Invisible Phenomena Research Articles

Quantum Mechanics and Inclusive Materialism

Since its inception, the intricate mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics has empowered physicists to describe and predict specific physical events known as quantum processes. However, this success in probabilistic predictions has been accompanied by a profound challenge in the ontological interpretation of the theory. This interpretative complexity stems from two key aspects. Firstly, quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory that, so far, is not derivable from any more basic scientific theory. Secondly, it delves into a realm of invisible phenomena that often contradicts our intuitive and commonsensical notions of matter and causality. Despite its notorious difficulties of interpretation, the most widely accepted set of views of quantum phenomena has been known as the Copenhagen interpretation since the beginning of quantum mechanics. According to these views, the correct ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics is incompatible with ontological realism in general and with philosophical materialism in particular. Anti-realist and anti-materialist interpretations of quantum matter have survived until today. This paper discusses these perspectives, arguing that materialistic interpretations of quantum mechanics are compatible with its mathematical formalism, while anti-realist and anti-materialist views are based on wrong philosophical assumptions. However, although physicalism provides a better explanation for quantum phenomena than idealism, its downward reductionism prevents it from accounting for more complex forms of matter, such as biological or sociocultural systems. Thus, the paper argues that neither physicalism nor idealism can explain the universe. I propose then a non-reductionistic form of materialism called inclusive materialism. The conclusion is that the acknowledgment of the qualitative irreducibility of ontological emergent levels above the purely physical one does not deny philosophical materialism but enriches it.

Use of Magic Tricks as Analogies in the Science Classroom

<p style="text-align:justify">Science, magic, and education have always been linked, from science-based magic shows to teachers presenting demonstrations as magic tricks to capture their students’ interest and provide a mnemonic reference for the topics under discussion. Magic as an art form is also often used to convey information or act as an analogy for invisible phenomena. This study examined how the use of a magic effect designed as an analogy for active and passive transport in cells affected student scores and perception of the activity when compared to a standard story analogy in a high school integrated science course. To determine this, students participated in either a magic-based analogy activity (MBAA) or a concrete story-based analogy activity (SBAA), and then data was collected and analysed using a pre-test/post-test for the content and a Likert-scale anonymous survey for the student perception of the activity. The MBAA was shown to be similar to the SBAA in helping students learn but had the added benefit of increasing students’ reported engagement with the activity. This study shows how bringing magic into the science classroom can have a positive impact on student engagement and provides teachers with another option to support student learning.</p>

Mapping the global geography of cybercrime with the World Cybercrime Index.

Cybercrime is a major challenge facing the world, with estimated costs ranging from the hundreds of millions to the trillions. Despite the threat it poses, cybercrime is somewhat an invisible phenomenon. In carrying out their virtual attacks, offenders often mask their physical locations by hiding behind online nicknames and technical protections. This means technical data are not well suited to establishing the true location of offenders and scholarly knowledge of cybercrime geography is limited. This paper proposes a solution: an expert survey. From March to October 2021 we invited leading experts in cybercrime intelligence/investigations from across the world to participate in an anonymized online survey on the geographical location of cybercrime offenders. The survey asked participants to consider five major categories of cybercrime, nominate the countries that they consider to be the most significant sources of each of these types of cybercrimes, and then rank each nominated country according to the impact, professionalism, and technical skill of its offenders. The outcome of the survey is the World Cybercrime Index, a global metric of cybercriminality organised around five types of cybercrime. The results indicate that a relatively small number of countries house the greatest cybercriminal threats. These findings partially remove the veil of anonymity around cybercriminal offenders, may aid law enforcement and policymakers in fighting this threat, and contribute to the study of cybercrime as a local phenomenon.

Eliminating the Scattering of Thin Film Structures.

Rendering invisibility in the wide application scenarios has seen a surge in interest in recent years. Though various approaches have been proposed to realize concealments under different conditions, achieving polarization-independent invisibility for large objects remains a big challenge. Here, we propose to attain invisibility of a large dielectric slab with polarization constraints being totally lifted. This is accomplished by employing an antiscattering coating made of anisotropic metamaterials. We show that by tailoring the electric resonance of a triangular mushroom structure, antiphase electric dipole moment can be induced, resulting in an antipolarization response of the whole metamaterial coatings. By putting the proposed coatings on both sides of a large dielectric slab, a neutralization effect of the total polarization is observed, leading to the peculiar phenomenon of full-polarization invisibility. Our results are validated through full-wave simulations and experimental measurements. Remarkably, the intrinsic null-polarization property of the coating-slab-coating structure guarantees the invisibility feature of a large-scale bulk made by simply stacking the sandwiched composites, which facilitates the application of invisibility in practical scenarios such as the invisibility cloaks and the reflectionless antenna radomes.

