Why Saudi Arabia's "The Line" isn’t a revolution in urban living

Peer-Reviewed Publication

COMPLEXITY SCIENCE HUB VIENNA

 

IMAGE: THIS IS WHAT THE LINE, SAUDI ARABIA'S SUPERLATIVE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE. view more 

CREDIT: © SHUTTERSTOCK

In October, the excavation work for the superlative construction project began. What some consider an ideal ecological city, others call a promotional gimmick. Researchers from the Complexity Science Hub now show why The Line should not be a showcase for future cities. 

 

"It's the embodiment of the dream to start from scratch and completely rethink a city," says  Rafael Prieto-Curiel, who researches cities at the Complexity Science Hub. The Line is planned to be a city built from nothing in the desert. It is to consist of two gigantic, unbroken rows of skyscrapers, with living space in between. 170 kilometers long. 200 meters wide. 500 meters high, higher than any building in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. String straight ahead from the Red Sea to the east.

TEN TIMES DENSER THAN MANHATTAN

Nine million people are expected to live in it - more than in any other city in Saudi Arabia. This translates into a population density of 265,000 people per square kilometer - ten times denser than Manhattan and four times denser than the inner districts of Manila, currently estimated to be the densest urban neighborhoods on Earth. "How you can attract that many people in a medium-sized country at all is yet to be observed," Prieto-Curiel points out. 

SIXTY MINUTES FOR A TRIP

Further questions arise in terms of mobility. “A line is the least efficient possible shape of a city,” says Prieto-Curiel. “There's a reason why humanity has 50,000 cities, and all of them are somehow round,” he emphasizes.

If we randomly pick two people in The Line, they are, on average 57 kilometers apart. In Johannesburg, which is 50 times larger in area, two random people are only 33 kilometers apart. Assuming a walking distance of one kilometer, only 1.2% of the population is within walking distance from each other. This hinders active mobility, so people will depend on public transport. 

The backbone of public transportation is planned to be a high-speed rail system. "For everyone to be within walking distance of a station, there must be at least 86 stations," explains CSH researcher Dániel Kondor. As a result, trains spend considerable time in stations and will not be able to reach high travel speeds between any two stations. According to the researchers, a trip, therefore, is expected to take 60 minutes on average, and at least 47% of the population would have an even longer commute. Even with additional express lines, gains are limited due to the additional transfers necessary. The result is that people would still be traveling longer than in other major cities, such as Seoul, where 25 million people commute for less than 50 minutes.

A CITY IS MORE THAN A NEIGHBOURHOOD 

Research shows that people want to spend a limited amount of time commuting, so efficient transportation plays a key role in the success of cities. But can these trips through the city be avoided because high density allows everything (jobs, shopping, amenities, etc.) to be available locally? "Cities are more than a collection of semi-isolated 15-minute neighborhoods located next to each other. What sets a city apart from smaller settlements is not just its size but additional opportunities outside the immediate neighborhood - such as concerts or an extended job search. For this reason, we need to consider citywide transportation,” explains Kondor. 

WHY NOT “THE CIRCLE”?

If you take The Line and make it The Circle with a radius of 3.3 kilometers, the distance between any two people would be only 2.9 kilometers, and 24% of the population would be within walking distance of each other. Most mobility could be active (walking, cycling, or similar), making a high-speed rail system unnecessary. Alternatively, The Circle could allow good connectivity even with lower densities, avoiding the need for supertall buildings.

IS THERE SOMETHING POSITIVE?

"This project gets people discussing urban forms, and that's immensely important because cities, especially in Africa, are growing,” says Prieto-Curiel. Historically, cities often grew in organic ways, while planned cities often did not live up to expectations; thus, there is a need for more public engagement about urban design on a human scale. 

Additionally, sustainability is emphasized in many aspects of the project. For example, there will be no cars for distances that are no more than a five-minute walk. This not only saves a lot of space in terms of infrastructure and parking but also reduces the number of cars. Moreover, all energy will be produced with zero carbon emissions. What is not taken into account here, however, is the construction of the skyscrapers, which requires a lot of material and energy.

“Overall, it stands to reason that other considerations may have played a role in choosing this unique form, such as branding or creating engaging social media videos. However, it is important to understand the consequences, especially if The Line is treated as a showcase for modern building and urban planning technologies”, emphasizes Prieto-Curiel.

