Sergio Parra

The last four decades have shown a relative decline of Marxist thought in universities. Their influence has been replaced by “poststructuralist” (or “postmodernist”) thinkers such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Deleuze.

Poststructuralism is mainly indebted to the thinkers of the European 'conservative revolution' led by Nietzsche and Heidegger.

Quotes

Marxism survived in the structuralist moment in France (1950s and 1960s) through Louis Althusser, but not as the post-structuralism of Deleuze, Foucault and Derrida, none of whom can be called Marxist. The starting point for poststructuralists is Nietzsche. For classical Marxism it is clearly Hegel. These, intellectually speaking, are two different languages or thoughts.

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Those leftover humanities intellectuals and their intellectual impostures

Furthermore, we can verify this paradigm shift in the number of citations of the references of Marxism and postmodernism.

In a Quantitative investigation From the JStor academic database, which tracks the frequency of names and key ideas in all academic articles and chapter titles published globally between 1980 and 2019, we discovered that the alleged mastermind of Cultural Marxism, Antonio Gramsci, starred in 480 publications. Friedrich Hayek, possibly the main influence on the neoliberal free market reforms of recent decades, starred in 407.

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I don't understand anything you say or the conclusions of the Vienna Circle

The “Frankfurt School” appeared in fewer than 200 titles, and the critical theorist Herbert Marcuse (identified as a key transmitter of the cultural Marxist “virus” in the United States) was the subject of just over 220.

However, in the last decade, the most cited thinker was the neo-Nietzschean theorist, Giles Deleuze, which appeared in 770 titles during 2010-19. That is to say, political and economic Marxism seems, judging by the quotes, in clear decline, What has gained strength is cultural Marxism or postmodernism. Which will be good news for liberals or some economists, but it is bad news for epistemologists who love positivism and the expository clarity of science.

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In the last 40 years, Marxist authors have given way to postmodernists in the university

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An experiment, a year ago, the existence was confirmed of 'superionic ice', a strange form of water that could comprise most of the giant icy planets in the entire universe.

In 1988, computer simulations predicted that water would take on a strange, metal-like shape if pushed beyond the surface. map of known phases of ice.

superionic ice

30 years ago a theory emerged that seems contradictory: there is a state of water that is solid and liquid at the same time. According to theoretical scientists, The so-called superionic ice would help explain the strange magnetic field of Uranus and Neptune.

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Superionic ice, both liquid and solid, can exist, but at 5,000ºC and extremely high pressure

The experimental confirmation came at the Laser Energy Laboratory in Brighton, New York, where one of the most powerful lasers in the world operates. It was fired at a drop of water, creating a shock wave that raised the pressure of the water to millions of atmospheres and its temperature to thousands of degrees. X-rays that passed through the droplet in the same fraction of a second revealed that within the shock wave it did not become a superheated liquid or gas. Paradoxically, but just as the physicists looking at the screens in an adjacent room expected, The atoms froze and formed crystalline ice.

The discovery of superionic ice potentially resolves some doubts about the composition of the so-called 'ice giants'. So knowing more about this substance can give us more clues about how the structure of these planets and their magnetic field work, and how it compares to that of the Earth.

Including the hexagonal arrangement of water molecules found in common ice, known as 'Ih ice', scientists had already discovered 18 puzzling ice crystal architectures. After ice I, which occurs in two forms, Ih and Ic, the rest are numbered from II to XVII in the order of their discovery.

Superionic ice can now claim the title of ice XVIII. It is a new crystal, but with a different touch. All previously known water ices are made of intact water molecules, each with an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrogens. But superionic ice is not like that. It exists in a kind of limbo, part solid and part liquid. Individual water molecules break apart. Oxygen atoms form a cubic lattice, but the hydrogen atoms spill out freely, flowing like a liquid through the rigid box of oxygens.

In conclusion, water is a very simple substance in appearance, but its phase diagram at high pressures still holds many mysteries for us. Also about the planets that we are going to explore in the future.

