Aeroponic gardens and their magic: Plants/persons/ethics in suspension

Out of the fire bombed ruins and food deprivation of the Second World War came one innovator’s prototype for growing edible plants, suspended above earth and requiring a minimum of water. His aeroponic apparatus would later be referred to as The Genesis Machine, from the movie Star Trek II. This paper travels with roots in air into different spheres where the relations of persons, plants, and technology conspire to place future – growing into ethical suspension. The aim is to open questions for an anthropocenic future: Are plants ‘for’ persons or persons ‘for’ plants? Is it ethical to separate growing plants from earth/Earth and from earthlings? Where might ‘responsible innovation’ and ‘innovative eclecticism’ find a place in post-genomic discourse? And might a commitment to a dividual ethics guide lives in co-becoming to devise (as Latour recognizes in like terms) a scitech-diplomacy capable of resisting the programmatic pressures of new climatic regimes?     

The composition of the soda-rich and mixed alkali plant ashes used in the production of glass

Soda-rich plant ashes have been used in the Near East and Egypt in the production of glass and faience from the 4th millennium BC onwards, and mixed alkali plant ashes have been similarly used in western Europe during the 2nd and first half of the 1st millennia BC. In the production of these ashes, the plants of interest are salt resistant, halophytic plants of the Chenopodiaceae family, growing in coastal, salt marsh and desert regions. A primary criterion in selecting ashes for glass and faience production is that the alkalis are predominantly in the form of carbonates, bicarbonates and hydroxides rather than either chlorides or sulphates. In the current paper, previously published data for such ashes are brought together and re-assessed, and new analytical data are presented for ashes produced from plants collected in Egypt, Greece and the UK. For the ashes produced from Salsola kali plants collected from Greece and the UK, the soda to potash ratios (0.3–1.8) do not show any systematic differences between the regions in which the plant was growing, but instead reflect the fact that this species favours the accumulation of K⁺ over Na⁺ ions. Further, the results suggest that S. kali could have been the source of the mixed alkali ashes used in western Europe, if the ashes had first been treated in some way in order to reduce their lime-plus-magnesia contents.     

Why wealthy countries must not drop nuclear energy: coal power,climate change and the fate of the global poor

Current estimates indicate that several hundred thousand deaths per year can be attributed to climate change. Developed countries have reacted to this growing disaster by increasing the use of renewable energies, but what is to be done with the additional electricity thus generated? Should it be used for cutting back coal‐fired energy production or can it be used for substituting nuclear energy? Priority must be given to replacing coal power, since developed countries have a strong duty to minimize the physical harm caused by their electricity generation. Dropping nuclear energy prior to coal power cannot be justified because the risks of nuclear energy pale in comparison to the suffering that emissions from coal‐fired plants inflict both on their host countries and on poorer countries in the global South that (a) do not benefit from this energy and (b) have far less capacity to cope with the effects of climate change or other environmental damages. This article argues that when faced with a choice between operating coal‐fired power plants or nuclear reactors, governments are obliged to opt for nuclear energy.     

The Icelandic medieval monastic garden - did it exist?

In the multidisciplinary project presented here, 12 known monastic grounds in Iceland were surveyed by a group of medievalists from different fields in the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. The aim of the survey was to increase knowledge of the Icelandic monastic garden and of the plants that were known and used there; to look for possible medieval cultural relict plants; to observe continental influence on the island; and to vitalize discussion and research. Landscape and plants were surveyed at the 12 monastic sites, and full botanical investigations made. Many of the plants found have a medieval past as medicinal and utility plants, and some of their properties may have been common knowledge to medieval Icelanders. An investigation of written sources and archaeological and archaeobotanical findings from excavated sites added to the investigators’ knowledge. So were there monastic gardens in Iceland in the Middle Ages? The answer is a rather confident yes. With all the evidence combined, the investigators were able to trace the deliberate use of medicinal, food and utility plants in the monastic contexts. Whether they were cultivated, tended in situ, gathered growing wild or imported is another matter. Continental influence was more evident than has previously been observed.     

Patterns of plant δN values on a Greenland Norse farm

In a further empirical study of the impact of past human activities on modern plant δ¹⁵N values, plants were collected in each of two growing seasons from several defined contexts of an inland Norse farm in southwest Greenland. The δ¹⁵N measures of the plants show a clear distinction between areas with definite evidence of past human activity and those without. The data for the plants on this farm's infield indicates that it was purposely fertilized. The intriguing intra- and inter-variations in the ¹⁵N values of plants from several structures are not easily explained, but the differences appear to reflect the different functions of the various farm structures. The findings of this study suggest practical applications for future use of plant δ¹⁵N values in archaeology.     