With a height of 500 meters, the Line is to be taller than any building in Europe, Africa, and Latin America - and over 170 kilometers.

a| Location of The Line in Saudi Arabia. b | Expected commuting time (vertical) depending on the number of stations (horizontal). c | Largest cities in Saudi Arabia, including the planned population of The Line.

CREDIT

© Complexity Science Hub/Prieto-Curiel

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FIND OUT MORE

The opinion paper “Arguments for building The Circle and not The Line in Saudi Arabia” has been published in the Journal npj Urban Sustainability.

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ABOUT THE COMPLEXITY SCIENCE HUB

The mission of the Complexity Science Hub (CSH Vienna) is to host, educate, and inspire complex systems scientists dedicated to making sense of Big Data to boost science and society. Scientists at the Complexity Science Hub develop methods for the scientific, quantitative, and predictive understanding of complex systems.

The CSH Vienna is a joint initiative of AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Central European University CEU, Danube University Krems, Graz University of Technology, Medical University of Vienna, TU Wien, VetMedUni Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business, and Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO). https://www.csh.ac.at

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JOURNAL

npj Urban Sustainability

DOI

10.1038/s42949-023-00115-y 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Arguments for building The Circle and not The Line in Saudi Arabia

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Jun-2023

Revealing the power of citizen science for SDG advancement

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

The 17 SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including climate change, environmental degradation, and inequality. The achievement of the SDGs depends on the ability to accurately measure progress towards meeting the associated targets based on timely, relevant, and reliable data. Citizen science offers an innovative approach to complement and enhance official statistics. Additionally, citizen science can help raise awareness, mobilize action, and therefore achieve transformative change.

The collection brings together academic papers that offer insights into the contributions of citizen science to the SDGs and other international frameworks. The call for abstracts for this collection attracted 40 submissions, from which 21 papers were reviewed and accepted for publication.

“The interest in contributing to this collection reflects the importance and popularity of Citizen Science,” notes Dilek Fraisl, a researcher in the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group of the Advancing Systems Analysis Program, who is leading the collection. “We received high-quality submissions from a diverse community, including citizen science researchers and practitioners, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), and international organizations, from both the Global North and South.”

Core themes that run across the set of diverse papers include monitoring and data collection, and the transformative potential of citizen science. The collection also reflects on the progress achieved in the scientific literature and through practical implementation over the past few years.

An example of a paper showcasing the potential of citizen science for monitoring the SDGs is the paper by Proden et al (2023), to which Fraisl contributed together with Linda See, who is also associated with the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group at IIASA.

“This paper focuses on the views and experiences of the official statistics community, including representatives from NSOs, on citizen science data, along with the opportunities and challenges that these data present,” explains See. “Despite the widely recognized value of citizen science for monitoring the SDGs, we have discovered a conspicuous lack of awareness with this approach among members of the official statistics community.”

The collection serves as a comprehensive compilation, gathering the latest research, findings, and practical recommendations from a diverse set of actors. Additionally, it explores the development of this emerging field of study, providing a roadmap for future research and proposing tangible actions. It is worth noting that, even after eight years of pursuing the SDGs, nearly half of the 92 environmental SDG indicators still lack data. The collection demonstrates that citizen science has vast untapped potential for driving progress towards achieving the SDGs and other international frameworks, highlighting its capacity for collaborative problem solving.

“With this collection, we call for stronger cooperation between all citizen science actors, and for the Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP), to help bridge the gap between the citizen science and official statistics communities and stakeholders. We urge the official statistics community to consider the inclusiveness and relevance of their practices and encourage funders to reassess their strategies, to go beyond short-term pilot studies, and to provide genuine financial support to citizen science initiatives focused on monitoring and achieving sustainable development,” concludes Fraisl.

Note: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice is an international peer-reviewed journal focused on impacts and effective practices associated with public participation in scientific endeavors in all disciplines and across the globe. This open-access journal is a publication of the Citizen Science Association.

