“Science is Everywhere,but No One Knows It”: Assessing the Cultural Distance to Science of Rural South African Publics

ABSTRACT

In science communication, a prerequisite for reaching different parts of a society is to find out how these publics experience and interpret science. Since rural South African publics are perceived to exhibit a large cultural distance to science, the present exploratory study aimed to know in more detail how rural South Africans perceive and understand science in their local and social contexts. Theoretical notions on cultural distance and the methodological approach of segmentation studies were considered. Semi-structured interviews with rural South Africans were carried out in four towns (n?=?52) that differ with respect to having a large scientific installation in their vicinity, or not. Sensitively comparing local and social contexts helped identifying three different publics who differed regarding their perceptions of science; however, the large scientific installations only made a difference in perceptions for those publics who were generally less exposed to and less knowledgeable about science.     

Indonesia’s Accidental Island: Composing the Environment in the Echo of Disaster

By presenting stakeholders’ competing representations of an extraordinary geological formation, an island with a surface that is comprised of runoff from an infamous mud volcano in East Java, this article explores the communicative openings and closures that arise during an environmental disaster. A particular concern is attuning communicative practices to the diverse human and nonhuman actors that not only produce disasters but also shape our understandings and responses to disasters. Drawing on the work of Bruno Latour, this article suggests that non-anthropocentric modes of inquiry present new communicative and political possibilities for pursuing both social justice and safe environments. While this article focuses on a specific set of incidents in Indonesia, this project develops tools and perspectives that can be applied to environmental conflicts at other places.     

长三角典型村域次降雨条件下氮素非点源输出特征

研究长三角典型都市农业村镇不同土地利用下的氮素非点源输出特征,以期为治理该区域的面源污染提供科学依据.通过典型次降雨径流事件中氮形态和输出负荷变化的研究发现:监测点总氮(TN)的事件平均浓度(EMC)为20.01～22.83mg/L,其中溶解态氮(DN)占TN的比例最大;研究区非点源氮流失以溶解态为主,DN又以溶解态有机氮(DON)为主.耦合各形态氮浓度与径流量特征,发现非点源氮素输出呈现2个峰值,且出现在径流峰值之前4～55min;TN、DN和硝态氮(NO3--N)浓度随降雨时间增加呈现减少趋势;氮素负荷受其浓度和径流量的共同作用,基本上呈现与氮素浓度相同的变化特征,但起伏变化较为平缓.氮素污染负荷积累曲线分析表明,村域地表径流各形态氮素均存在初期冲刷效应.     

Low-carbon transition of iron and steel industry in China: Carbon intensity, economic growth and policy intervention

As the biggest iron and steel producer in the world and one of the highest CO₂ emission sectors, China's iron and steel industry is undergoing a low-carbon transition accompanied by remarkable technological progress and investment adjustment, in response to the macroeconomic climate and policy intervention. Many drivers of the CO₂ emissions of the iron and steel industry have been explored, but the relationships between CO₂ abatement, investment and technological expenditure, and their connections with the economic growth and governmental policies in China, have not been conjointly and empirically examined. We proposed a concise conceptual model and an econometric model to investigate this crucial question. The results of regression, Granger causality test and impulse response analysis indicated that technological expenditure can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, and that investment expansion showed a negative impact on CO₂ emission reduction. It was also argued with empirical evidence that a good economic situation favored CO₂ abatement in China's iron and steel industry, while achieving CO₂ emission reduction in this industrial sector did not necessarily threaten economic growth. This shed light on the dispute over balancing emission cutting and economic growth. Regarding the policy aspects, the year 2000 was found to be an important turning point for policy evolution and the development of the iron and steel industry in China. The subsequent command and control policies had a significant, positive effect on CO₂ abatement.     

面向2035的节能与新能源汽车全生命周期碳排放预测评价

发展节能与新能源汽车是降低交通运输行业碳排放的重要技术路径.为量化预测节能与新能源汽车的全生命周期碳排放,利用全生命周期评价方法,以汽车相关技术路线和政策为参考,选取燃油经济性、整车轻量化水平、电力结构碳排放因子和氢能碳排放因子为关键参数,构建传统燃油汽车(ICEV)、轻度混合动力汽车(MHEV)、重度混合动力汽车(HEV)、纯电动汽车(BEV)和燃料电池汽车(FCV)的数据清单并对其全生命周期碳排放进行量化预测评价,对电力结构碳排放因子和不同制氢方式碳排放因子进行了敏感性分析和讨论.结果发现,2022年ICEV、 MHEV、 HEV、 BEV和FCV的全生命周期碳排放量(以CO₂-eq计)分别为208.0、 195.5、 150.0、 113.5和205.0 g·km^-1.到2035年,BEV和FCV相比于ICEV具有较为显著的减碳效益,分别降低69.1%和49.3%.电力结构的碳排放因子对BEV的全生命周期碳排放的影响最显著.关于燃料电池汽车的不同制氢方式,短期应以工业副产氢提纯为主供应FCV氢能需求,长期以可再生能源电解水制氢和化石能源...     

