Media (2)

AI in the media and creative industries

Thanks to the Big Data revolution and increasing computing capacities, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made an impressive revival over the past few years and is now omnipresent in both research and industry. The creative sectors have always been early adopters of AI technologies and this continues to be the case. As a matter of fact, recent technological developments keep pushing the boundaries of intelligent systems in creative applications: the critically acclaimed movie "Sunspring", released in 2016, was entirely written by AI technology, and the first-ever Music Album, called "Hello World", produced using AI has been released this year. Simultaneously, the exploratory nature of the creative process is raising important technical challenges for AI such as the ability for AI-powered techniques to be accurate under limited data resources, as opposed to the conventional "Big Data" approach, or the ability to process, analyse and match data from multiple modalities (text, sound, images, etc.) at the same time. The purpose of this white paper is to understand future technological advances in AI and their growing impact on creative industries. This paper addresses the following questions: Where does AI operate in creative Industries? What is its operative role? How will AI transform creative industries in the next ten years? This white paper aims to provide a realistic perspective of the scope of AI actions in creative industries, proposes a vision of how this technology could contribute to research and development works in such context, and identifies research and development challenges.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333041972_AI_in_the_media_and_creative_industries

Geography YL (2).

New Research Reveals When Plate Tectonics Might Stop.

Author DR. ALFREDO CARPINETI. 

Here are several things that make Earth unique in the solar system. Plate tectonics is among those features, but it won’t be a characteristic of our planet forever. Researchers estimate that, based on changes over the last 3 billion years, tectonics will cease to happen roughly 1.45 billion years in the future.

Plate tectonics is the slow but continuous movement of large segments of the Earth’s crust, which are known as plates. Some plates sink beneath the others, whereas some move apart and some collide. These movements are responsible for the creation of mountain chains, can cause disastrous earthquakes, and can form volcanos.

It is unclear how tectonics started, but the potential for it to stop has been suspected for a while. In this latest work, published in the journal Gondwana Research, Cheng Qiuming from the China University of Geosciences tried to calculate when any major movements in the crust were likely to end.

They constructed a model of how the mantle activities have changed in the past and tried to extrapolate what that tells us about the future. The study shows both the intensity and repetition of major activity below the crust in the mantle over the past few billion years. The researcher has interpreted this as a general trend of mantle cooling. In 1.45 billion years, the temperature of the mantle won’t be high enough anymore for it to flow. Without this internal motion, activities on the surface such as plate tectonics will cease.

Plate tectonics is the mechanism by which the interior of our planet blows off heat, hence why the mantle is slowly cooling over time. Without plate tectonics, it won’t just be a goodbye to volcanos and earthquakes, which we could certainly do without. It will also be a goodbye to mountains. The inexorable movement of plate against plate as it pushes the crust literally to higher and higher peaks. Without it, erosion will take over and over the course of a few million years, even the tallest chain will be nothing but rolling hills.

But there will definitely somebody happy with this research. The weird person who started a change.org petition to stop plate tectonics.

Source: https://www.iflscience.com/new-research-reveals-when-plate-tectonics-might-stop-49325

Language and Communication (2).

The Role of Mass Media in Shaping Public Opinion.

The mass media and all media in general have a heavy influence and impact on individuals and society, as many people rely on the media as a source of information without even thinking whether it is true or not. Furthermore, the media is a very powerful weapon that can quickly change people's perspectives and beliefs in few minutes, for instance a news report concerning Israeli and Palestinian conflict many cover and focus only on one side of the story and ignore or fail to mention the other part which will make the viewer’s pity with one side and neglect the other side. Moreover, nowadays news presenters and commentators start giving their own opinions which is somehow positive but when it comes to sensitive subject they should be careful as many people take their opinions as the final truth as a result they maintain false idea regarding a certain topic. 

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343392876_The_Role_of_Mass_Media_in_Shaping_Public_Opinion#:~:text=Abstract,it%20is%20true%20or%20not. 

Life Sciences (2).

Characteristics of A Highly Intelligent Person

A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.

