Observational Point Of View Research Articles

Wavenumber-Frequency Spectra of Normal Mode Function Decomposed Atmospheric Data: Departures from the Dry Linear Theory

The study of tropical tropospheric disturbances has led to important challenges from both observational and theoretical points of view. In particular, the observed wavenumber-frequency spectrum of tropical oscillations has helped bridge the gap between observations and the linear theory of equatorial waves. In this study, we obtained a similar wavenumber-frequency spectrum for each equatorial wave type by performing a normal mode function (NMF) decomposition of global Era–Interim reanalysis data. The NMF basis used here is provided by the eigensolutions of the primitive equations in spherical coordinates as linearized around a resting background state. In this methodology, the global multi-level horizontal velocity and geopotential height fields are projected onto the normal mode functions, characterized by a vertical mode, a zonal wavenumber, a meridional quantum index, and a mode type, namely, Rossby, Kelvin, mixed Rossby-gravity, and westward/eastward propagating inertio-gravity modes. The horizontal velocity and geopotential height fields associated with each mode type are then reconstructed in the physical space, as well as their corresponding filtered versions defined according to the vertical mode classes that exhibit barotropic and baroclinic structures within the troposphere. The results reveal expected structures, such as the dominant global-scale Rossby and Kelvin waves constituting the intraseasonal frequency associated with the Madden–Julian Oscillation. On the other hand, a number of unexpected features, such as eastward propagating westward inertio-gravity waves, are revealed by our observed 200 hPa zonal wind spectrum. Among all possible nonlinear processes, we focus on the analysis of the interaction between Kelvin and westward inertio-gravity waves, providing evidence for their coupling. Apart from the nonlinearity, we discuss the potential roles of a vertically/meridionally varying background state as well as the coupling with moist convection in explaining the departures of the observed spectra from the corresponding linear equatorial wave theory.

My view on your actions: Dynamic changes in viewpoint-dependent auditory ERP attenuation during action observation.

It has been suggested that during action observation, a sensory representation of the observed action is mapped onto one's own motor system. However, it is largely unexplored what this may imply for the early processing of the action's sensory consequences, whether the observational viewpoint exerts influence on this and how such a modulatory effect might change over time. We tested whether the event-related potential of auditory effects of actions observed from a first- versus third-person perspective show amplitude reductions compared with externally generated sounds, as revealed for self-generated sounds. Multilevel modeling on trial-level data showed distinct dynamic patterns for the two viewpoints on reductions of the N1, P2, and N2 components. For both viewpoints, an N1 reduction for sounds generated by observed actions versus externally generated sounds was observed. However, only during first-person observation, we found a temporal dynamic within experimental runs (i.e., the N1 reduction only emerged with increasing trial number), indicating time-variant, viewpoint-dependent processes involved in sensorimotor prediction during action observation. For the P2, only a viewpoint-independent reduction was found for sounds elicited by observed actions, which disappeared in the second half of the experiment. The opposite pattern was found in an exploratory analysis concerning the N2, revealing a reduction that increased in the second half of the experiment, and, moreover, a temporal dynamic within experimental runs for the first-person perspective, possibly reflecting an agency-related process. Overall, these results suggested that the processing of auditory outcomes of observed actions is dynamically modulated by the viewpoint over time.

Kicking in or kicking out? The role of the individual motor expertise in predicting the outcome of rugby actions.

In sports, understanding others' actions represents a fundamental skill that allows players to predict the outcome of teammates' and opponents' actions and counteract them properly. While it is well known that motor expertise sets better premises for predicting the result of an observed sports action, it remains untested whether this principle applies to a team where players cover different positions that imply different motor repertoires. To test this hypothesis, we selected rugby as a paradigmatic example in which only one or two players out of 22 train and perform placed kicks. We administered a placed kick outcome prediction task to three groups of participants, namely, rugby kickers, rugby non-kickers, and controls, thus spanning over different combinations of motor expertise and visual experience. Kickers outperformed both their non-kicking teammates and controls in overall prediction accuracy. We documented how the viewpoint of observation, the expertise of the observed kicker, and the position of the kick on the court influenced the prediction performance across the three groups. Finally, we revealed that within rugby players, the degree of motor expertise (but not the visual experience) causally affects accuracy, and such a result stands even after accounting for the level of visual experience. These findings extend the role of motor expertise in decoding and predicting others' behaviors to sports teammates, among which every member is equipped with a position-specific motor repertoire, advocating for new motor training procedures combining the gestures to-be-performed with those to-be-faced.