Visualization of Movement and Expansion of Coal Reaction Zone by Acoustic Emission Monitoring in Underground Coal Gasification System

Underground coal gasification (UCG) is the process of directly recovering energy as combustible gases such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide by combusting unmined coal resources in situ. The UCG process is an invisible phenomenon, in which fracturing activity at high temperature (>1000 °C) in coal seams expands the gasification zone and increases the combustible components of the product gas. However, excessive expansion of the gasification zone may cause environmental problems such as gas leakage, deformation of the surrounding ground, and groundwater pollution. Therefore, visualization of the gasification zone of UCG is required for both improving gasification efficiency and developing UCG systems with low environmental impact. In this study, the large-scale model UCG experiments conducted on a laboratory scale (size: 625 mm × 650 mm × 2792 mm (H × W × L)) were carried out to discuss the visualization of the gasification reaction zone of coal in UCG by Acoustic Emission (AE) technique with uniaxial and triaxial acceleration transducers. As the results of temperature monitoring and AE source location analysis show, AE sources are located near the high-temperature zone (>1000 °C). In addition, the located AE sources move and expand with the movement and expansion of the high-temperature zone. AE measurement can be a useful technique for monitoring the progress of the UCG reaction zone. AE measurement with triaxial sensors is also useful to predict a high-temperature zone though the measurable range, which has to be considered.

Explosive Ideas for Pedagogy and Education, and the Processes of Spiritual Development

The article introduces the concept of “explosive ideas”, along with an emphasis on the diverse function of three types of “explosions” in the mode of meeting texts in culture. The author illustrates his practice of reading, lecturing, and writing books on the basis of five forms of “explosive effect”, inscribed in: (a) new meanings of well-known terms, destroying banality; (b) new terms as “screens”, revealing otherwise invisible phenomena; (3) eye-opening questions that encourage a change in perspective; (4) individual theses postulating paradoxicality, complexity, and new normativity of concepts; (5) sets of theses in the hermeneutic circle, constituting a well-established space for another being in culture. The text illustrates the phenomenon of explosiveness with examples of development impulses inscribed in the history of ideas and achievements of Nobel laureates in literature, treating the humanities as any self-reflection of culture, constituting an invisible symbolic soil for the development of spirituality. The explosiveness of an idea has three functions: (a) destroying naivety and appearances, experiencing a shock; (b) paving the way for accessing new meanings, opening the eyes with the effect of awakening; (c) stimulating internal transformation, rooting in life-giving spiritual impulses, decentrating our roots in world culture. Finally, the text reveals the idea of a “pandemic of thoughtlessness”. The article proposes a strategy for the educational treatment of culture, in which the affirmation of the “explosive” fragment coincides with the concern for the integral effect of influencing the rooting in the space of meanings. The author illustrates the explosiveness by citing many examples from the humanities as a diverse field of cultural self-reflection, taking into account literature, including poetry, and pointing to attempts to build theories as hypothetical representations of conceptual invariants of experience. The adopted strategy of reading belles lettres, history of philosophy, social disciplines, and ideas in the humanities is subordinated to the concern for the spiritual development of subsequent generations, inscribed in the symbolic heritage, and at the same time translates into pedagogical postulates.

Innovative Approaches to Conventional Weapons Stockpile Management in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Firearms trafficking remains as a largely invisible phenomenon, necessitating the advancement and implementation of innovative transparency-focused approaches to combat the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. By exploring the relationship between effective stockpile management and nation-state accountability, this paper argues that there is a unique opportunity in the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society to utilize a data-based approach for weapon registration. This essay also shows that NGO-led weapons and registration programs can be hugely valuable to regional security, peacebuilding efforts, and confidence-building measures for states in the European theater.

