Reactions to “Publish or Perish: A System and a Mess” by G. C. B. Van Wyk

Systemic Practice and Action Research -     

Production TTR modeling and dynamic buckling analysis

In a typical tension leg platform (TLP) design,the top tension factor (TTF),measuring the top tension of a top tensioned riser (TTR) relative to its submerged weight in water,is one of the most important design parameters that has to be specified properly. While a very small TTF may lead to excessive vortex induced vibration (VIV),clashing issues and possible compression close to seafloor,an unnecessarily high TTF may translate into excessive riser cost and vessel payload,and even has impacts on the TLP sizing and design in general. In the process of a production TTR design,it is found that its outer casing can be subjected to compression in a worst-case scenario with some extreme metocean and hardware conditions. The present paper shows how finite element analysis (FEA) models using beam elements and two different software packages (Flexcom and ABAQUS) are constructed to simulate the TTR properly,and especially the pipe-in-pipe effects. An ABAQUS model with hybrid elements (beam elements globally + shell elements locally) can be used to investigate how the outer casing behaves under compression. It is shown for the specified TTR design,even with its outer casing being under some local compression in the worst-case scenario,dynamic buckling would not occur;therefore the TTR design is adequate.     

New records and habitat information for Sorex merriami in Nebraska

We report the collection of 8 additional specimens of Sorex merriami from northwestern Nebraska; previously only 2 specimens had been collected in the state. The new specimens were captured in pitfall traps and Sherman live-traps from 1979 through 1996 in Dawes, Sheridan, and Sioux counties. These individuals were caught together with Sorex cinereus and several rodent species in a variety of grassland habitats, including disturbed roadsides dominated by native and introduced grasses and forbs, grassland openings in forests of ponderosa pine, and an open, dry grassland. Seven of the new specimens, captured in late May, early June, and December, were young-of-the-year, and 4 of these were not in reproductive condition; reproductive status of the other 3 was not assessed. One individual, captured in late May, was an old male in reproductive condition.     

The eagle and the starlings: Galileo’s argument for the autonomy of science—how pertinent is it today?

After Galileo’s argument for the autonomy of science is analysed and adapted to take into account later developments of scientific practices, we conclude that, in the final analysis, it is not compelling. Nevertheless, Galileo’s argument still provides a useful point of reference, for aspects of it can be interpreted to anticipate central components of the often acclaimed ideal of science as value free, so that appraising it contributes to the larger purpose of exploring how well that ideal stands up today. Finally, we will argue that residue from Galileo’s struggle with the Church remains with us, making it difficult to identify the conditions that would need to be put into place today for any robust sense of the autonomy of science to be defensible.     

Constructivism,Truth and Reality

This commentary to Nescolarde-Selva and Usó-Doménech’s (Reality, systems and impure systems. Foundations of Science 2013) links ideas in their paper to radical constructivism and raises two questions. (1) Would it be helpful to substitute the constructivist notion of viability for the traditional notion of truth with its connotations of relating language and reality? (2) Is the link made to issues in ontological philosophy important since the implicit constructivist epistemology of the paper considers mathematical ideas are just as real as ideas about objects.     

Evidence against a chondritic Earth

The (142)Nd/(144)Nd ratio of the Earth is greater than the solar ratio as inferred from chondritic meteorites, which challenges a fundamental assumption of modern geochemistry--that the composition of the silicate Earth is 'chondritic', meaning that it has refractory element ratios identical to those found in chondrites. The popular explanation for this and other paradoxes of mantle geochemistry, a hidden layer deep in the mantle enriched in incompatible elements, is inconsistent with the heat flux carried by mantle plumes. Either the matter from which the Earth formed was not chondritic, or the Earth has lost matter by collisional erosion in the later stages of planet formation.