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Abstract: The Pierre Auger Collaboration has a long tradition of outreach that engages a wide range of people of all ages worldwide. In Malargüe, Argentina, the heart of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the Visitor Center offers a permanent interactive exhibition. Every November Collaboration meeting, we organize a Science Fair where Argentinian students from across the country can present their works and talk with the scientists at the site, motivating youngsters to pursue a career in Science. We also participate in the local parade, commemorating the foundation of Malargüe. We have developed numerous activities and interactive tools, including a 3-D event display. We have an open data policy and share them according to FAIR principles. Recently, we joined the International Masterclasses within the International Particle Physics Outreach Group, using a framework similar to the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations. In this contribution, we summarize all of our Outreach activities.
Keywords: ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, Pierre Auger Observatory, outreach, education, communication, Auger visitor center, Auger science fair, open data policy, FAIR principles, International Particle Physics Outreach Group, International Masterclasses
Published in RUNG: 17.02.2025; Views: 621; Downloads: 7
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Abstract: Two of the Key Science Projects of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) consist in performing a deep survey of the Galactic and Extragalactic sky, providing an unbiased view of the Universe at energies above tens of GeV. To optimize the time spent to perform the Extragalactic survey, a so-called “divergent mode” of the CTA was proposed as an alternative observation strategy to the traditional parallel pointing in order to increase its instantaneous field of view. The search for transient VHE sources would also benefit from an extended field of view. In the divergent mode, each telescope points to a position in the sky that is slightly offset, in the outward direction, from the center of the field of view. In this contribution, we present the first performance estimation from full Monte Carlo simulation of possible CTA divergent mode setups.
Keywords: very-high-energy gamma rays, Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Observatory, CTAO Key Science Projects (KSPs), galactic survey KSP, extragalactic survey KSP
Published in RUNG: 15.11.2024; Views: 921; Downloads: 6
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Abstract: This paper is about the first automated systems developed to recognize identity. While automated recognition in the twenty-first century is widely associated with images of the human face, its roots are to be found in attempts to visualize identity in other, non-figural types of trace left by human bodies, ranging as widely as shadows, astrological signs, handwriting, the prints left by palms and fingers and the acoustics of the human voice. This paper investigates one such system of recognition as it emerged from within the telecommunications industry context in the midcentury U.S. Ostensibly built to reduce human labor and cable bandwidth, Bell Labs developed three different phone devices in the 1950s to photograph, formalize and analyze the sounds of speech as they traveled through the telephony system. And while the device called “Audrey” indeed succeeded in recognizing spoken digits, it was its failure to recognize the speech contents without prior awareness of the identity of the speaker, that is to distinguish between the individuality of the speaking “medium” and their intended meaning, that arguably made the experiment a landmark in the history of machine-driven recognition. Accounting for the “noise” made by the body and the environment from which sound emanated into the device, which the lab’s technicians defined as ranging from “speech defects” to “inflection” and “background interference” proved more important than phonetic analysis in determining the intended message of given speech spectogram. Similarly to a range of experiments with noise by formalist filmmakers such as Tony Conrad, John Cage, Kurt Kren and others, it was on the principle of contingency and irreproducible uniqueness that Bell Lab technicians sought to train machine-driven intelligence.
Keywords: History of computer science, machine learning, Bell Labs, history of telecommunications, sound studies
Published in RUNG: 19.02.2024; Views: 2176; Downloads: 9
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Abstract: In the current state of multiple and repeating planetary-scale crises, ranging from climate disasters to resource mismanagement, the complexity of problems often takes humanity into exploring unknown unknowns. Through a gradual consolidation of networks and platforms across realms of education, economy and both NGO as well as public cultural institutions, it is especially the media-artistic practice (and discourse!) of the investigative kind that trailblazes possible itineraries and develops (at least speculative) toolbelts for venturing into any kind of livable future, possibly such that might surpass the aporia of the anthropocene and find a new way of making (up to) kin. The selected project cases depict two possible strategic approaches lending well to grassroots initiatives, even if both are embedded within either wide-ranging multi-million supported (structural) platform endeavors, or trans-national programmes such as the European Capital of Culture. An ongoing collaborative process between art and science, Taming the Forest (2022-) is being implemented by a group of students, artists and researchers charting an interdisciplinary cross-field among bioeconomy, cultural history, policy, and art(ivism). Researching the conflicting narratives of history and economy about biodiversity in general, and specifically on forests, the project brought about several public formats such as lectures, video installations and AV performances. The project-as-process shows how different blends of methodologies in artistic-cum-scientific research can become truly relevant for both of their respective realms, opening new creative pathways and pedagogical registers, while repeatedly returning to the local (forest). Moreover, Taming the Forest manifests the need for a new sensibility and complex knowledge, moving beyond the objective study and becoming attentive to different dimensions of research and its outputs that emerge through the introduction of Art Thinking. This becomes crucial in order to tackle the manifold big-scale problems such as climate and biodiversity crises which call for both acting decisively and transforming radically, above all in regards to how we perceive, relate to and manage forests. xMobil (2021-) is a multi-stakeholder prototype development process of a mobile laboratory in a solar-powered car trailer, assembled mostly of salvaged technology parts and reused materials, geared for investigative-art and DIY/DIWO-workshop applications. Empowering creativity and innovation in off-grid public and remote locations, and promoting autonomous art-science practices as well as creative-community projects, particularly in the realm of environmentalism, it combines the work of artists, designers, architects, researchers and engineers who act as mentors to both students and non-formal learners coming from diverse educational programs, both formal and non-formal. xMobil was conceived by a community of developers and future users representing highly diverse sectors, from industry, independent arts production, natural sciences and education (teachers and students), to activism, and even local governance or cultural policy. The contribution will eventually raise the issue of visibility, sustainability and preservation of such transitory projects or platforms, where artistic(-cum-scientific) works are based on grassroots research and experimentation, examining their methodological approach as well as their topic-setting as regards the limits of growth, and not least discussing their costs to social and natural ecosystems, increasingly permeated by technology.
Keywords: art thinking, ecology, bioeconomy, DIY, autonomy, art and science
Published in RUNG: 25.09.2023; Views: 2567; Downloads: 0
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Keywords: JRC SciArt Summer School 2022, art, science, technology
Published in RUNG: 21.04.2023; Views: 2012; Downloads: 6
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