tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/making-science-for-people-55106/articlesMaking science for people – The Conversation2018-06-24T19:51:12Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978492018-06-24T19:51:12Z2018-06-24T19:51:12ZScience makes art. But could art save the Australian manufacturing industry?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223693/original/file-20180619-38852-nfx15t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Architect Frank Gehry's computer-designed, hand made staircase at University of Technology Sydney. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roger D'Souza </span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/making-science-for-people-55106">Making science for people</a></strong> is a series that explores how humanities, arts and social sciences expertise works to create value with science and technology.</em> </p>
<p><em>Today’s article explores how technology is changing the face of art – a process that has broad implications for manufacturing and industry.</em> </p>
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<p>The “hand-made” nature of artistic works has been highly valued by humans over thousands of years. But digital capability is changing art – not just how art is designed; also how it is made.</p>
<p>Now we’re at the point where the art and design industry in Australia is demanding “mass customisation” of artworks. Some companies have started to address this using the latest generation of robotics technologies – but making the technology work in the right way needs input from creative expertise. </p>
<p>Done right, this mashup of creativity with technology could strengthen manufacturing capability in Australia. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/robot-sculpture-coming-to-a-gallery-near-you-80804">Robot sculpture, coming to a gallery near you</a>
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<h2>Gap between design and production</h2>
<p>There is a tremendous gap between the ease of digital design and manufacture of bespoke objects. </p>
<p>When computer assisted design rapidly evolved in the late 1990s, it meant that previously impossible to conceive ideas could find a form on the computer screen. </p>
<p>But the act of actually <em>creating</em> computer-designed works can be more difficult – and costly. Architect firm Gehry Partners used <a href="https://vimeo.com/222604201">digital design software</a> to design a <a href="https://www.uapcompany.com/factory/stairway-uts-sydney">“crumpled mirrored” staircase</a> for the University of Technology Sydney. But when creative company <a href="https://www.uapcompany.com/">UAP</a> manufactured that staircase (shown in the photo above, and animation below), they had to employ a thousand year old technique of meticulously hand beating every surface until it matched the shape of the computer model. </p>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/222604201" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The ‘crumpled mirrored staircase’.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Reproducing or re-sizing works of art can also present manufacturing challenges. Originally, artisans would carefully measure the original object and then hand craft the copies, sometimes adjusting the scale. Now, modern scanning technology can create highly accurate computer models of such objects – but the same problem of how to manufacture the new objects presents itself.</p>
<p>The technology to take a digital design into a mechanical fabrication process exists, but it is normally too costly for one-off pieces and is reserved for mass production.</p>
<p>This is where robots come into play. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/creating-research-value-needs-more-than-just-science-arts-humanities-social-sciences-can-help-97083">Creating research value needs more than just science – arts, humanities, social sciences can help</a>
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<h2>Robots that see</h2>
<p>For a robot to make something where the starting form and desired final shape are not fixed – that’s complex. </p>
<p>Traditionally, robots have been used for manufacturing tasks where the shape of the object being worked on is very well understood. For example, robots can be used to remove the excess metal (a process known as “fettling”) after metal casting of car engine blocks. A robot can be programmed to do this as the desired final shape of the engine block is known: without visual information, the robot can move the engine block over a grinder to remove any excess metal.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ammMc44oe_g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Robotic fettling of a known object.</span></figcaption>
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<p>But many of the objects created by artists do not have a detailed computer model for the robot to work from. Also, works of art are typically not uniform or predictable in shape. So any robot working on a piece of art will first need to see it from all angles, and accurately discover its shape. </p>
<p>The technology to see, or scan objects exists now. In fact you may have it on the <a href="https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2018/01/28/possibilities-iphone-xs-camera-way-bigger-animoji/">smart phone you own right now</a>.</p>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/242626624" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">3D cameras that scan objects in detail are already on the latest smart phones.</span></figcaption>