Considerations on the provenance determination of plant ash glasses using strontium isotopes

Strontium isotopic analysis has been proposed as a suitable method to determine the primary production location of ancient plant ash glasses. The technique is based upon the assumption that Sr enters this glass type with the plant ash used as a flux material, and that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of the resulting glass reflects the geological provenance of that flux. In such case, the bulk Sr isotopic composition of the bedrock should be inherited unchanged in the plants growing on that bedrock. Different types of plant ash glasses have been shown to have widely differing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr compositions. In this study, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr composition of several plant species growing on different bedrock types is measured, and compared to the bulk Sr isotopic composition and petrology of that bedrock. The paper shows that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of these plants is a function not only, or even mostly, of the local geology, but also of the Sr isotopic composition of the total water consumed by that plant. This is highly likely to be both plant species dependent and dependent on the small-scale hydrology of the area immediately surrounding the plant. In this way, no definite relation between the isotopic composition of a geological outcrop and the plants growing on this bedrock can be inferred. Hence, the isotopic composition of a plant ash made from such plants is uncertain and moreover species dependent. Though groups of plant ash glasses can certainly be compared in time and space using Sr isotopes, it may prove difficult to ascertain a plant ash glass type to a specific geographical-geological region.     

Who cut the ribbon? A quantitative analysis of formal opening ceremonies of new plants of multinational corporations in Russia

This paper reports on a study of formal opening ceremonies of new plants of multinational corporations in Russia. We argue that such ceremonies have profound symbolic meanings, namely managing anxiety and signaling commitment, as well as practical importance, particularly when top executives of corporate parents meet with top officials from the host countries at such ceremonies. The database embraces the entire population of public opening ceremonies of new plants of western multinational corporations (MNCs) in Russia from 2012 to 2016. The analysis revealed that in 2016, the unwillingness of both corporate CEOs and local governors to participate in plant opening ceremonies began to increase. More than one-third of plant opening ceremonies in 2016 were low-profile ceremonies ignored by top officials from corporate parents and local authorities from the host country. The growing absence of local governors is attributed to the smaller size of newly opened plants and the impact of sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and European Union following the inclusion of Crimea into Russia in 2014. This paper also indicates a promising direction for further studies – a replication study that should embrace public opening ceremonies of new plants of foreign MNCs in China, India, and Brazil.     

Carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of natural pastures in the dry Puna of Argentina: a baseline for the study of prehistoric herd management strategies

This study represents an isotopic survey of modern plants developed to establish baseline isotopic values in order to explore prehistoric herd management strategies employed by the South American camelid herders that occupied the southern Andean highlands during the past 3000 years. We present carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopic compositions of natural pastures collected from different plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the dry Puna of Argentina. Our results show that C₃ plants are the most abundant along the whole altitudinal gradient and that C₃ and C₄ plants exhibit a differential distribution, the latter being less abundant in those sites located above 3900?meters above sea level (masl). At the same time, plants growing at low-altitude sites with low water availability exhibit higher δ¹⁵N values than plants growing at high-altitude sites with higher water availability. These results explain the negative correlation found between altitude and South American camelid bone collagen δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values published in previous studies. This work represents a fundamental step towards the building of an isotopic ecology for the dry Puna area with the ultimate goal to explore herd management strategies employed by human groups in the past. In this sense, modern plant and South American camelid tissue isotopic compositions would provide a frame of reference to interpret isotopic compositions measured on archaeofaunal remains recovered at pastoral sites, with the aim to explore mobility and pastureland use by prehistoric herders.     

VERTICAL INDUSTRY RELATIONS,SPILLOVERS, AND PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM CHILEAN PLANTS*

ABSTRACT We use disaggregated data on Chilean plants, and the Chilean input–output table to examine the impact of agglomeration spillovers on total factor productivity (TFP). In common with previous studies, we find evidence for intraindustry spillovers, but none for general cross‐industry spillovers. This picture changes when we take vertical industry relations into account. There are important productivity spillovers from plants in upstream industries. Interestingly, a similar effect cannot be found from plants in downstream industries. The number of plants in these sectors has no effect on plant‐level TFP, just as the number of plants in other industries that are neither important upstream suppliers nor downstream customers also has no effect.     