Managerial marketing and behavioral marketing: when myths about marketing management and consumer behavior lead to a misconception of the discipline

AbstractMarketing has become accepted and proven in science and practice over the past decades. Many principles of marketing have become self-evident, but have led to gross generalizations and simplified thought patterns. This article examines myths and metaphors in marketing. A distinction is made between myths of managerial marketing and of behavioral marketing. In both sub-disciplines, we are often dealing with complex and invisible phenomena that occur in a variety of contexts. Attempts to explain these phenomena are therefore particularly prone to the emergence of myths or misconceptions. From a managerial perspective, topics such as the philosophy and leadership role of marketing, the generation of innovation success, the development of strategic competitive advantages, and brand management are reflected. Since the change from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market, consumer behavior research and marketing have been closely intertwined. Therefore, findings from consumer behavior research form a central basis for successful decisions in marketing management. Based on this background, the second part of the article focuses on myths of consumer behavior research, here addressing unconscious phenomena in consumer behavior, mainly the discussion of subliminal priming (and its impact on manipulation) and unconscious perception as well as of unconscious motives, and approaches to implicite attitude measurement. Finally, implications are derived as to what extent the presented phenomena and the unveiling of myths have an impact on marketing management and on consumer behavior research and what roles these disciplines should take in the future. In the era of climate change and digital transformation, particular challenges are emerging. Thus, facts and not myths should determine the future path of the marketing discipline.

The Phenomenon of Social Invisibility of Certain Ukrainian Citizens Categories during Crisis Periods

Social invisibility is a complicated psychological and social phenomenon reflected by particular strategies of the society’s attitude to individual groups, their marginalization or “invisibility”, which is especially noticeable in the periods of crises. Ukraine has experienced revolutions, a partial territorial occupation, a pandemic and a large-scale invasion since 2013. The crises of these years influenced society’s life, its readiness or unreadiness to tolerate particular social issues. The analysis of the tendency in covering the issues concerning the LGBT community in the Ukrainian online media of Ukrayinska Pravda (UP), Gazeta.ua (G), Obozrevatel.com (Ob) during 2010 – the first part of 2022 based on statistical and content-analysis of publications gives a chance to prove that. The research findings demonstrated that, in general, publication activities of the media do not demonstrate tendencies to increased amount of media content devoted to the problems of the LGBT community. The thematic range of publications is also relatively limited, its core is the issues of the Equality March organization and holding, social reaction to this event, world’s news and activity of local politicians. The serious analytical publications concerning the problems of the LGBT-community are at the periphery of the themes. Stories of the LGBT-community representatives, including media persons who demonstrate positive examples of social adaptation, an issue of gender-based tolerance in the society, etc., remain beyond the attention of the editorial staff, observation of human rights, issues of the queer culture. The reasons for such a situation can relate to the editorial staff’s policy and influence on formation of the narrative in the country concerning the rights of the LGBT-community representatives. The research of other top-rated media publications is also prospective not only with regard to quantity and themes, but also quality; in particular, compliance with journalist standards and ethical norms by the authors. That will allow reception of a more complete picture concerning the representativeness of the LGBT community’s problems in the country’s media environment and the specification of the indicators influencing their formation, as well as understanding mechanisms of social invisibility in media.

Analysis of cocoa particle roasting process in a μ-reactor

Thermal energy changes the chemical composition of cocoa, which is related to its quality, during roasting. The effect of the heating rate on the physicochemical changes of cocoa, and the dynamics of generation and degradation of volatile compounds during heating are still unknown. Therefore, the weight loss of cocoa and the chemical composition of the released gases released at temperatures from 40 to 350 °C were identified in using a μ-reactor (PTV-GC-MS) with heating rates of 2 (β 1 ), 4 (β 2 ), and 8 °C sec −1 (β 3 ). The thermal process was divided into three stages (raw ‒ dry, dry – roasted, and roasted – over-roasted). Higher heating rates cause lower volatilization at the same temperature due to shorter residence times. Likewise, more compounds were identified in the gas-fraction at β 1 than at β 2 and β 3 with the same temperatures. Also, a 2D phenomenological model coupled to kinetics was made to predict phenomena such as thermal differentials, water and gas content, solid fractions, conversion, pressure, and gas outlet rate. • Cocoa quality begins in the tree and develops in the processing. • Small-scale studies and modelling are valuable tools to understand cocoa roasting. • A 2D model coupled to kinetics was able to show experimentally invisible phenomena.

A spatial augmented reality based circuit experiment and comparative study with the conventional one

AbstractHow to intuitively illustrate phenomena while retaining good operation experiences is a key issue in experimental learning. Virtual experiments with desktop environments, handheld devices, or headsets can show invisible phenomena for students. However, they are either visuo‐tactile inconsistent in space or with heavy physical burdens, causing bad experiences. A spatial augmented reality (SAR) based circuit experiment is developed. It allows students to interact with 3D (three dimensional) printed tangible objects without wearing any devices, having low physical burdens. Objects' poses are tracked using Microsoft Azure Kinect and inertial measurement unit. Virtual phenomena are projected onto the tangible objects and tabletop accordingly. Physical input and virtual output space are completely fused from students' view. It also offers efficient operation manners to students. A questionnaire comparing user experiences between the SAR and conventional experiment reveals that the former has a better learning experience.

