The digital Dark Ages : a retro-speculative history of possible futures

The Dark Ages are generally held to be a time of technological and intellectual stagnation in western development. But that is not necessarily the case. Indeed, from a certain perspective, nothing could be further from the truth. In this paper we draw historical comparisons, focusing especially on the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, between the technological and intellectual ruptures in Europe during the Dark Ages, and those of our current period. Our analysis is framed in part by Harold Innis’s2 notion of "knowledge monopolies". We give an overview of how these were affected by new media, new power struggles, and new intellectual debates that emerged in thirteenth and fourteenth century Europe. The historical salience of our focus may seem elusive. Our world has changed so much, and history seems to be an increasingly far-from-favoured method for understanding our own period and its future potentials. Yet our seemingly distant historical focus provides some surprising insights into the social dynamics that are at work today: the fracturing of established knowledge and power bases; the democratisation of certain "sacred" forms of communication and knowledge, and, conversely, the "sacrosanct" appropriation of certain vernacular forms; challenges and innovations in social and scientific method and thought; the emergence of social world-shattering media practices; struggles over control of vast networks of media and knowledge monopolies; and the enclosure of public discursive and social spaces for singular, manipulative purposes. The period between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries in Europe prefigured what we now call the Enlightenment, perhaps moreso than any other period before or after; it shaped what the Enlightenment was to become. We claim no knowledge of the future here. But in the "post-everything" society, where history is as much up for sale as it is for argument, we argue that our historical perspective provides a useful analogy for grasping the wider trends in the political economy of media, and for recognising clear and actual threats to the future of the public sphere in supposedly democratic societies.

The digital Dark Ages : a retro-speculative history of possible futures

The Dark Ages are generally held to be a time of technological and intellectual stagnation in western development. But that is not necessarily the case. Indeed, from a certain perspective, nothing could be further from the truth. In this paper we draw historical comparisons, focusing especially on the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, between the technological and intellectual ruptures in Europe during the Dark Ages, and those of our current period. Our analysis is framed in part by Harold Innis’s2 notion of "knowledge monopolies". We give an overview of how these were affected by new media, new power struggles, and new intellectual debates that emerged in thirteenth and fourteenth century Europe. The historical salience of our focus may seem elusive. Our world has changed so much, and history seems to be an increasingly far-from-favoured method for understanding our own period and its future potentials. Yet our seemingly distant historical focus provides some surprising insights into the social dynamics that are at work today: the fracturing of established knowledge and power bases; the democratisation of certain "sacred" forms of communication and knowledge, and, conversely, the "sacrosanct" appropriation of certain vernacular forms; challenges and innovations in social and scientific method and thought; the emergence of social world-shattering media practices; struggles over control of vast networks of media and knowledge monopolies; and the enclosure of public discursive and social spaces for singular, manipulative purposes. The period between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries in Europe prefigured what we now call the Enlightenment, perhaps moreso than any other period before or after; it shaped what the Enlightenment was to become. We claim no knowledge of the future here. But in the "post-everything" society, where history is as much up for sale as it is for argument, we argue that our historical perspective provides a useful analogy for grasping the wider trends in the political economy of media, and for recognising clear and actual threats to the future of the public sphere in supposedly democratic societies.

Malcolm Shepherd Knowles : A History of His Thought

This book traces the evolution of thinking of the American adult educator, Malcolm Knowles, and maps the development of his conceptual framework over the period 1950 to 1995. It constructs an overall narrative history of Knowles’ thought, and shows how andragogy provided him with both a label and a unifying theme for his practical-theoretical framework aimed at producing self-directed lifelong learners. Knowles died in 1997 and left a large legacy of books and journal articles. The book examines the writings that constitute Knowles' principal works. It identifies the major elements of his thought, shows the interrelationships between ideas and indicates the major phases through which his thinking passed. Importantly, the book establishes that Knowles’ theorising was traceable and that he possessed a clear and coherent conceptual framework.

Temporal tracking of mineralization and transcriptional developments of shell formation during the early life history of pearl oyster Pinctada maxima

Molluscan larval ontogeny is a highly conserved process comprising three principal developmental stages. A characteristic unique to each of these stages is shell design, termed prodissoconch I, prodissoconch II and dissoconch. These shells vary in morphology, mineralogy and microstructure. The discrete temporal transitions in shell biomineralization between these larval stages are utilized in this study to investigate transcriptional involvement in several distinct biomineralization events. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis of P. maxima larvae and juveniles collected throughout post-embryonic ontogenesis, document the mineralogy and microstructure of each shelled stage as well as establishing a timeline for transitions in biomineralization. P. maxima larval samples most representative of these biomineralization distinctions and transitions were analyzed for differential gene expression on the microarray platform PmaxArray 1.0. A number of transcripts are reported as differentially expressed in correlation to the mineralization events of P. maxima larval ontogeny. Some of those isolated are known shell matrix genes while others are novel; these are discussed in relation to potential shell formation roles. This interdisciplinary investigation has linked the shell developments of P. maxima larval ontogeny with corresponding gene expression profiles, furthering the elucidation of shell biomineralization.