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<p>But the next challenge is determining <em>how</em> to work on the object: could a robot transform an object it sees into one that is desired (a piece of art)? We’re <a href="https://theconversation.com/robot-sculpture-coming-to-a-gallery-near-you-80804">not too far off</a> this goal. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/robot-sculpture-coming-to-a-gallery-near-you-80804">Robot sculpture, coming to a gallery near you</a>
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<h2>Robots might create jobs</h2>
<p>Many people <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-are-still-convinced-robots-will-take-our-jobs-despite-the-evidence-87188">fear job losses</a> associated with introducing robots into production facilities. However the number of jobs can actually increase when robots are used in mass customisation. </p>
<p>In our own discussions with <a href="https://www.uapcompany.com/">UAP</a> – the company that made the Gehry Partners staircase – they tell us that since adopting robotic technology, staff numbers have grown at a rate of six new appointments for every piece of new robotic machinery purchased. Existing staff are working in new technologies; for example, pattern-makers are using their expert sculpting skills in virtual reality and sending these digital works direct to robotic manufacture. </p>
<p>The products UAP are making with robots include artworks like <a href="https://www.uapcompany.com/studio/emilyfloyd-poll">Poll (by Emily Floyd)</a>, and architectural facades that will soon be installed on busy city streets in Australia.</p>
<p>This sort of mass customisation manufacturing may also be suited to products such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLaSCJsEsLc">customised stents for arteries</a>, or even production and preparation of better looking fruit and vegetables for <a href="http://www.farmfreshfinefoods.com/About/Company-Overview">niche food markets like airlines</a>. The workforce may grow as a result. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-exploding-creative-economy-shows-innovation-policy-shouldnt-focus-only-on-stem-93732">An exploding creative economy shows innovation policy shouldn't focus only on STEM</a>
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<h2>Let’s invest in creative skills</h2>
<p>Design is a fundamental creative manufacturing capability. </p>
<p>Currently in Australia, government manufacturing policies and investment programs have a firm focus on supporting science and technology companies such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-26/australian-researchers-create-first-3d-jet-engine/6262462">aerospace companies printing jet engines</a>, or biomedical science entities growing <a href="https://www.qut.edu.au/research/partner-with-us/case-study-herston-biofabrication-institute">parts of the human anatomy</a>. And while the strategic importance of robotics to our manufacturing future is <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/Industry-4-0/Documents/Industry-4.0-Testlabs-Report.pdf">well established and funded</a>, this is not the case for design.</p>
<p>Creative capabilities in art and design firms should be more <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-rebalance-australias-economy-with-creative-industries-23458">strategically included in this investment</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-rebalance-australias-economy-with-creative-industries-23458">We can rebalance Australia's economy with creative industries</a>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/an-exploding-creative-economy-shows-innovation-policy-shouldnt-focus-only-on-stem-93732">Recent data</a> shows digital creative services are growing at nearly three times the rate of the overall workforce and attracting 30% above the average Australian wage. </p>
<p>Right now, Australian governments should be targeting the innovation capability of the creative industries, and expanding the value art and design already add to Australia’s manufacturing industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97849/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cori Stewart facilitated investment from the Innovative Manufacturing CRC</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Roberts receives funding from the ARC, the Innovative Manufacturing CRC and is working with UAP. He is a Chief Investigator of the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision.</span></em></p>The art and design industry in Australia is demanding ‘mass customisation’ of works of art. Robots may be the answer – and they’re creating jobs already.Cori Stewart, Director, Business Development and Associate Professor Creative Industries, Queensland University of TechnologyJonathan Roberts, Professor in Robotics, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/976152018-06-21T04:04:13Z2018-06-21T04:04:13ZTeaching law students creative skills could save the profession from automation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223976/original/file-20180620-137711-djtycq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite changes to legal technology, Australian law schools remain wedded to an old fashioned teaching model.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-robotic-hand-assisting-person-filling-1073806553?src=8a7bWzH9uYInCO6Rd4QDBw-1-4">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/making-science-for-people-55106">Making science for people</a></strong> is a series that explores how humanities, arts and social sciences expertise is applied to problems typically corralled into the science and technology space.</em> </p>