The Interplay between Coronal Holes and Solar Active Regions from Magnetohydrostatic Models

Coronal holes (CHs) and active regions (ARs) are typical magnetic structures found in the solar corona. The interaction of these two structures was investigated mainly from the observational point of view, but a basic theoretical understanding of how they are connected is missing. To address this problem, in this paper, magnetohydrostatic models are constructed by numerically solving a Grad–Shafranov equation in two dimensions. A common functional form for the pressure and temperature in the CH and in the AR are assumed throught the study. Keeping the parameters of the CH constant and modifying the parameters of the nearby bipolar AR, one finds essentially three types of solutions depending on the magnitude and sign of the magnetic field at the closest foot of the AR to the CH. Two of the three solutions match well with the observation, but the third solution predicts the existence of closed magnetic field lines with quite low density and temperature with opposite characteristics to those in typical ARs. Simple analytical expressions are obtained for the pressure, temperature and density at the core of the AR and their dependence upon several major physical parameters are studied. The results obtained in this paper need to be contrasted with observations.

New Investigation of a Tropical Cyclone: Observational and Turbulence Analysis for the Faraji Hurricane

In the general framework of the atmosphere, the in-depth study of extreme events of complex nature such as tropical cyclones remains an open problem. Nowadays, there are different useful studies aiming to enlarge the current knowledge of these events. Under this perspective, the search for mechanisms and geographical areas of formation and dynamics of tropical cyclones at different latitudes needs better constraints on their preliminary results. This work focuses on a diagnostic analysis of a tropical cyclone, with the aim of identifying key points that characterize its evolution, from a dynamic and observational point of view. The study is applied to Hurricane Faraji, the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 2021 Indian Ocean season, classified as fifth-category on the Saffir–Simpson intensity scale. The study develops in three main sections, all related to each other. The starting point is a large set of satellite products from both polar and geostationary platforms. From the data acquired by the polar instruments, an accurate study of the evolution of the hurricane is carried out, focused on the extraction of physical information related to the system (temperature and altitude of the associated cloudy system, temperature gradient, pressure in the different regions) at moderate resolutions. From the data acquired by the geostationary instruments, it is possible to obtain very high temporal resolution pictures of the temperature field of the cyclone, from which a study of the turbulent dynamics is carried out. In particular, to investigate the maximum energy content in the different regions of the cyclone, the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) technique is used to extract the associated spectra of both the spatial and temporal components, studied separately on three different ranges of scales.

Using deep learning for the prediction of mixing patterns in two component-colored solutions as a proxy to dispersion in nanocomposite coatings

Dispersion of nanofiller in the polymer matrix is a vital factor that influences the properties of the fabricated nanocomposites at the laboratory level. Characterization techniques like TEM and FESEM, having a small sample size, tend to miss out on the big picture for the analysis of mixing on a larger scale. At the industrial level, conducting such testing with varying experimental conditions is not viable in terms of both cost and time. Through this study, we propose a simple method to examine the extent of dispersion using a simple camera and employing deep learning (DL) models. For this purpose, an analogous study has been performed to study the sensitivity of the processing techniques, to better understand the findings in our previous articles. A two component-colored solution (oil–water) was utilized as a proxy for the nanofiller-polymer matrix system. Different processing methods were employed namely ultrasonication, homogenization, sequential ultrasonication and homogenization and simultaneous ultrasonication and homogenization. The variation in processing technique significantly affects the dispersion which is attributed to the different mixing mechanisms (turbulent, diffusive, and convective) incurred in these processing techniques. Inferences are withdrawn by detecting patterns in a large sample size which highlights that DL models provide us with a holistic viewpoint of real-time observations. It also ameliorates human interpretation by unraveling obscure information which can go unnoticed by human eyes.

