•We suggest a color coded scale to communicate the magnitude of global catastrophic and existential risk.•The scale consists of 6 color codes from white to purple.•Color estimations are primarily ...based on probability intervals for human extinction risks in the next 100 years.•Each risk’s estimation could be adjusted to communicate other aspects of risk’s severity.•The scale is extended to cover smaller global catastrophic and civilizational collapse risks.
Existential risks threaten the future of humanity, but they are difficult to measure. However, to communicate, prioritize and mitigate such risks it is important to estimate their relative significance. Risk probabilities are typically used, but for existential risks they are problematic due to ambiguity, and because quantitative probabilities do not represent some aspects of these risks. Thus, a standardized and easily comprehensible instrument is called for, to communicate dangers from various global catastrophic and existential risks. In this article, inspired by the Torino scale of asteroid danger, we suggest a color coded scale to communicate the magnitude of global catastrophic and existential risks. The scale is based on the probability intervals of risks in the next century if they are available. The risks’ estimations could be adjusted based on their severities and other factors. The scale covers not only existential risks, but smaller size global catastrophic risks. It consists of six color levels, which correspond to previously suggested levels of prevention activity. We estimate artificial intelligence risks as “red”, while “orange” risks include nanotechnology, synthetic biology, full scale nuclear war and a large global agricultural shortfall (caused by regional nuclear war, coincident extreme weather, etc.) The risks of natural pandemic, supervolcanic eruption and global warming are marked as “yellow” and the danger from asteroids is “green”.
Research
and
teaching
are the two most characteristic activities of the professional life of academics. Since the second half of the last century, a plurality of studies focused on the link between ...these activities, with often contrasting conclusions. While some studies are in line with the von-Humboldtian view of research and teaching as synergistic activities, other studies theorize their uncorrelation or even negative tension. This divergence of views probably stems from the fact that investigations are often based on heterogeneous, limited and difficult-to-generalise data, using mainly qualitative metrics. This paper deepens the study of the research-teaching link, through a survey of 251 academics from Politecnico di Torino, i.e., one of the major Italian technical universities. From a methodological point of view, research and teaching are both analysed from the dual perspective of
workload
and
quality of results
obtained, on the basis of data of various kinds, including bibliometric indicators, teaching satisfaction indexes, number of credits awarded to students, etc. Next, a correlation analysis investigates possible links between teaching and research, showing that they tend to be weak and/or statistically insignificant. For instance, the investigation excludes both (i) the existence of a negative link in terms of workload—contradicting considerations such as “
Those who do more teaching have less time to do research and
vice versa”—and (ii) the existence of a positive link in terms of the quality of the results obtained—contradicting considerations such as “
Those who obtain high quality results in research are likely to do the same in teaching and
vice versa”. The results of this study are limited to the Italian context and do not necessarily have general validity. Nevertheless, they enhance previous findings in the scientific literature and may be useful for university administrators and those involved in the formulation of incentive strategies for academics.
In this essay, based on an ethnographic research conducted between 2014 and 2016 among adult unemployed people from the peripheries of Turin, I put into dialogue the stories collected during ...fieldwork with the insights offered by Josh Kline’s artistic work and the main concepts of the anthropology of unemployment. My research confirms the hypotheses advanced by Katherine Newman and Serge Paugam: for my interlocutors in Turin, the loss and the lack of work mean, besides economic difficulties, a social de-valorisation as well. Therefore, their subsistence strategies can only partially solve their problems, entailing instead the risk of jeopardizing even further their status and identity.
The volume comprises a selection of papers presented at the 5th Postgraduate International Conference organized by the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage of Ca’ Foscari University of ...Venice (Venice, 4-6 October 2023): A Driving Force. On the Rhetoric of Images and Power. In the introduction to his well-known The Power of Images (1989), David Freedberg claims not only that images hold power over us, but they are also, inevitably, related to ‘power’ itself. Art is therefore a powerful and non-neutral tool. Its forms and expressions influence and manipulate the realm of the real. Throughout human history, the artist’s creative power gave form, substance, and meaning to otherwise inert matter. This process turned the artist into a demiurge. Furthermore, once images are given their final form, they circulate and live a life of their own. The 5th Postgraduate International Conference was aimed at investigating the rhetorical nature of the intersection between image and power. In 1979 Yuri Lotman claimed that “rhetoric” is the displacement of the structural principles of a given semiotic sphere into another semiotic sphere. The Tartu semiologist’s approach implies that the “correlation with different semiotic systems gives rise to a rhetorical situation in which a powerful source of elaboration of new meanings is contained”. In exploring these meanings from a multidisciplinary perspective, this volume investigates two main themes: the power of the image, as an autonomous device, endowed with a pervasive and persuasive character; the image as a form for representing power which addresses questions concerning the sense of authority, and its negation, namely a sense of dissidence and counter-narrations.