<p><em>Today’s article involves technology, but in a legal sphere. It looks at how training lawyers in the “human” capabilities of creativity, empathy, compassion and emotional intelligence could provide them with skills that aren’t at risk of automation.</em> </p>
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<p>Around 40% of all law jobs are at risk of automation, according to a 2016 <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/audit/deloitte-uk-developing-legal-talent-2016.pdf">Deloitte report</a>.</p>
<p>Traditional skills expected of law graduates <a href="https://www.uclalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Final-ALL.pdf">are increasingly</a> going to be undertaken by new AI-driven software. Basic skills such as database research and document drafting are <a href="https://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2761013/2018-NSI-CurrentStateofALAT.pdf">already</a> being automated by large Australian law firms.</p>
<p>The race is on to go beyond basic skills to automate higher-order thinking itself. Law firms want a piece of software that can find the relevant law and apply it to a client’s unique set of factual circumstances. In some cases <a href="https://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2761013/2018-NSI-CurrentStateofALAT.pdf">this already exists</a>.</p>
<p>The application of <a href="https://legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/student/help/Law-Student-Survival-Guide-Step-6-Preparing-for-a-Law-Exam.pdf">law to facts</a> has been a basic skill taught to law students in Australia for more than 100 years. So if this skill is automated, what does that mean for the future of law schools, law firms, and law graduates?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/that-contract-your-computer-made-could-get-you-in-a-legal-bind-94583">That contract your computer made could get you in a legal bind</a>
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<h2>A new kind of lawyer</h2>
<p>According to <a href="http://jay.law.ou.edu/faculty/Jmaute/Lawyering_21st_Century/Spring%202012%20files/CH%208.pdf">Richard Suskind</a>, a prolific author on the future of law and legal technology, it is no longer enough to teach the old basic skills of lawyering in the new, AI-driven, automated economy.</p>
<p>We need a <a href="http://www.academyoflaw.org.au/resources/Legal%20Education%20Conference%202017%20Final%20Papers/Michael%20Legg%20-%20New%20Skills%20for%20New%20Lawyers.pdf">new kind of lawyer</a> who is <a href="https://www.nautadutilh.com/siteassets/documents/design_thinking_and_the_future_of_law.pdf">trained</a> not only
in the use of coding and legal technology, but also in the skills that AI will not be capable of automating. These include the very “human” capabilities of creativity, empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence.</p>
<p>Despite changes to legal technology, Australian law schools <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323276254_A_Brief_History_of_Legal_Education_A_Battle_Between_Law_as_a_Science_and_Law_as_a_Liberal_Art">remain wedded</a> to an old-fashioned teaching model. The core law subjects taught in all Australian law schools, known as the Priestley Eleven, <a href="http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/current-justices/frenchcj/frenchcj04july11.pdf">have not been updated</a> in almost 30 years. </p>
<p>No move is underway to change these subjects in response to changes in the legal sector. There is little discussion about implementing new, compulsory legal technology subjects, creative subjects, critical thinking, or subjects that build a law student’s “emotional intelligence quotient” (EQ). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-fear-robo-justice-algorithms-could-help-more-people-access-legal-advice-85395">Don't fear robo-justice. Algorithms could help more people access legal advice</a>
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<p>This is despite the fact that prominent critics – including former Chief Justice Robert French – have suggested that the Priestley Eleven are a “<a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/229847/Stephen-lecture-I-look-ahead-N-Rees.pdf">dead hand</a>” on curriculum reform and need urgent revision.</p>
<h2>A fresh curriculum</h2>
<p>Australian law schools seem to be ignoring the risks of failing to innovate. The case method, a standard system of teaching at all Australian law schools, was <a href="http://www.nea.org/assets/img/PubThoughtAndAction/TAA_04Sum_03.pdf">invented in the 1800s</a> at Harvard Law School. It teaches students to apply the law to a set of facts. This is precisely the skill that is <a href="https://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2761013/2018-NSI-CurrentStateofALAT.pdf">currently at risk</a> of automation.</p>
<p>More than this, the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/history-of-education-quarterly/article/div-classtitlethe-proliferation-of-case-method-teaching-in-american-law-schools-mr-langdellandaposs-emblematic-abomination-1890-1915div/644C34F23B95A9E2809FF88B3E0834A6">case method</a> excludes student discussion on morality, emotion and empathy – the exact “human” skills that are now required.</p>
<p>A recent LexisNexis <a href="https://www.lexisnexis.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/187644/Lawyers_and_Robots_Whitepaper.pdf">report</a> argues that the time has come to move away from old lawyering skills and towards new skills education.</p>
<p>For this to happen, Australian law schools will need to modify or abandon the Priestley Eleven and the case method of instruction.</p>
