Posthumanist Responsive Architecture: Environments That Care

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Posthumanist Responsive Architecture: Environments That Care 642 Re.Building Posthumanist Responsive Architecture: Environments That Care PHILIP BEESLEY University of Waterloo “….the nature of both mind and spirit must be architectural components at Waterloo’s Integrated corporeal”– Lucretius, De Rerum Natura Centre for Visualization, Design and Manufacturing, Kinetic mechanisms based on digitally fabricated In the following discussion I explore posthumanist textile assemblies, actuation systems and micro- ethics as a strategy for working with responsive ar- processor-based control systems using open-source chitecture and attempt to relate this theoretical con- coding and design are enabling technologies. text to a series of projects developed within my own practice. The projects are designed with the intent of Past generations of ‘responsive’ architecture have finding renewed, mutual relationships between oc- been contested, subjected to substantial ethical cupants and environments.1 Fulfilling impressions of debate. In debates of this past century the con- kinetic architecture that were the subject of vision- cept of an instrument was often negatively associ- ary designs throughout the past century, an emerg- ated with ‘functionalist’ rationales that seemed re- ing new generation of building systems proclaim ex- sponsible for erosion of the dignity and freedom of panded qualities of a new ‘instrumental’ architecture individuals. Those voices3, which span some three defined by its performance. [Hensel, Menges 2008]2 generations of this past century, tend to align with Responsive functions engage a broad contemporary preceding critics of the Industrial Revolution in debate that has tended to replace anxiety about in- suggesting that treating architecture as an ‘instru- strumentalism with optimism about expanded quali- ment’ comes at a cost, just as the expanded powers ties. However it might be claimed that new gen- achieved by Alfred Arkwright’s spinning machines erative and parametric design practice have yet to and Henry Ford’s assembly lines arguably came at engage significant critical consequences of affective the cost of individual freedom. Perhaps inevitably, design. How does this architecture affect us? Kinetic today’s renewed examination of interactivity treads mechanisms offer significant scope for manipulat- on similar contested ground. Distinguishing a new ing the environment, but current strategies for re- generation of interactive architecture, sophisticat- sistance and for introducing sensitivity and ‘conse- ed functions are emerging that respond to building quence’ accompanying this expanded power appear occupants and surrounding environments, increas- slight. Contributing to this emerging practice and, ingly based on technical innovations that employ I hope, offering critical strategies, I am attempting distributed communication and control systems, to develop rudimentary emotional response func- lightweight actuators and sensors integrated within tions within built environments within my own de- component-based envelope systems. In turn, these sign work. Within the affects of emotion and empa- new building components are supported by emerg- thy, I am pursuing distributed physical environment ing design methods involving cycles of dynamic that might react to the state of occupants within the visualization and prototyping of complex systems, space, offering responses based on revulsion and and by emerging design tools employing new gen- attraction. My work involves practical technical de- erative and parametric design practices. Howev- velopment of innovative interactive sculptures and er, while impressions of kinetic architecture have POSTHUMANIST RESPONSIVE ARCHITECTURE 643 been the subject of visionary designers throughout 1830 debate, Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and the past century, it might be said that the ethical Georges Cuvier, leading biologists and founders of implications of new ‘responsive’ architecture are the Museum of Natural History in Paris, examined only beginning to engage critical debate. Recent the basis of nature. Against Cuvier’s rear-guard de- prominent discussions exemplified by Kolarevic and fence of a Great Design determining individual spe- Malkawi’s Performative Architecture4 offer building cies anatomy, Geoffrey argued that anatomy deter- performance as a guiding design principle, adopt- mined how a species behaved, opening the door to ing new performance-based priorities for the de- speculations about nature divorced from theology. sign of cities, buildings, landscape and