Visual representations of the COVID-19 pandemic and its iconography on a local/global scale: Crossing borders between scientific and non-scientific imagery

Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic has been visually represented in both scientific diagrams and in non-scientific expressions, such as quickly propagating memes, both on a local and global scale, offers a glimpse of the ways in which the pandemic has been perceived and socially appropriated by diverse online audiences. In addition to analyzing the particularities of digital media and their ability to cross borders, an interdisciplinary perspective based on visual analysis and close looking—as seen through the scrutinizing eye of art history, in tandem with the double lens of microbiology and physics—provides a fresh outlook on the phenomenon of representation as a human form of engaging and coming to terms with a critical historical event, in particular, one that is triggered by an invisible phenomenon, a virus. Furthermore, a historical sense of the ways in which earlier pandemics have been represented provides a comparative lens for better understanding the specific situation of this particular pandemic and its unique iconography. Finally, a contrast between global and local forms of representation and circulation, by providing some specific examples from Colombia, one of the countries with the highest number of cases, underlines the ways in which imagery is infused with political connotations, with the power to both inform and disinform, depending on its use and context.

The presence and perceptibility of personal digital data: findings from a participant map drawing method

Personal digital data are often imagined and experienced as invisible and immaterial phenomena, albeit with increasingly powerful impacts on people’s lives. In this article we discuss findings from an ethnographic project involving 30 participants in Sydney, Australia, directed at identifying their practices and understandings concerning their home-based digital device use and the personal data generated with and through engagements with these technologies. As well as engaging in a video-recorded home tour, we asked participants to hand draw maps of the digital devices located within their homes and the flows of digital data emitting from the devices. These maps mark the presence, interconnections and mobilities of digital technologies and the digitised details generated by their sociomaterial entanglements. The maps were also used to spark further discussion with the participants about their devices and data, seeking to understand their sense-making practices. Working with our concept of ‘digital scaffolding’, we explore what these participant-generated maps can reveal and make visible about digital technologies and data in relation to the domestic environment as well as the world outside the home. We consider what the maps themselves show in terms of digital presence, and what the mapping activity made perceptible within the research encounter.

LA TRADUCCIÓN COMO TRADICIÓN. TRADUCIENDO LA PAMPA GRINGA

Desde los parámetros de los estudios comparados y en respuesta a una tareaética que propulsamos desde la academia, proponemos partir de lo propiopara determinar el modo cómo se hacen visibles fenómenos de contacto y deinvisibilidad que pueden sólo ser explicados en función del contexto (laidentidad de la Pampa Gringa) y de las matrices culturales inmigratorias quedan marco de referencia.Bajo este marco encaramos en nuestros proyectos de investigaciónla digitalización y revisión de la traducción (hecha hace más de 50 años einédita todavía) del libro La République Argentine (Lausana, 1865) para suposterior publicación (Santa Fe, UNL, 2015). El libro fue escrito por CharlesBeck, empresario suizo de inmigración, fundador él mismo de colonias yCónsul argentino en Suiza durante veinte años.En el trabajo proponemos un meta-análisis comparativo de losprocedimientos utilizados, los mecanismos de adición, supresión y permutaciónoperados, así como la de importancia de generar, a través de latraducción, tradiciones de lecturas y posicionamientos inaugurales de figurastrascendentes, y aun así olvidadas, de la historia local.

Simulation of metal forming – Visualization of invisible phenomena in the digital era

The simulation of manufacturing processes has significant importance. The research and development of metal forming simulation started in the 1960s from the elastoplastic analysis of a simple plastic deformation, and it now covers a wide range of forming processes. The accuracy and applicability of metal forming simulation have significantly progressed, driven by the development of plasticity theory and numerical methods such as the remeshing technique and contact analysis algorithm. Now the targets of metal forming simulations are undergoing a transition from the macroscale analysis of deforming bodies to coupled analyses of deformations of deforming bodies and tools, and multiscale analyses of microstructure and texture. Past achievements of metal forming simulation show that it has reached the level of ‘visualizing forming phenomena’, but it will continue to evolve in the digital era, impacting the digital society and factories of the future, where machines work autonomously without human intervention. Emergent technologies require advanced materials, augmented reality, and, of course, metal forming simulation. In this paper, we reinforce the role of simulation as a means of performing computational (virtual) experiments and as a tool for the high-fidelity numerical visualization and quantification of unknown, unmeasurable, and invisible phenomena in formed components and their assembly. We will also discuss simulation–machine interactions, such as online simulation with process operation, to realize the triad of ‘process operation – data – simulation’ in the near future.

