Cosmic Phenomena Research Articles

A periodic varying deceleration parameter in f(R, T) gravity

The phenomenon of accelerated expansion of the present universe and a cosmic transit aspect is explored in the framework of a modified gravity theory known as f(R, T) gravity (where R is the Ricci scalar and T is the trace of the energy–momentum tensor of the matter content). The cosmic transit phenomenon signifies a signature flipping behavior of the deceleration parameter. We employ a periodic varying deceleration parameter and obtained the exact solution of field equations. The dynamical features of the model including the oscillatory behavior of the EOS parameter are studied. We have also explored the obvious violation of energy–momentum conservation in f(R, T) gravity. The periodic behavior of energy conditions for the model are also discussed with a wide range of the free parameters.

Material culture of the ethnic aboriginal Jarawa folk in Andaman Islands, India

Traditional knowledge is structured on the basis of practical utility and it is an experiential aptitude developed which is scripted down or transmitted orally from one generation to other. Jarawas are hunter-gatherer nomadic negritoid tribe leading a contented life with forest resources thereby justifying themselves as ‘ecosystem people’. Jarawas are eco-friendly people as they extract only that much of natural resources from the surrounding forests as they require for their survival. Awareness of the Jarawas about nature comprises of their knowledge of flora, fauna, land, sea, cosmic phenomena and especially their knowledge of flora is astounding. Nevertheless, ethnobotanical studies of Jarawas provide ample scope to generate interesting floristic data as the tribe belongs to a unique racial group inhabiting the remote geographically isolated islands with varied vegetation. They make different artefacts using materials that are available from their forest habitat except iron. Material culture of Jarawa’s is not utilitarian as they make the artefacts aesthetically pleasant by engraving geometric designs on them. Customarily, Jarawas were observed crafting criss-cross wavy designs on their faces and bodies with clay soil, besides wearing girdles of red cotton and wool which clearly exemplifies their aesthetic sense. These artefacts are mostly function oriented and their preparation is gender specific. However, no gender restrictions exist in using the artefacts. Always men make the hunting implements like bow (aav), arrow (patho) and chest guard (kekad). Conversely, the women make fishing net (botho) and cane basket (taiga) which is used for collecting and gathering food materials. Women also make head, neck and waist girdles using red wool, cotton and different plant parts like flowers and leaves etc. and decorate their bodies. Ethnobotanical information of Jarawa tribe pertaining to artefacts used in shelter, hunting, fishing, food gathering, ornamentation and dressing purposes are presented in detail besides highlighting their subsistence activities and cultural influences.

The Importance of Water for Life

Liquid water is essential for life as we know it, i.e. carbon-based life. Although other compound-solvent pairs that could exist in very specific physical environments could be envisaged, the elements essential to carbon and water-based life are among the most common in the universe. Carbon molecules and liquid water have physical and chemical properties that make them optimised compound-solvent pairs. Liquid water is essential for important prebiotic reactions. But equally important for the emergence of life is the contact of carbon molecules in liquid water with hot rocks and minerals. We here review the environmental conditions of the early Earth, as soon as it had liquid water at its surface and was habitable. Basing our approach to life as a “cosmic phenomenon” (de Duve 1995), i.e. a chemical continuum, we briefly address the various hypotheses for the origin of life, noting their relevance with respect to early environmental conditions. It appears that hydrothermal environments were important in this respect. We continue with the record of early life noting that, by 3.5 Ga, when the sedimentary environment started being well-preserved, anaerobic life forms had colonised all habitable microenvironments from the sea floor to exposed beach environments and, possibly, in the photic planktonic zone of the sea. Life on Earth had also evolved to the relatively sophisticated stage of anoxygenic photosynthesis. We conclude with an evaluation of the potential for habitability and colonisation of other planets and satellites in the Solar System, noting that the most common life forms in the Solar System and probably in the Universe would be similar to terrestrial chemotrophs whose carbon source is either reduced carbon or CO2 dissolved in water and whose energy would be sourced from oxidized carbon, H2, or other transition elements.