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This new type of black ice is probably more common in the universe than previously assumed

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According to a new study that analyzes intimate partner violence in Europe, it is suggested that the prevalence of intimate partner violence tends to be higher in countries with greater gender equality because the formation and dissolution of couples occurs more frequently, not because men are necessarily more violent against their partners.

The Nordic Paradox

Recent studies suggest that intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in Europe is highest among some of the most gender equal countries in the world, such as Sweden, Finland and Denmark. This is part of the so-called "Nordic paradox.".

In other words, Spain is more insecure in any context due to violent death than Finland and Norway, but it is safer in the marital context if we talk about women.

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Abuse or digital violence between couples: they suffer it more than they do during adolescence

In order to unravel the reasons behind these data, the aforementioned study presents new indicators that are sensitive to the frequency of victimization. The new indicators are based on aggregate data from the Fundamental Rights Agency's survey on violence against women for the 28 EU Member States.

RCountry rankings in terms of IPV levels change substantially when overall prevalence measures are replaced by their 'previous partner' and 'current partner' components and, especially, when frequency of victimization is considered. When comparing the traditional classification of IPV prevalence with the current classification of indicators sensitive to repetition of intimate partner violence, Nordic countries fall in several positions.

Thus, the findings suggest that the prevalence of IPV tends to be higher in countries with greater gender equality because couple formation and dissolution occur more frequently, but not because men are necessarily more violent against their partners.

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Violence in the couple increases in Nordic countries because there is more formation and dissolution of couples

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The great popularizer of science, and professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Murcia, already warns us, José Manuel López Nicolás in the prologue of The crooked lines of science: We are facing a work whose main message is that science, science in capital letters, thrives mostly in the heat of multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity.

Or as the entomologist put it Edward Wilson, by means of the consilience, that is, the hybridization of disciplines, and also of approaches and thoughts, and above all with the ability to jump the invisible wall between letters and sciences to become alphanumeric. As is the author of the book that is the subject of this review: the prolific, multitasking and talkative Eugenio M. Fernández Aguilar.

Teamwork and basic science

An individual cannot know everything about everything. The best you can hope for is to have an open mind and not stumble into the presumption that your small pocket of knowledge is the most relevant.

For that reason, science does not depend on scientists, fortunately. It depends on collaboration between scientists that, every time they present a new idea, it must overcome the demands of the scientific method and publication in a peer-reviewed journal, that is, the kind of external auditor to the mind of the fallible human being that hides behind the scientist.

The crooked lines of science: From antimatter to modern medicine

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The key that Eugenio emphasizes in his book, which he considers to be the backbone of the progress of science, is that scientists must work as a team, as well as that research in basic science It is essential as mortar to build what comes next.

To demonstrate this, he weaves ten stories with great alphanumeric skill and concludes with a glorious treatment, almost as a corollary, of how the story was conceived. positron emission tomography (PET) and how many ideas and developments from adjacent disciplines allowed its existence, just as it happens with other artifacts, like the smartphone.

Eugenio is a prolific author, which is not at odds with the brilliance of each of his works, which is a unique pearl. In fact, I am beginning to have the feeling that, progressively, book by book, it is acquiring an increasingly personal, more interesting voice, and a narration cadence as well as an ability to amaze the reader by connecting everything with everything that I am convinced that will end up converting you in one of the main references of Spanish scientific dissemination. If it isn't already. What are you waiting for to check it out?

From an epistemological point of view, one of the most important advances is the fusion of laws, principles, theories, etc. As humans have discovered facts and regularities in nature, all kinds of efforts have been made to bring together apparently unconnected theories. Today's world is radically different from that of a century and a half ago thanks to the discovery that electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same reality. And this was possible thanks to the relationships between scientists from different countries, travel and the flow of knowledge, despite the fact that history also includes hatred, envy and pettiness.

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Books that inspire us: 'The crooked lines of science' by Eugenio M. Fernández Aguilar

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Corpses change soil nutrient concentrations and how those changes manifest in nearby plants. The most obvious result would be a large release of nitrogen into the soil..