References

Fraisl, D., See, L., Campbell, J., Andrianandrasana, H., Danielsen, F. (2023). Special Collection: Contributions of Citizen Science to the SDGs and International Development Frameworks. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/collections/contributions-of-citizen-science

Fraisl, D., See, L., Campbell, J., Danielsen, F., Andrianandrasana H. (2023). Editorial: The Contributions of Citizen Science to the United Nationals Sustainable Development Goals and Other International Agreements and Frameworks. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.643

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

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JOURNAL

Citizen Science Theory and Practice

DOI

10.5334/cstp.643 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Editorial: The Contributions of Citizen Science to the United Nationals Sustainable Development Goals and Other International Agreements and Frameworks.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jun-2023

This self-driving boat maps underwater terrain

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO

 

IMAGE: FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: UTEP ALUMNUS FERNANDO SOTELO, DOCTORAL STUDENT JAYANGA THANUKA SAMARASINGHE AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR LAURA ALVAREZ, PH.D., CARRY A BOAT FROM SHORE INTO ASCARATE LAKE, LOCATED IN EL PASO, TEXAS. THE FULLY AUTONOMOUS BOAT CAN CARRY OUT BATHYMETRIC SURVEYS — SURVEYS OF THE DEPTH AND TERRAIN OF BODIES OF WATER LIKE OCEANS, RIVERS AND LAKES. view more 

CREDIT: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO

EL PASO, Texas (June 27, 2023) ­– Step aside self-driving cars, self-driving boats are here — and they can do more than take you on a cruise. 

Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have constructed a fully autonomous boat that can carry out bathymetric surveys — surveys of the depth and terrain of bodies of water like oceans, rivers and lakes. The team hopes the robotic boat can help simplify the survey process, which usually takes a crew of individuals to complete, as well as assist with reconnaissance missions.

The boat and its capabilities are described in the May issue of the journal Sensors.

“There are lots of reasons scientists carry out bathymetric surveys,” said Laura Alvarez, Ph.D., lead author of the study. “If you want to work in water-related studies, you need to know the shape and landscape of bodies of water. For example, you might want to map a reservoir to learn about water supply for electrical demand, or a river to learn about river evolution or flow patterns.”

Alvarez, an assistant professor in UTEP’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences, specializes in unmanned systems for earth science. She started developing the boat several years ago but needed help tweaking and perfecting the system. 

That’s when she recruited science and electrical engineering master’s student Fernando Sotelo ‘22.

“The first time we tested the boat was at the swimming pool at UTEP — just to make sure it could float,” laughed Fernando Sotelo, study co-author and now UTEP alumnus.

Over the course of a year, Sotelo refined the aluminum watercraft, a 3-foot-by-3-foot circular craft that rests on a thick black inner tube, testing it in various environments like New Mexico’s Grindstone and Elephant Butte lakes.  

His goals included extending the boat’s hours of operation and reliability; and making it fully autonomous and responsive to potential environmental issues like wind speed and temperature flux. Now, a failsafe can detect when batteries are low or wind gusts are too high and triggers a return-to-base function.

The rudderless watercraft operates with four thrusters, allowing it to travel up to 5 feet per second and easily rotate 360-degrees. A solar panel and lithium battery allow the boat to last up to four hours at sea — covering an area up to 472,400 square feet. 

All the while a multibeam echosounder — a sonar system — emits sound waves from the bottom of the boat. Water depth can be calculated by the time it takes for the sound wave to water to hit the seafloor and return to the sonar system. The sound itself that returns to the device can help detect the type of material on the seafloor.

To show proof of concept, the team successfully created 2D and 3D maps of portions of Ascarate Lake in El Paso, Texas and Grindstone Lake in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

“My goal was to make the boat state-of-the-art and I think I did that. Of course, there’s always room to improve,” said Sotelo, who worked on the boat for his master’s thesis. “But the system works and for now, I hope it can make it easier for scientists like Dr. Alvarez to conduct their research.”

Alvarez will put the boat to use for the first time this summer to study the Rio Grande River’s flow and depth. 

She adds that the instructions to replicate the boat are online in their latest Sensors publication.

“The reason we wrote the paper was so that anyone can reproduce it by themselves,” Alvarez said. “It serves as an effective guideline to get them started.”

 This Self-driving Boat Maps Un [VIDEO] | 

About The University of Texas at El Paso 

The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving University. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 24,000 students are Hispanic, and half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 169 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.

