A just published thesis claims that with the help of polymers, plastics, which are already manufactured on a large scale, it is possible to manufacture transistors that are fast and can run on small printed batteries, where the drive voltage is around 1 volt.
Printed solar cells on paper
The Institute for Print and Media Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology presents solar panels, which are printed with special inks with electrical properties on standard paper.
What is Gingivitis – Top Tips for Healthy Gum
Did you know that according to recent expert estimates that more than 80% of people around the world don’t know what is gingivitis. That’s a staggering factoid, considering that gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss during the present day.
Fortunately, there are ways that you can go about and get to know what is gingivitis. In this article, find out why you get this gum disease, and what actions that you can take to change your daily oral routine for the effective
Why Do We Get Gingivitis?
The primary reason people fail to understand what is gingivitis and its importance is because of ineffective oral health care. Proper daily oral health care regiments will serve as an effective answer to What is Gingivitis. But most people don’t brush their teeth or floss as often as they should be doing, and they don’t take enough vitamins, in addition to not using mouthwash or a tongue scraper.Read more...
AyurGold for Healthy Blood
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New Leica DFC365 FX Fluorescence Camera for Live Cell Imaging
Acquire Brilliant Fluorescence Images at Ultra-high Speed
Wetzlar, Germany. To successfully document live cells and rapidly fading fluorescence specimens, a camera technology particularly designed for the purpose is indispensable. The new Leica DFC365 FX digital microscope camera from Leica Microsystems combines exceptional image quality with very high temporal resolution for rapid time-lapse recordings. The Leica DFC365 FX is setting new standards in its class enabling researchers to work efficiently, even with weakly fluorescing specimens. Equipped with a highly sensitive CCD sensor (pixel size 6.45 µm) and active Peltier cooling, it is ideal for a wide range of applications – from basic fluorescence documentation to demanding experiments such as TIRF, FRET or structured illumination.
The Leica DFC365 FX achieves hitherto unattainable acquisition rates of 21 fps at full resolution. In
"Overlapping Mode“, an image can be captured while the previous image is still being read out. Data are transferred rapidly to the PC via a FireWire-B interface. Besides high-speed image acquisition at 40 MHz, the pixel clocking rate of the sensor can also be set to 20 MHz or 1.6 MHz as required. This yields brilliant fluorescence images with a superb signal-to-noise ratio.
The optional NIR (Near Infra-Red) Mode extends the operating range of the camera for fluorescence markers emitting in the wavelength range above 700 nm, which are difficult to capture with conventional CCD technology.
Source:What are the main benefits of medical software?
Software Advice recently hosted a survey on its blog asking physicians to voice their opinions on the benefits of electronic medical record (EMR) software. The results are in, and over 50 physicians voiced their opinions on the subject. While this is a relatively small sample - considering over two thousand physicians have successfully attested Meaningful Use, some interesting trends were clearly found in the data.
You can find the full results here: Benefits of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software | 2011 Physician Survey. Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the most interesting findings.
Top Rated Benefits of EMRs
Over 65% of participants agreed on the top four benefits: greater accessibility of charts, greater note legibility, more accurate and up-to-date patient information, and improved coordination of treatment by more than one provider. A reason for these being some of the most common benefits may be the proliferation of web-based electronic medical record systems, along with new mobile EMR applications.
Some of the main objectives of the HITECH Act were to improve the accessibility of patient information and improve the coordination of treatment by multiple providers, so it’s good to see that the participants agreed that these were some of the main benefits.
Most Common EMR Solutions and their Top Benefits
The survey also asked which EMRs physicians were using. Here are the three most cited benefits of the five most commonly used systems:
- reduces paperwork and space requirements
- reduces administrative and staff expensive
- improves collection rates
- reduces transcription costs
- greater note legibility
- reduces paperwork
- greater legibility of notes
- greater accessibility of charts
- enhanced clinical documentation
- greater chart accessibility
- greater note legibility
- fewer medical errors
- reduced transcription costs
- improved coordination of treatment by more than on provider
- improved accuracy of coding
For a full recap of the analysis, before sure to check out the blog post.
