Green technologies, products, and services, such as carsharing, are commonly promoted as pathways to lower environmental impacts by increasing efficiency. Yet rebound effects, behavioral and economic responses to improved efficiency, may erode these environmental impact reductions. Many rebound studies assume perfect displacement, where a new technology or mode of service provision fully replaces an existing service on a one-to-one basis. While analytically convenient, this assumption overlooks real-world complexity and consumer heterogeneity. Using survey data from nearly 4500 Belgian carsharing users, we compare rebound estimates under perfect displacement with those based on reported shifts in mobility. Under the perfect displacement assumption, we find a 53% rebound effect. When accounting for imperfect displacement, however, rebound effects vary widely across users. While median effects remain positive (20%–46%), at the individual level rebound effects range from substantial net benefits to strong rebound (5th–95th percentile: −331% to 147%). A cluster analysis further reveals distinct user groups with systematically different impacts, underscoring that displacement patterns vary not only in scale but also in direction. These findings suggest that carsharing's environmental impact is highly user-dependent, and that relying on a single aggregate estimate may mask critical behavioral variations. As this case study demonstrates, accounting for imperfect displacement in rebound analysis is critical for advancing theory and for tailoring more effective policy interventions.
Tensegrity triangles are unique creations of semantomorphic science. Triangle motifs are composed of three double-stranded DNAs (dsDNA) assembled from as many different sequences of ssDNA with programmed complementarity. The 3D arrangements of these tessellated motifs generate different sized pores and channels suitable for cluster growth. DNA-templated silver nanocluster (AgNC) is an interesting class of fluorophore. Although the spectroscopic properties of these NCs are mostly investigated in the regime of ssDNA as a template, dsDNA can also play the part. In this study, we developed fluorescent AgNCs with a 6.63 ns excited state lifetime in the curated pockets of 2 T7 tensegrity triangles. pH changes neither affected the 2 T7 template nor the grown AgNCs. Two small oligonucleotides, TFO1 and TFO2, and a 13 nt triplex-forming oligonucleotide, TFO3, having anti-parallel and parallel complementarity to different areas of the triangle, are introduced, which interact with the tensegrity triangles by triad formation at different pH and provide more stability and rigidity to the template. The 2 T7-TFO, as a template, enhances the excited state lifetime of the AgNCs to 8.38 ns at pH 8, and the 2 T7-TFO3 increases it to 8.85 ns at pH 5. Such tensegrity triangles can act as vessels for nanomaterials and molecules and help mediate various photophysical processes.
Quantum complexity quantifies the difficulty of preparing a state or implementing a unitary transformation with limited resources. Applications range from quantum computation to condensed matter physics and quantum gravity. We seek to bridge the approaches of these fields, which define and study complexity using different frameworks and tools. We describe several definitions of complexity, along with their key properties. In quantum information theory, we focus on complexity growth in random quantum circuits. In quantum many-body systems and quantum field theory (QFT), we discuss a geometric definition of complexity in terms of geodesics on the unitary group. In dynamical systems, we explore a definition of complexity in terms of state or operator spreading, as well as concepts from tensor-networks. We also outline applications to simple quantum systems, quantum many-body models, and QFTs including conformal field theories (CFTs). Finally, we explain the proposed relationship between complexity and gravitational observables within the holographic anti-de Sitter (AdS)/CFT correspondence.
Besor 37 is an open-air site in the northwestern Negev Desert (Israel). Excavations at the site in 2020 uncovered a rich, in situ Middle Paleolithic assemblage composed of flint and limestone artifacts, animal bones and charcoal. The good preservation of the site is due to its rapid burial by overbank deposition of fluvially reworked loess. Dating using both Optically Stimulated Luminescence and 14C suggests an average age of 46.6 ± 2.4 ka. Using a macro and micro-archaeological approach, we determined the technological organization and the nature of occupation with reference to spatial patterning of the assemblages. To integrate the site into a regional perspective we used comparative data from four other Late Middle Paleolithic sites, also located in the southern Levantine desert region; Far’ah II, Rosh Ein Mor, Nahal Dimona 24 and Tor Faraj. We evaluate measures of curation, artifact density and assemblage composition to define site type and mobility system. We propose that Besor 37 represents an ephemeral residential occupation, frequented repeatedly by high mobility hunter-gatherers, possibly part of a larger seasonal, perhaps circular mobility pattern.
Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient for plants, yet its reserves are finite and non-renewable. Microalgae present a promising solution for recovering P from wastewater, providing a sustainable source of biofertilizer. This study assessed the potential of the green microalga Coelastrella sp. cultivated in nutrient-rich synthetic centrate, as a source of slow-release P biofertilizer for crops. A P starvation–repletion approach was applied to enhance P assimilation during outdoor cultivation in photobioreactors, and the resulting biomass was analyzed for nutrient composition and P-release dynamics in calcareous soil in comparison with triple superphosphate (TSP). The algal cells rapidly accumulated more than 2
