Ancient Egyptians precisely direct their temples and tombs to specific astronomical points, as attested in the designs of the Old kingdom pyramids and related temples. Likewise, the same approach was used in many religious and funerary buildings across the sequential historical epochs of ancient Egypt. This research introduces what can be called "astronomical design improvements" conducted by ancient Egyptians to secure a precise orientation for a specific direction of religious and funerary monuments. Moreover, this precise orientation requires observatories used for (...) the orientation and monitoring of geographical directions. Therefore, this paper discusses the inquiring; are there any Astronomical Observatories evidences in ancient Egypt? (shrink)

Thus far most of the scholarship on the axial age has followed Karl Jaspers’ denial that nature could be a significant source and continuing influence in the historical development of human consciousness. Yet more than a half century before Jaspers, the originator of the first nuanced theory of what Jaspers termed the axial age, John Stuart-Glennie, mapped out a contrasting philosophy of history that allowed a central role to nature in historical human development. This essay concerns issues related (...) to my book, From the Axial Age to the Moral Revolution, and begins with a discussion of how I came to uncover the forgotten work of John Stuart-Glennie. Although Jaspers and Stuart-Glennie each drew similar conclusions regarding many of the facts of the moral revolution respectively the Axial Age, there are significant differences in their philosophies of history, concerning, for example the problem, whether history can be regarded deterministically or as an open whole, and whether nature can be a source of profound spiritual significance and even transcendence or whether that realm is limited to historical consciousness. I also briefly discuss two other overlooked contributors, namely D. H. Lawrence, who wrote on the phenomena twenty years before Jaspers, and Lewis Mumford, who is one of the first writers to draw from Jaspers' work. I then respond to four diverse scholarly essays on my book, delineating in the process my own philosophy of history as a progress in precision, paradoxically counteracted by a regressive contraction of mind. (shrink)

The most recent work by Jürgen Habermas tries to revalue religion in today's society. For this he tries to find genealogical connections between secular content and the worldviews that emerged in the Axial Age, including Jewish monotheism. In this article we try to propose that a genealogical approach to monotheism from the perspective of those involved would have to start from the context of undetected origin that constitutes the ethical universalism of Judaism: the Noahide code. To do this, we (...) analyze narrative and conceptual elements of axial and non-axial cultures and show their parallels with the seven laws of the children of Noah as the moral core of humanity. (shrink)

The revolutionary outbreak in a variety of civilizations centered around 600 B.C.E., a period in which the great world religions as well as philosophy emerged, from Hebrew scriptures and the teachings of Buddha to the works of Greek and Chinese philosophers, has been named the Axial Age by Karl Jaspers. Yet 75 years earlier, in 1873, unknown to Jaspers and still unknown to the world, John Stuart Stuart-Glennie elaborated a fully developed and more nuanced theory of what he termed (...) The Moral Revolution to characterize the period. This book also brings to light the previously undiscussed ideas of D. H. Lawrence on the phenomenon from 20 years before Jaspers, the seldom mentioned contributions of Lewis Mumford, and proposes a new context for understanding the phenomenon. Halton rewrites the history of this fascinating theory and opens new ways of conceiving the meaning of The Moral Revolution for today. (shrink)

The rise and legacy of world religions out of that period centered roughly around 500-600 BCE, what John Stuart-Glennie termed in 1873 the moral revolution, and Karl Jaspers later, in 1949, called the axial age, has been marked by heightened ideas of transcendence. Yet ironically, the world itself, in the literal sense of the actual earth, took on a diminished role as a central element of religious sensibility in the world religions, particularly in the Abrahamic religions. Given the issue (...) today of ecological unsustainability, including massive die-offs of wildlife and ever-increasing global human population and consumption, the legacy of those world religions face the question I consider here: Can religion transcend the earth in the long run? With the Axial Age/Moral Revolution, comes the possibility of transcendence of the world per se. The moral revolution/Axial Age represented significant changes in civilization, to be sure, but it can also be taken, as I do, as a second phase in the radical shift to anthropocentric mind already begun with the advent of agriculturally based civilization. The axial ideal of transcendence connects to a larger ideal, manifest not only in the legacies of the world religions but in contemporary science and technology, of a philosophy of escape from the earth. I show how ideas of axial transcendence, celebrated by scholars such as Jaspers and Bellah, nevertheless involve an unacknowledged tragic cost, the forgetting of the earth and its lessons and limits as central to what I have termed elsewhere, “sustainable wisdom.” . (shrink)

In 1873, 75 years before Karl Jaspers published his theory of the Axial Age in 1949, unknown to Jaspers and to contemporary scholars today, Scottish folklorist John Stuart Stuart-Glennie elaborated the first fully developed and nuanced theory of what he termed “the Moral Revolution” to characterize the historical shift emerging roughly around 600 BCE in a variety of civilizations, most notably ancient China, India, Judaism, and Greece, as part of a broader critical philosophy of history. He continued to write (...) on the idea over decades in books and articles and also presented his ideas to the fledgling Sociological Society of London in 1905, which were published the following year in the volume Sociological Papers, Volume 2. This article discusses Stuart-Glennie’s ideas on the moral revolution in the context of his philosophy of history, including what he termed “panzooinism”; ideas with implications for contemporary debates in theory, comparative history, and sociology of religion. It shows why he should be acknowledged as the originator of the theory now known as the axial age, and also now be included as a significant sociologist in the movement toward the establishment of sociology. (shrink)

The Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences “Multiple Secularities – Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities” deals with topics, at least some of which I have myself dealt with throughout my sinological and philosophical life. I came to Frankfurt in autumn 1968: fascinated by Frankfurt School, I started studying sociology, but to my surprise this did not mean studying Critical Theory. Instead, it meant going through quite a conventional education in the social sciences, and moreover, it meant (...) studying economics and statistics. This was not quite what I expected and after a few semesters I changed my major to philosophy. In need of a second subject, I chose sinology because of some vague interest in foreign cultures, and also because of the news coming from China at that time. It was the time of the Cultural Revolution that exerted a certain fascination on the German student movement especially since its revolutionary rhetoric differed so remarkably from the ossified language of Eastern European Marxist orthodoxy. So, like many members of my generation, I began to develop an interest in revolutionary China that was definitely not shared by my philosophy teachers – they were skeptical, at least to some extent. -/- . (shrink)

The fine structure constant appears in several fields of physics and its value is experimentally obtained with a high accuracy. Its physical origin however is unsolved long-standing problem. Richard Feynman expressed the idea that it could be similar to the natural irrational numbers, pi, and e. Amongst the proposed theoretical expressions with values closer to the experimental one is the formula of I. Gorelik which is based on rotating dipole with two empirically suggested coefficients, while the physical origin is unknown. (...) BSM-Supergravitation Unified Theory suggests a physical mechanism defining the fine structure constant. The mathematical expression is based on a spatial precession mode of vibrations in a tetrahedron of spheres with specific properties. The value from the derived expression differs from the CODATA 98 value by 0.000008% only. The conclusion is that the fine structure constant is a natural irrational number. While the irrational number pi, is defined in a 2D space, the fine structure constant is related to a vibration property of a specific formation in 3D space. (shrink)

Abstract: Karl Jaspers describes The Axial Period (800-200 BCE) as a world-historical turning point in the spiritual evolution of the human species, characterized by the rise of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Pythagoreanism, and the Hebrew prophets, without precisely identifying what defines this world-historical period. What defines The Axial Period, I argue with Jaspers, is the sublimation of sacrifice, through which the sacrificial killing of domestic animals, characteristic of primitive religions, is sublimated into the self-sacrificial disciplines of prayer, meditation, and asceticism. (...) This sublimation of sacrifice involves a curiously duplicitous gesture, through which the sacred violence of primitive sacrifice is simultaneously sublimated into the self-sacrificial disciplines of the Western Indo-European religions, and demoted to the strictly physical violence of modern warfare, stripped of its sacred origins. I argue, against Jaspers, that there is no world-historical discontinuity between primitive and modern sacrifice, but rather a continuous trajectory of the sublimation of sacrifice in Western Indo-European cultures. The Brahminic sacred texts, the Rig Veda and the Brahmanas, for example, describe a sophisticated sacrificial ritualism that more effectively sublimates sacrificial violence than do Western European modern cultures, in which un-sacrificial violence continues to escalate, to challenge the survival of the contemporary world. (shrink)

This chapter examines the lost legacy of John Stuart-Glennie (1841-1910), a contributor to the founding of sociology and a major theorist, whose work was known in his lifetime but disappeared after his death. Stuart-Glennie was praised by philosopher John Stuart Mill, was a friend of and influence upon playwright George Bernard Shaw, and was an active contributor to the fledgling Sociological Society in London in the first decade of the twentieth century. Stuart-Glennie’s most significant idea in hindsight was his theory (...) of what he termed in 1873, “the moral revolution,” delineating the revolutionary changes across different civilizations in the period 2,500 years ago, roughly centered around 500-600 BCE. This is the era currently known as “the axial age,” after Karl Jaspers coined that term in 1949. Stuart-Glennie’s theory of the moral revolution is framed within a three-stage view of history, the first of which involved an outlook he characterized as “panzooinism,” and sometimes as “naturianism.” This theory of aboriginal and early civilizational outlooks is also notable and worthy of consideration in contemporary context, and as a contribution to “the new animism.” The chapter concludes by considering whether the moral revolution/axial age, whose effects have continued for the past 2500 years, is sustainable in the age of the unsustainable Anthropocene. (shrink)