Source:Aperio looking for a Healthcare Product Analyst
The Product Analyst, Healthcare works with customers to understand, analyze and document product requirements to meet customer needs in the market to enable Aperio to keep and grow current business and obtain new business. You will work closely with Aperio Software Developers to translate these market requirements to produce functional specifications and be able to lead your peers to ensure that they understand and approve the specifications to meet the market needs for Aperio’s digital pathology systems.
The Product Analyst, Healthcare is someone who can:
• Participate in the product line life cycle from strategic planning to tactical activities
• Spend time in the market to understand the problems, and find innovative solutions for the broader market
• Refine market requirements for current and future products by on-going visits to customers and noncustomers-define marketing and product requirements with prioritized features
• Demonstrate a unique blend of business and technical savvy; a big-picture vision, and the drive to make that vision a reality
• Increase the profitability of existing products and to developing new products • Define functional requirements for products, specifically SecondSlide consultation network and laboratory information system interfaces, and work with engineering to define product release requirements and to develop detailed product specifications • Build products from existing ideas, and help to develop new ideas based on your industry experience and your contact with customers and prospects
• Work with quality assurance to develop test plans and assist in verifying developed functionality • Serve as an internal and external evangelist for your product offerings, working with the sales channel and key customers, and help train operations personnel in the use of the products you specify
• Work closely product team and marketing communications on go-to-market strategies, understand product positioning, key benefits, and target customers • Represent the company at conferences and trade show
Qualifications:
• Healthcare background working with pathology applications in hospital, reference lab, or Healthcare vendor companies. Experience with laboratory information system interfaces is a plus
• Understanding of anatomic pathology lab workflow is highly desired • Capable communicator and be comfortable working with healthcare customers, product team members, development and test engineers, sales, and marketing personnel at all levels • Proven teamwork and people skills; excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills • Ability to write detailed documents and specifications
• Able to work effectively in a collaborative environment and lead cross-functional teams, contribute solutions, and remain flexible in a fast-paced and changing environment • Customer focus with strong technical background; well developed analytical skills; excellent product design skills. Experience as a computer user of technical applications
• Experience in human factors analysis (e.g. workflow analysis, storyboarding). • Willing to spend time in the field (up to approx. 30% travel), developing relationships with customers and vendor partners to create detailed product requirement specifications.
• Technical and/or pathology background desirable
• High energy and self motivated
Requirements:
• BS/BA in healthcare field or engineering (MS/MA and/or Ph.D. desirable) Rev. 2011-05• 5+ years experience (or equivalent education) in healthcare field, working for hospital, reference lab, research organization, or Healthcare vendor companies.
• Blend of Business and Technical savvy
Location and type:
• Full-time employment in Vista, California – Local Candidates Only – No Relocation
Compensation and benefits:
Aperio pays our great people salaries commensurate with market value, and provides full benefits including health benefits and a 401(k) plan. All Aperio employees participate in our stock option plan.
To Apply:
Send your resume to jobs@aperio.com. Please include the position title.
Aperio is committed to attracting and retaining the most highly qualified candidates available. As an Aperio employee you will be consistently challenged to deliver your best. Because we provide our customers the best technologies and service in the industry, you will constantly develop new skills, learn new products, and be involved in activities that are highly valued in the marketplace. At Aperio, we value our customers as partners, and therefore strive to deliver excellence in everything we do.
Aperio is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We support workforce diversity.
Source:Definiens Symposium 2011 Approaching
The program for the 2011 the 2011 Definiens Symposium is approaching completion and it provides an interesting mixture of insights into the deployment of image analysis solutions in both industry and academia. Key note lectures will be given by Prof Dr Manfred Dietel (Director of the Institute of Pathology, Charité, Berlin, Germany; talk title: ‘Virtual Microscopy on the Stony Way to Revolutionize Anatomic Pathology’) and Dr Robert Gillies (Vice Chair Radiology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL; talk title: ‘Multiscalar Image Analysis: A Window onto Tumor Heterogeneity’).Thomas Heydler (CEO Definiens) will highlight how Definiens’ image analysis can support clincal decisions.