The interactive computer simulation and learning activity for facilitating students’ conceptual understanding on the buoyant force through the CoSci learning platform

Learning science, especially in the physics field, there are many varieties of invisible and abstract phenomena that are hard and difficult for students to observe and learn. One of the tools that can help students to understand those phenomena in a better way is computer simulations. The computer simulations are usually used in both on-site classroom and on-line learning platforms. Learning in the COVID-19 pandemic era at present, the computer simulations are very important for helping students to understand the physics concept. Interactive computer simulation can be considered as one of the effective methods of facilitating inquiry learning in science, as it allows students to experience the scientific inquiry process and facilitates students to understand an abstract conception and to understand the relationship between variables of invisible phenomena more clearly in reasonable ways. This study aimed to develop the interactive computer simulation and learning activity for enhancing students’ conceptual understanding of the buoyant force on the CoSci learning platform. Totally eighteen participants were studied in the twelfth grade in science classrooms of a university-affiliated school project (SCiUS), Khon Kaen University, Thailand, in 2019. The learning activity was developed based on students’ alternative concepts and used to facilitate students’ conceptual understanding of the buoyant force. There were six basic concepts related to the buoyant force constructed based on the predict-observe-explain strategy (POE) with the interactive computer simulation (i.e., the CoSci learning platform) in the learning activity. The learning activity on the CoSci learning platform consisted of eight pie charts such as 1) main question pie chart, 2) density pie chart, 3) water level pie chart, 4) volume pie chart, 5) mass pie chart, 6) weight pie chart, 7) submerged depth pie chart, and 8) answer pie chart. There were six interactive computer simulations used in this research including 1) density simulation, 2) water level simulation, 3) volume simulation, 4) mass simulation, 5) submerged depth simulation, and 6) weight simulation. All of these simulations were developed on the CoSci learning platform (https://cosci.tw/). The findings showed that 72% of students performed better in the post-test scores than in the pre-test score in all six basic concepts related to the buoyant force after learning buoyant force on the CoSci platform. Furthermore, the most difficulty in changing misconception in learning of the buoyant force was the concept related to the mass of the object.

Transient Invisibility and Cloak of Impact Elastic Wave in Piezoelectric/Piezomagnetic Metamaterials

Based on the scattering cancellation technique, a piezoelectric cloaking is designed, which can make the piezomagnetic cylinder invisible to transient elastic waves. Following the Laplace transform, the piezoelectric cloaking mechanism is presented and dynamic stress concentration factor (DSCF) is derived by the plane wave expansion method. The numerical method of the inverse Laplace transformation is used to show the cloaking behavior that besides the invisible phenomenon, the DSCF is also reduced by the cloak. The piezoelectric parameter plays a positive role on enhancing the object invisibility and improving the stress distribution. These results can offer the fundamental design and application of elastic wave metamaterials.

Re-Thinking Gender, Artivism and Choices. Cultures of Equality Emerging From Urban Peripheries

Gender dimensions of violence, and especially women’s experiences in settings of urban violence have been the subject of important feminist research, including those that highlight gender as essential for comprehensive analyses of security and urban violence, and for promoting solutions and positive change. A primary contribution of feminist research indeed has been to demonstrate that there are both visible and invisible aspects of urban violence. A gap in literature on these gender dimensions is that of men’s construction of masculinities – and how these constructions are challenged during times. An important set of invisible phenomena within urban spaces and their peripheries includes the positive and decolonial responses that occur, including non-violent and feminist cultural and artistic pathways and the factors that lead men to resist to dominant, violent, or ‘hyper’ versions of masculinities. While there is a predominate focus on men’s involvement in violence, far less attention has been placed on men’s non-violent pathways. Based on examples of cultural, artistic and activist practices from the peripheries, namely those emerging in Rio de Janeiro, this article aims to discuss how artivism can challenge gender inequalities and power relations.

Rhodoliths: Can Its Importance on a Large Scale Be Promoted by a Microscale and Invisible Phenomenon?

Rhodoliths: Can Its Importance on a Large Scale Be Promoted by a Microscale and Invisible Phenomenon?

Phenomenology of the Iranian Invisible School as a New Field of Study in Discipline of Educational Management

Phenomenology of the Iranian Invisible School as a New Field of Study in Discipline of Educational Management