The physical basis of conscious experience is revealed by direct observation and analysis of any conscious experience. Human conscious experience has an invariant structural mode of organization based on the three types of space-time intervals (light-like, time-like, space-like). Sensory input activates the autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and ascending reticular activating system to produce the awake conscious state. The dorsal and ventral frontoparietal attention networks are activated. Dorsal and ventral cortical functional streams carry “what”, “where”, and “when” information to the (...) medial temporal lobe for the encoding, storage, and recall of conscious experience (episodic memory). Hippocampal place cells and time cells encode events in space and time within spatiotemporal contexts conveyed by entorhinal cortex grid cells and ramping cells. Theta phase precession unifies the encoding of space and time in the hippocampus so that segments of space and time are encoded in the hippocampus. Theta travelling waves ensure that the instantaneous output of the hippocampus consists of topographically-organized segments of space and time, space-time intervals. By parsing spatiotemporal contexts into quantal units of where and when events occur (spacetime intervals), hippocampal neurons bridge, and thereby organize events, in a conceptual organization of events (conscious experience). Space-time intervals are extracted from the hippocampus by a prefrontal cortex-basal ganglia-thalamic-prefrontal cortex loop for the cognitive, affective, and motivational aspects of conscious experience. (shrink)

It is crucial to actively detect the risks of transactions in a financial company to improve customer experience and minimize financial loss. In this study, we compare different machine learning algorithms to effectively and efficiently predict the legitimacy of financial transactions. The algorithms used in this study were: MLP Repressor, Random Forest Classifier, Complement NB, MLP Classifier, Gaussian NB, Bernoulli NB, LGBM Classifier, Ada Boost Classifier, K Neighbors Classifier, Logistic Regression, Bagging Classifier, Decision Tree Classifier and Deep Learning. The dataset (...) was collected from Kaggle depository. It consists of 6362620 rows and 10 columns. The best classifier with unbalanced dataset was the Random Forest Classifier. The Accuracy 99.97%, precession 99.96%, Recall 99.97% and the F1-score 99.96%. However, the best classifier with balanced dataset was the Bagging Classifier. The Accuracy 99.96%, precession 99.95%, Recall 99.98% and the F1-score 99.96%. (shrink)

Abstract: Ensuring the proactive detection of transaction risks is paramount for financial institutions, particularly in the context of managing credit scores. In this study, we compare different machine learning algorithms to effectively and efficiently. The algorithms used in this study were: MLogisticRegressionCV, ExtraTreeClassifier,LGBMClassifier,AdaBoostClassifier, GradientBoostingClassifier,Perceptron,RandomForestClassifier,KNeighborsClassifier,BaggingClassifier, DecisionTreeClassifier, CalibratedClassifierCV, LabelPropagation, Deep Learning. The dataset was collected from Kaggle depository. It consists of 164 rows and 8 columns. The best classifier with unbalanced dataset was the LogisticRegressionCV. The Accuracy 100.0%, precession 100.0%,Recall100.0% and the (...) F1-score 100.0%. However, the best classifier with balanced dataset was the LogisticRegressionCV. The Accuracy 100.0%, precession 100.0%, Recall 100.0% and the F1-score 100.0%. (shrink)

Zero has been axial in human development, but the origin and discovery of zero has never been satisfactorily addressed by a comprehensive, systematic and above all interdisciplinary research program. In this volume, over 40 international scholars explore zero under four broad themes: history; religion, philosophy & linguistics; arts; and mathematics & the sciences. Some propose that the invention/discovery of zero may have been facilitated by the prior evolution of a sophisticated concept of Nothingness or Emptiness (as it is understood (...) in non-European traditions); and conversely, inhibited by the absence of, or aversion to, such a concept of Nothingness in the West. But not all scholars agree. Join the debate. (shrink)

It is reasoned that mind-body is a modern issue and is not ever discussed in ancient Greek philosophy or middle Ages. The current study has reviewed these reasoning and concluded that typical categorizations of mind-body issue must be divided into general and specific. Separating the issue of mind-body from the problem of mind-body underlines the multiplicity of issues. Proofs are, then, submitted that axial issue in Sadraic psychology is soul-body rather than mind-body. Thus, the solutions and ideas from the (...) earlier cannot be generalized into the latter. Despite that, it is possible to compare mind-body issue against Sadraic philosophy and use its advantages to solve the issue. Such a comparison stands in the need of some modification in the underpinnings or the conclusions of Sadraic philosophical psychology. These findings are meta-philosophical and offer suggestions for methodology and content of Sadraic psychology. Keywords. (shrink)

The foundation of a building connects the main body superstructure to the ground. Every form of foundation and footing have a unique application in a given location for a certain weather condition. Understanding the foundation work is crucial for carrying out building activities. Due to the variety of structures they support, foundations are frequently built in different subsoil conditions and are exposed to static loads. The proper evaluation of soil-bearing capacity is fundamental to the construction of various buildings. One of (...) the quick, easy, and affordable ways to determine soil carrying capacity is the plate load test. The effect of subsoil conditions on the test results is assessed and analyzed in thorough parametric investigations. An overview of axial static and dynamic plate load testing will be given in this study. This article presents detailed processes and schematics. In an effort to highlight the differences and shared characteristics of the results, computational test results of the static load plate test and the dynamic load plate test are contrasted. A load cell, a steel plate, a hydraulic actuator mounted on a big truck to apply a load, a load cell to measure the load, and one or more linear variable displacement transformers to measure the vertical displacements make up the test setup. The maximum thrust load that should be applied to a fixed or stationary actuator when it is not moving is known as a "static load depending on the actuator's static load capacity, we can determine what a safe load is. The maximum thrust load that should be applied to the actuator while it is moving is known as a dynamic load. Dynamic load capacity refers to how much force an actuator can exert when driven and extending or retracting. With each method's benefits and drawbacks considered, it can be determined that using them in various situations and agreeing to the confrontation of these tests for the purpose of comparing results is the best course of action in order to have a base that satisfies the construction standards. (shrink)