Register today to ensure your seat at the leading event for Definiens Image Analysis users around the world in Cancer Research, Pharmaceutical & Biotech, Clinical & Academic settings.
Housing will close September 27th, for special discounted rates. If you want to contribute a poster, please send an email to academy@definiens.com by September 16th.
The Definiens Team is looking forward having you join us for this event.
Source:FREE WHITE PAPER: Cleaning Up Your Laboratory’s Fecal Occult Blood Testing Program: New Opportunities for Better Patient Compliance, Increased Accuracy, and a Happier Staff
FREE Special Edition White Paper
Download Your FREE Special Report Today!
Simply Complete the Form Below
CRC is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. As of 2011, The American Cancer Society estimates 101,700 new cases of colon cancer and 39,510 new cases of rectal cancer. CRC is expected to cause about 49,380 deaths during 2011.
CRC is preventable through regular screening. Unlike many other types of cancer, CRC is easily curable if found early and can be prevented by removing precancerous polyps. Both polyps and early-stage cancers are usually asymptomatic. Compared with these lesions, cancers that have grown large enough to cause symptoms have a much worse prognosis.
This contrast highlights the need for screening in asymptomatic persons. In fact, if everyone aged 50 or older had regular screening tests, at least one-third of deaths from this CRC could be avoided.
The Dark Report is happy to offer our readers a chance to download our recently published FREE White Paper “Cleaning Up Your Laboratory’s Fecal Occult Blood Testing Program: New Opportunities for Better Patient Compliance, Increased Accuracy, and a Happier Staff” at absolutely no charge. This free download will provide readers with a detailed explanation on how improve you lab’s FOB testing program.
Among other topics, this FREE White Paper specifically addresses:
- Risk Factors for CRC
- FOB Testing Market
- The Pros and Cons of Traditional CFOBT
- How to specifically improve the testing FOBT process
For more about FOB Testing improvements, please CLICK HERE
Table of Contents
Introduction — Page 4
Chapter 1. FOBT Market Summary — Page 5
Chapter 2. Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer: Traditional Testing Practices— Page 6
Chapter 3.
Immunoassay Test Opens the Door to Improved Colorectal Cancer Diagnostics — Page 8
Chapter 4. Implications for the Laboratory — Page 12
Chapter 5. Assessing the Opportunity — Page 14
Chapter 6. Case Study: Phoenix Indian Medical Center — Page 16
Chapter 7. Conclusion — Page 19
References — Page 20
Source:Slide Scanner Hits Market for $25K
DigiPath Releases Most Affordable Digital Pathology Slide Scanner
Henderson, Nevada, USA, September 12, 2011
DigiPath, Inc®, a provider of affordable, innovative, and reliable digital pathology solutions, releases PathScope™, the most affordable digital pathology scanner available worldwide. The PathScope solution includes viewing and image server software applications. The PathScope 1S list price is $24,999 with leasing options at $999 per month.
For a 15% discount certificate, register your name and email this week in top left corner at http://www.digipath.biz/. Certificate to redeem by December 1, 2011.
PathScope provides superior image quality, fast scanning times, and 1, 2, 3 or 30 slide capacities. Resolution options include .23m/pixel and .46 ?m/pixel. The PathScope innovation includes open source software compliant, live option, and multiple file format support. The PathScope reliability is supported by a standard service level agreement, and a 14 day validation period.
"DigiPath's team participated in the development of 10 scanning hardware systems which have been deployed at over 1500 sites worldwide," said Eric Stoppenhagen, Chief Executive Offer of DigiPath. "DigiPath brings this digital pathology product development expertise to PathScope, the MOST AFFORDABLE digital pathology system worldwide."
See http://www.digipath.biz/Services.html for further technical specifications.
