And Yet It Moves: The Observability of the Rotation of the Earth

A central point of controversy in the time of the Copernican Revolution was the motion, or not, of the earth. We now take it for granted that Copernicus and Galileo were right; the earth really does move. But to what extent is this conclusion based on observation? This paper explores the meaning and observability of the rotation of the earth and shows that the phenomenon was not observable at the time of Galileo, and it is not observable now.     

Development (and Evolution) of the Universe

I distinguish Nature from the World. I also distinguish development from evolution. Development is progressive change and can be modeled as part of Nature, using a specification hierarchy. I have proposed a ‘canonical developmental trajectory’ of dissipative structures with the stages defined thermodynamically and informationally. I consider some thermodynamic aspects of the Big Bang, leading to a proposal for reviving final cause. This model imposes a ‘hylozooic’ kind of interpretation upon Nature, as all emergent features at higher levels would have been vaguely and episodically present primitively in the lower integrative levels, and were stabilized materially with the developmental emergence of new levels. The specification hierarchy’s form is that of a tree, with its trunk in its lowest level, and so this hierarchy is appropriate for modeling an expanding system like the Universe. It is consistent with this model of differentiation during Big Bang development to view emerging branch tips as having been entrained by multiple finalities because of the top-down integration of the various levels of organization by the higher levels.     

Scale Relativity and Fractal Space-Time: Theory and Applications

In the first part of this contribution, we review the development of the theory of scale relativity and its geometric framework constructed in terms of a fractal and nondifferentiable continuous space-time. This theory leads (i) to a generalization of possible physically relevant fractal laws, written as partial differential equation acting in the space of scales, and (ii) to a new geometric foundation of quantum mechanics and gauge field theories and their possible generalisations. In the second part, we discuss some examples of application of the theory to various sciences, in particular in cases when the theoretical predictions have been validated by new or updated observational and experimental data. This includes predictions in physics and cosmology (value of the QCD coupling and of the cosmological constant), to astrophysics and gravitational structure formation (distances of extrasolar planets to their stars, of Kuiper belt objects, value of solar and solar-like star cycles), to sciences of life (log-periodic law for species punctuated evolution, human development and society evolution), to Earth sciences (log-periodic deceleration of the rate of California earthquakes and of Sichuan earthquake replicas, critical law for the arctic sea ice extent) and tentative applications to systems biology.     

Informational Branching Universe

This paper suggests an epistemic interpretation of Belnap’s branching space-times theory based on Everett’s relative state formulation of the measurement operation in quantum mechanics. The informational branching models of the universe are evolving structures defined from a partial ordering relation on the set of memory states of the impersonal observer. The totally ordered set of their information contents defines a linear “time” scale to which the decoherent alternative histories of the informational universe can be referred—which is quite necessary for assigning them a probability distribution. The “historical” state of a physical system is represented in an appropriate extended Hilbert space and an algebra of multi-branch operators is developed. An age operator computes the informational depth of historical states and its standard deviation can be used to provide a universal information/energy uncertainty relation. An information operator computes the encoding complexity of historical states, the rate of change of its average value accounting for the process of correlation destruction inherent to the branching dynamics. In the informational branching models of the universe, the asymmetry of phenomena in nature appears as a mere consequence of the subject’s activity of measuring, which defines the flow of time-information.     

Concentration level and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and grass around Mt. Qomolangma, China

High mountains may serve as a condenser for persistent organic pollutants. In the present study, soil and grass samples from Mt. Qomolangma region, China were collected from 4600 to 5620 m a.s.I and were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） to determine if they are concentrated at colder, more elevated sites and to evaluate their possible resources and fractionation. The total PAHs concentration in soil samples was 〈 600 ng g^-1, the critical value to differentiate PAHs levels in remote and urban regions. This implied the PAHs levels at Mt. Qomolangma are relatively low and what one might expect in such a remote region of the world. These low values may represent a soil background for mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere soils away from the direct influence of an anthropogenic source. As for the distribution pattern, the low molecular weight PAHs were prone to accumulate at higher altitude, while the high molecular weight PAHs inversely related or unrelated with elevation. Based on high concentration of phenanthrene at elevated sample site and the ratios of individual PAHs, we deduced that home-heating combustion and vehicle emission may result in the constitution trait of PAHs in this mountain region. Monsoon traveling over India, Pakistan and other countries with dense population may carry contaminant to Mt. Qomolangma region.     