Depending on how quickly plants respond to the influx of nitrogen, it can cause changes in leaf color and reflectance, and forensic botanists at the University of Tennessee, in a new investigation, they want to determine how these minimal clues can help us find hidden corpses to collaborate in police work.

corpse island

In any terrain or environment, the area immediately surrounding human beings, It is called "corpse decomposition island". While the impact of human decomposition on plants has yet to be fully explored, researchers outline prescriptive steps to make body recovery using vegetation a reality.

Research on the relationship between plants and human decomposition will be conducted at the University of Tennessee's "body farm." As explained by the main author Neal Stewart Jr., professor of plant sciences at the University of Tennessee:

In smaller open landscapes, foot patrols could be effective in finding someone missing, but in more forested or treacherous parts of the world like the Amazon, that won't be possible at all. This led us to consider plants as indicators of human decomposition, which could lead to faster and possibly safer bodily recovery.

It's true that other large mammals can also die in places where people disappear, making it difficult to track down human corpses.

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Due to these factors, the body of a corpse moves slightly 17 months after death.

For that reason, it is important to find specific metabolites for degradation in humans. Given that humans typically eat non-wildlife diets, there may be specific metabolites, such as those from medications or food preservatives, that have specific influences on the appearance of plants. Everything is so that future chapters of CSI even more exciting and scientifically interesting.

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We can find hidden corpses by looking at the plants

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One of the most remembered scenes of Back to the Future 2, in addition to the flying cars flying through the sky, is that of Marty adjusting his jacket because it is too big for him by pressing a simple button. In the film, clothes shorten and shrink, while a robotic voice plays the action.

We are about to reach that point, although not so roughly, thanks to a material that stretches or shrinks according to a person's measurements.

Biomaterial

Developed by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), this biomaterial, made with keratin, a fibrous protein found in hair, nails and shells, can make one-size-fits-all clothing a reality because it can be 3D printed in any form and be reversibly preprogrammed with memory.

The researchers extracted keratin from the remains of Agora wool used in the manufacture of textiles. As explained Parker Kit, Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at SEAS and senior author of the study:

With this project, we have shown that not only can we recycle wool, but we can build things with recycled wool that have never been imagined before. The implications for the sustainability of natural resources are clear. With recycled keratin protein, we can do as much, or more, than has been done to date with animal shearing and, in doing so, reduce the environmental impact of the fabric and fashion industry.

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From sticky liquid to complex solid object in just a few minutes: new light 3D printer

To demonstrate this process, the researchers 3D printed keratin sheets in a variety of shapes. They programmed the material's permanent shape, the shape it will always return to when activated, using a solution of hydrogen peroxide and monosodium phosphate. Once the memory was established, the blade could be reprogrammed and molded into new shapes. For example, a keratin sheet was folded into a complex origami star as a permanent shape. Once memory was established, the researchers immersed the star in water, where it unfolded and became malleable. From there, they rolled the sheet into a tight tube. Once dry, the blade locked into a completely stable and functional tube. To reverse the process, they put the tube back into water, where it unrolled and folded back into an origami star.

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These clothes stretch or shrink depending on a person's measurements, which would allow one-size-fits-all clothing to be made.

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As revealed the most complete research submitted to the IPCC metrics (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), global air transport represents 3.5 % of anthropogenic climate warming.

These are the findings of a large international study led by Manchester Metropolitan University and involving the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Contrails

Researchers have analyzed all the factors in which the air transport industry has contributed to climate change since its inception: in total, has emitted 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide throughout the entire history of the industry, considered between 1940 and 2018.

According to the study, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment on September 3, 2020, are contrails and resulting cirrus clouds (clouds of ice crystals produced by aircraft engines at high altitudes under certain weather conditions) the most important factor of this effect, not carbon dioxide emissions from air travel, which account for only a third of the climate impact.

Contrails reflect solar radiation back into space, which has a cooling effect. However, they also reduce the Earth's own heat radiation, which warms the climate.

On Magnet

“Anti-flights”, people who avoid traveling by plane due to climate change, are already causing changes

The study also includes other climate-relevant emissions, such as water vapor, soot, aerosols, and sulfate aerosol particles found in the exhaust plumes of aircraft engines. Carbon dioxide emissions are the second largest contribution to the climate impact of air transport. About half of the total cumulative carbon dioxide emissions were generated in the last 20 years alone.

