The unresolved controversy over nuclear power: A new approach from complexity theory     

《Global Environmental Change》2015

We explore the controversy over nuclear power by looking at the plurality of narratives that have emerged throughout its history. We find a lack of consistency between the visions of nuclear power put forward by governments and industry and the experience associated with economic viability, nuclear accidents, waste handling, and so on. We use the conceptual tool of holon from complexity theory to provide a link between the models used for the governance of nuclear power and the realization of those models. The analysis of the holon over time reveals a systemic inconsistency between the way in which the story about nuclear energy is told and the experience gained after implementing nuclear energy according to the story. This inconsistency is due to the incompatible levels of observation used by different social actors endorsing different perspectives. The implementation of nuclear power has been based on the engineering view, focusing on the functioning of the nuclear power plant considered in abstraction from the wider implications of the adoption of this technology on the environment, on the economy, and on society. We cross-check this narrative with the societal metabolism view in order to provide a long term perspective of the interdependencies between nuclear power and the complex socio-economic system in which it is embedded. We conclude that the controversy over nuclear power may be treated as a problem of contrasting beliefs and normative values in clear disjunction from experience. The analysis presented in this paper suggests that more attention should be given to the quality of the narratives used in policy making.  相似文献   

Creating usable science: Opportunities and constraints for climate knowledge use and their implications for science policy   总被引：6，自引：0，他引：6  

Lisa Dilling  Maria Carmen Lemos 《Global Environmental Change》2011,21(2):680-689

In the past several decades, decision makers in the United States have increasingly called upon publicly funded science to provide “usable” information for policy making, whether in the case of acid rain, famine prevention or climate change policy. As demands for usability become more prevalent for publicly accountable scientific programs, there is a need to better understand opportunities and constraints to science use in order to inform policy design and implementation. Motivated by recent critique of the decision support function of the US Global Change Research Program, this paper seeks to address this issue by specifically examining the production and use of climate science. It reviews empirical evidence from the rich scholarship focused on climate science use, particularly seasonal climate forecasts, to identify factors that constrain or foster usability. It finds, first, that climate science usability is a function both of the context of potential use and of the process of scientific knowledge production itself. Second, nearly every case of successful use of climate knowledge involved some kind of iteration between knowledge producers and users. The paper argues that, rather than an automatic outcome of the call for the production of usable science, iterativity is the result of the action of specific actors and organizations who ‘own’ the task of building the conditions and mechanisms fostering its creation. Several different types of institutional arrangements can accomplish this task, depending on the needs and resources available. While not all of the factors that enhance usability of science for decision making are within the realm of the scientific enterprise itself, many do offer opportunities for improvement. Science policy mechanisms such as the level of flexibility afforded to research projects and the metrics used to evaluate the outcomes of research investment can be critical to providing the necessary foundation for iterativity and production of usable science to occur.  相似文献   

第四纪地层中断层同震错动行为的离心机试验研究   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3       下载免费PDF全文

胡平  丁彦慧  蔡奇鹏  骆冠勇  吴宏伟  侯瑜京  董明 《地球物理学报》2011,54(9):2293-2301

运用试验地球物理学的原理和方法来研究认识当地震发生时在第四纪地层中断层同震错动行为的有关特征,为减轻地震灾害相关问题进行基础研究.原创了在试验模型中预制断层的方法来模拟第四纪地层中存在的断层,用离心机模拟试验研究第四纪地层中不同活动年代、不同上断点深度断层的同震错动行为,特别是地表破坏(地表形变和破裂)特征,取得了新的...  相似文献   

海洋科学和技术协同发展的回顾   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

汪品先 《地球科学进展》2011,26(6):644-649

简单回顾百余年来现代海洋科学的发展历程,并用一系列的实例,如深海取样和深海钻探,遥测遥感和水下观测,锚碇长期连续测量和智能水下活动平台,深潜技术和海底观测网等,说明科学的想像能促进技术的创新,而工具的重大改进能导致科学理解的跃进.文章的目的是向我国学术界和管理部门说明:科学和技术必须协同、而不是分头发展,只有两者的结合...  相似文献   