This article’s conclusion is that the theories of Einstein are generally correct and will still be relevant in the next century (there will be modifications necessary for development of quantum gravity). Those Einsteinian theories are Special Relativity, General Relativity, and the title of a paper he published in 1919 which asked if gravitation plays a role in the composition of elementary particles of matter. This paper was the bridge between General Relativity and the Unified Field Theory he sought during the (...) last 25 years of his life. In an article published in the "Annals of Physics" in 1957, Charles Misner and John Wheeler claimed that Einstein's latest equations demonstrated the unified field theory. But Einstein himself felt he had not fully succeeded. The present article begins with Olbers’ paradox (why is the sky dark at night?) Then it briefly proceeds to the subjects of Newtonian gravity, quantum entanglement, gravitational waves, E=mc^2, dark energy, dark matter, cosmic expansion, redshift, blueshift, the cosmic microwave background, the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, and explanation of advanced waves travelling back in time. The section “vector-tensor-scalar geometry” touches on mass, quantum spin, the Higgs boson and Higgs field, stellar jets, the pervasiveness of photons and gravitons, and supersymmetry. Then come half a dozen paragraphs referring to formation of planets, black holes, and bosons of the weak and strong nuclear forces. They end with Descartes’ space-matter relation. Also added are paragraphs about simply-connected mathematics, non-orientability, consciousness, the Law of Falling Bodies, the multiverse, space-time travel developed from maths’ Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem and from an experiment in electrical engineering performed at Yale University, development from future space-time travel of human flight in the manner of fiction’s Superman and Supergirl, as well as downloaded band-gap implants in the brain that could deal with forms of matter. They could add or delete anything and everything we choose by emulating computers’ copy/paste function to add things; as well as their delete function, to remove things. To complete my seemingly unusual ideas, 6 sections are added – 1) “Advanced and Retarded Waves” is extended to include dinosaurs, ageing, and photography, 2) there’s a bit about space-time warping and “imaginary” computers, 3) several paragraphs about restoring health (even gaining immortality) by using gravity, 4) a section about superconductivity and the electric or magnetic fields of planets (this section mentions Mercury, Planet 9 and precession), 5) a section titled EXPLAINING OCEAN TIDES WHEN GENERAL RELATIVITY SAYS GRAVITY IS A PUSH CAUSED BY THE CURVATURE OF SPACE-TIME (this has subsections about M-Sigma, Geysers on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus, and A Brief History of Gravity), plus 5) the potential of COVID-19 to create the Golden Rule, world peace, eternal life, and a non-economic world that doesn’t use any form of money (no cash, credit cards, digital currency, etc.) The final section is called DISTANT-FUTURE SCIENCE INTERPRETED BY RELIGIONS AS SUPERNATURAL and introduces an idea for becoming immortal in these physical bodies. If the Theory of Everything sought by physicists applies to all space-time, then every person’s brain must be entangled with the 22nd century (and far beyond that time too). (shrink)

The year in the title comes from “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The article was inspired by reading about the Vera C. Rubin Telescope, due to begin operations in Chile next year. The article I read talked about the telescope photographing the entire Southern Hemisphere sky but the heading spoke of watching the whole universe. Reconciling the Southern Hemisphere with the entire cosmos quickly became the challenge I chose to accept. The Unimaginable Telescope uses multi-messenger (combined neutrino / gravitational / electromagnetic) (...) astronomy, quantum (and macroscopic) entanglement, as well as Unipositional Quantum Mechanics to not only observe the entire universe but also to instantly transmit messages to every possible coordinate in time as well as space and, from “reflections” of those signals which arrive back on Earth of 4 001 instantaneously, pinpoint the locations of extraterrestrial civilizations. The telescope’s functions include the potential to form a spaceship and crew that could be transported to the Voyager and Pioneer probes that exited the solar system way back in the early 2000s. They’d visit the spaceprobes in order to service and repair them, collect them and bring them back to a museum, or whatever … Other topics covered by this article include dark matter and modified dark matter, human/AI partnership, electric dipole moment, quantum/macroscopic entanglement, hidden electromagnetism in cosmological constant, time dilation, Wick rotation, Vector-Tensor-Scalar (and elliptical VTS) geometry, quantum spin, precession related to Mercury and Planet 9, Riemann hypothesis, solar system and intergalactic and time travel, infinite and eternal universe with a beginning, ETs the Extraterrestrials, model universe, origin of life, heaven on earth, Weyl and Majorana fermions, topological insulators and topological superconductors, topological propulsion and topological manufacturing, consciousness, Higgs boson and Higgs field, plus ocean tides and Saturn’s moon Enceladus with A Brief History of Gravity. (shrink)