Source:Digital Pathology Blog Recognized Among Best Medical Technician Blogs
The folks over at onlineuniversitydegree.org recently passed along word that the Digital Pathology Blog made their list of Top 50 Best Medical Technician Blogs. Their website with their picks relates:
"From X-rays to ultrasounds, many kinds of technology have been instrumental in changing the face of medicine. Are you interested in using these kinds of tools while pursuing a career in medical assisting? Or maybe you are curious about the latest advances in medical technology. We have looked far and wide for the top 50 medical technician blogs. So get ready to hear jaw-dropping EMT tales, thought-provoking radiology ruminations, and all about the life-saving technology that fuels modern medicine."
Check out their picks for many great blogs related to health, medicine and medical technology.
Source:Follow CAP ’11 on Twitter
Source:Fritz Kahn: Making Sense of the Human Body, Lecture, NYC, September 21
Wow. News of this awesome sounding lecture just in; Hope to see you there!
Fritz Kahn: Making Sense of the Human Body
Date: Wednesday, September 21
Registration will begin at 7:00pm.
Presentation will begin at 7:30pm.
Price: $12We are pleased to have Thilo von Debschitz from Germany in our next SenseMaker Dialogs to speak on Fritz Kahn. Born in 1888, Fritz Kahn was a doctor and a world-famous popular science writer who illustrated the form and function of the human body with spectacular, modern industrial analogies. Kahn's magnum opus, the five-volume series Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of Man), was published in 1922 to international accolade; his intricate and elegant depictions of the human body as a functioning machine influenced artists and scientists for decades to come. Fritz Lang's film Metropolis was greatly inspired by Fritz Kahn's aesthetic.
However, Fritz Kahn's sucess was abruptly ended when the Nazis rose to power. Because of the oppressive censorship during the Third Reich, most of the works by Fritz Kahn, a Jewish intellectual, were banned, publicly burned and destroyed. In pursuit of Kahn's nearly lost legacy, Thilo and his sister Uta tracked down rare gems in second-hand books stores, combed international archives, and followed biographical leads from far-flung sources. The result is the first monograph about Fritz Kahn published worldwide, Fritz Kahn–Man Machine, which Thilo will speak about on September 21.
Thilo von Debschitz, a German designer and art director, worked at well-known international advertising and design agencies before founding his own creative agency Q in 1997. Q has won numerous national and international awards and honors, such as the European Design Award in 2011, in communication design, interactive design, and print design.
In addition to his agency business, Thilo von Debschitz enjoys editorial projects. His recent, most passionate book project was initiated by mere chance and published in collaboration with his sister, Uta: Fritz Kahn–Man Machine, the first monograph about Dr. Fritz Kahn (1888-1968). Fritz Kahn–Man Machine offers readers an overview of the life and work of Fritz Kahn, a pioneer of information design, whose genius lay in his ability to bring clarity to the mysteries of nature through analogies, metaphors, and humor. At the SenseMaker Dialogs, Thilo von Debschitz will not only present an introduction to Fritz Kahn, but also discuss cognitive visual concepts by other creative thinkers, some of whom have been influenced by Fritz Kahn’s work.
For more, and to purchase tickets, click here. For more on the book Fritz Kahn–Man Machine--and to purchase a copy--click here. Also: added bonus: I have heard a rumor that there will some original Fritz Kahn artifacts on hand at the lecture... another reason to make it out of the house that evening.
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Artist's Talk: The Creation of The Cosmorama of the Great Dreamland Fire at The Coney Island Museum, Sept. 22
As many of you already know, I am currently fulfilling the role of artist in residence at The Coney Island Museum. As such, last April I launched an exhibition there in collaboration with artist Aaron Beebe that will be on view until April of this year. Entitled "The Great Coney Island Spectacularium," the exhibition aims to explore, celebrate, and evoke through installation, artifacts, and newly commissioned works turn of the 20th Century Coney Island with its bizarre, spectacular and, amazingly, forgotten immersive amusements.