Introducing time-dependent molecular fields: a new derivation of the wave equations

This article is part of a series of articles trying to establish the concept Molecular Field. The theory that induced us to introduce this novel concept is based on the Born-Huang expansion as applied to the Schroedinger equation that describes the interaction of a molecular system with an external electric field. Assuming the molecular system is made up of two coupled adiabatic states the theory leads from a single spatial Curl Equation, two space-time Curl equations and one single space-time Divergent equation to a pair of decoupled Wave Equations usually encountered within the theory of fields. In the present study the Wave Equations are derived for an external field having two features: (a) its intensity is high enough; (b) its duration is short enough. For this situation the study reveals that the just described interaction creates two fields that coexist within a molecule: one is a novel vectorial field formed via the interaction of the external field with the Born-Huang non-adiabatic coupling terms (NACT) and the other is an ordinary, scalar, electric field essentially identical to the original external field. Part of the present study is devoted to the visualization of the outcomes via two intersecting Jahn-Teller cones which contain NACTs that become singular at their intersection point, also known as the point of Conical Intersection. This description is reminiscent of a metaphoric cosmic Black-Hole which swallows one type of an electric field and creates a new type. Finally, the fact that eventually we are facing a kind of a cosmic situation may bring us to speculate that singular NACTs are a result of cosmic phenomena. Thus, if indeed this singularity is somehow connected to reality then, like other singularities in physics, it is formed at (or immediately after) the Big Bang (and because of that, eventually the ability to form molecules).

Tackling non-linearities with the effective field theory of dark energy and modified gravity

We present the extension of the effective field theory framework to the mildly non-linear scales. The effective field theory approach has been successfully applied to the late time cosmic acceleration phenomenon and it has been shown to be a powerful method to obtain predictions about cosmological observables on linear scales. However, mildly non-linear scales need to be consistently considered when testing gravity theories because a large part of the data comes from those scales. Thus, non-linear corrections to predictions on observables coming from the linear analysis can help in discriminating among different gravity theories. We proceed firstly by identifying the necessary operators which need to be included in the effective field theory Lagrangian in order to go beyond the linear order in perturbations and then we construct the corresponding non-linear action. Moreover, we present the complete recipe to map any single field dark energy and modified gravity models into the non-linear effective field theory framework by considering a general action in the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner formalism. In order to illustrate this recipe we proceed to map the beyond-Horndeski theory and low-energy Hořava gravity into the effective field theory formalism. As a final step we derived the 4th order action in term of the curvature perturbation. This allowed us to identify the non-linear contributions coming from the linear order perturbations which at the next order act like source terms. Moreover, we confirm that the stability requirements, ensuring the positivity of the kinetic term and the speed of propagation for scalar mode, are automatically satisfied once the viability of the theory is demanded at linear level. The approach we present here will allow to construct, in a model independent way, all the relevant predictions on observables at mildly non-linear scales.

Mirce-mechanics approach to the analysis of the cosmic radiation impact on aviation reliability

The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the necessity of addressing all physical causes that lead to the transition of maintainable systems from positive to negative functionability state during their lives. Addressing the reliability characteristics of components and systems in isolation from the analysis of the impact of the natural environment on is not sufficient. Hence, results of the research performed in accordance with the Mirce-mechanics principles have shown the significant impact of cosmic radiation on the in-service behaviour of aviation systems. Due to the rapid advances in electronics technology and the unrelenting demand for increased avionics functionality, the complexity of avionics systems has risen exponentially. Hence, ever more advanced microprocessor and memory semiconductor devices are being used that exhibit an increased susceptibility to cosmic radiation phenomena. Single event effects have been the primary radiation concern for avionics since the late 1980’s when the phenomenon, which had previously only been observed in orbiting satellites, also began to appear in aircraft electronic systems. The trend with each new generation of avionics system is to use increasing quantities of semiconductor memories and other complex devices that are susceptible to decreases in reliability due to ionising radiation from the cosmic rays from space and alpha particles from radioactive impurities in the device itself. The interaction of this radiation can result in either a transient “soft error” effect such as a bit flip in memory or a voltage transient in logic, alternatively a “hard error” can be induced resulting in permanent damage such as the burnout of a transistor. Thus, this paper concludes that Mirce-mechanics approach to reliability is the only way forward for all members of the reliability community who wish to develop a method for accurate predictions of reliability, cost and effectiveness of aviation systems at early design stages, rather than to measure their in-service values and produce end of life statistics.

The cosmic sublime in the aesthetics of Longinus and Zhuangzi

This essay features a comparative study of the aesthetics represented by the Greco-Roman critic Longinus and the Chinese Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi through what I would call the cosmic sublime. Both Longinus and Zhuangzi, I propose, articulate an aesthetic ideal of the cosmic sublime, by which I mean the grandeur captured by a cosmic perspective or obtained from contemplating phenomena of a planetary scale, as well as the emotions associated with experience of the sublime. And both seek to theorize the sublime by positing the great-small and subject-object distinction. While concurring to the importance of great natures in producing and appreciating sublime images, the two thinkers diverge with regard to the relation of the subject and object of aesthetic judgment. Where Longinus presages Kant in emphasizing the preeminence of the judging mind in comprehending cosmic phenomena, Zhuangzi asserts the merging of the aesthetic subject with the primal simplicity, a claim that anticipates Holderlin and Nietzsche’s call to identify with the Dionysian One. As an aesthetic category, the cosmic sublime provides a vantage point from which to view how the human mind confronts and conceptualizes grandeur of an infinite dimension. As a comparative lens, the cosmic sublime helps reveal not only a new aesthetic ideal but also a distinctive Chinese aesthetics analogous to the Western sublime tradition.

Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory: a global cosmic ray detection framework

The main objective of the Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) is the detection and analysis of extended cosmic ray phenomena, so-called super-preshowers (SPS), using existing as well as new infrastructure (cosmic-ray observatories, educational detectors, single detectors etc.). The search for ensembles of cosmic ray events initiated by SPS is yet an untouched ground, in contrast to the current state-of-the-art analysis, which is focused on the detection of single cosmic ray events. Theoretical explanation of SPS could be given either within classical (e.g., photon-photon interaction) or exotic (e.g., Super Heavy Dark Matter decay or annihilation) scenarios, thus detection of SPS would provide a better understanding of particle physics, high energy astrophysics and cosmology. The ensembles of cosmic rays can be classified based on the spatial and temporal extent of particles constituting the ensemble. Some classes of SPS are predicted to have huge spatial distribution, a unique signature detectable only with a facility of the global size. Since development and commissioning of a completely new facility with such requirements is economically unwarranted and time-consuming, the global analysis goals are achievable when all types of existing detectors are merged into a worldwide network. The idea to use the instruments in operation is based on a novel trigger algorithm: in parallel to looking for neighbour surface detectors receiving the signal simultaneously, one should also look for spatially isolated stations clustered in a small time window. On the other hand, CREDO strategy is also aimed at an active engagement of a large number of participants, who will contribute to the project by using common electronic devices (e.g., smartphones), capable of detecting cosmic rays. It will help not only in expanding the geographical spread of CREDO, but also in managing a large manpower necessary for a more efficient crowd-sourced pattern recognition scheme to identify and classify SPS. A worldwide network of cosmic-ray detectors could not only become a unique tool to study fundamental physics, it will also provide a number of other opportunities, including space-weather or geophysics studies. Among the latter one has to list the potential to predict earthquakes by monitoring the rate of low energy cosmic-ray events. The diversity of goals motivates us to advertise this concept across the astroparticle physics community.

Dual character of love in philosophy and education

The philosophy of love is often seen as a unique cosmic phenomenon, but the history of philosophy is full of theses that emphasize that love in spite of its uniqueness may have a dual character. Man as a being, through which the separation line of physical and spiritual world, itself equally felt in love for the physical and spiritual love. A different aspect of love that we have different theories that make the difference between infatuation and love, eros and agape, sensual and spiritual love, etc. It is important in the process of education to distinguish and identify different characters love. Love alone is not sufficient for education is already substantial and the quality of love that we give to children, or whether only the material and feed the egoistic principle in them or help them to build yourself a spiritual love that is a factor of integration of each person.

The Dickens Universe: Gazing at the Heavens

Stars and other astronomical references play a significant part in Charles Dickens’s writings, from the 1830s to the end of his career. He took an interest in contemporary discoveries and theories in astronomy, but also uses cosmic phenomena in religiously inspired and symbolic ways. This network of references, from the farcical depiction of an astronomer in The Lamplighter and the self-aggrandising cosmic references of Mr. Pecksniff, through the benevolent star that shines in Hard Times and brief remarks on arguments for and against life on other planets, culminates in, and gives extra meaning to, Dickens’s greatest work of stargazing, Great Expectations.

Origin of Life: A Consequence of Cosmic Energy, Redox Homeostasis and Quantum Phenomenon

Origin of life on earth transpired once and from then on, it emerges as an endless eternal process. Matter and energy are constants of the cosmos and the hypothesis is that the origin of life is a moment when these constants intertwined or interacted. Energy from the cosmos interacted with inorganic matter to support matter with retention of this riveted energy, as energy to be circulated within the primitive channelized structures to conserve energy by the materialization of the proton homeostasis mechanisms developed from the obtainable inorganic matter. The driver for these processes as we now confirm, exists in the quantum world and through quantum phenomenal processes could have combined these constants to create the magic of life. Primitive earth was a chemical reactive system that triggered a macromolecular evolution by means of open thermodynamic systems, driven by cyclic gradients of temperature, electromagnetic radiation and chemical potentials which sustained life and proto-consciousness in the first life forms driven by the quantum processes. The origin of life is always an intriguing topic but the purpose for finding the cause should never be inclined towards obliterating it; for if that is the case, the further we seek, the farther it will go.