This study focuses on the experimental and philosophical analysis of the meaning of life in death situation, according to Wittgenstein’s way of life and sayings during the war. The method of extraction and analysis of information is grounded theory. For this purpose, Wittgenstein’s writings such as his letters and memories, and other’s texts about his life and his internal moods were analyzed. After analyzing the collected information and categorizing them in frames of open codes, axial codes, etc. we recognized (...) that Wittgenstein's point of view in death situation was supernatural God-centered. By reading Tolstoy gospel and Dostoyevsky's works, Wittgenstein has reached a kind of religious awakening in that period of his life. But before and after the war period he had a naturalistic point of view toward the meaning of life, in which moral values are in the core. (shrink)

Brincat and Westheimer [Journal of Neurophysiology 83 (2000) 1900] have reported facilitating interactions in the discrimination of spatially separated target orientations and co-linear inducing orientations by human observers. With smaller gaps between stimuli (short-range effects), facilitating interactions were found to depend on the contrast polarity of the stimuli. With larger gaps (longrange effects), only co-linearity of the stimuli seemed necessary to produce facilitation. In our study, the dependency of facilitating interactions on the intensity (luminance) of line stimuli is investigated by (...) measuring detection thresholds for a target line separated from the end of an inducing line by co-axial gaps ranging from 5 to 200 min of visual arc. We find facilitating interactions between target and inducing orientations, producing short-range and long-range effects similar to those reported by Brincat and Westheimer. In addition, detection thresholds as a function of the co-axial separation between target and inducing line reveal an interaction between the spatial regime of facilitating effects and the luminance of the stimuli. Short-range effects are found to be sensitive to changes in local intensity while long-range effects remain unaffected. (shrink)

The purpose of the research is to develop a new methodological basis for identifying, analyzing and solving problems of international corporations export-import activities and to ground the directions for ensuring their business excellence. The approach originality provides introduction of a conceptual model that aims to eliminate the negative symptoms of international corporations export-import activities based on the results of comprehensive market research, effectiveness of export-import activities and calculation of the integrated indicator of business excellence. The leading corporations of Slovakia and (...) India in the production of bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films were the primary basis for this study. The results of the research showed the need to implement a system of managerial innovation for reasoning the directions of ensuring international corporations business excellence. This is achieved because of using logically formalized methods and provides the improvement of organizational and structural interaction of management entities in the process of solving export-import activity problems. Important factors for ensuring business excellence are also the optimization of export and import costs, as well as an increase in export revenue for Slovak companies, and an increase in market share and cost optimization for Indian companies. The practical value of the obtained results is to develop a set of managerial innovations that can improve the efficiency of export-import activities and improve international corporations business. (shrink)

This paper explores the concepts of modernity as interpreted by classical theorists of modernity such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and contemporary theorists of modernity such as Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck. All of the three classical theorists of modernity introduce a single dominant force which is the basic dynamic of transformation for understanding the inherent features of modernity. For Marx, the major transformative power shaping the modern world is capitalism. As a result, for him, modernity shows itself (...) in capitalism. For Durkheim, the major transformative power shaping the modern world is industrialism. Weber focuses on rationalization as expressed in technology, capitalism and bureaucracy. Hence, he saw that one of the main drivers of change throughout modernity is rationality. For Giddens, modernity is developed due to the interactions of many institutions and each level specified by classical theorists plays a part. Thus, for him, modernity has four institutional dimensions: capitalism, industrialism, surveillance, and military power. Beck discusses modernity by distinguishing two phases of modernity. The first of which is simple modernity which is very much coextensive with industrial society. The axial principle of industrial society is the distribution of goods. The second phase, emerged out of simple modernity and began in the second half of the twentieth century, is reflexive modernity. Thus, the axial principle of the second modernity is the distribution of dangers. But, the second modernity, for Beck, is still, and at the same time, an industrial society since it is mainly industry that is involved in the creation of risk. In general, the concept of modernity discussed by both the three classical theorists of modernity and the two contemporary thinkers are mutually inclusive rather than exclusive. As a result, modernity has four main parts: capitalism, industrialism, surveillance and military power. (shrink)

A qualitative study was conducted to examine the philosophy of technology of K-12 technology leaders, and explore the influence of their thinking on technology decision making. The research design aligned with CORBIN and STRAUSS grounded theory methods, and I proceeded from a research paradigm of critical realism. The subjects were school technology directors and instructional technology specialists, and data collection consisted of interviews and a written questionnaire. Data analysis involved the use of grounded theory methods including memo writing, open and (...) axial coding, constant comparison, the use of purposive and theoretical sampling, and theoretical saturation of categories. Three broad philosophy of technology views were widely held by participants: an instrumental view of technology, technological optimism, and a technological determinist perspective that saw technological change as inevitable. Technology leaders were guided by two main approaches to technology decision making, represented by the categories Educational goals and curriculum should drive technology, and Keep up with Technology (or be left behind). The core category and central phenomenon that emerged was that technology leaders approached technology leadership by placing greater emphasis on keeping up with technology, being influenced by an ideological orientation to technological change, and being concerned about preparing students for a technological future. (shrink)