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3.5 % of global warming is attributable only to air transport

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The Democracies around the world are 'regressing', as revealed a new study, and many governments are moving away from democratic ideals and towards authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism

In the mid-1970s, citizens around the world took to the streets to demand democracy from their governments, sparking a wave of democratization that transformed governments from Africa to Asia to Europe. But a worrying trend of democratic “backsliding” has taken place in recent years, writes the author of a new study in Science, as governments gradually move away from their democratic ideals and toward authoritarianism.

Even leaders of well-established democracies, such as the United States and India, have adopted authoritarian rhetoric. But in other countries, such as Russia and China, leaders are actively working to undermine the legitimacy of democracy.

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The problem with democracy is you

This shift also provides an opportunity to examine whether citizen movements alone (without external support) are sufficient to rein in newly emboldened autocrats.

Western democracy promotion has always been partially undermined by geopolitical or partisan objectives and has been open to criticism on many dimensions. Still, the combination of direct democracy assistance and pro-democracy international norms operated in most regions of the world, both at the elite level, constraining leaders who would otherwise engage in more overtly authoritarian behavior, as well as at the citizen level, helping citizen movements in favor of democracy and supporting civil society.

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Democracies are retreating around the world, according to a new study

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He Starship SN6 cylindrical vehicle rose into the air above SpaceX's Boca Chica test site, so it was recorded in the next video.

The vehicle, designed for eventual trips to the Moon and Mars, performed a brief uncrewed test flight on September 3 in Texas.

SpaceX

This is the second flight test at 150 meters high carried out by this launcher, similar to the one carried out on August 4 by a similar model. A single Raptor engine was used in the test..

Second 150m flight test of Starship pic.twitter.com/ROa0kQZXLI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2020

Starship SN6 is the latest in a line of prototypes that SpaceX has used as testbeds for the technologies needed for a massive, fully reusable launch system for deep space missions.

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See the glorious flight of SpaceX's Starship prototype rocket

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The COVID-19 It has changed many of our habits, it has reconfigured the lifestyle of entire cities, but it has also done so for non-human species: like rats.

These, dependent on leftover restaurant food, for example, are suddenly experiencing shortages; a scarcity that pushes them to drastic solutions that involve bloody battles between rats, cannibalism and infanticide.

Resources

Rats whose food sources have disappeared will not only move to other colonies and come into conflict with other rats over scarce resources, but They will eat each other to survive, including the offspring.

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The word epidemic simply did not have meaning before the Neolithic because agriculture had not been developed.

Residents of dense urban areas and some rural areas of the United States have lived with these vermin, but sightings in some cities have increased in recent weeks due to the pandemic.

In New Orleans, where Louisiana's governor imposed a stay-at-home order that forced many restaurants to close, particularly those in popular tourist areas like the French Quarter, a viral video published in March showed scores of rats taking to the streets to look for food. And officials say social distancing is to blame.

In fact, Claudia Riegel, director of the New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board, declared in it The Times-Picayune that the city is preparing aggressive pest control measures.

Washington DC is also taking steps to combat rodent problems. The mayor Muriel Bowser closed restaurants and other businesses but designated pest control workers as essential. Before the pandemic, the city had already aggressively implemented pest control measures, including the use of feral cats.

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The rats that consume the anticoagulants that we use as rat killers continue to multiply and become more resistant

In the last 30 days, the city has received almost 500 calls related to rodents, according to 311 data (The 311 emergency number is used to report incidents where immediate police presence is not required). In nearby Baltimore, which has a robust rat eradication program, city data shows there were about 11,000 'proactive' calls or online 311 requests about rats in the same period.

Rats have a great ability to reproduce. From 2 months of age they can reproduce. They can reproduce up to 13 times a year and have up to 14 rats per litter. The female rat is capable of preserving the male's semen in her body to self-fertilize again once she gives birth to the litter. Maybe this pandemic will end up reducing their numbers for the first time in a long time.

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War, cannibalism and infanticide: the solutions that rats find to survive in the COVID-19 era

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