infrastruc- Geoffrey implied that there was no particular ‘tran- tures. This emerging architecture places broadly scendent’ destiny involved in individual functions, defined performance above form making, and use only concrete and ‘immanent’ functions that would digital simulations and fabrication strategies in pur- create particular opportunities for behaviour. The suit of comprehensive approaches to the design of argument of these two biologists threatened foun- the built environment. Immanent, dynamic, open: dations of their culture. In turn, similar debates be- the qualities focused by voices such as Kolarevic, tween ‘transcendent’ and ‘immanent’ qualities has Leach, and Spiller are marked by a striking opti- continued beyond Darwin’s conceptions of natural mism about the expanded powers of performance- selection and genetic mutation. A recent hinge for based architecture. The visionary schemes offered this debate is arguably the entry of Michael Fou- by avant-gardes exploring kinetic modes have cault’s Discipline and Punish within architectural tended to remain transcendently positive in such discourse a generation ago. Foucault dwelt on the discussions, yielding total visions that appeared to oppressive machinery of prisons and madhouses hold only the limits of technical innovation as their and, perhaps fatally, linked those institutional restraint. A collective manfesto is implied aspiring building types to the spatial mode of radiant sym- to the creation of high-performance architectures metries and axial constructions. By implying that that emulate complex natural systems, shaped as symmetrical, crystalline systems of unified geom- flexible ‘manifolds’ supporting diverse action. With etry in urban architecture were tantamount to Fas- reasonable-cost, durable mechatronics now inte- cism, Foucault’s power analyis lent fundamental grated within many Western industries, restraint hesitation to the continuous project of the Enlight- now appears indeed slight. Current strategies for enment. Insidious qualities embedded within such critical judgement introducing sensitivity and ‘con- total visions have widely remarked in post-modern sequence’ accompanying this expanded power of generations of discussion. mechanisms for manipulating the environment appear in the very early stages of development, In striking contrast to such a critique, a reverently seemingly remaining within the long shadow of transcendent vision of creation was evoked in Amer- twentieth-century technological optimism and ican designers such as Louis Sullivan and his pupil rooted within the centuries-old humanist tradition. Frank Lloyd Wright, building a vision of architecture embedded with the symphonic forces of nature. This Yet in contrast to this apparent consensus, design strategies and ethics of related design traditions within the past two centuries have been fraught with argument. Has distance from earlier parox- ysmic debates over eugenics and behaviour-pro- gramming relaxed the taboo of approaching hu- manity as mechanism? Have the formidable pow- ers of new digital parametric tools and complex- behaviour modeling methods renewed confidence in the engineering of nature? When preceding generations of engineers and de- signers developed analogies that held architecture 1. D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson Proportional systems to be operable like a complex instrument, their of human physiology, ‘After Albrecht Durer’, D’Arcy arguments tended to be divided. In their famous Wentworth Thompson, On Growth and Form, 1917 644 Re.Building late nineteenth-century organicism followdirectly Buckminster Fuller proposed his ‘ operating panel from Haeckel’s illustrated opus ‘Art forms in Nature’, for Space Ship Earth’ beside the United Nations�, he which illustrated Darwin’s vision of the practical evo- envisioned networked global markets and enlight- lution of species. Building a new kind of steward- ened individual human agency as a social and po- ship from this immersion in complex systems of na- litical fundament, while B. F. Skinner’s mid-century ture, D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s 1917 opus On brand of behaviourist psychology attempted to engi- Growth and Form5 offered methods for manipulation neer happy, productive subjects. This transcendent, of dynamic forces. While that author’s benign influ- crystalline territory seems exemplified by Fuller’s ence on design has been repeatedly cited, the politi- radiant ‘geoscope’, a floating spherical instrument cal application of his methods to ‘improving’ human panel connecting to vast networked global systems, species through eugenics is also poignantly evident. focusing the entire world into a coherent, unified ve- In a similar vein, the mid-century systems-biologist hicle for organized operation. Conrad Waddington’s mid-century conception of an epigenetic field6 extended Thompson’s biomathe- matics into an environment organized by intermesh- ing form-creating forces. 3. Original concept sketch of Geoscope, R. Buckminster Fuller, 1962, illustrated in Fuller, Critical
