n 1755, Jesuits in Beijing and their local collaborators invented an early electrophorus device under the auspices of the leading scientist Augustin Hallerstein from Carniola, a missionary in China. The Jesuits sent their findings to the academicians in St Petersburg as part of their regular collaboration. These Chinese ideas inspired prominent scientists such as Aepinus, his student Johan Carl Wilcke, Leonhard Euler and his son, the Italians Giovanni Battista Beccaria and his nephew Giovanni Francesco Cigna, Benjamin Franklin, and eventually, Alessandro Volta. However, Stephen Stigler’s law of eponymy gradually overshadowed the Beijing Jesuits’ accomplishments. Exactly a quarter of a millennium after Hallerstein, Rudi Podgornik, a Ljubljana native and his neighbour, revisited and updated Hallerstein’s research on electricity at the same Beijing headquarters.
The article presents the results of studies on the evacuation of Polish industrial enterprises during World War I and their postwar re-evacuation. It is shown that, during the war, industrial enterprises in the field of metalworking were most actively evacuated from Poland and Latvia. Archival data reveal that as a result of the evacuation, new factories failed to receive necessary supplies, were not provided with personnel, fuel, or raw materials, and most of the evacuated enterprises never resumed operation, with their equipment dispersed among different factories. Enterprises that restarted operations often produced items that were either in low demand or even entirely unnecessary for the army.
This article critically examines the history of the chemical and petrochemical industry in Kazakhstan, its current state, and the main problems inherent in the industry. The findings of this study are relevant and crucial to the current challenges of the industry and its urgent need for improvement. The chemical and petrochemical industry, in particular, are characterised by several issues: inadequate qualifications of employees, largely due to the lack of professional skills, and limited access to education. The training of middle management—in particular, insufficient graduation rates of specialists in technical and vocational training (TVT)—also reduces the quality of products and broader human wellbeing. In addition, a significant problem is the wage level in the industry, which is insufficient to attract young specialists. The occupational hazards inherent in the industry, particularly the risk of cancer or physical injuries, remain relevant. To solve this problem, this study proposes a methodology that allows a comprehensive assessment of occupational risk, considering all potential factors affecting employees, and recommends implementing timely measures to ensure occupational safety.
Natural resources in the Amazon region have been internationally coveted for a long time, ranging from biological piracy related to pharmaceutical products to strategic minerals. Although media coverage usually focuses on the region’s forest and indigenous populations, these are no more than excuses hiding the powerful national and foreign economic interests at play. Beneath these concerns lie the tantamount issues of immense poverty, degraded health, and landscape neglect. Some facts are well known in the history of technology, while others have been ignored. A panoramic chronological view over the last centuries is offered on some resources on the Amazon, focusing on the most conspicuous aspect presented today from the perspective of conflicts—mining. This paper summarises some facts that relate to the exploration of the Amazon forest and rivers and their economic transformation. The revelation of the Brazilian Amazon to the world gained momentum during the nineteenth century, with impacts extending to the twentieth century and even to the present day.
Spraying graffiti began as a way of making political statements; it soon became a risky game, building reputation and offering sport and thrills. Graffiti created by spraying date back to the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Over the last thirty years, spray-painted graffiti have become increasingly visible in urban landscapes, while the writing has developed into a global activity. As a technology-based activity, spraying should be examined in terms of the use and trimming of technology, and in terms of playful approaches to technology. While spraying has been seen as a criminal activity by many members of the public for decades, the perception is now at a turning point: new perspectives on the artistic qualities of these pieces have emerged, museums have been founded, commercialisation has gained influence, and spraying is beginning to be normalised as a leisure activity. Although unexpected, the practices of repair and maintenance have contributed to this development. The article, therefore, analyses their role and discusses how spraying has developed into a contribution to culture.
During World War II, highly kinetic metal-filled armour-piercing shells (APS) were fired from tanks and cannons to penetrate adversaries’ armour. Scientific analysis of penetration was traditionally challenging. Empirical equations, derived from past test results with varied APS and armours, were used to predict fairly accurately the minimal velocity required for a complete penetration, when minor changes were made to APS or armour in use. The major changes and new models, introduced during the war, required a deeper understanding. The wartime studies looked for a more scientific approach, although theories on metal contacting another metal were at an early stage. Two US studies and a German one are well known; however, they were initiated for different reasons. The studies demonstrate a similar use of classical mechanics, empirical equations, and practical tests, albeit with varying level of emphasis, and none of the three studies provided comprehensive solutions. The article also discusses their practical application.
