Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synchronicity: An Analysis Of Einstein's Halfway Rule, Preslava Nikolova

Rushton Journal of Undergraduate Humanities Research

For the modern world to function, Global Positioning System satellites must synchronize to clocks on Earth. This paper examines a concept that underlies GPS systems, namely Albert Einstein’s halfway rule—the idea that a line of simultaneity exists between two events in different systems. This essay discusses how Einstein used conventionalist methods to establish ½ as a constant value for σ to take advantage of the property of symmetry.

Towards An Experimental Bibliography Of Hemispheric Reconstruction Newspapers, Joshua Ortiz Baco, Benjamin Charles Germain Lee, Jim Casey, Sarah H. Salter

Criticism

Digital collections of newspapers have drawn broader attention to the fragmented and scattered print histories of minoritized communities. Attempts to survey these histories through bibliography, however, quickly meet with a fundamental problem: the practice of bibliographic description calls for creating a static record of social affiliations. Given the overwhelming scholarly consensus that categories such as race, ethnicity, and language are socially constructed, this article introduces an experimental bibliographic method for mapping the vast landscape of historical newspapers. This method extends the machine learning affordances of a recent project called Newspaper Navigator to enumerate the newspapers in Chronicling America according to …

The Use Of Cultural Algorithms To Learn The Impact Of Climate On Local Fishing Behavior In Cerro Azul, Peru, Khalid Kattan

Wayne State University Dissertations

Recently it has been found that the earth’s oceans are warming at a pace that is 40% faster than predicted by a United Nations panel a few years ago. As a result, 2019 has become the warmest year on record for the earth’s oceans. That is because the oceans have acted as a buffer by absorbing 93% of the heat produced by the greenhouse gases [40].

The impact of the oceanic warming has already been felt in terms of the periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean as an effect of the ENSO process. The ENSO process is a cycle of …

Convergence Of Indigenous Science And Western Science Impacts Student's Interest In Stem And Identity As A Scientist, Sarah Omar Alkholy, Fidji Gendron, Betty Mckenna, Tanya Dahms, Maria Pontes Ferreira

Nutrition and Food Science Faculty Research Publications

Within the context of North American Indigenous culture, certain Elders are respected gatekeepers to Indigenous science, also known as traditional knowledge. Yet, while North American born minorities such as Black Americans, Amerindians, and Latin Americans may hail from cultures with a similar appreciation of their own Indigenous science Elders, these minority groups are especially underrepresented in Western science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)—both in academia and in the workforce. North American underrepresented minorities experience high attrition rates in academia generally, and in STEM specifically. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes a call to action to Indigenize education to benefit all …

Accumulating Risk: Environmental Justice And The History Of Capitalism In Detroit, 1880-2015, Josiah John Rector

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation is an environmental history of Detroit, Michigan from the 19th century to the present. Recent scholarship on the history of capitalism has largely ignored the problem of environmental inequality, and the negative externalities of economic growth. In contrast, studies of the environmental justice movement have richly documented race, class, and gender inequalities in environmental risk exposure. However, they have neglected the relationship between the development of the environmental justice movement and the restructuring of American capitalism since the 1970s, including deindustrialization and the shift to neoliberalism. Bringing these fields together, this dissertation connects Detroit’s long-term economic transformation to …

Precursors And Processes For The Growth Of Metallic First Row Transition Metal Films By Atomic Layer Deposition, Lakmal Charidu Kalutarage

Wayne State University Dissertations

As a result of the continuous miniaturization of microelectronics devices, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has gained much attention in the recent years. ALD allows the deposition of ultra-thin conformal films with accurate thickness control due to the self-limiting growth mechanism. The microelectronics industry requires the growth of metallic first row transition metal films by ALD. Due to the positive electrochemical potentials, the ALD growth of noble metal thin films has been well developed in the past. By contrast, the ALD growth of first row transition metal films remains poorly documented. The reasons for this scarcity include the lack of suitable …

Analyzing Environmental Change And Prehistoric Hunter Behavior Through A 3d Time-Lapsed Model With Level Auto-Generation And Cultural Algorithms, Samuel Dustin Stanley

Wayne State University Theses

This paper describes a system containing two portions whose purpose it is to help further the Alpena-Amberley Land Bridge research project and similar archaeological research. The first portion is a "time engine" which one can utilize to navigate through time in order to see how environmental conditions evolved as time passed, or to run experiments during a desired time period. The second portion is a hunting blind cultural algorithm, which is built on top of the time engine as well as Palazzolo's program. In this portion, the AI hunting blinds react to the goals that they are trying to achieve, …

Bringing To Life An Ancient Urban Center At Monte Albán, Mexico: Exploiting The Synergy Between The Micro, Meso, And Macro Levels In A Complex System, Thaer W. Jayyousi

Wayne State University Dissertations

In this dissertation, agent-based models of emergent ancient urban centers were constructed through the use of techniques from computational intelligence, agent-based modeling, complex systems, and data-mining of existing archaeological data from the prehistoric urban center, Monte Albán. This real world application was selected because of its importance in understanding the emergence of modern economic and political systems. Specifically, Cultural Algorithms was used to evolve models of early Monte Alban, models that can then be compared with existing models of ancient and modern urban centers.

Features of a complex system were used to help interpret the archaeological data. The analysis went …

The Venus "Shell-Over-Star" Hieroglyph And Maya Warfare: An Examination Of The Interpretation Of A Mayan Symbol, Claudia Ann Voit

Wayne State University Theses

For decades, Maya scholars have associated the Mayan ―Shell-Star‖ (also referred to as ―Star-War‖) hieroglyph with Maya warfare. Put forward by scholars such as Floyd Lounsbury and David Kelley, and later advanced by Linda Schele, David Freidel, Ian Graham, Peter Matthews, Anthony Aveni and others, there are now dozens of published articles and chapters relating the hieroglyph to Venus and warfare. Venus is one of the most notable celestial objects outside of the Sun and Moon and was highly visible to the inhabitants of the Maya world. The Dresden Codex (an astronomical almanac) contains important information about the planet Venus, …

Making Memory: Techne, Technology, And The Refashioning Of Contemporary Memory, Kimberly Lacey

Wayne State University Dissertations

My dissertation answers two questions: Does the tension between interactive technologies and rhetoric re-shape the nature and relevance of the canon of memory? Do interactive technologies affect the ways we remember and persuade? I argue that my interpretation of techne suggests possibilities for the creation and production of new types of memory in combination with digital media. To interrogate this connection, I suggest three interpretations of the Greek concept, techne: as a process that is inherently productive; as a force that renegotiates contemporary sources of social power; and as a skill that balances expert knowledge with instrumentality. I explore …