INSTRUCTIONS
Read through the abstracts and take note of the topics and central research questions. Then scroll down and click on the links for each artist. Review the artworks and descriptions.
- Which art projects match with the scientific abstracts?
- How did the artists engage with the scientific information? Is their interpretation illustrative, data visualization, or conceptual?
- How does the artwork make you feel? What insights do you gain?
- Who may be the target audience for this work?
ABSTRACTS
Buoyancy Mechanisms of Marine Organisms: Lessons from Nature
Molloy, P. J.; Cowling, M. J., Underwater Technology, Volume 24, Number 2, September 1999, pp. 41-49(9), DOI: https://doi.org/10.3723/175605499783259785
Abstract
This paper reviews how many pelagic organisms maintain their buoyancy in the ocean. Although there are thousands of different species of marine organisms, ranging in size from microscopic plankton to squid, shark and the large whales, the mechanisms they use to avoid sinking are not as varied. These mechanisms include: the exclusion of heavy ions to create a less dense liquid; enlarging the surface area of the organism to increase drag; the use of gas chambers; the use of low-density waxes and oils; and hydrodynamic planes. Natural buoyancy systems are compared with those currently used in various underwater vehicles; in addition, the attempts being made to mimic the mechanisms present in nature are described.
Slime mould: The fundamental mechanisms of biological cognition
Jordi Vallverdú, Oscar Castro, Richard Mayne, Max Talanov, Michael Levin, Frantisek Baluška, Yukio Gunji, Audrey Dussutour, Hector Zenil, Andrew Adamatzky, Biosystems, 2018, Volume 166, 55-70, DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2017.12.011
Abstract
The slime mould Physarum polycephalum has been used in developing unconventional computing devices for in which the slime mould played a role of a sensing, actuating, and computing device. These devices treated the slime mould as an active living substrate, yet it is a self-consistent living creature which evolved over millions of years and occupied most parts of the world, but in any case, that living entity did not own true cognition, just automated biochemical mechanisms. To “rehabilitate” slime mould from the rank of a purely living electronics element to a “creature of thoughts” we are analyzing the cognitive potential of P. polycephalum. We base our theory of minimal cognition of the slime mould on a bottom-up approach, from the biological and biophysical nature of the slime mould and its regulatory systems using frameworks such as Lyon’s biogenic cognition, Muller, di Primio-Lengelerś modifiable pathways, Bateson’s “patterns that connect” framework, Maturana’s autopoietic network, or proto-consciousness and Morgan’s Canon.
A high black hole to host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe
Lukas J. Furtak, Ivo Labb , Adi Zitrin, Jenny E. Greene, et al., Nature 628.8006 (2024): 57-61. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.05735
Abstract
Early JWST observations have uncovered a new population of red sources that might represent a previously overlooked phase of supermassive black hole growth [1–3]. One of the most intriguing examples is an extremely red, point-like object that was found to be triply-imaged by the strong lensing (SL) cluster Abell 2744 [4]. Here we present deep JWST/NIRSpec observations of this object, Abell2744-QSO1. The spectroscopy confirms that the three images are of the same object, and that it is a highly reddened (AV ≃ 3) broad emission line Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) at a redshift of zspec = 7.0451 ± 0.0005. From the width of Hβ (FWHM = 2800 ± 250 km s ) we derive a black hole mass of MBH = 4+2 −1 × 107 M⊙. We infer a very high ratio of black hole to galaxy mass of at least 3 %, an order of magnitude more than is seen in local galaxies [5], and possibly as high as 100 %. The lack of strong metal lines in the spectrum together with the high bolometric luminosity (Lbol = (1.1 ± 0.3) × 1045 erg s ) indicate that we are seeing the black hole in a phase of rapid growth, accreting at 30 % of the Eddington limit. The rapid growth and high black hole to galaxy mass ratio of A2744-QSO1 suggest that it may represent the missing link between black hole seeds [6] and the first luminous quasars.
Fermi’s paradox, extraterrestrial life and the future of humanity: a Bayesian analysis
Vilhelm Verendel, Olle Häaggström, 2015, International Journal of Astrobiology 16.1: 14-18. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1510.08684
Abstract
The Great Filter interpretation of Fermi’s great silence asserts that N pq is not a very large number, where N is the number of potentially lifesupporting planets in the observable universe, p is the probability that a randomly chosen such planet develops intelligent life to the level of presentday human civilization, and q is the conditional probability that it then goes on to develop a technological supercivilization visible all over the observable universe. Evidence suggests that N is huge, which implies that pq is very small. Hanson (1998) and Bostrom (2008) have argued that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would point towards p not being small and therefore a very small q, which can be seen as bad news for humanity’s prospects of colonizing the universe. Here we investigate whether a Bayesian analysis supports their argument, and the answer turns out to depend critically on the choice of prior distribution
ARTISTS
Scott Kildall
Scott Kildall creates artwork that transforms hidden data from the natural environment, such as water quality, air quality and plant data into sculptural sound installations. He uses custom electronics to create generative, data-driven experiences with uncertain outcomes.
Jonathon Keats
Jonathon Keats is an artist, writer and experimental philosopher. His conceptually-driven transdisciplinary projects explore all aspects of society, adapting methods from the sciences and the humanities.
https://triennale.org/en/magazine/jonathon-keats
Richelle Ellis
Richelle Ellisis an expeditionary artist, curator, and analog astronaut. Her art and research aims to use space to help life on Earth, to see the world – and ourselves – in new ways. Richelle creates artworks made for international orbit, etched on satellites, suspended by Stratollite balloons and aboard rockets.
Melissa Weiss
Melissa Weiss translates the needs of her clients into effective visual results. Whether it’s an image of a new black hole phenomenon you have discovered, an album cover, or anything else in need of visual representation, she will give it her full attention in order to create a compelling outcome.