10 Insects That Belong in an Alien World Animals It’s easy to forget sometimes, but nature is full of wonders. There are more than one million different species of insect on the planet—that we know of—which accounts for over half the world’s living organisms. With their soft bodies and high protein content, caterpillars are usually incredibly vulnerable. The caterpillars are bright green and will often have a row of white spots on either side of their body. And if that doesn’t work, it can always spray out a mist of formic acid from the two horns on its back. Devil’s Flower Mantis Idolomantis Diabolica One of the largest types of praying mantis, the Devil’s Flower Mantis is also one of the strangest. Mantids are predators, and their hunting style usually involves sitting motionless until their prey comes within reach, and then whipping their forearms out at lightning speed to snag flies, beetles, even, in some cases, birds. The image shown here is a model created by Alfred Keller, a German sculptor, in the 1950′s.
Confrontation analysis Confrontation analysis (also known as dilemma analysis) is an operational analysis technique used to structure, understand and think through multi-party interactions such as negotiations. It is the underpinning mathematical basis of drama theory. It is derived from game theory but considers that instead of resolving the game, the players often redefine the game when interacting. Derivation and use[edit] Much of the theoretical background to General Rupert Smith's book The Utility of Force drew its inspiration from the theory of confrontation analysis. I am in debt to Professor Nigel Howard, whose explanation of Confrontation Analysis and Game Theory at a seminar in 1998 excited my interest. Confrontation analysis can also be used in a decision workshop as structure to support role-playing[3] for training, analysis and decision rehearsal. Method[edit] An interaction as a sequence of confrontations where the card table[5] changes as the parties struggle to eliminate their dilemmas[1]
Ya Wen Chou, Textile and Product Designer Ahh, design school — where navel-gazing and the pretentions of identity art are not only tolerated, but encouraged (on days when the lesson plan doesn’t focus on sustainability or people with disabilities, of course). It’s easy for lesser talents to get sucked too far into these themes and end up with over-baked work that either borders on kitsch or is completely irrelevant to the wider world, but when done right, the results can be both beautiful and culturally illuminating — as in the case of Ya Wen Chou, who used her time in the RCA’s textile department to dig into the traditions of her grandmother and her home country of Taiwan. “My grandmother’s house was always full of handicrafts made by Taiwanese artisans,” she told the Arts Thread blog last year, explaining a main source of her inspiration. Describe your most recent project and how it was made. Describe your next project and how you’re currently making it. Tell us one thing that’s been inspiring you lately and why.
Cooperation Among humans[edit] Language allows humans to cooperate on a very large scale. Certain studies have suggested that fairness affects human cooperation; individuals are willing to punish at their own cost (altruistic punishment) if they believe that they are being treated unfairly.[2][3] Sanfey, et al. conducted an experiment where 19 individuals were scanned using MRI while playing an Ultimatum Game in the role of the responder.[3] They received offers from other human partners and from a computer partner. It has been observed that image scoring[clarification needed] promotes cooperative behavior in situations where direct reciprocity is unlikely.[4] In situations where reputation and status are involved, humans tend to cooperate more. Among other animals[edit] Cooperation exists in non-human animals. Some researchers assert that cooperation is more complex than this. Kin selection[edit] Cooperative systems[edit] The components in a cell work together to keep it living. See also[edit]
Collect Sounds Like Fireflies in the ‘Re: Sound Bottle,’ a Device that Creates Your Own Personal Soundtrack The Re: Sound Bottle is the audio equivalent of running around in a field in the summer collecting fireflies in a jar. Designed by Jun Fujiwara from Tama Art University, the bottle is simple in its usage but absurdly complex in its design which relies heavily on software to handle the recording, storing, and playback of audio tracks. To use it you simply uncork the device and if sound is present it immediately snaps into recording mode. As you record more individual sounds, an audio database is formed and tracks are automatically selected to create rhythmic tracks, essentially like a miniature robot DJ in a jar. To listen, you again uncork the top and wait for your personal soundtrack to play.
Glossary of game theory Definitions of a game[edit] Notational conventions[edit] Real numbers The set of players Strategy space , where Player i's strategy space is the space of all possible ways in which player i can play the game. A strategy for player i is an element of Complements an element of , is a tuple of strategies for all players other than i. Outcome space is in most textbooks identical to - Payoffs , describing how much gain (money, pleasure, etc.) the players are allocated by the end of the game. Normal form game[edit] A game in normal form is a function: Given the tuple of strategies chosen by the players, one is given an allocation of payments (given as real numbers). A further generalization can be achieved by splitting the game into a composition of two functions: the outcome function of the game (some authors call this function "the game form"), and: the allocation of payoffs (or preferences) to players, for each outcome of the game. Extensive form game[edit] Cooperative game[edit] , whose value Simple game[edit] .