NEW DATA ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF FAIENCE PRODUCTION IN CENTRAL EUROPE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

New data on faience production technologies in central Europe come from an analysis of 12 faience beads from an Early Bronze Age cemetery in Poland. The beads were tested with the EPMA method. Altogether 65 measurements were made. In terms of morphology, the artifacts are all the same, but they differ in microstructure and chemical composition. For some a mixed alkali flux was used, for others soda-rich plant ashes. Even so, all of the beads seem to have been made from local raw materials in central Europe (soda-rich plant ashes could have come from plants growing near one of the mainland salt sources, which are frequent, for example, in south-eastern Poland).     

IS THERE A RURAL/URBAN EXPORT GAP?

ABSTRACT.  There is growing concern, particularly in policy circles, that rural manufacturing plants may be less likely to export than metro area plants, and that this may exacerbate the economic difficulties of rural America. A variety of reasons have been offered to expect this export gap, but little empirical work has been done. Using a database of all manufacturing establishments in seven southeastern states and the county and/or zip code-level characteristics of their environment, we find that rural plants are indeed somewhat less likely to export than their urban counterparts. Though there are several explanations for the existence of this gap, factors specific to the rural environment—lower levels of human capital and information externalities—are its largest source.     

An ethnopalynological test of task-specific area analysis: Bay View Stable,Cataumet, Massachusetts

Palynologists seeking evidence of patterns in human plant use among the pollen spectra of archaeological site floors operate on the assumption that the pollen of economic plants is deposited at the locations of undertakings involving these plants in quantities significantly exceeding the amounts of the same pollen types in the background pollen component. This assumption has never been questioned in the literature, even though it has not been tested. Researchers are, however, uncertain about the extent to which floor deposits of economic pollen are affected by later human activities. Pollen profiles from three functionally distinct bays in the cellar of a New England livestock barn that was actively used for at least 40 years were analyzed to examine economic pollen deposition and dispersal. The data from this test indicate that the pollen of economic plants is deposited in distinctive quantities where the plants were used and that these pollen deposits are not significantly diffused by subsequent human activity. The data also suggest that pollen concentrations per unit of matrix will assist in defining active surfaces within archaeological floor zones.     

Maize,beans and the floral isotopic diversity of highland Oaxaca,Mexico

Oaxaca, Mexico has been inhabited by humans for over 10,000 years. From the time of earliest habitation, this environment provided a wide floral subsistence to its human inhabitants, notably documented at the cave site of Guila Naquitz. Light stable isotopes, primarily carbon and nitrogen, have been used in dietary and environmental reconstructions throughout Mexico and Central America. We report a large isotopic study of wild and market plants from Oaxaca that demonstrates 1) overlapping δ¹³C values of C4 plants, including maize, and plants that utilize the Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) pathway for biosynthesis, 2) the existence of a significant C4 grass biomass, 3) the lack of isotopic separation in the δ¹⁵N of legumes and non-leguminous plants and 4) the increase in the nitrogen isotopic composition of crop plants relative to wild plant averages. These four observations are potential complicating factors in interpretations involving the origins and spread of maize agriculture, the relative amount of maize in the diet and assessments of trophic level or meat contributions to the human diet.     

KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS,ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY,AND SKILL INTENSITY OF CHILEAN MANUFACTURING PLANTS*

ABSTRACT Knowledge spillovers are an important source of economic growth. In this study, we identify a mechanism through which knowledge spillovers occur among plants in the Chilean manufacturing industry. A plant‐level production function is estimated with the absorptive‐capacity hypothesis, that is, employment of skilled workers is a key channel through which knowledge is transmitted across plants. Results show that a plant's productivity from spillovers increases with its skill intensity, which is measured by the share of skilled workers in total employment. We also find that plants in a region with a large knowledge stock increase their skill intensity to benefit more from spillovers. Our results suggest that an increase in regional knowledge stock is the most effective policy to improve a plant's productivity. However, policies that encourage a plant to employ high skill‐intensive production also enhance its productivity.     