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JOURNAL

Sensors

DOI

10.3390/s23094420 

ARTICLE TITLE

An Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV): Development of an Autonomous Boat with a Sensor Integration System for Bathymetric Surveys

Orangutans can make two sounds at the same time, similar to human beatboxing, study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

 

VIDEO: ORANGUTANS CAN MAKE TWO SEPARATE SOUNDS SIMULTANEOUSLY, MUCH LIKE SONGBIRDS OR HUMAN BEATBOXERS. view more 

CREDIT: ADRIANO R. LAMEIRA AND MADELEINE HARDUS.

Orangutans can make two separate sounds simultaneously, much like songbirds or human beatboxers, according to a study led by the University of Warwick.

Academics say the findings provide clues around the evolution of human speech, as well as human beatboxing.

Scientists observed two populations of vocalising orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra across a total of 3800 hours and found primates within both groups used the same vocal phenomenon.

Dr Adriano Lameira, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Warwick said: “Humans use the lips, tongue, and jaw to make the unvoiced sounds of consonants, while activating the vocal folds in the larynx with exhaled air to make the voiced, open sounds of vowels.

“Orangutans are also capable of producing both types of sounds—and both at once.

“For example, large male orangutans in Borneo will produce noises known as “chomps” in combination with “grumbles” in combative situations. Female orangutans in Sumatra produce “kiss squeaks” at the same time as “rolling calls” to alert others of a possible predator threat.

“The fact that two separate populations of orangutans were observed making two calls simultaneously, is proof that this is a biological phenomenon.”

Co-author and independent researcher Madeleine Hardus added: “Humans rarely produce voiced and voiceless noises simultaneously. The exception is beatboxing, a skilled vocal performance which mimicks the complex beats of hip hop music.

“But the very fact that humans are anatomically able to beatbox, raises questions about where that ability came from. We know now the answer could lie within the evolution of our ancestors.”

According to the authors, the vocal control and coordination abilities of wild great apes have been underestimated compared to the focus on the vocal abilities of birds.

“Producing two sounds, exactly how birds produce song, resembles spoken language but bird anatomy has no similarity to our own so it is difficult to make links between birdsong, and spoken human language,” continued Dr Hardus.

The new research has implications for the vocal capabilities of our shared ancestors and for the evolution of human speech—as well as human beatboxing. Dr Lameira said: “Now that we know this vocal ability is part of the great ape repertoire, we can’t ignore the evolutionary links.

“It could be possible that early human language resembled something that sounded more like beatboxing, before evolution organised language into the consonant – vowel structure that we know today.”

The paper, Wild orangutans can simultaneously use two independent vocal sound sources similarly to songbirds and human beatboxers, is published by PNAS Nexus.

ENDS

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JOURNAL

PNAS Nexus

DOI

10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad182 

ARTICLE TITLE

Wild orangutans can simultaneously use two independent vocal sound sources similarly to songbirds and human beatboxers

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jun-2023

Children the 'hidden victims' of modern slavery

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Dependant children of people impacted by human trafficking and modern slavery are being left unsupported and their needs overlooked, putting families at risk of intergenerational trauma.

A report by UniSA researcher Dr Nerida Chazal highlights the lack of recognition of dependants as victims themselves and the limited support they receive, putting their psychological and developmental needs at risk.

In Australia, only the police can formally refer victim-survivors to the official government funded Support for Trafficked People Program (STPP), run by the Australian Red Cross.

Currently, victim-survivors with dependants receive minimal additional funding to meet their parenting needs, such as access to family-friendly accommodation and childcare, legal support for dealing with child custody and family law disputes, visa, immigration and citizenship support, as well as the everyday supports needed in raising children.

Dr Chazal also says most dependants are not referred to the STPP as victim-survivors themselves.

“The number of dependants impacted by modern slavery aren’t formally captured in any government reporting and therefore don’t inform an overall understanding of modern slavery in Australia,” she says.

“They become hidden victims and their voices, needs and experiences aren’t recorded or recognised. Dependants can’t be holistically supported if they aren’t assessed as individual clients and victim survivors in their own right.”

Dr Chazal says this funding shortfall and lack of identification can significantly impact the recovery of victims and their families.