M Mahfujur Rahman, PhD

People with high IQ scores are called highly intelligent people. Can you guess what they have in common? Let’s read the signs of a highly intelligent person.

They Are Highly Curious

Curiosity is a sign of intelligence. In fact, if you’re curious about something, it’s probably because you’ve realized its importance or potential in some way. The desire to learn more about something comes from recognizing that what we know about an object is not enough for us to be able to fully understand it and use it effectively. For example, early humans were only able to use fire as a tool by observing the sparks created when two sticks rubbed together; they had no idea how these sparks worked or how they could harness their power until many years later when someone finally asked what caused them!

They Don’t Follow The Crowd

The highly intelligent person is not afraid to stand out from the crowd. They are not afraid to be unpopular; they think for themselves and do things their own way, even when it means being different from everyone else.

They Are Open-Minded

You’ve probably heard that having an open mind is valuable, but what does it mean to have an open mind and how can you develop one?

An open-minded person is willing to consider new ideas and opinions. They’re able to listen carefully, evaluate evidence and make decisions based on facts rather than their own beliefs. Developing this skill requires practice in order to be successful at changing your thinking when faced with evidence contrary to your assumptions or beliefs. If a friend told you that the moon was made of green cheese, would you believe them? What if they provided proof by bringing out a crate full of samples from the moon? Would that change your mind about whether or not what they said was true?

They Ask Questions.

Source: https://medium.com/illumination/characteristics-of-a-highly-intelligent-person-ad8f59fce2cc 

Food (2)

What is gastronomy? An exploratory study of social representation of gastronomy and Mexican cuisine among experts and consumers using a qualitative approach

Abstract

The aim of this work was to explore, based on language of experts and consumers, how they define the concept of gastronomy and Mexican cuisine applying the Theory of Social Representation. Gastronomy has become very relevant in the recent years and numerous researches on the matter have been published. Likewise, gastronomy has become one of the main drivers for tourists to travel to a certain destination, such as Mexico, whose traditional cuisine has been included within the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. This research was carried out in two phases: the first one through 22 semi-structured interviews with chefs who work in public and private schools of gastronomy in Mexico, and the second one through a convenience sampling in Central Mexico with a sample of 329 Mexican consumers. Information was obtained through Open-Ended questions, Word Association technique (WA) and Free Listing (FL) task. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed through content analysis. The words or terms obtained from the WA were grouped into categories by means of lemmatization process. Through FL, there were obtained the main foods, ingredients or dishes of Mexican cuisine and Cognitive Salience Index (CSI) was calculated. Results of this research establish that gastronomy is a complex concept and that the social representation of chefs and consumers are related with traditional and human aspects, sensory characteristics of foods, apart from techniques, methods and forms of food preparation. In this sense, the categories, foods, and ingredients that characterize Mexican cuisine are discussed based on the language of experts and consumers applying the Theory of Social Representation.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329319309607

Abstract

Molecular gastronomy is a novel discipline within the food science area. Its main difference with the traditional food science and technology studies is its focus on kitchen restaurant and home kitchen levels. The collaboration among food scientists (food chemists, food engineers, sensory scientists, etc.) and innovative chefs led to the implementation of a new approach to cooking, often referred to as “science-based cooking” or “molecular cooking.” This implies implementing new techniques, tools, or ingredients borrowed from scientific laboratories. In parallel, a closer look at the kitchen led scientists to investigate phenomena or methods that are often ignored by food scientists. The difference between molecular gastronomy and conventional food science has been discussed in this chapter, with some examples related to studies on olive oil, sous-vide cooking, the use of liquid nitrogen and ultrasound treatment, as well as the technique called “spherification.” The importance of food pairing in haute-cuisine restaurants and for researchers in the area of sensory science has been highlighted, with the presentation of the theoretical/computational approach based on the so-called flavor network and reporting some results based on empirical laboratory-based studies. The negative outcome of these investigations proves the difficulties of simplifying such a complex system, in which odor, taste-active compounds, texture, and other factors interact, and additional complexity is added by cooking itself. Also, the final consumers’ experience depends on other factors such as the dish presentation and their general expectations.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128200575000017#:~:text=Abstract,%2C%20sensory%20scientists%2C%20etc.)