Stable nitrogen isotopic examination of Norse sites in the Western settlement of Greenland

To continue to explore the impact of past human activity on the stable nitrogen isotope ratios of modern vegetation, we have measured the δ¹⁵N values of plants now growing on several ancient farmsteads in the Western Settlement of Norse Greenland. Although this new test area is some 400 km north and in a different ecoregion from the previous study area, the same isotopic effect was observed. A clear isotopic signature was found on the ancient farms which could be directly correlated to past activity areas; in particular, the infields. Further, the magnitude of the δ¹⁵N values was found to be similar between study areas, indicating the same interpretative framework can be applied in widely separate geographic regions. A first test of different plant species showed that although the magnitude differed greatly the same basic information was found for functionally different plants. These observations provide additional information to aid in future archaeological application of this newly observed phenomenon.     

Modern plant δN values reflect ancient human activity

We have observed circumstances in which the ancient human activities that formed archaeological sites have left a strong imprint on the stable nitrogen isotopic ratio of the plants currently growing there. There is apparent meter-scale spatial variability and the effect can persist for at least several centuries. To our knowledge, this isotopic effect has not previously been reported. Here, we introduce this phenomenon and begin to consider its potential as an analytical tool in archaeological reconstruction.     

Streets as new places to bring together both humans and plants: examples from Paris and Montpellier (France)

Greening public city space is a growing issue in France. With examples drawn from Paris and Montpellier, this article seeks to understand what happens when city-dwellers green the public space outside their door and when policies encourage spontaneous flora on the street. Plants were already part of ancient cities and have been a tool for urban planning since the nineteenth century leading to the development of public green spaces and street-tree planting. Urban ecology sparked an interest for spontaneous flora in the 1980s. Public policies concerning water, climate, and biodiversity have been trying to take this unbidden vegetation into consideration since the beginning of this century. Besides, the social sciences have shown that city-dwellers are interested in plants to embellish their balcony, and in city gardens and parks. We tried to find out if this vegetation can be more than just a tool to plan, to green, to bring biodiversity, and to beautify urban space. We argue that letting planted and unbidden flora colonize sidewalks and allowing people to act directly on it brings residents and plants to co-inhabit and co-domesticate the streets, and challenges the timelessness of a city by introducing a life cycle.     

Geographical Problems in the Iron and Steel Industry of the USSR

Technological advances in the Soviet iron and steel industry are producing changes in the locational pattern of the industry. The increasing concentration of production in large iron and steel plants requires the use of large iron-mining establishments of the order of 30 million tons of crude ore. Iron and steel plants were once viewed in the Soviet Union as oriented toward the market of a particular economic region. But the growing plant capacity and a trend toward specialization in particular types of finished products tend to expand the marketing zone of individual plants far beyond the boundaries of single economic regions. Future planning of the industry is in terms of five basic iron and steel zones: Central Russia, Urals, South, Siberia and Kazakhstan, of which the Urals and the South are fully integrated and the three others are in varying stages of formation. The declining share of coke in the blast-furnace charge tends to shift the locational pattern increasingly toward iron-ore sources, and this accounts to a certain extend for the gradual shift of iron and steel capacity toward Central Russia, with its ore reserves of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly.     

Seasonality and paleodiet in the Chiribaya polity of southern Peru

In the Andes, the complex Chiribaya polity, or señorío, was composed of economically specialized groups. Previous carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of archaeological human bone from Chiribaya-affiliated sites have effectively demonstrated socioeconomic specialization and variability in paleodiet among different Chiribaya-affiliated sites. The present study complements earlier paleodietary analyses of Chiribaya populations by supplementing them with carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of archaeological human hair from the two Chiribaya-affiliated sites of Chiribaya Alta and El Yaral. These new data demonstrate that seasonal variability in the consumption of marine products and C₄ plants such as maize was quite high for some individuals buried at Chiribaya-affiliated sites. In addition to elucidating the complex patterns of Chiribaya seasonality, this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge of archaeological analyses of human hair for paleodiet.     

The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Siting Process in Connecticut

The national policy to manage low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) from commercial nuclear power plants and other generators appears to be at a standstill with regard to siting new LLRW disposal facilities in the states. Regional compacts have been established and host stales designated in most compacts, but the NIMBY problem has proved insurmountable. Connecticut has been added to the growing list of states that have experienced siting setbacks and failures. This case study describes and analyzes the Connecticut experience. We show that siting was derailed by a technical-rationality approach that ignored the political dimensions of siting until it was too late, and by the consequent and powerful NIMBY reaction that ensued. We consider the national LLRW policy dimensions of siting failures and suggest possible policy alternatives for siting LLRW disposal facilities.