<p>It is important to acknowledge here that some law schools are proactively responding to new technology. A handful have gone as far as to create <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/future-students/law/course-experience/new-legal-futures-and-technology-major">new elective courses or “majors”</a> in either coding or legal technology. However, as long as these courses are only electives, they remain sidelined in a curriculum dominated by the classical and old-fashioned teaching of law as a “black letter” subject.</p>
<h2>Demand for new skills from law firms</h2>
<p>Australian law firms are beginning to demand that law schools teach students new skills for the new AI economy. Gilbert and Tobin, one of the largest law firms in Australia, <a href="https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/616030/gilbert-tobin-new-breed-lawyer-techno-legal/">wants law students</a> to be taught about legal technology and to gain more skills in creativity and coding. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/connecting-diblings-how-the-law-is-failing-to-keep-up-with-modern-families-85749">Connecting 'diblings': how the law is failing to keep up with modern families</a>
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<p>Some <a href="https://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1329&context=ler">prominent academics</a> are calling for a return to a more critical legal education that <a href="https://epublications.bond.edu.au/ler/vol27/iss1/1/">empowers students</a> not only to learn the law, but also to critique its flaws.</p>
<p>A new law school, built on the principles of technology and the liberal arts, might teach students to critique the law that they are currently learning, learn to code, engage in law reform, and develop the essential skills of creativity, empathy and compassion.</p>
<p>This innovative, modern approach to legal education could empower students to face the changing legal industry with confidence and certainty, giving them hope in an otherwise uncertain and grim job market.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Krook is the recipient of an RTP scholarship and a Zelling Grey scholarship. He is researching the creation of a liberal arts law school curriculum at the University of Adelaide.</span></em></p>Australian law firms are beginning to demand that law schools teach students new skills for the new AI economy, but legal education is failing to keep up.Joshua Krook, Doctoral Candidate in Law, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/971712018-06-19T20:20:54Z2018-06-19T20:20:54ZTurbulence isn’t just a science problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221910/original/file-20180606-137312-13n1frf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A crowd of people moving at different rates is a form of turbulence. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/view-drone-crowd-people-concert-760175308?src=y1sT8opK4GcahTI7fHuG4Q-1-17">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/making-science-for-people-55106">Making science for people</a></strong> is a series that explores how humanities, arts and social sciences expertise is applied to problems typically corralled into the science and technology space. The first piece in the series is <a href="https://theconversation.com/creating-research-value-needs-more-than-just-science-arts-humanities-social-sciences-can-help-97083">here</a>.</em> </p>
<p><em>Today’s article takes a look at turbulence as a question of science – and of humanity.</em> </p>
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<p>Most of us have an understanding of what atmospheric turbulence is – nauseating plane movement is hard to forget. </p>
<p>But turbulence is all around us: not just in the air, but also in water, and even in crowds of moving people. </p>
<p>Perhaps surprisingly though, details around the science of turbulence are not all that well understood. Researchers studying flow and turbulence within different disciplines are yet to fully understand its complex operation – and as a result, solving problems related to turbulence is difficult. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-dangerous-is-turbulence-and-can-it-bring-down-a-plane-59098">Explainer: how dangerous is turbulence ... and can it bring down a plane?</a>
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<h2>Turbulence all around us</h2>
<p>In a simple sense, turbulence can be described as a state of fluid flow. And although it makes some plane flights uncomfortable, turbulence in our atmosphere is essential to the existence of all life on earth. </p>
<p>Turbulence mixes heat, moisture, carbon dioxide and pollutants to and from the earth’s surface, maintaining our biosphere in a habitable state. Without turbulence, the air near the ground would be a lot hotter – when the sun is up, your feet would melt while your head would be freezing!</p>
<p>More than two-thirds of the Australian population <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7ESnapshot%20of%20Australia,%202016%7E2">live in capital cities</a>, creating problematic forms of turbulence. Highly populated regions with reduced vegetation cover absorb heat from the sun and release it through buoyant turbulent plumes. This process can create complex <a href="https://theconversation.com/walking-mightnt-be-good-for-you-if-its-through-australias-polluted-city-streets-88772">micro-climates with significant air quality issues</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/walking-mightnt-be-good-for-you-if-its-through-australias-polluted-city-streets-88772">Walking mightn't be good for you if it's through Australia's polluted city streets</a>