A Room Where You Can Walk In The Rain But Stay Dry Some people get a lot of joy out of running in the rain or jumping in puddles. I’m not one of them. I love everything about storms--the smells, the noises, the excuse for staying in and puttering around the house--except for the whole bit where you get wet. Rain Room, a recent installation by the digital art collective Random International, is right up my alley; it’s an indoor room in which rain continuously falls everywhere except the spot where you happen to be standing. For the project, the group turned the Curve gallery in the Barbican in London into a hundred-square-meter rainstorm. Real water, real droplets, real potential for getting drenched. The collective says the piece is about "playing with intuition" and "pushing people outside their comfort zones." Rain Room will be open to the public through March of next year. Find out more on the Barbican’s site. All images copyright Felix Clay, Courtesy of Barbican Art Gallery
Competition Win-Lose Competition in sports. A selection of images showing some of the sporting events that are classed as athletics competitions. Consequences[edit] Competition can have both beneficial and detrimental effects. Many evolutionary biologists view inter-species and intra-species competition as the driving force of adaptation, and ultimately of evolution. However, some biologists, most famously Richard Dawkins, prefer to think of evolution in terms of competition between single genes, which have the welfare of the organism 'in mind' only insofar as that welfare furthers their own selfish drives for replication. Biology and ecology[edit] Economics and business[edit] Experts have also questioned the constructiveness of competition in profitability. Three levels of economic competition have been classified: In addition, companies also compete for financing on the capital markets (equity or debt) in order to generate the necessary cash for their operations. Interstate[edit] Law[edit] Politics[edit]
: : H & A : : tumblr : : H & A : : tumblr Doorway in the Blue Medina, a photo from Tetouan, North | TrekEarth Loading... Vicolo della Basilica, a photo from Perugia, Umbria | TrekEarth sunset, a photo from California, West | TrekEarth desire to inspire - Happy Friday! 500px: - Mazagón by Pedro Burgos (via talbo-777) 500px: - Married to Florence by VinL opticallyaroused: foresity: Under Water Photography (36) by zeevveez on Flickr. (via 901pm) reaching out by yves shrapnel on Flickr. Trendir - Morning Glory Table by Marc Thorpe for Moroso 500px: - Hidden window by Athos Florides 500px: - Trees by Colin Giral Frigiliana, Andalusia, Spain martinlux.tumblr.com Instagram (via thingssheloves) Page 1 of 7169
Conciliation Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties separately in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering tensions, improving communications, interpreting issues, providing technical assistance, exploring potential solutions and bringing about a negotiated settlement. Conciliation differs from arbitration in that the conciliation process, in and of itself, has no legal standing, and the conciliator usually has no authority to seek evidence or call witnesses, usually writes no decision, and makes no award. Conciliation differs from mediation in that the main goal is to conciliate, most of the time by seeking concessions. In conciliation the parties seldom, if ever, actually face each other across the table in the presence of the conciliator. Effectiveness[edit] Historical conciliation[edit] Historical conciliation is not an excavation of objective facts. Japan[edit]
A Photographer Finds Order And Chaos In Disassembled Gadgets It’s kind of insane, when you stop and think, that it’s now completely commonplace for many of us to replace our cellphones every year. Whether you’re a serious early adopter, or you fall prey to a drop and a shattered screen, it’s not at all strange to put down $200 (at least) on a new phone almost before you’ve gotten used to the old one. We don’t repair our phones when they’re broken; we immediately replace them. Todd McLellan questions that practive, training his camera on our disposable tech culture through his photographs of torn-apart design classics. He’s especially drawn to older pieces of technology, whose simple constructions makes them easier to fix when broken. “It fascinates me that older objects were so well-built, and were most likely put together by hand,” he writes in the introduction to his new book, Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living. That’s one of McLellan’s two preferred methods.
Avoidance Lose-Lose From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Avoidance may refer to: where creativity and technology meet A. & H. Beehre, Alnico (2006), Vavasour Godkin Gallery, Auckland. Copyright & courtesy of the artists. Nathan Thompson Busytown (2004), sound, single channel projection, 15min loop The Physics Room, Christchurch. Copyright and courtesy of the artist
Game theory Game theory is the study of strategic decision making. Specifically, it is "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers."[1] An alternative term suggested "as a more descriptive name for the discipline" is interactive decision theory.[2] Game theory is mainly used in economics, political science, and psychology, as well as logic, computer science, and biology. Modern game theory began with the idea regarding the existence of mixed-strategy equilibria in two-person zero-sum games and its proof by John von Neumann. This theory was developed extensively in the 1950s by many scholars. Representation of games[edit] Most cooperative games are presented in the characteristic function form, while the extensive and the normal forms are used to define noncooperative games. Extensive form[edit] The game pictured consists of two players. The extensive form can also capture simultaneous-move games and games with imperfect information. Lists