The article focuses on the philosophical aspects of the study of energy efficiency culture in the context of social security. Issues related to the culture of energysaving consumption of energy resources are raised in the context of energy ethics as a subset of applied ethics, which is a branch of the philosophy of science. The study explores elements of social security and their importance in modern conditions, considering their relationship and dependence on the level of consumption of energy resources among the population. The relevance of the problem is substantiated with an analysis of the economic and social factors of energy consumption, in particular prices, which affect the level of social security and that of energy consumption. The conducted analysis is complemented by empirical research, involving 997 respondents from Ukraine, who today are found in different parts of the world. A philosophical reflection on the formation of frugal energy consumption behaviour emphasises that personal ethics, knowledge, and societal structures must be aligned to foster responsible energy use. The results highlight the need for both internal (personal development and awareness) and external factors (technical infrastructure and information support) in shaping the culture of energy-saving behaviour. The article highlights the main components of the behaviour culture that should be considered in relation to energy consumption—namely, values, norms, and responsibility. A survey of respondents involved in activities related to the energy sector was carried out and factors influencing the formation of a culture of behaviour regarding energy consumption were determined, including knowledge and experience, readiness for changes, and interest in using innovative energysaving technologies.
It is well known that John Venn introduced an ingenious diagrammatic scheme in his 1880 paper “On the Diagrammatic and Mechanical Representation of Propositions and Reasonings.” It is less known that Venn also described there two plans for logical machines, inspired by his diagrams. These machines were said to be analogous to the machine that William S. Jevons constructed a few years earlier. However, Venn had “no high estimate . . . of the interest or importance” of such machines. He argued that such devices perform only a small part of the process required to solve logical problems. Consequently, the help that is offered is very slight. Given that Venn’s machine is founded on his diagrams, one may wonder what Venn’s discussion of logic machines teaches us about his diagrams. The paper argues that Venn failed to notice that his diagrams are vulnerable to the same criticisms that he raised against logic machines.
Farrington Daniels (1889–1972), professor of physical chemistry at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), championed solar energy as an alternative energy source. While solar developments prior to Daniels were few and a mix of large and small-scale projects directed at industrialised and on industrialised countries, Daniels promoted the development and use of small, inexpensive, and easily constructed solar units, such as refrigerators, cookers, and stills, by rural inhabitants in nonindustrialised countries. His research and lecture trips made him familiar with living conditions in many of these countries and convinced him that the introduction of technologies that these societies seemed to need and easily could adopt was the best way to increase their self-reliance and improve their well-being. Daniels’s goal of finding the technology that best fit the situation, without causing environmental and social disruptions and problems, anticipated the spirit of the later, and independently developed, intermediate (appropriate) technology movement.
In many ways, ideas about humans and humanity (often contested in modern decolonisation studies) are rooted in the Western European tradition. The humanities themselves arise from the European Renaissance. Thus, addressing the question of the importance of technology for modern humanities research leads to the question of the essence of the human and the technical. To answer this question, the authors turn to the interpretations of twentieth-century Western European thinkers, since Europe is the source of (sometimes contradictory) ideas about humanity. Every attempt at a philosophical analysis of the problem of modern technologies returns to the question about humans, their past, their future and, of course, their present. This article considers some philosophical, anthropological, and medical aspects of the process of cyborgisation of a modern human—from the implantation of microchips into human organs to the complete replacement of some organs with artificial ones, or even the creation of additional organs that do not exist in nature. The problem statement is accompanied by a philosophical analysis of texts by different European authors who have addressed the problems of technology. Technology, which inevitably accompanies humanity throughout the history of its existence, puts a person face to face with the radically Other, inhuman machine. Thus, a technical object is a product of culture and at the same time produces an ethos, a habitat. Cyborg, the technical improvement of human nature, derives from a purely human way of existence, but also produces a special world of technically advanced people—those who already possess non-human properties and qualities. What, then, is a cyborg? Is domestication possible by introducing technical, inanimate objects into living human beings? Will this process lead to the creation of a new cyborg ethics or to the destruction of humans and their replacement by the machine?
Plastic materials and products were a truly remarkable phenomenon in the postwar period, influencing not only material reality but, through their symbolic validity, also the value settings of society. The production of plastic materials was a cornerstone of the postwar chemicalisation of industry, and their widespread adoption due to their multiple advantageous properties, led not least to the rapid development of scientific research on polymers. The Czechoslovak Communist regime also sought to exploit the advantages and popularity of plastics ideologically, and positioned them as a symbol supporting the legitimacy of the political course of the time.