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<p>Smog and <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-toxic-algal-blooms-the-new-normal-for-australias-major-rivers-59526">algal blooms</a> are extreme circumstances where reduced levels of turbulence and flow affect us in a negative way. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221094/original/file-20180531-69484-wljsgg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Blue-green algae (or cyanobacteria) grows when water turbulence is low.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/tag/irrigation/i/4628/blue-green-algae-in-irrigation-drain/">Willem van Aken, CSIRO/ Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Turbulence in water <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU33NhsLG4k">certainly slows it down</a> – without turbulence, drifting in a canoe on the Yarra River would happen at a hair-raising 2,000 km per hour, instead of a lazy one km per hour.</p>
<p>In engineering terms, our inability to precisely model and control turbulent flows leads to inefficient over-design, and limits future technologies in a vast array of applications. About 10% of all the electricity generated every year is currently consumed in the process of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-29/this-physics-breakthrough-could-help-save-the-world">overcoming the effects of turbulence</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gU33NhsLG4k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Turbulence - it’s complicated.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-toxic-algal-blooms-the-new-normal-for-australias-major-rivers-59526">Are toxic algal blooms the new normal for Australia's major rivers?</a>
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<h2>Da Vinci’s ‘turbolenza’</h2>
<p>In the humanities disciplines, the notion of turbulence is widely employed in artistic representations and literary expressions right through to philosophical theories, economic modelling and descriptions of political revolution.</p>
<p>By contrast to their scientist counterparts, humanities scholars tend to use the concept of turbulence almost exclusively in a negative sense as disorder, disruption, agitation and commotion. </p>
<p>This sense of the word can be seen in one of the earliest documented considerations of flow patterns in water. Leonardo da Vinci, considering the whirling movement of water around an obstacle, described it as agitated and disrupted: as “turbolenza”. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-leonardo-da-vinci-was-a-genius-54207">Da Vinci’s art and science</a> did not occur in a vacuum but was deeply shaped by the world around him. This was a world at war, which drove him across the Italian states and eventually to France. Some of his studies of air and water flow, and his inventions adapting bird flight, were directly intended as contributions towards military technologies in these conflicts. </p>
<p>Turbulence, therefore, was not just an abstract research subject for da Vinci but also a lived experience, and its design applications a critical source of income. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-leonardo-da-vinci-was-a-genius-54207">Why Leonardo da Vinci was a genius</a>
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<p>Looking at Leonardo reminds us of the crucial but often ignored point that studies of turbulence have a long history. Understanding this history is fundamental to grasping how turbulence has been conceptualised in the past, which has informed how we understand it now, and how we will conceive of it in the future. </p>
<p>Such considerations are determined by the current problems of the day – be they technological, cultural, social and/or political. One of the most urgent issues of our time – and one which encapsulates turbulence in all of these facets – is the refugee crisis. This has created a flow of humans across lands in proportions historically unprecedented. </p>
<p>The use of chemical warfare on civilians in Syria also reflects the intersections between industrialisation, atmospheric turbulence and human flow. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/syrias-latest-chemical-massacre-demands-a-global-response-94668">Syria's latest chemical massacre demands a global response</a>
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<h2>Solving problems with diverse expertise</h2>
<p>Understanding turbulence better may reduce drag, improve efficiency, lower fuel use and create better environmental outcomes when <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3285559.htm">flying</a>. This is especially important to a country like Australia which relies so heavily on long-haul air travel. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_w6OnK-Djns?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How turbulence affects planes.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Or, by establishing reliable and validated models for the magnitudes and scales of turbulence on wind and tidal energy farms, we could improve their reliability, and reduce risks associated with <a href="https://www.windpowerengineering.com/design/how-turbulent-wind-abuse-wind-turbine-drivetrains/">turbine failure and loss of power supply</a>. </p>
<p>Understanding turbulence in coastal and inland waters will assist in identifying best practice maintenance of riverine, estuarine and coastal ocean health.</p>
<p>In the longer term, engineering capability regarding turbulence from may help us understand turbulent flow of people, for example following the use of chemical weapons in war and in refugee crises. </p>
<p>Partnerships across science, technology, engineering, arts and humanities help us consider how and why turbulence is understood in different cultural knowledge systems, and understand how turbulent flows in everyday and extreme contexts are understood, modelled, and managed.</p>