Gas kinematics around filamentary structures in the Orion B cloud

Context. Understanding the initial properties of star-forming material and how they affect the star formation process is key. From an observational point of view, the feedback from young high-mass stars on future star formation properties is still poorly constrained. Aims. In the framework of the IRAM 30m ORION-B large program, we obtained observations of the translucent (2 ≤ AV < 6 mag) and moderately dense gas (6 ≤ AV < 15 mag), which we used to analyze the kinematics over a field of 5 deg2 around the filamentary structures. Methods. We used the Regularized Optimization for Hyper-Spectral Analysis (ROHSA) algorithm to decompose and de-noise the C18O(1–0) and 13CO(1–0) signals by taking the spatial coherence of the emission into account. We produced gas column density and mean velocity maps to estimate the relative orientation of their spatial gradients. Results. We identified three cloud velocity layers at different systemic velocities and extracted the filaments in each velocity layer. The filaments are preferentially located in regions of low centroid velocity gradients. By comparing the relative orientation between the column density and velocity gradients of each layer from the ORION-B observations and synthetic observations from 3D kinematic toy models, we distinguish two types of behavior in the dynamics around filaments: (i) radial flows perpendicular to the filament axis that can be either inflows (increasing the filament mass) or outflows and (ii) longitudinal flows along the filament axis. The former case is seen in the Orion B data, while the latter is not identified. We have also identified asymmetrical flow patterns, usually associated with filaments located at the edge of an H II region. Conclusions. This is the first observational study to highlight feedback from H II regions on filament formation and, thus, on star formation in the Orion B cloud. This simple statistical method can be used for any molecular cloud to obtain coherent information on the kinematics.

The Dawes Review 11: From young to old: The evolutionary path of Pulsar Wind Nebulae

AbstractPulsar wind nebulae (PWN) are fascinating systems and archetypal sources for high-energy astrophysics in general. Due to their vicinity, brightness, to the fact that they shine at multi-wavelengths, and especially to their long-living emission at gamma rays, modelling their properties is particularly important for the correct interpretation of the visible Galaxy. A complication in this respect is the variety of properties and morphologies they show at different ages. Here, we discuss the differences among the evolutionary phases of PWN, how they have been modeled in the past and what progresses have been recently made. We approach the discussion from a phenomenological, theoretical (especially numerical) and observational point of view, with particular attention to the most recent results and open questions about the physics of such intriguing sources.

Hubble-constant crisis

The Hubble constant quantitatively characterizes the expansion rate of the current Universe, and its precise measurement has become a crucial scientific problem. In recent years, there has been an increasingly serious discrepancy between the local direct measurements of the Hubble constant and the global fitting results, where the local direct measurements come from the local distance ladder measurements of the late universe, and the global fitting results come from fitting the standard model of cosmology to the microwave background radiation from the early universe. If this discrepancy is not caused by the observation error and systematic error of any of the observation methods, it probably means that there is a new physics beyond the existing standard model of cosmology. This article briefly reviews the Hubble constant problem from two aspects with observational and theoretical points of view, and finally provide a perspective view from both observational and theoretical aspects by combining the author’s research on this problem in recent years. The observational review includes cosmological observations from both early Universe (either depending or independent of the CMB measurements) and late Universe (either depending or independent of the distant-ladder measurements), and the theoretical review includes model buildings from modifying both early Universe (either recombination history or expansion history) and late Universe (either homogeneous modifications or inhomogeneous modifications). The final observational perspective includes both local and non-local cosmic variances with their Hubble residual correlated to the matter density contrasts of observer and sample, respectively, and the final theoretical perspective concludes the interacting dark energy model as the most promising candidate for both Hubble tension and <i>S</i><sub>8</sub> tension, which can be specifically realized in a chameleon dark energy model, pointing to a scale-dependent effective cosmological constant.

When and why "staying out of it" backfires in moral and political disagreements.

People care where others around them stand on contentious moral and political issues. Yet when faced with the prospect of taking sides and the possibility of alienating observers with whom they might disagree, actors often try to "stay out of it"-communicating that they would rather not to take a side at all. We demonstrate that despite its intuitive appeal for reducing conflict, opting not to take sides over moralized issues can harm trust, even relative to siding against an observer's viewpoint outright. Across eleven experiments (N = 4,383) using controlled scenarios, real press video clips, and incentivized economic games, we find that attempts to stay out of the fray are often interpreted as deceptive and untrustworthy. When actors choose not to take sides, observers often ascribe concealed opposition, an attribution of strategic deception which provokes distrust and undermines real-stakes cooperation and partner choice. We further demonstrate that this effect arises only when staying out of it seems strategic: Actors who seem to hold genuine middle-ground beliefs or who lack incentives for impression management are not distrusted for avoiding conflict. People are often asked to take sides in moral and political disagreement. Our findings outline a reputational risk awaiting those who opt not to do so. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Discriminative Multi-View Dynamic Image Fusion for Cross-View 3-D Action Recognition.