Embryonic exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of PCB126 affect prey capture ability of Fundulus heteroclitus larvae     

Couillard CM  Légaré B  Bernier A  Dionne Z 《Marine environmental research》2011,71(4):257-265

Early life stages from a marine fish species, Fundulus heteroclitus, were exposed to sublethal doses of 3,3',4,4',5 pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) to evaluate its effects on ecologically relevant responses: growth and behavior. A few hours after fertilisation, eggs were treated topically with PCB126 (2.5-50 pg egg?1). Four days post-hatching (dph), morphological changes (body length and malformations), spontaneous locomotor activity (active swimming speed, rate of travel, % inactivity), prey capture ability (Artemia franciscana nauplii) and whole body EROD activity were evaluated in larvae. Untreated larvae collected at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 dph were also examined. PCB126 did not increase the mortality or malformation rates. Body length and spontaneous locomotor activity were altered only in larvae treated with the highest dose. Treatment with PCB126 caused a dose-responsive reduction in prey capture ability (rate of decline in the number of Artemia) and induction of EROD activity. The lowest observed effective dose for both of these responses was 5.0 pg PCB126 egg?1 or 5.0 TCDD-toxic equivalents pg g?1 egg, using a TCDD-toxic equivalent factor of 0.005 and an egg mass of 5 mg. Prey capture efficiency (number of Artemia captured per feeding strike) was reduced at ≥ 10.0 pg egg?1. In untreated developing larvae, prey capture ability and efficiency increased as post-hatching development progressed and EROD activity remained low. The pattern of behavioral responses observed in PCB126-exposed Fundulus larvae differed from that observed in less-developed larvae indicating that other mechanisms than retarded development were involved. Behavioral dysfunction was a more sensitive response to PCB126 than morphological alterations and it occurred at environmentally relevant concentrations.  相似文献   

Recollections of max born     

Emil Wolf 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1995,227(1-2):277-297

This article is essentially the text of lectures presented September 7, 1982 at the Max Born Centenary Conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland and October 21, 1982 at the Max Born Symposium held during the Annual Meeting of the Optical Society of America.Emil Wolf is Wilson Professor of Optical Physics at the University of Rochester. Reprinted fromOptics News, November/December 1983 with permisssion from the author and the Optical Society of America  相似文献   

2003年度天文学科科学基金面上项目申请、资助情况简介及分析     

董国轩  汲培文 《天文学进展》2003,21(4):370-374

介绍了2003年度天文学科科学基金申请、资助的基本情况，并对一些结果进行了分析。  相似文献   

2002年度天文学科科学基金面上项目评审工作回顾     

董国轩  汲培文 《天文学进展》2003,21(1):87-90

介绍了2002年度天文学科科学基金申请、资助的基本情况，并对某些结果进行了分析。  相似文献   

地球表层与天地生综合研究     

陈传康 《云南地理环境研究》1989,1(2):7-17

本文联系地理学史从宇宙、地球、地球表层等概念的演化,讨论人类对地球表层的认识,介绍人类对地球表层作用后所形成的技术和社会圈,从人地关系协同论去说明智慧圈的意义,并讨论以地理相关法为基础的地域结构对应变换分析。以及天地生综合研究与宇宙全息论。本文以现代科学哲学、宇宙论、地球科学的新发展为基础,对地理学的研究对象—地球表层提供一个全新的认识,促进地理学中有关地球基本知识的更新。  相似文献   

Geometry of Spiral Galaxy Arms     

Jin He 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2003,283(2):305-310

The previous work (He, 2001) on image analysis of over one hundred nearby galaxies indicates that for any spiral galaxy image of small inclination there is evidence of two sets of iso-ratio curves in different scales which, like curvilineal coordinate lines, expand over different galaxy components. This result sets constraint on galaxy patterns and a general equation which carries this constraint is presented in the current paper. The equation has clear geometrical meaning. Its much simplified version which applies to galaxy arms, when solved, may be a guidance to understanding galaxy patterns. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献