<p>That is how we can build a sustainable future. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/creating-research-value-needs-more-than-just-science-arts-humanities-social-sciences-can-help-97083">Creating research value needs more than just science – arts, humanities, social sciences can help</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivan Marusic receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joy Damousi receives funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Broomhall receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>You might be familiar with turbulence as you experience it on a plane, or as scholars describe combustible forces of social change. But understanding how it operates is far more complex.Ivan Marusic, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, The University of MelbourneJoy Damousi, Professor of History, The University of MelbourneSusan Broomhall, Professor of History, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/970832018-06-18T20:11:12Z2018-06-18T20:11:12ZCreating research value needs more than just science – arts, humanities, social sciences can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221698/original/file-20180605-175445-1ddciyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actually yes, science and the arts do work together. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-paints-mixing-together-water-on-366489539?src=_rvO-rKhCWjvHUdvqOQdrA-1-0">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/making-science-for-people-55106">Making science for people</a></strong> is a series of articles that explores how humanities, arts and social sciences expertise is applied to problems typically corralled into the science and technology space.</em> </p>
<p><em>In this first piece, Rachel and Lisa set the scene.</em> </p>
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<p>Science and technology are valued highly in many societies. </p>
<p>Globally, discussions of research priorities by governments, universities, and many researchers position science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) disciplines at the forefront of innovation and industry engagement. </p>
<p>However, for industries to adopt innovations and for research to have an impact, there must be significant shifts in people’s behaviours, their perceptions, and the ways communities engage with research. These activities are the research focus of the humanities, arts, and social sciences (HASS) disciplines. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, in Australia we continue to see <a href="http://www.chass.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CHASS-Response-Changes-in-the-federal-government%E2%80%99s-Investment-Plan-for-national-collaborative-research-infrastructure.pdf">reductions of research funding in these areas</a>. </p>
<p>Here’s why we think that’s a mistake. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remember-turnbulls-2015-ideas-boom-were-still-only-part-way-there-97321">Remember Turnbull's 2015 'ideas boom'? We're still only part way there</a>
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<h2>More than window dressing</h2>
<p>There are few strategies to link STEMM and HASS disciplines in productive ways, and to treat HASS approaches as more than window dressing. For example, the Australian <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/science-research-priorities">Science and Research Priorities</a> focus on areas that appear to be STEMM-driven, such as soil and water, cybersecurity, environmental change, and health. </p>
<p>HASS approaches are only mentioned in passing. However there was clear recognition (particularly by industry representatives) of the importance of HASS approaches when the priorities were discussed in early 2015. For instance, one of us (Rachel) heard one participant in the expert working group sessions note that: </p>
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<p>understanding cybersecurity is not primarily a technological issue; the difficulties lie in human and social behaviours associated with cyber activities. </p>
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<p>The <a href="https://industry.gov.au/industry/Industry-Growth-Centres/Pages/default.aspx">national Industry Growth Centres</a> also emphasise STEMM, leaving little room for HASS disciplines to use their competitive strengths within the national priorities. </p>
<h2>Multiple actors</h2>
<p>In contrast, the <a href="https://acola.org.au/wp/PDF/SAF05/SAF05_Precis_web_16Sept.pdf">2016 report on Technology and Australia’s Future</a> noted that:</p>
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<p>Technology creation and use requires multiple actors: designers, makers, users, scientists, marketers, policymakers and enablers. Australia’s education systems must both encourage high levels of scientific and technology literacy and inculcate creativity. Creativity encourages experimentation, giving people, communities and companies the necessary confidence to innovate. </p>
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<p>Without HASS, how can Australia position itself for economic, cultural, business, and social successes in the technologically advanced future our children will inherit? It is in the HASS disciplines that designers, makers, policymakers, and enablers sit. </p>
<p>Without a strong interdisciplinary approach to tomorrow’s problems, the STEMM disciplines risk not realising their full potential for research translation and adoption, and for change for the betterment of society.</p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-difference-between-stem-and-steam-95713">Explainer: what's the difference between STEM and STEAM?</a>