Structural, electronic and optical properties of copper, silver and gold sulfides have been analyzed using density functional theory (DFT). A systematic study of all these properties using different ...functionals has been carried out and compared to the performance of more expensive hybrids functionals (HSE06). On-site Coulomb repulsion terms (DFT +
U
) and the inclusion of London dispersion forces (B86b-vdW) seem to be crucial for the good description of these solids, even improving the predictions of hybrids functionals in some cases. This article describes how the inclusion of some corrections in GGA functional makes possible a balanced description of the properties of this group of complex materials and makes affordable the future investigation of more complex systems that contain these solids within a reasonable computational cost.
Peridotite clasts in a marine Miocene conglomerate from the Torino Hill (NW Italy) are characterised by an isopachous serpentinized external rim (4–12 mm thick) made up of lizardite, surrounding a ...non-serpentinized peridotite core. This peculiar structure indicates a diagenetic, post-depositional serpentinization of the peridotite clasts. The conglomerate is cemented by a rim of lizardite, followed by Mg-calcite and Ca-dolomite spar. The burial history of the host sedimentary succession indicates that serpentinization and precipitation of lizardite cements probably occurred at very low temperature (max. 50–60 °C). This is the first reported case of diagenetic, very low temperature serpentinization affecting ultramafite clasts in sedimentary successions.
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•Peridotite pebbles/cobbles with serpentinized rim (lizardite) in a Miocene conglomerate.•Conglomerate is cemented by lizardite rims, followed by Mg-rich carbonates.•Rim serpentinization is post-depositional.•Geological evolution indicates a maximum burial depth of 1500 m, corresponding to 50–60 °C.•Low-temperature, diagenetic serpentinization of peridotite clasts.
The framework for virtual integration of laboratories enables co-simulation and joint experiments that include hardware and software resources hosted at geographically distributed laboratories. The ...underlying concept of such framework is geographically distributed real-time (RT) co-simulation. To this end, digital RT simulators are interfaced over long distances via shared communication network such as the Internet. This study proposes an architecture for a modular framework supporting virtual integration of laboratories that enable flexible integration of digital RT simulators across Europe. In addition, the framework includes an interface that enables access for third parties via a web browser. A co-simulation interface algorithm adopted in this study is based on representation of interface quantities in form of dynamic phasors. Time delay between RT digital simulators is compensated by means of phase shift that enables simulation fidelity for slow transients. The proposed architecture is realised for the integration of laboratories across Europe that are located at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, Politecnico di Torino in Italy and at European Commission Joint Research Centres in Petten, Netherland and in Ispra, Italy. The framework for virtual integration of laboratories presented in this study is applied for co-simulation of transmission and distribution systems.
In this article, after a historiographical introduction, a state of the art concerning the analysis of the Turin Shroud is represented, with an exposition of the main results obtained in recent ...decades by scientific research on the Shroud and its image. The studies and experiments conducted by the author are therefore briefly described, employing neutron techniques for the analysis of new and old linen fibers and considering these techniques for a potential investigation of the Shroud. The activity is aimed at providing useful and suitable information to be included in the complex mosaic of data to understand the mystery of the Shroud.
In this article, after a historiographical introduction, a state of the art concerning the analysis of the Turin Shroud is represented, with an exposition of the main results obtained in recent ...decades by scientific research on the Shroud and its image. The studies and experiments conducted by the author are therefore briefly described, employing neutron techniques for the analysis of new and old linen fibers and considering these techniques for a potential investigation of the Shroud. The activity is aimed at providing useful and suitable information to be included in the complex mosaic of data to understand the mystery of the Shroud.
Landslide early warning systems (LEWS) can be categorized into two groups: territorial and local systems. Territorial landslide early warning systems (Te-LEWS) deal with the occurrence of several ...landslides in wide areas: at municipal/regional/national scale. The aim of such systems is to forecast the increased probability of landslide occurrence in a given warning zone. The performance evaluation of such systems is often overlooked, and a standardized procedure is still missing. This paper describes a new Excel user-friendly tool for the application of the EDuMaP method, originally proposed by (Calvello and Piciullo 2016). A description of indicators used for the performance evaluation of different Te-LEWS is provided, and the most useful ones have been selected and implemented into the tool. The EDuMaP tool has been used for the performance evaluation of the “SMART” warning model operating in Piemonte region, Italy. The analysis highlights the warning zones with the highest performance and the ones that need threshold refinement. A comparison of the performance of the SMART model with other models operating in different Te-LEWS has also been carried out, highlighting critical issues and positive aspects. Lastly, the SMART performance has been evaluated with both the EDuMaP and a standard 2 × 2 contingency table for comparison purposes. The result highlights that the latter approach can lead to an imprecise and not detailed assessment of the warning model, because it cannot differentiate among the levels of warning and the variable number of landslides that may occur in a time interval.
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