Environment (2)

Impact of Industrialization on Environment

Impact of Industrialization on Environment OVERVIEW Centuries ago, when there was no active expanding of large cities and industries, nature was able to overcome pollution and keep air fairly clean without outside help. The wind and rain in the form of natural rescuers scattered gases and washed away the dust. However, with increasing industrialization and urbanization, the nature’s system cannot cope with pollution and clean the environment naturally. In comparison with volcanoes, hurricanes, forest fires and other natural disasters, people produce much more wastes that pollute the atmosphere.

Thus, the negative impact of industrialization and urbanization processes on the environment is drastic and quite far-reaching. Industrialization in the name of growth has loaded tremendous pressure on environment. Industrialization & environment in the developing countries tries to run hand to hand. But knowingly or unknowingly, industrialization ran faster without caring for environment to win the race. The pace of industrialization has increased several folds in last decade.

Since the beginning of 19th century people have begun to actively use natural resources and intervene in the sector of biosphere – a living part of our planet. Only for the last 100 years, the development of industry has resulted in industrial processes, negative consequences that people could not even predict. Cities with a population of one million or more appeared and their expansion cannot be stopped. This is the result of great inventions and achievements of mankind. Little by little, we have changed our atmosphere and its chemistry.

Nowadays factories are spread around the world and air pollution has become an integral part of our life. Effect: Industrial effluents: Effluent in the artificial sense is in general considered to be water pollution, such as the outflow from a sewage treatment facility or the waste water discharge from industrial facilities. Over 73 million days are lost annually due to water related diseases. An effluent sump pump, for instance, pumps waste from toilets installed below a main sewage line. Waste water treatment a plant, effluent that has been treated is sometimes called secondary effluent, or treated effluent.

This cleaner effluent is then used to feed the bacteria in bio-filters. A thermal power station, the output of the cooling system may be referred to as the effluent cooling water, which is noticeably warmer than the environment. Effluent only refers to liquid discharge. Polluted air: Air pollution refers to the presence of chemical, biological, and particulate matter, and pollutants in the atmosphere around the living spaces. When inhaled, it affects the human biological system, and takes a toll on the quality of life, with the onslaught of a number of respiratory tract disorders.

It is a condition triggered by the presence of air-borne pollutants in the air we breathe. These pollutants could either be the result of chemical emissions or the particulate material from biological waste. The condition has reached alarming proportions in the modern world, with large-scale industrialization and vehicle-emissions being the primary culprits. The pollutants that are air-borne cause a lot of harm to humans and animals, other than permanent damage to the natural environment. Effects of Air Pollution on Humans:

Cardiopulmonary Disease, Pneumonia, Premature Mortality, Heart Attack, Asthma, Difficulty in Breathing, Wheezing and Coughing, Acute Vascular Dysfunction, Thrombosis / Thrombus Formation, Cystic Fibrosis etc. Noise pollution: Due to the growing noise pollution and industrialization, male birds have to change their tune. Basically, to be heard above the noise of modern day living, to communicate with female birds in hopes to get together and procreate, they often have to sing at a higher pitch.

The problem is this is becoming less appealing to the female birds, leaving scientists to worry about what this will eventually do to the mating and population of such birds. Greenhouse gas effect: The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases.

Solar radiation at the frequencies of visible light largely passes through the atmosphere to warm the planetary surface, which then emits this energy at the lower frequencies of infrared thermal radiation. Infrared radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases, which in turn re-radiate much of the energy to the surface and lower atmosphere. The mechanism is named after the effect of solar radiation passing through glass and warming a greenhouse, but the way it retains heat is fundamentally different as a greenhouse works by reducing airflow, isolating the warm air inside the structure so that heat is not lost by convection.

As described above, World over, the industries are becoming increasingly concerned about achieving and demonstrating their environmental performance because of the growing compulsions from tough legislations and mounting public pressures. Environmental disasters such as Bhopal tragedy, Rhine pollution , Chernobyl disaster, acid rain damage ,Ozone Layer Depletion has led to growing public pressures on governments all over the world Which started imposing stringent legislation with severe penalties in environmental issues environmental & safety system.