A model of calcium signaling and degranulation dynamics induced by laser irradiation in mast cells

Recent experiments show that calcium signaling and degranulation dynamics induced by low power laser irradiation in mast cells must rely on extracellular Ca^2＋ influx. An analytical expression of Ca^2＋ flux through TRPV4 cation channel in response to interaction of laser photon energy and extracellular Ca^2＋ is deduced, and a model characterizing dynamics of calcium signaling and degranulation activated by laser irradiation in mast cells is established. The model indicates that the characteristics of calcium signaling and degranulation dynamics are determined by interaction between laser photon energy and Ca^2＋ influx. Extracellular Ca^2＋ concentration is so high that even small photon energy can activate mast cells, thus avoiding the possible injury caused by laser irradiation with shorter wavelengths. The model predicts that there exists a narrow parameter domain of photon energy and extracellular Ca^2＋ concentration of which results in cytosolic Ca^2＋ limit cycle oscillations, and shows that PKC activity is in direct proportion to the frequency of Ca^2＋ oscillations. With the model it is found that sustained and stable maximum plateau of cytosolic Ca^2＋ concentration can get optimal degranulation rate. Furthermore, the idea of introducing the realistic physical energy into model is applicable to modeling other physical signal transduction systems.     

Experimental study on multi-point autoignition characteristics and influence factors of diesel spray in a controllable active thermo-atmosphere

Auto-ignition characteristics of high-pressure diesel spray in the controllable active thermo-atmos-phere (CATA) were studied with a high-speed camera video system. Multi-point autoignition phe-nomenon of diesel spray in the CATA was observed and the influence factors of the autoignition were analyzed. The stabilization mechanisms of the spray flame in different coflow temperatures were also discussed. The stabilization of the flames was controlled by different factors: autoignition phenomenon in low coflow temperature and flame spread in high coflow temperature. The test results also show that the autoignition delay depends strongly on the coflow temperature and has nonlinear relationship with the temperature. Autoignition delay decreases by almost 10 ms from 16.9 to 7.1 ms when the coflow temperature increases from 996 to 1048 K and only 4 ms from 1048 to 1101 K. The injection parameters in terms of nozzle diameter, injection pressure and pump speed, have some effects on autoignition delay while these effects depend on the coflow temperature. The significant effect lies in low coflow temperature. The injection parameters influence the autoignition delay because it can shorten the physical delay by improving the spray quality and enlarging the spray angle or penetration rate to im-prove mixture quality.     

Ultrafast polarization optical switch constructed from one-dimensional photonic crystal and its performance analysis

All-optical switch with the ultrafast optical switching rate is a key device in the next generation optical network. In this article, we propose a polarization switch with ps switching time, which is constructed from one-dimensional resonant photonic crystal （1D RPC）. The model of switch operating at 1.5 μm is established based on the optical stark effect （OSE）. We calculate the performance indices of the switch and the influences of errors of periods and refractive index on the performance characteristics.     

New crystal structure of molecular complex 1-piperidine carboxylate-piperidinium-H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O studied by X-ray single crystal diffraction

Piperidine absorbs CO2 and H2O in air to form a molecular complex： piperidium-l-piperidinecarboxylate-H2O. The structure of the complex was characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction. The crystal structure was determined to be triclinic, space group P1^-with a=0.648 6（8） nm, b=0.809 200） nm, c= 1.357 1（16） nm, a=96.96706）°, β =102.506（15）°,γ=104.202 05）°, Z=2. The complex is stabilized via five hydrogen bonds between the three components, N-O electrostatic interaction and O-O interaction （electron transfer） betweenl-piperidinecarboxylate and H2O. Due to electron transference of carbamate ion, the oxygen atom in water molecule is strongly negatively charged and the O-H bond is considerably shorter than that of the free molecule of water. The formation of the molecular complex is a reversible process and will decompose upon heating. The mechanism of formation and stabilization is further investigated herein.