“It makes survivors more vulnerable to further exploitation and limits their ability to participate in criminal justice processes,” she says.

“This means that trauma can be passed down from parents to their children, making modern slavery an intergenerational issue in Australia, the effects of which will ripple through the community for decades to come.”

The report titled Hidden Victims, Intergenerational Trauma was released at the Australian Government’s Modern Slavery Conference today in Melbourne.

The report, funded by the Department of Social Services, details interviews with 38 experts, including victim-survivors on the STPP with dependants, Red Cross staff, Australian and overseas service providers and members of the Australian Federal Police.

Participants detailed the impact of the experiences and hardships of victim-survivors of serious exploitation as well as the key issues that victim-survivors with children face. 

Australian Red Cross Director of Australian Programs Vicki Mau says the research highlights a critical gap in support for victim-survivors.

“The majority of people who have experienced trafficking or modern slavery are focused on supporting their dependants first; the fear of being separated or not being able to meet their needs is a pressing concern,” she says.

“It is very difficult to address victim-survivors’ needs without addressing their dependants, especially if victim-survivors are full-time carers and/or single parents.”

The report calls on the Australian Government to amend the STPP eligibility criteria to ensure dependants are considered as individual clients.

The report finds that for dependants to be truly supported, it is essential that they are recognised as victims in their own right and referred to the STPP.

The Federal Government recently provided a funding boost of $23.4 million to increase and improve supports available for survivors including additional funding to support survivors with dependants.

Mau says the Red Cross welcomes the announcement of increased support.

“It is an important step towards recognising their needs.”

The boost will also establish a trial of an additional referral pathway for survivors to access support without having to report to police.

Given the new referral pathway, service providers will be key in recognising dependants as victims and referring them to the program.

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WORKERS CAPITAL

US public pensions could be $21 billion richer right now

New report says benefits of divesting from fossil fuels are environmental and financial

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

New research shows that U.S. public pension funds would be $21 billion richer had they divested from fossil fuels a decade ago.  

The study, out of the University of Waterloo in partnership with Stand.earth, analyzed the public equity portfolios of six major U.S. public pension funds, which collectively represent approximately 3.4 million people, to determine the effect divesting from their energy holdings would have had. In total, researchers estimate that the pension funds would have seen a return on their investments that was 13 per cent higher on average. 

Another analysis of the same eight U.S. public pension funds included in the report found that the carbon footprint that would have been reduced had they divested 10 years ago is equivalent to the emissions for powering 35 million homes per year. 

Researchers say the report proves that divesting creates additional financial value, lowers exposure to climate risks, and reduced the carbon footprint of portfolios.  

“Influential investors, like these large public pension funds, can bring about positive change on a few fronts,” said Dr. Olaf Weber, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at Waterloo. “Energy divestments can create higher returns for the funds, which leads to higher returns for the beneficiaries and reduced exposure to climate risks. Consequently, it leads to safer pensions.” 

The report also explored ways that recent changes in the performance of the energy sector due to major global events—such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine—would have influenced the funds. During the last three years, the value of the fossil fuel sector went up because of the reduced oil supply from Russia. Hence, divestment has not been that attractive from a financial point of view. However, the report found that even in times of high performance in the fossil fuel sector, divestment does not reduce financial returns in any significant way. 

“If climate chaos like fires and floods weren’t enough, this latest report strengthens the case even further that public pension funds must divest from fossil fuels as part of meeting their fiduciary duties,” said Amy Gray, senior climate finance strategist at Stand.earth. “As the longest-term investors for workers, the last thing pension funds should be doing is gambling with retirement and deferred wages of their members.”  

Future work will include going into more detail regarding the emissions of particular portfolio holdings on a per-holdings basis or analyzing the emissions of specific companies and then excluding those with the highest emissions. 

"This new Waterloo data hits home for me. My mom is a beneficiary of a public pension, and my family is depending on that retirement income for security," said Miguel Alatorre Jr., Fossil Free California.  "It's unconscionable to me that these funds are investing in fossil fuel companies driving climate change, heat waves, wildfires and flooding, all while losing income for workers.” 

The report, The Impact of Energy Investments on the Financial Value and the Emissions of Pension Funds, was presented at the IEEFA Energy Finance Conference on June 22.  