In the first part of his paper, the author uses a phylogenetic adaptation of Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental theory to reconstruct different positions of the ethical debate of the Chinese "axial age" as stages of progress towards a postconventional morality. In the second half, various aspects of the controversy revolving around the applicability of Kohlberg's categories to Chinese moral thought are critically examined.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the image quality of paranasal sinus computed tomography (CT) scans obtained with the “Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine” (AICE) software and ultra-low dose parameters in patients with prediagnosed rhinitis, sinusitis or nasal septum deviation. -/- Methods: The first 50 patients (31 men and 19 women, aged 18-70 years) who agreed to participate in our prospectively planned study were included in the study. Imaging of the patients was performed with a 160-slice multidetector CT device Canon Aquilion Prime (...) SP (Canon Medical Systems, Otawara, Japan). Tube voltage of 80 kV and tube current of 40 mA were chosen. The effective radiation dose (ED) was calculated based on the “dose-length product” (DLP) information of each patient. Evaluation of images was made on reformat images made with “AiCE Bone” filter in the axial and coronal planes. All images were double-blindly evaluated by 2 radiologists out of 5 points (5 = very good; 1 = not diagnostic). The visibility of 17 bilateral important anatomical landmarks examined on paranasal sinus CT was scored (0 = not visible; 2 = completely visible). In the evaluation of images, the agreement between radiologists was evaluated with Kappa statistics. -/- Results: The median ED value of the CT protocol was 0.015±0.001 mSv [range 0.012-0.017 mSv]. The overall image quality of the images in our study was interpreted as 4 (good) or 3 (moderate) for all patients. Inter-research agreement was 92%. Most of the anatomical landmarks evaluated were completely visible. Six (bilateral of three) anatomical landmarks could be partially visible in some patients. -/- Conclusion: Combining the ultra-low dose CT protocol and the AiCE reconstruction algorithm makes it possible to achieve very low ED values ​​in paranasal sinus CT scans and still obtain sufficient image quality in indications such as septum deviation and sinusitis. (shrink)

The System of the World, Isaac Newton's first draft for the third volume of his classic work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687; Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), is an important document in the history of science, using the principles of mechanics to construct the first complete scientific system on the workings of the universe in human history. -/- This book of 78 treatises briefly describes the principles established in the first two volumes of the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, then (...) applies these principles to the derivation of the actual orbits of the solar system and comets, laying out in layman's terms the universality of the law of gravitation and, from this, studying the shape of the earth, explaining the planetary precession and the tides of the oceans, probing the motion of the moon, and determining the orbits of comets. In this book, Newton does not construct abstract mathematical models, but analyses them in relation to astronomical phenomena, using only a small amount of mathematical language to explain these intriguing elements, making its content suitable for a general audience. -/- The appendices of this Chinese translation by Haixuan Pan(潘海璇) include Life of Sir Issac Newton by N. W. Chittenden, Newtonian Studies by Alexandre Koyré, which introduce Newton's life and main achievements, as well as the debates and evaluations of the main academic views of Newton by the leading philosophers and scientists of the time, and are important supplementary and reference materials when reading The System of the World. (shrink)

I claim that the underlying premises of the modern era - e-r-a - are false in a way that carries catastrophic consequences. Despite the many genuine achievements of the modern world—which I for one would not want to live without—the spirit of modernity has been one which denigrated the basic conditions of human being. In the name of freedom and knowledge, the modern era gave birth precisely to the non-empathically responding world, the schizoid ghost in the machine, which now threatens (...) to dissolve both humanity and the natural world. We must find the means to correct the mistaken premises which form the modern error. The time has come to find a new way of renewing reason, a project requiring a transformation of values and outlook as vast as those which took place in the axial age or the modern age. The renewal of reason will involve opening the gates to the entire historical and prehistorical heritage of humankind, to renew the archaic values of family, household, neighborhood and local community and the sympathetic relations they engender, to renew those organic and communicative essences of play, dreaming and mother-infant nurturance which are our human-mammalian legacy and crucial for the development of the spontaneous self, and also making a life-sustaining world culture with self-critical institutions capable of supporting and protecting the vitality of local ways. Without the hope of such a thoroughgoing transformation, we are likely to continue to go the way of the earth’s ozone shield into corrosive self-extinction . (shrink)

Kant’s longstanding interests in science have been well-documented. There are numerous studies devoted to Kant’s early work on cosmology in his Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (1755), and of course also to his interests in physics and his work on forces (1747), axial rotation (1754), the ages of the earth (1754), fire (1755), earthquakes (1756), winds (1757), and even to his discussion of volcanoes on the moon (1785). It is well-known, moreover, that part of Kant’s work (...) in the Critique of Pure Reason (1781) was to ground the certainty of scientific claims against Hume’s skepticism, and that Kant’s program for securing our experience of the natural world extended to his later account of the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786). Less well-known, however, is the realization that Kant’s apparent bias toward the hard sciences has lain rather more in the interests of Kant scholars, than in Kant himself. (shrink)