Dramatic imaging viewpoint variation is the critical challenge toward action recognition for depth video. To address this, one feasible way is to enhance view-tolerance of visual feature, while still maintaining strong discriminative capacity. Multi-view dynamic image (MVDI) is the most recently proposed 3-D action representation manner that is able to compactly encode human motion information and 3-D visual clue well. However, it is still view-sensitive. To leverage its performance, a discriminative MVDI fusion method is proposed by us via multi-instance learning (MIL). Specifically, the dynamic images (DIs) from different observation viewpoints are regarded as the instances for 3-D action characterization. After being encoded using Fisher vector (FV), they are then aggregated by sum-pooling to yield the representative 3-D action signature. Our insight is that viewpoint aggregation helps to enhance view-tolerance. And, FV can map the raw DI feature to the higher dimensional feature space to promote the discriminative power. Meanwhile, a discriminative viewpoint instance discovery method is also proposed to discard the viewpoint instances unfavorable for action characterization. The wide-range experiments on five data sets demonstrate that our proposition can significantly enhance the performance of cross-view 3-D action recognition. And, it is also applicable to cross-view 3-D object recognition. The source code is available at https://github.com/3huo/ActionView.

Balloon-borne aerosol–cloud interaction studies (BACIS): field campaigns to understand and quantify aerosol effects on clouds

Abstract. A better understanding of aerosol–cloud interaction processes is important to quantify the role of clouds and aerosols on the climate system. There have been significant efforts to explain the ways aerosols modulate cloud properties. However, from the observational point of view, it is indeed challenging to observe and/or verify some of these processes because no single instrument or platform has been proven to be sufficient. Discrimination between aerosol and cloud is vital for the quantification of aerosol–cloud interaction. With this motivation, a set of observational field campaigns named balloon-borne aerosol–cloud interaction studies (BACIS) is proposed and conducted using balloon-borne in situ measurements in addition to the ground-based (lidar; mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere (MST) radar; lower atmospheric wind profiler; microwave radiometer; ceilometer) and space-borne (CALIPSO) remote sensing instruments from Gadanki (13.45∘ N, 79.2∘ E), India. So far, 15 campaigns have been conducted as a part of BACIS campaigns from 2017 to 2020. This paper presents the concept of the observational approach, lists the major objectives of the campaigns, describes the instruments deployed, and discusses results from selected campaigns. Balloon-borne measurements of aerosol and cloud backscatter ratio and cloud particle count are qualitatively assessed using the range-corrected data from simultaneous observations of ground-based and space-borne lidars. Aerosol and cloud vertical profiles obtained in multi-instrumental observations are found to reasonably agree. Apart from this, balloon-borne profiling is found to provide information on clouds missed by ground-based and/or space-borne lidar. A combination of the Compact Optical Backscatter AerosoL Detector (COBALD) and Cloud Particle Sensor (CPS) sonde is employed for the first time in this study to discriminate cloud and aerosol in an in situ profile. A threshold value of the COBALD colour index (CI) for ice clouds is found to be between 18 and 20, and CI values for coarse-mode aerosol particles range between 11 and 15. Using the data from balloon measurements, the relationship between cloud and aerosol is quantified for the liquid clouds. A statistically significant slope (aerosol–cloud interaction index) of 0.77 found between aerosol backscatter and cloud particle count reveals the role of aerosol in the cloud activation process. In a nutshell, the results presented here demonstrate the observational approach to quantifying aerosol–cloud interactions.

