lot about manufacturability and making sure that whatever techniques we’re using to make the nanoparticles are scalable and economically feasible,” Ristroph said.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants by Gregory V. Lowry, Juan Pablo Giraldo, Nicole F. Steinmetz, Astrid Avellan, Gozde S. Demirer, Kurt D. Ristroph, Gerald J. Wang, Christine O. Hendren, Christopher A. Alabi, Adam Caparco, Washington da Silva, Ivonne González-Gamboa, Khara D. Grieger, Su-Ji Jeon, Mariya V. Khodakovskaya, Hagay Kohay, Vivek Kumar, Raja Muthuramalingam, Hanna Poffenbarger, Swadeshmukul Santra, Robert D. Tilton & Jason C. White. Nature Nanotechnology (2024) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01667-5 Published: 06 June 2024

This paper is behind a paywall.

Quantum Studio artist-in-residence Caroline Delétoille gives an artist talk on 16 Oct 2024 at 3 pm at the University of BC (Vancouver, Canada)

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The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery (The Belkin) sent an October 4, 2024 series of announcements (received via email). Here are two of the announcements, Note 1: You can see all of the announcements on The Belkin events webpage, Note 2: The art/science event is second, Note 3: Links have been removed

Conversation with Weiyi Chang and Lisa Myers

Tuesday, October 8 at 12:30 pm (online)

Please join us for an online conversation between guest curator Weiyi Chang and Lisa Myers, an artist and curator based in Toronto and Port Severn and a member of Beausoleil First Nation. Myers has worked with anthocyanin pigment from blueberries in printmaking and in her stop-motion animation. Her participatory performances involve sharing berries and other food items in social gatherings, reflecting on the value found in place and displacement; straining and absorbing. Recently, her artistic practice has expanded into audio and augmented reality projects that draw attention to the histories of the land, dislocation and gentrification. Through close attention to Myers’s practice, this conversation will allow us to reflect on themes and concerns articulated in An Opulence of Squander, currently on view at the Belkin.

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Artist Talk with Caroline Delétoille

Wednesday, October 16 at 3 pm

As part of Quantum Studio, artist-in-residence Caroline Delétoille will discuss her collaborative partnerships with scientists and engineers while embedded at UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. Delétoille will address her studio and research practices and share some initial insights about “Quantum Sensation,” a project initiated in 2023 in close collaboration with a physicist and philosopher and the focus of her residency at UBC. This talk is part of Ars Scientia, a larger research initiative which seeks to foster knowledge exchange across the arts, sciences and pedagogies.

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More about …

The conversation between Weiyi Chang and Lisa Myers is one of a series known as “Of Other Earths.” Here’s more about the series and the upcoming October 8, 2024 event, from The Belkin’s Conversation Series: Of Other Earths webpage,

Join us for Of Other Earths, a series recuperating forgotten, suppressed and abandoned histories to reconsider capitalist and colonial relationships to the planet and its inhabitants. Multiplying and compounding environmental harms are radically destabilizing earthly habitats, calling into question the viability of existing productivist paradigms that require continuous resource extraction and consumption.

This online conversation series hosted by curator Weiyi Chang foregrounds practitioners who aim to decentre and unsettle the logic of perpetual growth by examining alternative approaches to human-planetary relations. In each session she will engage an artist or scholar about their work in the context of one of the provocations running through the exhibition An Opulence of Squander. These dialogues will offer a generative way to think about how we engage, care for, and conserve past works of art and artists and the ecological lessons that experience might hold.

An Opulence of Squander draws primarily from the Belkin’s collection and focuses on works that critique the imperative for growth at all costs, growth that has contributed to our collective ecological and social conundrum. The works resist the growth imperative and reflect on the dual exploitation of labour and nature.

Register for the Zoom link

This talk will be recorded and made available online.

Then, there’s the art/science talk with Caroline Delétoille, from The Belkin’s Artist Talk: Caroline Delétoille webpage,

Join us at the Belkin for an artist talk by Quantum Studio artist-in-residence Caroline Delétoille, who will discuss her collaborative partnerships with scientists and engineers while embedded at UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. Delétoille will address her studio and research practices and share some initial insights about “Quantum Sensation,” a project initiated in 2023 in close collaboration with a physicist and philosopher and the focus of her residency at UBC.

Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

Caroline Delétoille’s month-long artist residency is a collaboration between the Consulate General of France in Vancouver and UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery through Quantum Studio, which is part of a larger program of residencies sponsored by the Embassy of France in Western Canada.