The secularisation idea is that modernity leaves religion behind. But for Gauchet, modernity just is religion transformed, without remainder. The Axial Age discovery of the inner world of the psyche and its symbolic expressions, was at the same time a growth in understanding of God as creator, transcendent and incommensurable with all of creation. Henceforth, religion would be in the key of personal struggle and symbolic transformation, putting aside heteronomy. Taylor adds a caveat: the self-image of the self-sufficient, autonomous (...) individual subtracted from the canopy of 'higher' mythological entities obscures the basic human need for recognition and identity. This issues in an unhelpful politics of mobilization and manipulation. Likewise, Voegelin sees both liberal modernity and present-day religion as largely gnostic, closed and ideological versions of the traditions. Secular public policy types the religions as sects. But the autonomy of self-determination arises out of religion and a plausible secularisation thesis would see contemporary culture as containing within it the possibility for a secular expression of the authentic religious tradition - including resistance to sect-like religiosity. The revisionist history suggested here entails a rethink of the image of modernity in terms of a complete break with the pre-secular culture and entails a re-positioning of religion within secular society. (shrink)

Nanoparticles can also be used as catalysts due to their high surface area. Of course, catalytic properties also occur in certain dimensions like magnetic properties. In other words, nanoparticles usually have catalytic properties if their specific surface is between 100 and 400 square meters per gram. Therefore, among nanoparticles with a specific volume, a nanoparticle with a larger surface area shows better catalytic properties. An example of nanoparticles that act as catalysts where various substances are placed on their surface and (...) chemical reactions are carried out. Apart from the mentioned cases, nanoparticles have many other applications in various medical industries (drug delivery, etc.), automobiles (anti-fogging windows, lightening the body, strengthening tires), electronics (making transistors), etc. The strength of carbon-carbon bonds gives carbon nanotubes amazing electronic properties. No previous material exhibits the extraordinary combination of mechanical, thermal and electronic properties attributed to them . However, their conductivity is what sets them apart. Multi-layered carbon nanotubes are the strongest materials that mankind has discovered so far in terms of electronic conductivity. The highest tensile strength or breaking strain for a carbon nanotube was up to 63 GPa, which is about 50 times more than the strongest conductors. Even the weakest types of multi-layered carbon nanotubes have multifold power in electronic conduction. These properties, along with the lightness of carbon nanotubes, give them great potential in applications such as aerospace. The electronic properties of the wall of carbon nanotubes are also extraordinary. It has high electrical conductivity (comparable to copper). It is particularly noteworthy that nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting. The rolling action breaks the symmetry of the planar system and imposes a specific direction with respect to the hexagonal grid and the axial direction. Depending on the relationship between these axial directions and the unit vectors that describe the hexagonal lattice, nanotubes may behave electrically like metals or semiconductors , with some nanotubes having higher conductivity than copper, while Others behave more like silicon . And there are possibilities of making nano electronic devices from multi-layer nanotubes of CNTs. (shrink)

In developing general relativity, Einstein was led by theoretical criteria of elegance and simplicity. His theory initially encountered "three classic tests": perihelion precession of Mercury's orbit, deflection of light by the Sun, and gravitational redshift of light. There are large differences in predictions between general relativity and classical physics, such as gravitational time dilation, gravitational lensing, gravitational redshift of light, and so on. And there are many relativistic theories of gravity, bifurcated or independent, but Einstein's general theory of relativity (...) has upheld all predictions and is the simplest of such theories. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13503.66723. (shrink)

Article 8 of the African Aspirations for 2063 stipulates that the African people are confident that their countries have the ability and competence to realize or accomplish their full potential in development, culture, and peace. The vast majority of countries in Africa have worked toward establishing flourishing, inclusive, successful and prosperous societies by eradicating any forms of violation of children’s rights (African Union Commission, 2015). Nevertheless, violation of children’s rights remains present in most developing countries including the country of Cameroon. (...) This research aims to explore the forms of violation of children’s rights having a dramatic incident in school attendance in the Kadey Division of Cameroon, East Region of Cameroon. This research work is inductive, values bias and uses the grounded theory of the qualitative method approach. 15 participants have been selected from 3 major focused groups of different stakeholders in the Kadey Division, East Region of Cameroon. The theoretical saturation code was used to explain the relevance of the sample size. Data were examined using the open, axial, and selective coding processes. The results were tested for internal and external validity based on credibility, dependability, conformability, and transferability consideration. The philosophical focused on subjectivism ontology and interpretivism perspective. The study is an investigative case study model. The study showed that the forms of violation of children’s rights in the Kadey division include the recruitment and use of children, the denial of humanitarian access, the sexual violence against children and the killing and hurting of children. This study encourages school leaders in the Kadey Division to acknowledge that schools are not meant to function apart from the local community. Promoting strong collaborative work ethics between the major educational stakeholders may help prevent and reduce violence against children within and outside the school milieu and therefore duplicate school attendance. (UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, 2016). (shrink)