These standards do not lay down specific environmental performance criteria, these are system standards. Which describes the management of environment based on company’s environmental policy , objectives and targets defined on the basis of their significant environmental effects . Industry is becoming increasingly concerned about achieving and demonstrating sound environmental performance because of growing compulsions from stringent legislation and Mounting public pressure. There was a time, not long ago, when the harm caused in environment due to human and industrial activities was no body’s concern.

Pollutants affect not only living environment but also social, cultural, political and aesthetic values. In the recent years there is a growing alertness against this environmental pollution. On the one hand the advancements of science & Technology have added to the human comforts by giving us automobiles, electrical appliance better medicine, better chemical to control harmful insects and pest but on the Approach for Assessing Environment other hand they gave us a very serious problem to face pollution.

The continued increase in the pollution coupled with the industrial revolution has had the vital impact on natural resources. The resultant deterioration of environment and fast depletion of natural resources threaten the sustainability of economic development. One of the most pressing and complex challenges facing by our generation are to search out a workable synthesis between economic development and environmental behavior. So friends we need to compromise our needs to maintain a harmony between these two entities i. e. Industry & Environment.

Source: https://phdessay.com/impact-of-industrialization-on-environment/

Humanities YL (2)

The five greatest scientific discoveries and inventions ever!

British Science Week is taking place, encouraging people of all ages to get involved in science, technology, engineering and maths events and activities. So with the spotlight firmly on science and technology this week, Paramount’s genomics recruitment consultant, Eugene McDaid has put together his top five scientific discoveries and inventions of all time:

5 – Artificial Intelligence

We often look at artificial intelligence from a human perspective, for example robots that begin thinking for themselves (and perhaps take over the world), but for me artificial intelligence is one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time because it enables machines to learn and process more information than we ever could as humans. With all the big data being generated from genomics projects and electronic medical records from across the globe, artificially intelligent computers can learn to spot patterns in all that information, leading to faster discoveries and huge jumps forward in our understanding of diseases and how to treat them.

4 – Medical imaging

Medical imaging is an essential tool for clinical analysis, allowing doctors to see beyond what is hidden by skin and bone to accurately diagnose and treat diseases. From X-rays and radiography to MRI scans and ultrasound technology, these scientific innovations have all helped to ensure modern medicine is the least invasive it can be while ensuring the best outcomes for patients. Medical imaging really showcases how science and technology are complementary disciplines, as one advances the other.

3 – Antibiotics

Antibiotics revolutionised medicine in the twentieth century, and together with vaccinations, have almost completely eradicated many once-common diseases such as tuberculosis. While the use of mould to treat infections was first noted by ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians and the Greeks, it was Sir Alexander Fleming who discovered the first antibiotic substance, Penicillin G. For the millions of lives that antibiotics have, and continue to, save worldwide, antibiotics have to be in my scientific top five.

2 – The Internet

Possibly the greatest technological invention of our time. A truly remarkable feat of physics and engineering in its own right, the Internet has had a huge impact on science from connecting scientists across the globe and allowing them to share information and research more easily, to providing scientific resources and papers to more people than ever. The internet is even helping to fund new discoveries; for example the social media phenomena the ALS ice bucket challenge, which fully funded a number of research projects including one which identified a new gene associated with the neurological disorder.

1 – DNA

Over the last 60 years, our rapidly evolving understanding of DNA has catapulted medical knowledge and treatments and even transformed the way we solve crimes. Since James Watson and Francis Crick’s discovery of the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, the scientific community has split in many different directions to investigate the building blocks of life to understand what makes us who we are. Without the discovery of DNA, we wouldn’t have all the ground-breaking studies going on right now in genome mapping and sequencing, so for that reason, DNA has to be my number one scientific discovery of all time.

Source: https://www.pararecruit.com/article/the-five-greatest-scientific-discoveries-and-inventions-ever