Observational constraints on interacting dark energy models with multiple measurements of quasars

Dark energy and dark matter, two subjects of basic physics, have received a lot of attention in the 21st century. From the observational point of view, the interaction between dark energy and dark matter can significantly affect cosmological distances. This gives rise to the possibility of indirectly detecting such interaction through high-redshift cosmological probes. Theoretically, the introduction of interaction between dark energy and dark matter can assist in alleviating the coincidence problem of the standard cosmological model ($\Lambda$CDM model). Furthermore, this can provide a new method of studying the properties of dark matter particles. In this paper, based on the latest observations of multiple measurements of quasars (X-ray+UV quasars acting as standard candles, compact radio quasars acting as standard rulers) covering the redshift range of $0.04~<~z~<~5.1$ and baryonic acoustic oscillation between ($0.38~<~z~<~2.34$), we investigate the observational constraints on a variety of interacting dark energy models ($\gamma_d~$IDE model, $\gamma_m~$IDE model) and other cosmological models ($\Lambda$CDM model, XCDM model). The results provide us with a quantitative analysis of the possible interaction between dark energy and dark matter, as well as the possible range of the mass of dark matter particles. The joint analysis shows that: (1) Multiple measurements of quasars can provide more stringent constraints on the interacting dark energy models, which can further strengthen the potential of quasars acting as effective cosmological standard probes at higher redshifts; (2) In the framework of both $\gamma_m$IDE model and $\gamma_d$IDE model, the quasar data supports possible conversion of dark energy into dark matter at high redshift, which alleviates the coincidence problem to some extent. We also found that the interaction term is of a small value, which demonstrates the negligible interaction between dark matter and dark energy; (3) In the framework of $\Lambda$CDM model, which has shown the best consistency with quasar data, the density parameter of matter in the Universe is constrained at $\Omega_~m=0.317^{+0.007}_{-0.007}$, with the best-fit Hubble constant $H_0=68.177^{+0.497}_{-0.505}$ at 68.3% confidence level. These findings are consistent with the recent microwave background radiation (CMB) measurements from the Planck satellite; (4) If dark matter in the Universe exists in the form of scalar-field dark matter with $Z_2$ symmetry, we obtain the range of the mass of dark matter particles as $56~{\rm~GeV}\lesssim~m_S\lesssim~63~{\rm~GeV}$ or $m_S\gtrsim450~{\rm~GeV}$, based on the dark energy-dark matter coupling term from multiple measurements of quasars. Such conclusions agree well with the latest experimental results aimed at the direct detection of dark matter particles.

Geodesics and optical properties of a rotating black hole in Randall–Sundrum brane with a cosmological constant

The presence of tidal charge and cosmological constant has considerable consequences on the spacetime geometry and its study is much more important from the observational point of view. Henceforth, we investigate their effects on particle dynamics and the shadow cast by a Randall–Sundrum braneworld black hole with a cosmological constant. On studying the circular geodesics of timelike particles, we have acquired the expressions of energy, angular momentum, effective potential and the innermost stable circular orbits on the equatorial plane. We noted that the negative values of tidal charge and cosmological constant decrease the energy of particles. In addition, the negative value of the cosmological constant leads us to stable circular orbits, whereas its positive value destabilizes the circular orbits. Our exploration shows that the cosmological constant diminishes the radius of the black hole shadow. In response to the dragging effect, black hole rotation elongates its shadow towards the rotational axis. Besides, black hole spin and positive charge distort shadow and its distortion becomes maximum as far as the black hole rotates faster. We also discussed the energy emission rate by considering different cases and compared our result with the standard Kerr black hole.

Geometric structure of multi-form-field isotropic inflation and primordial fluctuations

An inflationary scenario is expected to be embedded into an ultraviolet (UV) complete theory such as string theory. The effect of UV complete theories may appear as nontrivial kinetic terms in the low energy effective field theory, which provides a nontrivial geometry in field space. In this paper, we study the effect of the geometry of multi-form-field space on an inflationary scenario. In particular, we focus on the geometric destabilization mechanism which induces the phase transition from the conventional slow-roll inflation to a novel inflationary scenario. Anisotropic inflation is a typical example of the new phase. To conform to observations, we restrict us to isotropic configuration of form fields. We clarify the conditions for the onset of the destabilization and reveal the geometric structure of attractors after the destabilization. We classify the viable models from the observational point of view. We also investigate the features of the primordial fluctuations and find the similarity to hyperbolic inflation. By calculating the power spectrum, we make several phenomenological predictions which are useful to discriminate our models from others inflation models. We found the scalar-to-tensor r will be suppressed by large one-form gauge fields, while it has the same order as the slow roll parameter r ∼ \U0001d4aa(1)ϵ for large two-from gauge fields.