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<h2>Mobilising value</h2>
<p>In comparison to Australia, Canada will invest C$925 million over the next five years not only in science and health, but also in HASS research. The Canadian budget also includes C$275 million for interdisciplinary and high-risk research to be administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/02/26/budget-boosts-science-research-grant-funding.html">SSHRC</a>). </p>
<p>Along with Canada’s health and science-based funding agencies, SSHRC provides special funding schemes to support STEMM and HASS interdisciplinary work. These initiatives not only provide strategic funding to support top researchers, but attest to the value of the HASS disciplines in full partnership with STEMM. </p>
<p>These initiatives are part of Canada’s focus on mobilising the value of science and technology, which the government recognises cannot succeed without a <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-complicated-australias-relationship-with-eating-meat-67230">simultaneous and clear focus</a> on the <a href="http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/h_07056.html#p3">human, cultural, and creative aspects of modern society</a>.</p>
<h2>Projects in Australia</h2>
<p>Exciting STEMM-HASS interdisciplinary projects are already being developed here in Australia. One of us (Lisa) has a <a href="http://lisagiven.com/research-grants/current-projects/information-seeking-research-adoption/">current project</a> exploring research adoption in the wine industry and that brings wine scientists and industry partners together with information science. </p>
<p>The focus is on qualitative, social research to understand how scientists can best communicate with industry. This will ensure the newest innovations in wine science can be more easily adopted, and that winemakers can share their research needs with scientists. </p>
<p>Wine brings <a href="https://www.wineaustralia.com/WineAustralia/media/WineAustralia/PDF/Market-Insights/2016/Final-AgEconlus-Economic-Contribution-Australian-Wine-Sector.pdf">huge value to the Australian economy</a>. So ensuring that winemakers have access to the latest research innovations, and that wine scientists can help the industry adopt changes, are critical issues requiring social science methods to ensure innovations are taken up. </p>
<p>Another of us (Rachel) has a project that brings together social scientists, humanities scholars and animal welfare scientists together with industry partners, to explore public and producer values related to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-comes-first-the-free-range-chicken-or-the-free-range-egg-77869">animal welfare</a> in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-complicated-australias-relationship-with-eating-meat-67230">red meat</a> industry. </p>
<p>Given current debates over meat production and threats to agriculture’s social license to operate, determining what <a href="https://arts.adelaide.edu.au/history/food-values/">underlying values</a> are shared across various sectors of society is critical both to policymaking and self-regulation, and to future directions in the industry. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-comes-first-the-free-range-chicken-or-the-free-range-egg-77869">What comes first: the free-range chicken or the free-range egg?</a>
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<h2>From Shakespeare to diseases</h2>
<p>Research applications come out of the most unusual places.</p>
<p>In 2013 a <a href="https://theconversation.com/shakespeare-and-cancer-diagnoses-how-bard-can-it-be-15381">collaboration between a linguist and a bioinfometrician</a> resulted in supercomputing techniques to determine <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0066813">whether an unknown play was written by Shakespeare</a>. The findings of this work were redeployed to diagnose cancer using biological markers to pinpoint a molecular signature for particular diseases. This research approach <a href="https://www.humanities.org.au/issue-item/the-power-of-the-humanities/">has been used</a> in various biomedical, literature, linguistic, and social behavioural studies, including <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/11732242_7">one that produced</a> a tree showing relationships between 84 Indo-European languages, and the classification of several different cancer cell lines.</p>
<p>The so-called “wicked problems” related to health, the environment, climate change, among others, continue to plague our world. </p>
<p>Yet, we are failing to fully integrate the scientific aspects of these issues with how people actually operate in and think about the real world: HASS can help.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shakespeare-and-cancer-diagnoses-how-bard-can-it-be-15381">Shakespeare and cancer diagnoses: how bard can it be?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel A. Ankeny receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa M. Given receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Mobilising value from science and technology needs help from thinkers, designers, makers, policymakers and enablers – and this expertise often sits in the humanities, arts and social sciences domain.Rachel A. Ankeny, Professor of History and Associate Dean Research (Faculty of Arts), University of AdelaideLisa M. Given, Associate Dean, Research and Development, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.