Comparative evaluation of processes for heavy metal removal from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash

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基于多因子指数集成的流域面源污染风险研究

为掌握流域面源污染风险的整体趋势,基于风险评价时,单个因子对系统某种风险的贡献率可能大于1且因子对系统风险贡献呈一定结构性的问题,定义了风险标准值的概念和算法,建立了系统风险多因子集成评价方法,并在地理信息系统支持下对泸沽湖流域进行了案例研究.结果表明,泸沽湖流域面源污染流失风险处于较高的水平;系统风险多因子集成评价法在对多个同类系统间进行比较时,具有较大的优势;该方法可以与其他多种方法相结合对系统属性进行全面综合评价.     

Effects of organic matter on Leymus chinensis germination,growth, and urease activity and available nitrogen in coastal saline soil

ABSTRACT

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of three organic matters (stalk powder, microbial fertilizer, and manure) on Leymus chinensis germination, growth, and urease activity and available nitrogen (N) in coastal saline soil. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with eight treatments: J₀V₀Y₀, J₁V₀Y₀, J₀V₁Y₀, J₀V₀Y₁, J₁V₁Y₀, J₁V₀Y₁, J₀V₁Y₁, J₁V₁Y₁. The notations were based on the quantities of each agent added to 1 kg of coastal saline soil: J₀ – no straw powder, J₁ – 0.2 kg straw powder, Y₀ – no manure, Y₁ – 0.3 kg manure, V₀ – no microbial fertilizer, V₁ – 0.2 L microbial fertilizer, each in quantic repeat. L. chinensis was sown as 50 seeds per pot. Results indicated that addition of organic agents exerted a significantly enhanced germination, increase in fresh weight and elevated soil urease activity. Soil available N levels were significantly positively correlated with soil urease activity and fresh weight, but not with germination rate. It is noteworthy that the halophyte L. chinensis showed improved characteristics when grown in coastal saline soil with addition of organic amendments.     

Defining the Impact of Non‐Native Species

Non‐native species cause changes in the ecosystems to which they are introduced. These changes, or some of them, are usually termed impacts; they can be manifold and potentially damaging to ecosystems and biodiversity. However, the impacts of most non‐native species are poorly understood, and a synthesis of available information is being hindered because authors often do not clearly define impact. We argue that explicitly defining the impact of non‐native species will promote progress toward a better understanding of the implications of changes to biodiversity and ecosystems caused by non‐native species; help disentangle which aspects of scientific debates about non‐native species are due to disparate definitions and which represent true scientific discord; and improve communication between scientists from different research disciplines and between scientists, managers, and policy makers. For these reasons and based on examples from the literature, we devised seven key questions that fall into 4 categories: directionality, classification and measurement, ecological or socio‐economic changes, and scale. These questions should help in formulating clear and practical definitions of impact to suit specific scientific, stakeholder, or legislative contexts. Definiendo el Impacto de las Especies No‐Nativas     

Development of heat transfer and evaporation model of LNG covered by Hi-Ex foam

Natural gas is a kind of clean, efficient green energy source, which is used widely. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is produced by cooling natural gas to −161 °C, at which it becomes the liquid. Once LNG was released, fire or explosion would happen when ignition source existed nearby. The high expansion foam (Hi-Ex foam) is believed to quickly blanket on the top of LNG spillage pool and warm the LNG vapor to lower the vapor cloud density at the ground level and raising vapor buoyancy. To identify the physical structure after it contacted with LN₂ and to develop heat transfer model, the small-scale field test with liquid nitrogen (LN₂) was designed. In experiment, three layers including frozen ice layer, frozen Hi-Ex layer and soft layer of Hi-Ex foam were observed at the steady state. By characterizing physical structure of the foam, formulas for calculating the surface of single foam bubble and counting foam film thickness were deduced. The micro heat transfer and evaporation model between cryogenic liquid and Hi-Ex foam was established. Indicating the physical structure of the frozen ice layer, there were a certain number of icicles below it. The heat transfer and evaporation mathematical model between the frozen ice layer and LNG was derived. Combining models above with the heat transfer between LNG, ground and cofferdam, the heat transfer and evaporation mathematical model of LNG covered by Hi-Ex foam was developed eventually. Finally, LN₂ evaporation rate calculated by this model was compared with the measured evaporation rate. The calculated results are 1.2–2.1 times of experimental results, which were acceptable in engineering and proved the model was reliable.