This talk is part of Ars Scientia, a larger research initiative which seeks to foster knowledge exchange across the arts, sciences and pedagogies. Since launching in 2021, we have developed a wide variety of programs, including pairing artists and scientists in residencies to explore the potential for academic art-science collaborations. Artists provide new ways of imagining research and knowledge exchange as a dimensional counterpart to the research carried out at Blusson QMI. Through the development of conversation programs and panel series in tandem with the creation of an ongoing artist residency, Ars Scientia addresses questions of pedagogical outcomes, interdisciplinary research and the emergent interstices of art and science.

Caroline Delétoille

Artist

Caroline Delétoille is a Paris-based visual artist with a previous academic foray into mathematics. Her work interrogates questions concerned with memory, the ordinary and dreams. Though her practice is focused largely on painting and photography, her writing is central to the search for pictoriality and narration. Delétoille’s work has been exhibited in France and Spain. She is currently developing an exhibition with Musée Maison Poincaré in collaboration with the Kastler Brassel Laboratory and Quantum Studio.

In French,

L’annonces 27/06/2024 du Consulat général de France à Vancouver,

Programme de résidence Arts & Sciences « Quantum Studio »

Caroline Delétoille est la nouvelle lauréate du programme de résidence Arts & Sciences « Quantum Studio », un programme créée par nos services avec nos partenaires de l’institut canadien Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute et la galerie d’art vancouvéroise Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery de l’Université de Colombie-Britannique. Caroline Delétoille succède à Javiera Tejerina. L’artiste viendra à Vancouver du 14 octobre au 12 novembre, sur le campus de l’université.

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La résidence, ouverte à l’ensemble des pratiques artistiques, a pour but de rendre plus accessible le travail des chercheurs en sciences quantiques (physique quantique, informatique quantique, physique de l’infiniment petit, sciences des matériaux, physique fondamentale) par le biais de l’art ; les échanges entre scientifiques et artistes sont au coeur de cette résidence.

Nos partenaires offriront à l’artiste un espace de réflexion dans lequel elle pourra se réunir avec les chercheurs, échanger sur leurs pratiques, apprendre de leurs travaux respectifs réfléchir ensemble à un projet créatif, à la croisée des arts et des sciences.

Le travail final de l’artiste sera donc un rendu, une mise en avant du travail des chercheurs. En fin de résidence, des séminaires et évènements publics co-organisés avec l’institut et la galerie sont prévus.

Caroline Delétoille

Biographie de l’artiste :

Mon travail est une recherche constante du souvenir, une documentation de l’ordinaire. En 2019, j’apprends par un coup de téléphone que la maison de famille a été vidée la veille et son contenu jeté. De là s’amorce chez moi une interrogation sur les souvenirs, leur développement et leur importance, dans une exploration plastique des traces de la mémoire.

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Qu’elle soit vraie ou fausse, l’histoire se raconte. Partant d’images d’archives, les photographies sont les pièces à convictions d’une enquête à mener. Mes peintures font un pas de côté avec la réalité, l’espace pictural devient un terrain de jeu. Les teintes sont franches, vives, dans une atmosphère saturée de verts et de jaunes. La couleur arrive sur le regardeur, je veux qu’elle l’enveloppe, lui tombe dessus. Des plans superposés en aplats structurent la composition et viennent déjouer les lignes de fuite. La perspective contribue ainsi à nous déséquilibrer, elle attire dans un décor ornemental sans profondeur de champ. Les motifs envahissent l’espace, les objets sortent de la toile, les ombres peuvent prendre des formes étranges, presque oniriques. À mesure que les repères rationnels sont perturbés, l’imagination s’active.

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Mes peintures parlent d’une mémoire collective et individuelle à partir de scènes intimes et familières telles que le quotidien de l’enfance, mon propre vécu et des photos de famille. J’aime expérimenter la matière à travers les techniques (huile, sérigraphie, monotype, acrylique, pastels…), dans l’esprit des courants des arts décoratifs.

The English language version posted by the Consulate is a rough summary and not a translation of their French language notice but both versions have the same embedded images.

Quantum Studio

I did a little digging to find out more about this Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) and Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery (the Belkin), both at UBC, in partnership with The Embassy of France in Canada and their art/sci residency, known as the Quantum Studio.

The best I could track down is in UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) July 31, 2023 news release about Javiera Tejerina-Risso, the 2023 Quantum Studio artist-in-residence,

UBC’s Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) and Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery (the Belkin), in partnership with The Embassy of France in Canada, are delighted to announce Javiera Tejerina-Risso as the artist-in-residence for the Quantum Studio Art & Science Residency taking place in November 2023 at UBC Vancouver.

Javiera is a multidisciplinary French-Chilean artist from Marseille, France. Having worked in art and science for more than 15 years, she has developed a collaborative approach in her creative practice enabling her to work with researchers and include their vocabulary, concepts and areas of study in her creative work.