Although this seems nearly unbelievable, on an average day in Coney Island around 1900, one might be able to experience one or more of the following: A midget village modeled on 16th century Nuremberg and featuring its own parliament, hotel, stables with midget ponies, vaudeville house, and midget fire department rushing off to put out imaginary fires; A recreation of the destruction of Pompeii by volcano, San Francisco by earthquake, Galveston by flood, and/or Titanic by iceburg; Freakishly small premature infants battling for their lives in infant incubators; A recreation village of the head-hunting Bontac Tribe of the Philippines with real tribespeople on display; An immersive spectacular which staged tenement fires every half hour and featured a cast of 2,000; A Boer War reenactment featuring real Boer War veterans; A trip to the moon, under the sea, or to heaven and hell by way of being buried alive in a glass coffin; and, as they say, much, much more. How could this have all been forgotten, we ask in this exhibition, and our memory of Coney Island sanitized to a place of mere hotdogs, roller coasters, petty crime and freaks? What does it say about who we are now, and what have we lost in this historical omission?
The centerpiece of our exhibition is The Cosmorama of the Great Dreamland Fire, which is an immersive 360 degree spectacle based on the great panoramas and cosmoramas that populated Coney Island in the 19th century. It tells the story with image, sound, and light of the most spectacular disaster in Coney Island history: the complete and dramatic destruction of Dreamland, one of the three great parks that made up turn of the century Coney Island, by fire 100 years ago in 1911. Dreamland was never rebuilt, but had it been, Beebe and I are certain it would have given pride of place to a disaster spectacle that allowed visitors to experience the great fire that had destroyed it. The Cosmorama of the Great Dreamland Fire is our attempt to create the attraction that should have been, and to allow contemporary audiences to experience a 19th century-style immersive spectacle of the sort celebrated in the exhibition.
Next Thursday September 22, the crew behind the construction and conception of The Cosmorama--myself included--will be at The Coney Island Museum giving a presentation about the making of the piece, followed by guided tours of the exhibition. We will also be on hand to answer any questions you might have.
I think this will be a really great event. And for those of you who have yet to make it out to see the exhibition, a great excuse to finally make the trek and have a beer in the Cosmorama!
Full details follow. Very much hope very much to see you there!
Date: Thursday, September 22
Time: 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Admission: $5, Free for Coney Island USA Members.
Loction: The Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Avenue, BrooklynThe Cosmorama of the Great Dreamland Fire is the first Cyclorama in Coney Island since Luna Park met its own fiery demise in the 1940's. The art of creating a full-scale immersive Victorian entertainment was lost to Coney Island's denizens until this year. Find out how the Coney Island Museum resurrected the theatrical skills and the know-how necessary to create a 360-degree painted panorama with sound and lights for the 21st century.
Aaron Beebe, director of the Coney Island Museum; Joanna Ebenstein, Artist in residence for 2011; and their collaborators will be on hand to discuss the ins-and-outs and the technology behind the Cosmorama, with detailed technical descriptions from the lighting designers, the scenic artists, and the producers of this new and exciting spectacle.
Beebe and Ebenstein will be joined by the artisans and craftspeople from the Metropolitan Opera and other institutions who helped make this work possible. Guided tours of the Cosmorama will be held.
More on The Great Coney Island Spectacularium can be found here. More on The Cosmorama can be found here.
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Call for Papers: Sensualising Deformity: Communication and Construction of Monstrous Embodiment, Edinburgh, June 15-16
I just got word of a call for papers for an excellent sounding upcoming conference. Details below:
The University of Edinburgh
Sensualising Deformity: Communication and Construction of Monstrous Embodiment
June 15-16, 2012Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
Prof. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
George Washington UniversityDr. Peter Hutchings
Northumbria UniversityFrom freak exhibitions and fairs, medical examinations and discoveries to various portrayals in arts and literature, images of deformity (or monstrosity, used separately or interchangeably depending on context) have captivated us for centuries. The result is a significant body of critical and artistic works where these bodies are dissected, politicized, exhibited, objectified or even beatified. Nonetheless, there remains a gap, an unexplored, unspoken or neglected aspect of this complex field of study which needs further consideration. This two-day interdisciplinary conference aims to bring the senses and the sensuous back to the monstrous or deformed body from the early modern period through to the mid-twentieth century, and seeks to explore its implications in diverse academic fields.
