Genuine Space Research Articles

Carpe diem: Europe must make a genuine space policy now

Abstract This article examines the current effort to establish a ‘European space policy’. The authors place this effort in the context of the experience of the 2003 Green and White Papers, the subsequent stalling of the Constitutional Treaty for the EU, and reductions in the EU's financial perspectives. They argue that, despite post-referenda malaise and systemic inertia on the part of several member states, adoption of a space policy is long overdue and should not merely seek to rearrange what is already there or expose yet again what is being done. A full-blooded policy setting in train fundamental change is needed, justifying a political decision at the level of the European Council. The article then offers criteria such a policy should fulfil as well as items the authors view as essential content. They briefly explore issues which could become stumbling blocks but which can be accommodated within the kind of policy this article advocates.

“We Sing Our Home, We Dance Our Land”: Indigenous Self-Determination and Contemporary Geopolitics in Australian Popular Music

Strategies for indigenous self-determination have emerged at unique junctures in national and global geopolitical arenas, challenging the formal hegemony of the nation-state with claims to land rights, sovereignty and self-governance. These movements are reflected qualitatively, in a variety of social, political, and cultural forms, including popular music in Australia. An analysis of the ‘cultural apparatus’, recordings, and popular performance events of indigenous musicians reveals the construction of ‘arenas of empowerment’ at a variety of geographical scales, within which genuine spaces of Aboriginal self-determination and self-expression can exist. Although these spaces often remain contested, new indigenous musical networks continue to emerge, simultaneously inscribing Aboriginal music into the Australian soundscape, and beginning to challenge normative geopolitical doctrines. The emergence of a vibrant Aboriginal popular music scene therefore requires a rethinking of Australian music, and appeals for greater recognition of Aboriginal artists' sophisticated geopolitical strategies.

Merging two general goldberg 5 R linkages to obtain a new 6 R space mechanism

The copious literature dealing with overconstrained linkages shows that this topic is still of great interest. Indeed many questions concerning these “paradoxical” linkages remain unsolved. Furthermore, the increased industrial application of genuine space mechanisms has made it desirable to minimize the number of links. In the present paper a new 6 R space mechanism is described, the synthesis of which is achieved by coalescing two appropriate generalized Goldberg 5 R linkages. This is done in a manner similar to the synthesis of the Goldberg 5 R linkage itself, that is, by blending two Bennett 4R linkages. All five input-output equations are porvided, and some numerical results are presented graphically.