A brief history of haemotopoietic stem cell Ex vivo expansion

Haematopoiesis is the process by which a hierarchy of mature and progenitor blood cells are formed. These cell populations are all derived from multipotent haematopoietic stem cells (HSC), which reside in the bone marrow ‘niche’ of adult humans. Over the lifetime of a healthy individual, this HSC population replenishes between 1010-1011 blood cells on a daily basis. Dysregulation of this system can lead to a number of haematopoietic diseases, including aplastic anaemias and leukaemias, which result in, or require for disease resolution, bone marrow cell depletion. In 1956, E. Donnall Thomas demonstrated that haematopoiesis could be restored by transplanting bone marrow-derived cells from one man into his identical twin brother, who was suffering from advanced leukaemia. His success drew significant interest in academic research and medicine communities, and 12 years later, the first successful allogeneic transplant was performed. To this day, HSCs remain the most studied and characterised stem cell population. In fact, HSCs are the only stem cell population routinely utilised in the clinic. As such, HSCs function as a model system both for the biological investigation of stem cells, as well as for their clinical application. Herein, we briefly review HSC transplantation, strategies for the ex vivo cultivation of HSCs, recent clinical outcomes, and their impact on the future direction of HSC transplantation therapy.

The advancement of religion is still a valid charitable object in 2001

“The Relevance of Religion” is the title of a recent address delivered by The Honourable Chief Justice Murray Gleeson of the High Court of Australia.1 In making the point “about the continuing public importance of religion”, the Chief Justice referenced Lord Devlin’s contention that “no society has yet solved the problem of how to teach morality without religion”....

History of critical criminology in Australia

Those working in the critical criminology tradition have been centrally concerned with the social construction, variability and contingency of the criminal label. The concern is no less salient to a consideration of critical criminology itself and any history of critical criminology (in Australia or elsewhere) should aim itself to be critical in this sense. The point applies with equal force to both of the terms ‘critical’ and ‘criminology’. The want of a stable theoretical object has meant that criminology itself needs to be seen not as a distinct discipline but as a composite intellectual and governmental hybrid, a field of studies that overlaps and intersects many others (sociology, law, psychology, history, anthropology, social work, media studies and youth studies to name only a few). In consequence, much of the most powerful work on subjects of criminological inquiry is undertaken by scholars who do not necessarily define themselves as criminologists first and foremost, or at all. For reasons that should later become obvious this is even more pronounced in the Australian context. Although we may appear at times to be claiming such work for criminology, our purpose is to recognize its impact on and in critical criminology in Australia.

The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography

The ratite moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) were a speciose group of massive graviportal avian herbivores that dominated the New Zealand (NZ) ecosystem until their extinction �600 years ago. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of this morphologically diverse order has remained controversial since their initial description in 1839. We synthesize mitochondrial phylogenetic information from 263 subfossil moa specimens from across NZ with morphological, ecological, and new geological data to create the first comprehensive phylogeny, taxonomy, and evolutionary timeframe for all of the species of an extinct order. We also present an important new geological/paleogeographical model of late Cenozoic NZ, which suggests that terrestrial biota on the North and South Island landmasses were isolated for most of the past 20–30 Ma. The data reveal that the patterns of genetic diversity within and between differentmoaclades reflect a complex history following a major marine transgression in the Oligocene, affected by marine barriers, tectonic activity, and glacial cycles. Surprisingly, the remarkable morphological radiation of moa appears to have occurred much more recently than previous early Miocene (ca. 15 Ma) estimates, and was coincident with the accelerated uplift of the Southern Alps just ca. 5–8.5 Ma. Together with recent fossil evidence, these data suggest that the recent evolutionary history of nearly all of the iconic NZ terrestrial biota occurred principally on just the South Island.