The Quantum Studio residency aims to build exchanges between art and quantum science immersed at the renowned UBC campus and in the rich local artistic ecosystem. The artist receives a €2,000 grant and paid accommodation during the residency.

Blusson QMI and the Belkin will provide the selected artist with a space in which the artist and researchers will be able to connect, discuss their projects, and learn from one another to create a project at the junction between art and science. 

The scientific topics to be explored during this residency include:

  • Fundamental concepts: quantum mechanics, light-
  • Matter and materials: low-dimensional materials, organic and optoelectronic materials, superconductors, atomic structures (2D, 3D)
  • Experimental techniques: spectroscopies, atomic imaging microscopy, x-ray scattering
  • Experimental conditions: ultra-low temperatures, ultra-high vacuum, ultra-fast dynamics

The Residency is part of a larger program of residencies initiated by the Embassy of France in West Canada. Other laureates will also be present in Vancouver in the fall of 2023 as part of the curatorial residency of the Embassy’s XR Fall program [extended reality], which focuses on immersive artistic creations. [emphasis mine]

Blusson QMI and the Belkin are the founding members of Ars Scientia, an interdisciplinary program aimed at creating synergies between scientists and artists in BC. At the intersection of arts and science, Ars (skill, technique, craft) Scientia (knowledge, experience, application) presents an opportunity to foster new modes of knowledge exchange intended to invigorate art, science, and pedagogy in search of profound exchange and collaborative research outcomes.

Learn more about Ars Scientia here.

The highlighted paragraph is as much as I can find for now. Btw, I will be posting about the XR Fall programme soon.

One more point of interest

This isn’t information about a 2025 residency but you may find the details from the 2024 call useful for early preparation of your application. From an April 16, 2024 University of British Columbia’s news release,

In 2023, the French Embassy in Canada, in partnership with the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (QMI) and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia (UBC), launched the Arts-Sciences Residency Program “Quantum Studio” in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In 2024, a new edition of this artist residency will take place from October 14 to November 12 at UBC Blusson QMI in Vancouver. The program accepts applications from French artists exploring the intersections between the arts and sciences. Applications are now open and will close on May 26, 2024, at 11:59pm Paris time [May 26, 2024, at 2:59pm (PT)].

Open to all artistic practices, the residency seeks to build exchanges between the arts and the quantum sciences (quantum physics, quantum computing, physics of the infinitely small, materials science, fundamental physics).

The Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery will provide the selected artist with a space in which artists and researchers can meet, discuss their practices, learn from each other and reflect together on a creative project at the crossroads of the arts and sciences.

Prior to the residency in Vancouver, several online meetings will be organized to establish and maintain initial contact between the winning artist in France and the host team (institutions and scientists) in Vancouver.

About the residency

Objectives

  • Foster or consolidate a creative project.
  • Share their work at arts and science seminars co-organized with the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
  • Encourage discovery of Western Canada’s scientific and artistic ecosystem, as well as forming collaborations.

Advantages

  • 4 weeks of residence in Vancouver
  • Accommodation on the UBC campus and a working office at the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute
  • Round-trip airfare from France to Vancouver
  • A €2,000 residency grant (corresponding to per diem and participation in three half-day lectures/master classes during the residency)
  • Networking and connections with the local ecosystem
  • Participation in events in British Columbia during the residency.

Eligibility

  • Artist carrying an artistic project in writing or development
  • At least 18 years old
  • Resident in France for at least 5 years
  • Speaking English
  • Ideally, justifying first experiences of creation mixing arts and sciences (applications from artists who have already worked or are working in connection with physical sciences will be appreciated).
  • This program is open to artistic practices in all their diversity (writing, visual and plastic arts, digital arts, design, dance, performance, immersive realities, sound creation, etc.).

Application Process and Required Documents

The application submission:

To apply, please submit the following documents to the French Consulate as stated above:

  • Application form: ENG_Application-Form-Art and science residency-2023
  • A copy of your ID card or passport
  • A biography and a CV
  • A portfolio of previous projects (with video links, if applicable)
  • A letter of motivation
  • A precise synopsis of the project
  • A projected work plan for the residency (forecast)
  • Visuals of the project (if applicable)
  • A letter of recommendation (optional)
  • A letter from a French cultural institution accompanying the project for a future exhibition or production of the work (facultative).

Timeline

  • April 15, 2024: Opening of the call for applications
  • May 26, 2024 (11h59pm, Paris time): Deadline for applications
  • Week of June 3, 2024: Interviews with the preselected candidates
  • Week of June 10, 2024: Notification of the results

Contact

For inquiries regarding the application process, please contact the French Consulate here: culture@consulfrance-vancouver.org

For more information on the selection process and commitments, please see here.

There you have it.