We hope to bring together scholars and students from a wide range of disciplines to engage in a constructive dialogue, network, and exchange ideas and experiences, connecting a community of researchers who share a fascination with deformity, monstrosity, and freakery.
Possible topics may include (but are not limited to):
- Spectacle/fetishisation of monstrosity and deformity; monstrous sexuality/eroticisation
- The monster as a catalyst of progression/ historical perspectives
- Monstrous symbolism, prodigality, or beatification
- The racialised body; exoticising difference
- Monstrosity in medical literature; disability narratives
- Monstrous becoming; the ‘sensed’ body
- Deformed aesthetics; monstrosity in the visual arts
- (De) gendering the deformed body; humanisation vs objectification
We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations from established scholars, postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students from various teratological backgrounds, e.g. in literature, history, media and art studies, philosophy, religious studies, history of science,medical humanities, and critical and cultural theory. Proposals should be no more than 300 words, in .doc format, and should include a brief 50-word biography.
Please submit your abstracts no later than 31 January 2012 to sdefconference@ed.ac.uk
Dr. Karin Sellberg (The University of Edinburgh)
Ally Crockford (The University of Edinburgh)
Maja Milatovic (The University of Edinburgh)
For more info, visit the conference blog by clicking here.
Image: From the conference blog, where they cite the images as courtesy of the BMJ Publishing Group, BMJ 1889, June 8; 1(1484): 1288–1289.
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The Midnight Archive Episode 1: Modern Day Mummies, Online and Available for Viewing!
The Midnight Archives: Tales From the Observatory is a new web-based documentary series "centered around the esoteric and always exotic personalities that spring from Observatory," the Brooklyn-based event/gallery space I run with a handful of other collaborators. The series is created and directed by film-maker Ronni Thomas, who has plans to upload approximately one new episode per week to the new Midnight Archive website.
Episode one, entitled Modern Day Mummies--which documents the work of Sorceress Cagliastro, our esteemed Observatory mummification instructor--has just been uploaded and is now available for viewing! You can check out the video above, but make sure to keep visiting The Midnight Archive website (which can be found here) or sign up for their mailer in order to catch exciting, soon-to-be-uploaded episodes featuring such Observatory luminaries as anthropomorphic taxidermy teacher Sue Jeiven, automaton keeper Jere Ryder, and occult walking tour mastermind Mitch Horowitz. You can get a sense of some of the other pieces and personalities you have to look forward to by viewing the teaser on Boing Boing by clicking here.
And, just a quick FYI: We have a few last openings for Sorceress Cagliastro's next mummification class, which will take place October 9th; if you are interested in enrolling, please email me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com; more on the class can be found here.
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Embodied Fantasies: Multi-disciplnary Conference, SVA, October 28-30 2011
I have just been alerted to a pretty fantastic sounding conference that will be taking place at School of Visual Arts in New York City this October. Details follow; hope to see you there!
Embodied Fantasies:
International Conference
October 28-30 2011
SVA, Fine Arts Building
335 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011Embodied Fantasies, a concept central to art history, theory and practice is concurrently a topic debated in the fields of the neuro-and-cognitive sciences, philosophy and phenomenology. This theme will be addressed in a transdisciplinary conference hosting scholars and artists from the fields of architecture, art history, visual art, history of science and psychology among others. Discussions will focus on concepts of embodiment as they relate to sexuality, aesthetics, epistemology, perception and fantasy itself. Approaches to the role of fantasies will be viewed beyond traditional conceptions to include complex thinking processes, subjectivity, and the inter-subjective. Prominent attention will be paid to fantasies and images as a form of knowledge production.
Panel I: Oxymoronic Places and Spaces
Alex Arteaga: What Is a Fantasy in a Non-given World?