Virtual reality is now being used to enhance the travel experience by offering extra marketing tools for destinations, attractions, and companies, altering customer experiences, and creating a new tourism paradigm. This study was inspired by a rapidly changing world in which virtual reality is gradually becoming the norm in which we live, work, and play. These technologies are always improving, posing new problems for tourist and hospitality management
Global developments influence the concepts and content of scholarly research. The article aims to make these influences visible by analysing changes in the ideas and concepts of the history of technology. Thus, the paper presents different approaches to, and topics of, the history of technology, as developed by nine researchers, embedded in their characteristic cultures of scholarship all over the world. In doing so, the paper contributes to a transnational comparison of methodologies and contents of the history of technology. It also reflects on how the history of technology sees itself as an academic discipline and how it contributes to ongoing discourses on broader societal challenges.
British migration to Argentina was a phenomenon that occurred at the end of the nineteenth century, reaching its peak between 1850 and 1880. The circulation of British professionals, however, took place during the first half of the twentieth century as part of the migratory phenomenon framed in the context of a second phase of imperialism, the large number of British engineers, and the demand of South-American countries to develop their railways. This migratory process of professionals implied the transmission of knowledge and technology transfer, as well as a response from local engineering communities. The Institution of Locomotive Engineers and its center in Argentina are a clear example of the evolution of the forms of association characteristic of the nineteenth century, but also of the structuring, organisation, and expansion of the circulation of British engineers.
The study investigates the connection between sustainable hotel practices and luxury. This is due to the rise in sustainable luxury lodging options as well as increased interest in eco-friendly travel among affluent travellers. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by focusing on sustainable hotel operations, combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies in a mixed-methods approach. A representative sample of upscale hotels throughout the world was selected using stratified random selection.
This study delves into the landscape of online food delivery applications, examining their impact, trends, and potential avenues for growth. Through an empirical research method employing a questionnaire, data was collected from a diverse sample of 400 individuals in Chennai, exploring the preferences, habits, and satisfaction levels of users. Firstly, demographic factors such as age and gender exhibit a direct correlation with customer satisfaction or preferences, indicating individualised landscape of preferences. Swiggy emerges as the preferred platform among respondents, primarily attributed to its safe and quick delivery options. The study proposes the incorporation of home-made food deliveries, not only as a consumer benefit but also as a source of new employment opportunities, particularly for homemakers. This study provides understanding of the online food delivery landscape, offering actionable insights for companies to navigate the challenges, capitalise on emerging trends, and foster sustainable growth in this dynamic and competitive industry.
The role of nuclear power was intensely debated in Sweden in the 1970s. Experts took an active part in the debate and many of them presented their views in books and booklets. The experts were divided in their view of Sweden’s nuclear future. This should be a good ground for getting a well-informed public and seeing the nuclear decision-making as both democratic and rational. However, the anti-nuclear side had a tendency to argue against nuclear power as part of a larger system of hard technology and big power dominance, standing against local initiatives and ecology. They were disinclined to take up a discussion that could have moderated the perceived threats and risks of nuclear power. This disinclination even led to a rather misleading argument about the relationship between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Amazingly, it was spread by the most prestigious of all the experts involved.
LoRa (Long Range), a wireless communication technology designed for Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN), facilitates diverse IoT applications and inter-device communication by virtue of its openness and adaptable network deployment. However, the conventional static link transmission scheme employed in practical LoRa network deployment fails to fully exploit the available channel resources in dynamic channel environments, resulting in suboptimal network performance. To address this issue, this paper proposes a more efficient Adaptive Data Rate (ADR) algorithm tailored for low-cost gateways. This algorithm incorporates fuzzy support vector machine (FSVM) to accurately classify link quality and employs distinct link adaptation algorithms based on varying link qualities. Notably, the algorithm considers both link-level performance and MAC layer performance. Experimental measurements demonstrate that our proposed algorithm surpasses the standard LoRaWAN ADR algorithm in terms of packet reception rate (PRR) and network throughput in both single end device (ED) and multi EDs scenarios. Specifically, in multi-EDs scenarios, the proposed algorithm yields a remarkable 34.12% improvement in throughput and a significant 26% enhancement in packet reception rate compared to the LoRaWAN ADR algorithm. These findings demonstrate the substantial enhancements achieved by the proposed algorithm in terms of network throughput and packet reception rate.