The evolutionary history of cockatoos (Aves: Psittaciformes: Cacatuidae)

Cockatoos are the distinctive family Cacatuidae, a major lineage of the order of parrots (Psittaciformes) and distributed throughout the Australasian region of the world. However, the evolutionary history of cockatoos is not well understood. We investigated the phylogeny of cockatoos based on three mitochondrial and three nuclear DNA genes obtained from 16 of 21 species of Cacatuidae. In addition, five novel mitochondrial genomes were used to estimate time of divergence and our estimates indicate Cacatuidae diverged from Psittacidae approximately 40.7 million years ago (95% CI 51.6–30.3 Ma) during the Eocene. Our data shows Cacatuidae began to diversify approximately 27.9 Ma (95% CI 38.1–18.3 Ma) during the Oligocene. The early to middle Miocene (20–10 Ma) was a significant period in the evolution of modern Australian environments and vegetation, in which a transformation from mainly mesic to xeric habitats (e.g., fire-adapted sclerophyll vegetation and grasslands) occurred. We hypothesize that this environmental transformation was a driving force behind the diversification of cockatoos. A detailed multi-locus molecular phylogeny enabled us to resolve the phylogenetic placements of the Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus), Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) and Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus), which have historically been difficult to place within Cacatuidae. When the molecular evidence is analysed in concert with morphology, it is clear that many of the cockatoo species’ diagnostic phenotypic traits such as plumage colour, body size, wing shape and bill morphology have evolved in parallel or convergently across lineages.

Confrontation and cooptation : a brief history of Australian political blogs

The history of political blogging in Australia does not entirely match the development of blogospheres in other countries. Even at its beginning, blogging was not an entirely alternative endeavour – one of the first news or political blogs was Margo Kingston’s Webdiary, hosted by the Sydney Morning Herald. In the United States, whose political blogosphere has been examined most comprehensively in the literature (see e.g. Adamic & Glance, 2005; Drezner & Farrell, 2008; Shaw & Benkler, 2012; Tremayne, 2007; Wallsten, 2008), blogging had a clear historical trajectory from alternative to mainstream medium. The Australian blogosphere, by contrast, has seen early and continued involvement from representatives of the mainstream media, blogging both for their employers and independently (Garden, 2010). Coupled with the incorporation of blog-like technologies into news websites, as well as with obvious differences in the size of the available talent pool and potential audience for political blogging in Australia, this recognition of blogging by the mainstream media may be one reason why, in political and news discussions at least, Australian bloggers did not bring about their own, local equivalents to the resignations of Dan Rather or Trent Lott in the U.S. –events which were commonly attributed in part to the work of bloggers (Simons, 2007). However, the acceptance of the blogging concept by the mainstream media has been accompanied by a comparative lack of acceptance towards individual bloggers. Analyses and commentary published by bloggers have been attacked by journalists, creating an at times antagonistic relationship between the mainstream media and bloggers (Flew & Wilson, 2010; Young, 2011). In this article, we examine the historical development of blogging in Australia, focussing primarily on political and news blogs. In particular, we review who the bloggers are and how the connections between different blogs and other titles have changed over the past decade. The paper tracks the evolution of individual and group blogs, independent and mainstream media-hosted opinion sites, and the gradual convergence of these platforms and their associated contributing authors. We conclude by examining the current state of the Australian blogosphere and its likely future development, taking into account the rise of social media, and in particular Twitter, as additional spaces for public commentary.

A highly divergent South African geminivirus species illuminates the ancient evolutionary history of this family

Background. We have characterised a new highly divergent geminivirus species, Eragrostis curvula streak virus (ECSV), found infecting a hardy perennial South African wild grass. ECSV represents a new genus-level geminivirus lineage, and has a mixture of features normally associated with other specific geminivirus genera. Results. Whereas the ECSV genome is predicted to express a replication associated protein (Rep) from an unspliced complementary strand transcript that is most similar to those of begomoviruses, curtoviruses and topocuviruses, its Rep also contains what is apparently a canonical retinoblastoma related protein interaction motif such as that found in mastreviruses. Similarly, while ECSV has the same unusual TAAGATTCC virion strand replication origin nonanucleotide found in another recently described divergent geminivirus, Beet curly top Iran virus (BCTIV), the rest of the transcription and replication origin is structurally more similar to those found in begomoviruses and curtoviruses than it is to those found in BCTIV and mastreviruses. ECSV also has what might be a homologue of the begomovirus transcription activator protein gene found in begomoviruses, a mastrevirus-like coat protein gene and two intergenic regions. Conclusion. Although it superficially resembles a chimaera of geminiviruses from different genera, the ECSV genome is not obviously recombinant, implying that the features it shares with other geminiviruses are those that were probably present within the last common ancestor of these viruses. In addition to inferring how the ancestral geminivirus genome may have looked, we use the discovery of ECSV to refine various hypotheses regarding the recombinant origins of the major geminivirus lineages. © 2009 Varsani et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.