Sabine Flach: Negotiations and Metamorphosis: Visualizing Carsten Höllers' SOMA
Suzanne Anker: Neo-Neuro: Untangling Utopia
Boris Goesl: Star Arts or Celestial Embodiments
Dan Hutto: Moderator
Panel II: Ghost Hearts
Mark Dery: (title pending)
Alva Noe: Making Pictures, Making Worlds Available
Sabine Flach: ModeratorPanel III: Thwarted Expectations
Gerhard Scharbert: Fantasias: Experimental Induced Psychosis and Modern Aesthetics in 19th Century France
Arthur Miller: Creative Processes Within Fantasies: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung Frank Gillette: Experimental Epistemology: Patterns That Connect Dan Hutto: Embodied Imaginings
Alex Arteaga: ModeratorPlenary Speakers
Gabriele Brandstetter: Fantasies of the Catastrophe: Embodiment and Kinaesthetic Awareness in the Performance-installation of Naoko Tanaka's "Die Scheinwerferin" (2011)
Sabine Flach and Suzanne Anker: ModeratorsPanel IV: Pose and Expose
Alexander Schwan: Body Calligraphies: Dance as an Embodied Fantasy of Writing
Nicola Hille: Embodied Fantasies: Spencer Tunick's Body Sculptures
Shelley Rice: The Grass is Always Greener: Self-Portraiture in the Age of Facebook
Suzanne Anker: ModeratorPanel V: Between the Flesh and the Shell
McKenzie Wark: A Minimum of Serious Seduction: The Situationist International as Embodied Fantasies
Zoran Terzi?: From Phantasia to Phantasma – Embodied Notions and the Anticipation of Politics Through the Arts
Frank Gillette: ModeratorPanel VI: Shadowing Fire
Margareta Hesse: Carousels of Perception
Romana Filzmoser: Chimerizing the Body: Art theoretical Concepts of Fantasy in Italian and English 17 Century Obscene Literature
Laura Taler: SPIEGELEI: Affect as Lever
Mathius Kessler: (title pending)
Arthur Miller: ModeratorGeneral Public: $150
Graduate and Undergraduate Students: $75
Order tickets via Eventbrite by clicking here.Conference Organizers
Suzanne Anker
Chair, BFA Fine Arts Department
School of Visual Arts, NYCPD Dr. Sabine Flach
Visiting Scholar
BFA Fine Arts Department
School of Visual Arts, NYC
You can see the full schedule and get more details by clicking here. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.
Image: Suzanne Anker, Embodied Fantasies, 2011. Inkjet print.
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Art Project Converted Billboards Into Swingset Deathtraps [Past Perfect]
Really, a swingset suspended over the ground at billboard height with nothing but some wire fencing at your feet to prevent an accident? I struggled with the tags for this retro-inspired oldie-but-insanie post. Ultimately "art" beat out "lawsuit." More »
Why Yes, Ma’am, This Airbus A380 Was Printed On Demand By a Computer [Past Perfect]
What's old is new (and better) again thanks to 3D printing techniques under the employ of Airbus. Seen above are two parts. The simpler one was created using conventional manufacturing techniques. And by conventional I mean, of course, soon-to-be obsolete. More »
Book Excerpt: Taking the Leap
Pema Chodron's daily practice to humanize the people we pass on the street.
The Sustainability of Food Production
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net
Angela Ryan
How the world will be fed in coming years is a highly controversial issue. Not only is the world population increasing exponentially, we are also quickly depleting the non-renewable resources which our current agricultural practices depend on – namely ground water, oil, gas and nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium.
The UN has predicted that the population would peek at 9.5 billion by the year 2070, in other words, the population will increase by a third of todays population. It has also been recognised that we will have to feed this population without increasing the space in which we grow crops. In fact, due to increasing urbanisation and desertification, space in which to produce food is decreasing.