Scientists unveil shape-changing ‘morphobot’ that can walk, drive, and fly

Vishwam Sankaran
Wed, 28 June 2023 

Image of Morphobot (Eric Sihite et al., Nature Communications)

Scientists have designed a new robot nicknamed “morphobot” that can travel on different terrains, including land and air by shapeshifting its parts into wheels, propellers, or legs as required.

Researchers, including Alireza Ramezani from Northeastern University in the US, say the morphobot can transform its shape to navigate the environment by flying, rolling, crawling, crouching, balancing, and tumbling.

Several animals have adapted the use of their limbs to allow them to tackle different terrains.

Sea lions, for instance, walk on land using their flippers that they also use to swim, and meerkats use their hindlimbs to scout their surroundings.

Chukar birds have also shown adaptations to use their wings to walk on all fours up steep inclines.

Similarly, the morphobot, described this week in the journal Nature Communications, performs different modes of movement inspired by animals like birds, meerkats, and seals by mimicking the animals’ limb repurposing abilities.

The robot, which weighs 6kg (13lb), has four legs each comprising two joints, along with ducted fans fixed at the leg ends.

It spans 70cm in length and has a width and height of 35cm.

The new study shows that the morphobot’s fans can shapeshift to function either as legs, propellor thrusters, or wheels as required.

The robot has demonstrated the ability to alter its movements to walk on rough terrain, traverse steep slopes, tumble over large obstacles, fly to higher levels, and crawl under low-ceiling pathways.

Based on the study, researchers say future mobile robots can be designed with multi-functional limbs to navigate complex terrains by adapting their movement strategies.

The new innovation could help further improve the design of robots to traverse harsh environments, such as those used in search and rescue responses after natural disasters, space exploration, and automated package delivery.

The findings, according to scientists, demonstrate the advantages of designing robots with multipurpose appendages that can be used to travel over varied and challenging terrains.

Emulating how krill swim to build a robotic platform for ocean navigation

Developed by a team of Brown-led researchers, Pleobot is a krill-inspired robot offering potential solutions for underwater locomotion and ocean exploration, both on Earth and moons throughout the solar system.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BROWN UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: PLEOBOT IS A SMALL ROBOTIC PLATFORM THAT EMULATES KRILL-LIKE SWIMMING. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE WILHELMUS LAB.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Picture a network of interconnected, autonomous robots working together in a coordinated dance to navigate the pitch-black surroundings of the ocean while carrying out scientific surveys or search-and-rescue missions.

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, a team led by Brown University researchers has presented important first steps in building these types of underwater navigation robots. In the study, the researchers outline the design of a small robotic platform called Pleobot that can serve as both a tool to help researchers understand the krill-like swimming method and as a foundation for building small, highly maneuverable underwater robots.

Pleobot is currently made of three articulated sections that replicate krill-like swimming called metachronal swimming. To design Pleobot, the researchers took inspiration from krill, which are remarkable aquatic athletes and display mastery in swimming, accelerating, braking and turning. They demonstrate in the study the capabilities of Pleobot to emulate the legs of swimming krill and provide new insights on the fluid-structure interactions needed to sustain steady forward swimming in krill.

According to the study, Pleobot has the potential to allow the scientific community to understand how to take advantage of 100 million years of evolution to engineer better robots for ocean navigation.

“Experiments with organisms are challenging and unpredictable,” said Sara Oliveira Santos, a Ph.D. candidate at Brown’s School of Engineering and lead author of the new study. “Pleobot allows us unparalleled resolution and control to investigate all the aspects of krill-like swimming that help it excel at maneuvering underwater. Our goal was to design a comprehensive tool to understand krill-like swimming, which meant including all the details that make krill such athletic swimmers.”

The effort is a collaboration between Brown researchers in the lab of Assistant Professor of Engineering Monica Martinez Wilhelmus and scientists in the lab of Francisco Cuenca-Jimenez at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

A major aim of the project is to understand how metachronal swimmers, like krill, manage to function in complex marine environments and perform massive vertical migrations of over 1,000 meters — equivalent to stacking three Empire State Buildings — twice daily.