A study of upward going particles with the Extreme Energy Events telescopes

In this paper the first study of the upward going events detected by the telescopes of the Extreme Energy Event (EEE) project is reported. The EEE project consists of a detector array of Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers located at selected sites on the Italian territory. During autumn 2014 the first coordinated data taking period took place and around one billion candidate tracks were collected. Among them, of particular interest is the sample of particles which cross the telescopes from below. The results obtained demonstrate that the EEE telescopes can distinguish the electrons produced as decay products of cosmic muons stopped in the ground, or in the last chamber of the telescopes themselves, confirming the excellent performance of the system for the investigation of intriguing cosmic phenomena.

English

Similarities in the birth and development of cosmic and biologic systems provide unexpected proof for the major theories of formation of the universe - the Big Bang and the String theories. They include similarities in the theory of their formation, one unit origin, preexisting states, conception, fertilization, gestation, information, basic units, flatness, fluctuations, smoothness, lumpiness, reproductive and excretive organs, differentiation, composition, organization, function, expansion and homeostasis. Based on these similarities, alternative suggestions are proposed to explain various past and present cosmic events and phenomena, and to predict the future of the universe. The relevance of these predictions could be far reaching, and could revolutionize major concepts in cosmology.   Key words: Cosmology, universe, big bang, string theory, biology, hypothesis, similarities, birth, evolution, fate, predictions. &nbsp

Aspects of information support in ensuring the survivability of spacecraft under electrophysical effects

In order to improve the operational efficiency of decision-making in the context of spacecraft (SC) endurance in operation, the task was set to increase the efficiency of adaptation of its control system to the environmental effects. The instruments installed on most Russian SCs in many cases do not provide for identification and timely elimination of accident sources due to delays in the identification of faults and failures. A technology is proposed that involves intellectualization of control systems. It is suggested to complement the SC control circuit with an expert system that includes a “prognostic decision support system”, a “control simulation and correction module”. Due to the ambiguity and common uncertainty of cosmic phenomena, it is suggested to predict the reaction of SC equipment to external effects rather than monitor such effects. The intelligence of the expert system is to be ensured through the analysis of the communication medium that defines the possibility to ensure SC survivability. The correction of control is suggested to be performed not on the basis of process parameters monitoring, but rather knowledge. This knowledge is held by experts who possess experience in SC flight mission performance. The results of the audit of external factors and development of SC functional units reactions represent the input data. After clearing, sorting and statistical analysis of data, it is suggested to regard it as information resources. The results of such resources analysis and design of messages based on expert conclusions transforms such resources into knowledge that is used in decision making and control correction. The diversity of architectures and processes of SC functional units design has defined the requirement to involve experts with diverse professional backgrounds. It was proposed to generate forecasts of SC equipment reactions development in the form of description of the dynamics of multifactor combination of the results of intersubject audit of functional units operations and subjective expert evaluations. In order to ensure agility of information analysis within the knowledge base, it was suggested to use the OLAP comprehensive multidimensional analysis technology. In particular, that regards fast analysis of shared multidimensional information that includes requirements for multidimensional analysis applications. The proposed model of systematic accumulation and processing of knowledge will enable flight control officers to timely identify inadequacies in the control inputs. The logical and statistical analysis capabilities ensured by this application will enable the delivery of analysis results to the experts within a time period sufficient for elimination of the causes of faults and failures in SC equipment operation. Multidimensional conceptual representation of data including the support of multiple hierarchies will define the capability to refer to any required information regardless of its size and place of storage. The proposed method of information support of SC equipment reactions forecasting is addressed in the light of the analysis of electrophysical effects that affect SC in near-Earth orbits. Combining the methods of computer data processing and intersubject analysis of functional units operation must insure efficient decision-making based on increased accuracy and agility of data processing and, consequently, selection of SC operation adaptation scenario subject to flight control officer’s preferences.

Útero, psiquis y climaterio: un acercamiento desde la endocrinología antropológica

The female gonadal cycle has been ancestrally linked to traits of an emotional and mutable mood, partly attributed to moon phases. This would pave the way along centuries to consider menstruation as something impure and, in the western civilization, even evil (note sexualization of sin in Christian culture). In this context and until the pathophysiology of menopause was approached with a scientific perspective, cessation of fertility and phenotypic changes associated with ovarian quenching have fostered a magical and prejudicial vision as a state related to disequilibrium, lunacy or harm. Historical portraits of women with this psychological profile through time as prophets, mystic, witches have turned in today’s hysterical, depressive or emotionally labile diagnoses. This fact reveals the impact of long standing beliefs based on myths and cosmic phenomena on the contemporary collective subconscious. An impact that, in conjunction with cultural, social and biological issues, even today, modulate the medical nosological categories.