Albert Einstein a proposé trois tests de relativité générale, appelés plus tard les tests classiques de relativité générale, en 1916 : la précession de l'orbite de Mercure, la déviation de la lumière du soleil, et le décalage vers le rouge gravitationnel de la lumière. Dicke et Schiff ont établi un cadre pour tester la relativité générale , y compris par le biais d'expériences nulles et en utilisant la physique de l'exploration spatiale, de l'électronique et de la matière condensée, comme l'expérience (...) Pound-Rebka et l'interférométrie laser. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33735.93607. (shrink)

Albert Einstein proposed three tests of general relativity, later named the classic tests of general relativity, in 1916: the precession of the perihelion of Mercury's orbit, sun light deflection, and the gravitational redshift of the light. For gravitational testing, the indirect effects of gravity are always used, usually particles that are influenced by gravity. In the presence of gravity, the particles move along curved geodesic lines. The sources of gravity that cause the curvature of spacetime are material bodies, depending (...) on their mass. But in relativity the mass relates to the energy through the formula E = mc2, and the energy with the momentum, according to the special relativity. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25608.16648. (shrink)

Look! Up in the bookshelf! Is it science? Is it science-fiction? No, it's Super Science: strange visitor from the future who can be everywhere in the universe and everywhen in time, can change the world in a single bound and who - disguised as a mild mannered author - fights for truth, justice and the super-scientific way. -/- Though I put a lot of hard work into this book, I can't take all the credit. I believe that the whole universe (...) - everything on Earth and in space plus everything in the past, present, and future - is entangled and unified. Everybody is part of this unity, so anybody could have written the ideas in this book. It turned out to be me simply because I've got intense curiosity about the book's contents, enough persistence and imagination to combine science with topics like religion and philosophy, and enough spare time to assemble all the pre-existing pieces in space and time (my contribution to the book is like putting together the pieces of a big jigsaw puzzle). -/- This book, with its vast collection of scientific fact and study results, presents some fascinating theories and is an expansive journey through my research. The topic will appeal to the science-minded reader who is open to speculating on how conditions may evolve in the future, perhaps questioning the very foundations of our place in the universe. This book is not written as a single story but is a collection of 9 articles written in the first half of 2022. Each chapter of this book is presented as a research paper. There's the abstract, the introduction, the keywords, the body of the work divided into sections, and a reference section. Though this might turn some readers off, I'm a member of ResearchGate, a community of researchers. So it isn't surprising that I've presented this book this way. Each article is meant to be self-contained and well explained in plain English. As a result, some explanations appear in several of the articles. -/- Please be patient when you encounter jargon and mathematics - I've tried to keep these to a minimum but they're bound to put in an appearance in a book that's largely about science (and I have compiled an enormous amount of intricate research for this project, hopefully impressing with the organization). Quotes from a range of scientists and icons in the industry should add further fascination to the descriptions, inspiring the reader into more of an openness to speculating on the distant future. There's a lot to absorb here but understanding the future . . . It Don't Come Easy (just ask Ringo Starr who once dreamed he was an alien living on another planet in the future. -/- Contents -/- Special Relativity's Consequences For General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics And Quantum Gravity (Can Science And The Paranormal Coexist?) -/- Intergalactic Travel and Riemann Hypothesis - featuring Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Higgs Boson, Higgs Field, Electroweak Interaction, No Big Bang, Other Dimensions, Plus Other Physics and Mathematics -/- New Perspectives On Life, Death, Cancer and Covid-19 Arising From An Artificially Intelligent, Non-probabilistic Universe -/- Unipositional Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics Means Entanglement Occurring Simultaneously With Gravitational Slingshots Reduces Problems Associated With Spaceflight -/- Unipositional Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics Explains Time Dilation, Updates Cosmology -/- WHERE DID EVERYTHING COME FROM – Combining Science, Mathematics, Computers, Religion, Philosophy, Relativity, Quantum Physics, Darwinism, and a Podcast to Reach One Person’s Plausible Ideas -/- Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence and the Origin of Life Resulting from General Relativity, with Neo-Darwinist Reference to Human Evolution and Mathematical Reference to Cosmology -/- Planet 9 and Black Hole Versus Relativity’s Precession and Dark Matter -/- THE WORLD’S REAL-LIFE EXPERIMENTS WITH COVID-19 AND PHYSICS ALTER SOCIETY AND GLOBAL ECONOMICS . (shrink)

Humans have been staring up into space for thousands of generations to have a rational and coherent description of the Creation and evolution of the universe. Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, in his hymns of Jap (u), Aasa di Var, Sidh Gosht, Thitee and Maru Sohilé, has enunciated an excellent understanding of the mystery of Creation. It is pertinent to add that he composed his hymns in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In contrast, the various scientific ideas (...) discussed in the article became prevalent in the second half of the eighteenth century. From the discussion, it is evident that Guru Nanak's ideas were the precursor of the modern scientific outlook. (shrink)