On light surfaces in black hole thermodynamics

We discuss the fundamentals of classical black hole (BH) thermodynamics in a new framework determined by light surfaces and their frequencies. This new approach allows us to study BH transitions inside the Kerr geometry. In the case of BHs, we introduce a new parametrization of the metric in terms of the maximum extractable rotational energy or, correspondingly, the irreducible mass, which is an alternative to the spin parametrization. It turns out that BH spacetimes with spins a/M= sqrt{8/9} and a/M=1/sqrt{2} show anomalies in the rotational energy extraction and surface gravity whereas the case a/M=sqrt{3}/2 is of particular relevance to study the variations of the horizon area. We find the general conditions under which BH transitions can occur and express them in terms of the masses of the initial and final states. This shows that BH transitions in the Kerr geometry are not arbitrary but depend on the relationship between the mass and spin of the initial and final states. From an observational point of view, we argue that near the BH poles it is possible to detect photon orbits with frequencies that characterize the light surfaces analyzed in this work.

Dust in Clusters of Galaxies

The presence of dust in the intracluster medium (ICM) has been a long-standing problem that is still awaiting elucidation. Direct observational diagnostics are rather challenging (though not impossible) either because of a sparse distribution of dust in the intracluster space that makes extinction measurements difficult or because of a low surface brightness of infrared emission from dust. Complex indirect approaches are currently available that can overcome uncertainties and provide a reasonable understanding of the basic regulations of the physical state of dust in the ICM. Contrary to the common opinion that the hot ICM does not allow dust to survive and manifest, many sparse observational data either directly point out that dust exists in the intracluster space or its presence is consistent with the data. Highly divergent data in direct evidence and highly uncertain indirect indicators are often connected either with dust fragility in a hot environment, the possible compactness of spatial (clumpy) dust distribution in the ICM, or dynamical features of dust transport. The source of dust is obviously connected with galaxies, and it turns out that in most cases, dust is carried from galaxies into the ICM while being thermally and dynamically shielded against the hostile influence of high-energy ions. In this review, we briefly discuss related issues from observational and theoretical points of view, including the transport of dust into the ICM, and the associated destructive and protective mechanisms and their characteristic time scales.

Perception of social and emotional characteristics through smile

Introduction: The concept of beauty, however a subjective issue, is overvalued in some societies, especially in Brazil. Beautiful people enjoy social advantages and are best evaluated for having positive characteristics. Objective: To quantify, by means of a questionnaire, the ability of interviewees, to evaluate / intuit / attribute specific characteristics to unknown people, starting from an observational point of view by means of different photos. Methods: Six different photos were designed for undergraduate students, each representing a smile with different aesthetic changes. Participants answered a questionnaire that contained 10 statements regarding emotional and social characteristics and, afterwards, scoring whether or not they agreed with each statement for each evaluated image. Results: A better evaluation was obtained of image considered having harmonic smile, while greater negative characteristics were attributed to smiles with aesthetic changes, such as fractures, diastema, unsatisfactory restorations, and color changes. Conclusion: According to this study, it can be concluded that dental aesthetics influence the evaluation and judgment of certain characteristics influencing on the emotional and social background. It is the duty of the dental surgeon to be attentive to this subjective step when facing unaestethic smiles, allowing a greater understanding the psycho-social context of the patient.

Ruppeiner geometry of the RN-AdS black hole using shadow formalism

The connection between the shadow radius and the Ruppeiner geometry of a charged static spherically symmetric black hole is investigated. The normalized curvature scalar is adopted, and its close relation to the Van der Waals-like and Hawking-Page phase transition of the Reissner-Nordström AdS black hole is studied. The results show that the shadow radius is a useful tool to reveal the correct information of the phase structure and the underlying microstructure of the black hole, which opens a new window to investigate the strong gravity system from the observational point of view.

Kant, Schelling, and Hegel on How to Conceive Matter from a Metaphysical Point of View

Kant, Schelling, and Hegel research has frequently highlighted differences when considering their three respective concepts of philoso-phy. Especially with regard to natural philosophy, there seems to be little common ground between them. In my paper, however, I want to revise this perspective, picking up on what brings them together. Taking the concept of matter as my primary example, I will argue that neither Kant nor Schelling nor Hegel are interested in conceiving of nature from the viewpoint of empirical observation and as independent of the subject. Rather, their respective philosophical inquiries into nature’s first prin-ciples hinge on critical examinations of reason, providing all three with the conceptual resources to address nature from a metaphysical point of view that is ultimately bound up with rational beings.