“We have snapshots of the mechanisms they use to swim efficiently, but we do not have comprehensive data,” said Nils Tack, a postdoctoral associate in the Wilhelmus lab. “We built and programmed a robot that precisely emulates the essential movements of the legs to produce specific motions and change the shape of the appendages. This allows us to study different configurations to take measurements and make comparisons that are otherwise unobtainable with live animals.”

The metachronal swimming technique can lead to remarkable maneuverability that krill frequently display through the sequential deployment of their swimming legs in a back to front wave-like motion. The researchers believe that in the future, deployable swarm systems can be used to map Earth’s oceans, participate in search-and-recovery missions by covering large areas, or be sent to moons in the solar system, such as Europa, to explore their oceans.

“Krill aggregations are an excellent example of swarms in nature: they are composed of organisms with a streamlined body, traveling up to one kilometer each way, with excellent underwater maneuverability,” Wilhelmus said. “This study is the starting point of our long-term research aim of developing the next generation of autonomous underwater sensing vehicles. Being able to understand fluid-structure interactions at the appendage level will allow us to make informed decisions about future designs.”

The researchers can actively control the two leg segments and have passive control of Pleobot’s biramous fins. This is believed to be the first platform that replicates the opening and closing motion of these fins. The construction of the robotic platform was a multi-year project, involving a multi-disciplinary team in fluid mechanics, biology and mechatronics.

The researchers built their model at 10 times the scale of krill, which are usually about the size of a paperclip. The platform is primarily made of 3D printable parts and the design is open-access, allowing other teams to use Pleobot to continue answering questions on metachronal swimming not just for krill but for other organisms like lobsters.

In the published study, the group reveals the answer to one of the many unknown mechanisms of krill swimming: how they generate lift in order not to sink while swimming forward. If krill are not swimming constantly, they will start sinking because they are a little heavier than water. To avoid this, they still have to create some lift even while swimming forward to be able to remain at that same height in the water, said Oliveira Santos.

“We were able to uncover that mechanism by using the robot,” said Yunxing Su, a postdoctoral associate in the lab. “We identified an important effect of a low-pressure region at the back side of the swimming legs that contributes to the lift force enhancement during the power stroke of the moving legs.”

In the coming years, the researchers hope to build on this initial success and further build and test the designs presented in the article. The team is currently working to integrate morphological characteristics of shrimp into the robotic platform, such as flexibility and bristles around the appendages.

The work was partially funded by a NASA Rhode Island EPSCoR Seed Grant.

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JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-36185-2 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Pleobot: a modular robotic solution for metachronal swimming

UK

Steelworkers to stage protest outside Parliament

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Wed, 28 June 2023

Hundreds of steel workers will stage a protest outside Parliament on Wednesday as new figures show almost 150,000 jobs have been lost in the industry over the past 40 years.

The GMB union said its research suggests that, between 1981 and 2021, almost 80% of jobs in the entire steel sector have gone.

Workers from across the country will march from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square calling for a “proper industrial strategy” and relief from the energy costs unions say are crippling the steel sector.

Charlotte Childs, GMB national officer, said: “Under this Government’s watch, the UK’s proud steel industry is being allowed to wither and die.

“Almost 150,000 jobs have gone – close to 80% of the entire steel workforce.

“A lack of industrial strategy and no support for crippling energy costs have left the industry at risk of ‘steel dumping’ from overseas.

“We need action now, or the industry as we know it will cease to exist.”

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community, said: “Britain needs its steel industry, our country is made from it – the roads we drive, the bridges we cross, the hospitals that heal us and the schools our children learn in.

“But the UK Government must decide whether it wants a steel industry in this country.

“In the absence of Government backing, we face Britain’s proud history of steelmaking coming to an end.

“Our steel industry cannot survive if we continue to pay far more for energy than our EU competitors and it cannot decarbonise if the Government doesn’t support the transition toward net zero.

“Steelworkers don’t ask for handouts – simply the chance to compete on a level playing field and to protect an industry of crucial national importance.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: “This Government believes that steel plays a vital role in the UK economy, supporting local jobs and economic growth.

“We introduced the British Industry Supercharger to make our steel industry more competitive by bringing down energy prices and protecting the UK steel industry from unfair trading practices.

“We are working closely with the sector to secure a sustainable, decarbonised and competitive future for steel.”