Spór o możliwość wykrywania projektu w naukach przyrodniczych

Controversy over the possibility of detecting design in natural sciences According to intelligent design theory, certain biological and cosmic phenomena are designed by an intelligent being and this design is scientifically detectable. However, critics refuse to regard this theory as scientific, thereby suggesting that it does not deserve serious discussion in scientific circles. The article presents main methodological objections to intelligent design theory, indicating its unscientific or pseudoscientific character and impossibility of scientific design detection (at least in specific research areas). Critics try to show that this theory: 1) violates the principle of methodological naturalism (and thus that it is a supernatural, creationist, religious concept); 2) is empirically untestable; 3) it does not invoke natural laws, says nothing about the designer and the designing mechanism; 4) it does not offer predictions; 5) it is an argument from ignorance, and 6) it does not lead to fruitful research program and hence is not useful for science. These objections will be analyzed from the perspective of methodological thesis of design theorists that the sufficient condition of design inference are the characteristic effects (signs, traces) leaved by the activity of the designer, which indicate the final cause, although they do not have to be the basis for determining the designer’s identity. If this thesis is sound, then the objections that intelligent design theory is not scientific are rebutted or weakened. Moreover, it turns out that, basically, detecting design of supernatural beings does not differ from detecting design of natural beings. For that reason, there is no qualitative difference between these two procedures and both can be regarded as scientific.

The Great Commentary (Dazhuan 大傳) and Chinese natural cosmology

As important as the Daoist and Confucian canons have been in the articulation of Chinese intellectual history and as much as they can be appealed as textual evidence for claims about early Chinese cosmology, perhaps no single text can compete with the Yijing 易經 or Book of Changes in terms of the sustained interest it has garnered from succeeding generations of China’s literati, and the influence it has had on Chinese self-understanding. The coordination of the relationship between the changing world and the human experience is the main axis of the Yijing. The purpose of this text is fundamentally normative and prescriptive. It purports to address life’s most pressing question: What kind of participation in these natural processes can optimize the possibilities of a world in which natural and human events are two inseparable, mutually shaping aspects? Confucian morality itself is a cosmic phenomenon that emerges from the synergistic transactions that take place between the operations of nature and human effort.

A century of general relativity: Astrophysics and cosmology

One hundred years after its birth, general relativity has become a highly successful physical theory in the sense that it has passed a large number of experimental and observational tests and finds extensive application to a wide variety of cosmic phenomena. It remains an active area of research as new tests are on the way, epitomized by the exciting prospect of detecting gravitational waves from merging black holes. General relativity is the essential foundation of the standard model of cosmology and underlies our description of the black holes and neutron stars that are ultimately responsible for the most powerful and dramatic cosmic sources. Its interface with physics on the smallest and largest scales will continue to provide fertile areas of investigation in its next century.

The Transition from Earth-centred Biology to Cosmic Life#

A paradigm shift with potentially profound implications has been taking place over the past 3 decades. The convergence of research in diverse disciplines points to life being a cosmic phenomenon. A near-infinite information content of life appears to have evolved on a cosmological scale over vast distances, and enormous spans of time. It appears highly unlikely that life could have emerged from chemicals in “some warm little pond” on the Earth; in contrast we maintain that every species of life on the Earth, including Homo sapiens, is in essence the result of an assembly of cosmologically derived viral genes. The ingress of such genes that continues to the present day led to their accommodation within the genomes of evolving lineages, sifted according to the “natural processes of selection”, a mechanism first enunciated by Patrick Matthews and later used by Darwin. The evidence for this point of view has now grown to the point where we believe, it will soon need to be accepted by the majority of the scientific community. This is particularly critical, since we suggest that new diseases capable of threatening Man’s existence could arrive to Earth from space. Moreover, we need to understand that we must live in harmony with the Earth and its ever-changing biosphere if we are to coexist with it.

The Forgotten Remit of Astrobiology

Astrobiology as it is currently pursued generally ignores the possibility that life might be a cosmic phenomenon, and that fully-fledged microbial life – bacteria and viruses – are cosmically omnipresent. The exploration of this possibility, which is opposed to the conventional view of an origin of life occurring independently on individual planets like Earth, is urgently needed in the light of new data.