The paper deals with the commemoration of early stages of technology research of silica optical fibers in Czechoslovakia till 1993. Technology of three types of telecommunication fibers - polymer-clad-silica, graded-index and single-mode ones and that of several types of specialty optical fibers like polarization maintaining bow-tie fibers or rare-earth doped fibers belong to the most important achievements of this period. The prepared samples exhibited parameters comparable to world-class top production. The technology research was understood not only as a description of a set of receipts but mainly as scientific understanding of process fundaments. Thanks to this approach, in later period it was possible to continue in the research of specialty optical fibers for fiber sensors, fiber amplifiers and fiber lasers. Such research is performed in the Laboratory of Optical Fibers of the Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the Czech Academy of Sciences to date. and Článek připomíná počátky výzkumu technologie křemenných optických vláken vČeskoslovensku do roku 1993. Mezi jeho úspěchy patřilo vypracování technologií tří typů telekomunikačních vláken - ''polymer-clad-silica'', gradientních a jednovidových a dále několika typů speciálních vláken - zachovávajících polarizaci typu ''bow-tie'' a dopovaných ionty vzácných zemin. Připravené vzorky dosahovaly parametrů srovnatelných v té době se světem. Technologický výzkum byl chápán nejen jako popis souboru výrobních postupů, ale zejména jako pochopení vědeckých základů. Díky tomu bylo později možné efektivně pokračovat ve výzkumu speciálních vláken pro vláknové sensory, zesilovače a lasery, který v Laboratoři optických vláken Ústavu fotoniky a elektroniky AVČR pokračuje dodnes.
The purpose of this paper is to present a new paradigm and an innovative technology for thinking about the future. The concept of time synchronization is introduced as a technology to improve individual competency for balancing the continuous construciton of reinterpreted pasts, presents and futures in order to cope with the aceleration of change, complexity, and uncertainty. This new paradigm is driven by recognition of three factors: 1. Humans are both conservative and novelty generating. 2. Novelty is a key factor of life and humans address novelty through pattern-evolvign creativity. 3. Reality is defined through the unique ability of humans to anticipate and define experience in terms of pattern and category. This article asserts that rapidly expanding human pluarity and novelty require new models concerning relationships of past, present, and future. Such models should adequately address the rapidly changing and more complex conditions in which they are constructed and deconstructed, including the expanding opportunities that accompany them. and Arthur M. Harkins, George H. Kubik, John Moravec.
The article argues that the development of genetic technologies has to be critically evaluated from a socio-political economy perspective to establish if, on balance, the benefits of such technologies outweigh their costs and risks. The article illustrates how the current governance of these technoloiges can be seen as "undemocratic" because corporate interests dominate the direcitions in which the technologies are going. When aligned with the underlying socioeconomic power structures globally, these technologies create a situation where the development of science and technology fail to be about the common good. The article begins with a brief overview of neo-liberal globalization. It examines key global institutional arrangements including the World Bank, the Intermnational Monetary Fund, itnernational patenting laws and fee trade agreements. It is argued that in their convergence with the biosciences, these are antithetical to democracy, instead entrensching the interests of corporations, rich elites and rich countries. Finally, some suggestions for reforming the global political economy are presented. and Del Weston.
Resilience has become a policy and practical framework for addressing a range of threats from natural disasters and extreme weather events to political conflicts and terrorism. Focusing on the context of cities, this paper offers a conceptualisation of urban resilience, critically interrogating its use for urban governance and the political implications it has for individual agency. The paper also seeks to contribute to the existing critical literature on urban resilience. The second part of the paper focuses on the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities programme as implemented in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile. Empirical data obtained through fieldwork and interviews with representatives of the public sector and civil society suggest that while creating an illusion of inclusiveness and empowerment, the ‘resilience approach’ has largely ignored the structural conditions of extreme social and spatial inequality in Santiago. Local political realities and private sector interests play an important part in this equation. The case study points to a general tendency to treat city resilience as a technical question, thereby downplaying its deeply political nature. It highlights the disconnection between the topography of risk on the one side and technological interventions on the other.
The study shows that Benjamin’s conception of revolution, put forth in his essay “Surrealism: The Last Snapshot of the European Intelligentsia,” can be understood as a way to bring about a long-term transformation of reality. To not exhaust revolution in a single moment is facilitated, above all, by the relationship of Benjamin’s revolution to evolving technology, which constantly enters (in the form of new objects) into the daily life of society. “Surrealism” offers an opportunity to look at new technological objects as images and to understand them in a specific way thanks to the method of profane illumination. Understanding new technology as an image – its “reading” – enables one to use its revolutionary potential towards an active transformation of society. Thanks to profane illumination, technology proves to be a part of the collective body. It thus becomes an organ of transformation rather than an instrument of control. Since Benjamin leaves the meaning of his concepts to a certain extent open, this study will try to present a concrete interpretation of the concepts of image and profane illumination and demonstrate how they establish the author’s conception of revolution. and Studie ukazuje, že Benjaminovu koncepci revoluce, předloženou v eseji „Surrealismus“, lze chápat jako způsob dlouhodobého transformování skutečnosti. Nevyčerpat se v jediném okamžiku umožňuje Benjaminově revoluci především její vztah k vyvíjející se technice, dlouhodobě vstupující (v podobě stále nových předmětů) do každodenního života společnosti. „Surrealismus“ nabízí možnost nahlížet nové technické předměty jako obrazy a poté jim specifickým způsobem rozumět díky metodě profánního osvícení. Porozumění nové technice jako obrazu – její „přečtení“ – umožňuje zužitkovat její revoluční potenciál k aktivní transformaci společnosti. Technika se díky profánnímu osvícení ukazuje být součástí kolektivního těla. Stává se tak orgánem transformace spíše než nástrojem ovládání. Benjamin však ponechává význam svých pojmů do jisté míry otevřený, a tak následující studie navrhne konkrétní interpretaci pojmů obrazu a profánního osvícení a předvede, jak zakládají autorovo pojetí revoluce.
This paper presents an experimental experience with manufacturing of functional parts of the mechanical system using rapid prototyping. We have designed two different functional parts of experimental instrument for manufacturing by two kinds of rapid Prototyping technology. We summarize a review of dimensional and geometrical differences between CaD data and manufactured parts. We determined that dimensions of the smallest details successfully manufactured using rapid prototyping technology are limited with surface tension of rapid prototyping material in its liquid state. We performed few functional and geometrical tests on fabricated parts, which show full functionality of manufactured parts in designed optomechanical measurement instrument. and Článek prezentuje výrobu dvou geometricky komplikovaných součástí určených pro navrhované laboratorní optickomechanické zařízení. Pro výrobu součástí byly testovány celkem dvě různé technologie Rapid Prototypingu a tři různé typy materiálů. Byly provedeny testy geometrických odchylek mezi daty CAD modelů a vyrobených součástí a také funkční testy vytvořených součástí přímo v realizovaném zařízení. Oba typy součástí se ukázaly po nezbytných úpravách jako plně funkční a výrazně zjednodušující konstrukční řešení realizovaného zařízení.