Federal board sides with Navajo coal company, says BNSF Railway must ship to Canadian port


Tue, June 27, 2023 
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal board has sided with one of the largest coal producers in the United States in a contract dispute with a major freight railroad, ordering BNSF Railway to transport at least 4.2 million tons of coal this year for overseas use.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s 3-2 order last week said BNSF has the ability to fulfill the contract and still meet the needs of other shippers.

The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. sought the order in April. The company had filed a lawsuit late last year saying that major shortcomings in BNSF service cost it $150 million in lost revenue this year and another $15 million in charges when coal wasn’t loaded in a timely manner onto ships destined for Japan and Korea.

The transportation board said NTEC was highly likely to succeed on the merits of its claim.

“The common carrier obligation is a core tenet of the Board’s regulation of the freight railroad industry and is a pillar of the railroads’ responsibility to our country’s economy,” Chairman Martin Oberman said in a statement Friday.

The Navajo Nation-owned energy company runs three coal mines in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming and another near Farmington, New Mexico — making it the third-largest coal company in the country.

The board also said NTEC was likely to suffer damage to its reputation as a dependable coal supplier, and that the order meets the public good because NTEC plays a critical role in the Navajo Nation’s economy.

BNSF Railway and NTEC did not immediately respond to emails Tuesday seeking comment about the board's decision or the status of the coal company's lawsuit.

The board says BNSF must move 23 trains of coal per month for NTEC beginning immediately, and another six trains per month when additional trains and crew become available. The additional capacity would total 1 million tons, the board said.

Like other freight railroads, BNSF struggled to deliver products on time and handle all the shipments that companies want to move because of worker shortages coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the dissenting board members, Patrick Fuchs, said NTEC didn’t meet its contracted tonnage requirements with BNSF in 2020 and that the company then sought a contract with BNSF without tonnage requirements.

The coal company's lawsuit, filed in December in federal court in Montana, alleged the railroad breached its 2022 contract to transport 5.5 million tons of coal. According to the lawsuit, BNSF said in the spring of last year that it could commit to delivering only 3.1 million tons of coal.

BNSF has said the 2022 contract called for transporting up to 5.5 million tons but did not set a minimum guarantee, Fuchs said in his dissent.

The lawsuit also alleged BNSF favored other coal companies that ship on the railroad.

The Associated Press

 

Unrest in Paris after 17-year-old boy shot dead by police

By Euronews  with AFP  •  Updated: 28/06/2023 - 08:50

The officer accused of shooting the teen has been detained on homicide charges.

Unrest erupted overnight in Paris after a 17-year-old was shot dead by traffic police. 

The teenager, named Naël M, had allegedly failed to stop when ordered to by officers. 

The tragedy, which has reignited controversy over police conduct, happened Tuesday morning near the Nanterre-Préfecture RER station, in the suburbs of the French capital.

Officers initially claimed his vehicle had rammed into two police motorcyclists.

But a video circulating on social media, authenticated by AFP, shows one officer holding the driver up at gunpoint, then firing at point-blank range. 

"You're going to get shot in the head" can be heard in the clip, though this sentence cannot be attributed to a particular person. 

The car shoots forward a few meters, then crashes into a post. 

Naël M died of bullet wounds to the chest, despite help from emergency services. 

The 38-year-old officer accused of shooting him has been taken into custody on homicide charges. 

The teenager's death and its circumstances sparked protests in Nanterre, a popular area west of the French capital where he lived. 

Unrest was also recorded in several neighbourhoods by the authorities. 

Cars, bus stops and bins were set alight, according to AFP. The police tried to disperse small groups of rioters with tear gas.

Twenty people were arrested, according to Paris authorities.

Two separate investigations have been opened following the 17-year-old's death. One focuses on intentional homicide by a public official. The other will look at the driver's failure to stop his vehicle and alleged attempt to kill a police officer. 

Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry said he was "shocked" by the video of the incident, which drew wide condemnation. 

"The death penalty no longer exists in France. No policeman has the right to kill except in self-defence", wrote left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, suggesting the police should be "entirely refounded ".

At the National Assembly, Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin said the images were "extremely shocking". 

In 2022, 13 deaths were recorded after refusals to comply during roadside checks, a record.