Some claim that normal yield increases will be enough to feed the world, but yields are increasing less every year – much less than demand is growing. Others claim that Genetically Modified (GM) plants are the answer. However, a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists has found that GM crops are not only expensive for farmers, but despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialisation, GM crops have had no significant impact on crop yields. More so, the paper concludes that GM technology is not likely to increase yields in the foreseeable future.
In the near future, farmers may have difficulty maintaining their current yields, let alone increasing them. Current farming practices are extremely ‘high input’ – meaning that to grow their crops, they input large amounts of pesticides, fertiliser, and water. This method of farming is exceptionally energy intensive - In the USA, an average of 1,000L of oil is used to produce food from one hectare of land, and 400 gallons of oil a year is expended to feed each US citizen. In the US, an average of 1,450 gallons of water per person is used every day, mostly on agriculture, 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides is used in the US every year, and huge quantities of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser are used*.
Peak Oil is the name given to the point at which world oil availability will begin to decrease, as opposed to the almost constant growth witnessed over the last century. Many believe that we have reached peak oil already – although oil companies would not admit it for business purposes, they appear to be consolidating rather than investing in growth and expansion. Predictions for peak oil range from 2011 to 2030. Although peak oil does not mark the end of oil usage, oil will continue to increase in price until it is no longer viable.
Our entire global food system is dependant on cheap and plentiful oil – from the high input nature of producing the food itself, to the global nature of food transport. Pesticides are manufactured and transported with oil, water irrigation systems are powered by it, and farm machinery uses it.
Fertiliser is produced using natural gas rather than oil. Natural gas, due to the nature of its extraction is predicted to hit a ‘cliff’ rather than a peak. While oil will slowly but steadily decline when it hits its peak, when gas hits its ‘cliff’ availability will fall steeply and suddenly. Due to soil depletion, yields will decrease without fertiliser.
Water shortage is tipped to me a major problem in coming years. Much agriculture worldwide depends on overdrawing water from underground reservoirs. These reservoirs recharge very slowly, if at all, and so this source of water is non-renewable. The loss of this source of water will adversely affect food production. For example, Central Valley, California leads the USA in agricultural production and exports, but the level of production is unlikely to be sustained without the constant and unlimited withdrawal of water from underground reservoirs.
Pesticide use is always increasing, and yet more crops are lost to pests every year. This is because farmers have abandoned crop rotation practices and entire regions have ‘specialised’ in a single crop, resulting in large areas of monoculture. Also, in some cases pesticides kill or harm the natural predators of pests as well as the pests themselves and harm microorganisms in the dirt that contribute to the health and fertility of the soil.
The solution to food shortages is not an increase in inputs, but a decrease. Sustainable agriculture revolves around the concept of making the best use of natures goods and services, without damaging them. For example, seeking to integrate agriculture with natural processes such as nutrient cycling, soil regeneration, and using the natural enemies of pests in food production. Organic farming, permaculture and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are examples of more sustainable agricultural endeavours. Several studies have shown that organic farms can produce yields as good, or better, than those using high input, conventional methods. Similar results have been found using Integrated Pest Management. It relies on substituting costly, fast inputs for more time consuming, knowledge-dependant practices.
Sustainable agriculture will not only reduce the impact farms have on the local environment, but also reduce agriculture's dependence on non-renewable inputs and begin the regeneration of heavily degraded soils. Also, because most food shortages will be occurring in poorer countries, organic agriculture offers cheaper and more accessible methods for increasing yields. A problem with Organic Agriculture is that it is less flexible than conventional farming practices, and requires farmers to choose crops to suit the areas climate, rather than crops, which are most profitable. Sustainable agriculture requires a more in-depth and involved approach to farm management, rather than the simple ‘input-output’ methods of current conventional farming.
A frequent criticism of Organic Agriculture is that it lacks the ability to feed the world in the near future. But conventional farming practices which depend on oil and gas is not the solution to world hunger. Genetically Modified foods which have failed to increase yields, and which are expensive and high-input are also not an appropriate solution. Sustainable Agriculture is the only viable future of food.
* See Eating Fossil Fuels, Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture by Paul Allen