Recommended publications
  • On Genes and Form Enrico Coen*, Richard Kennaway and Christopher Whitewoods
    © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Development (2017) 144, 4203-4213 doi:10.1242/dev.151910 REVIEW On genes and form Enrico Coen*, Richard Kennaway and Christopher Whitewoods ABSTRACT aside ‘not because I doubt for a moment the facts nor dispute the The mechanisms by which organisms acquire their sizes and shapes hypotheses nor decry the importance of one or other; but because we through growth was a major focus of D’Arcy Thompson’s book are so much in the dark as to the mysterious field of force in which the On Growth and Form. By applying mathematical and physical chromosomes lie, far from the visible horizon of physical science, principles to a range of biological forms, Thompson achieved fresh that the matter lies (for the present) beyond the range of problems ’ insights, such as the notion that diverse biological shapes could be which this book professes to discuss (p. 341, Thompson, 1942). related through simple deformations of a coordinate system. However, Much of the darkness and mystery Thompson refers to was lifted in Thompson considered genetics to lie outside the scope of his work, the second half of the 20th century, as the nature of genes and their even though genetics was a growing discipline at the time the mechanisms of action became clear. Nevertheless, the link between book was published. Here, we review how recent advances in cell, gene activity and the generation of form remained obscure, largely developmental, evolutionary and computational biology allow because of difficulties in determining growth patterns and relating Thompson’s ideas to be integrated with genes and the processes them to physico-chemical mechanisms.
    [Show full text]
  • John Wells: Centenary Display Jonty Lees: Artist in Residence Autumn 2005 Winter 2007 6 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
    Kenneth Martin & Mary Martin: Constructed Works John Wells: Centenary Display Jonty Lees: Artist in Residence Autumn 2005 Winter 2007 6 October 2007 – 13 January 2008 Notes for Teachers - 1 - Contents Introduction 3 Kenneth Martin & Marty Martin: Constructed Works 4 John Wells: Centenary Display 11 Jonty Lees: Artist in Residence 14 Bernard Leach and his Circle 17 Ways of Looking – Questions to Ask of Any Artwork 19 Suggested Activities 20 Tate Resources & Contacts 22 Further Reading 22 Key Art Terms 24 - 2 - Introduction The Winter 2007 displays present: Kenneth Martin and Mary Martin: Constructed Works (Gallery 1, 3, 4, and the Apse) This exhibition shows the work of two of Britain’s key post-war abstract artists, Kenneth Martin and Mary Martin. The exhibition includes nearly 50 works and focuses on Kenneth Martin’s mobiles and his later Chance and Order series of abstract paintings, alongside Mary Martin’s relief sculptures. Modernism and St Ives from 1940 (Lower Gallery 2) This display of artists associated with St Ives from the Tate Collection is designed to complement the Kenneth Martin and Mary Martin exhibition. It includes work by Mary Martin, Victor Pasmore, Anthony Hill and Adrian Heath alongside St Ives artists such as Peter Lanyon, Terry Frost and Ben Nicholson. John Wells: Centenary Display (The Studio) A small display of paintings and relief constructions by John Wells, designed to celebrate the centenary of his birth. Bernard Leach and his Circle (Upper Gallery 2) Ceramics by Bernard Leach and key studio potters who worked alongside him. These works form part of the Wingfield-Digby Collection, recently gifted to Tate St Ives.
    [Show full text]
  • Robust Classification Method for Underwater Targets Using the Chaotic Features of the Flow Field
    Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Article Robust Classification Method for Underwater Targets Using the Chaotic Features of the Flow Field Xinghua Lin 1, Jianguo Wu 1,* and Qing Qin 2 1 School of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China; [email protected] 2 China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd, Tianjin 300300, China; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 17 January 2020; Accepted: 10 February 2020; Published: 12 February 2020 Abstract: Fish can sense their surrounding environment by their lateral line system (LLS). In order to understand the extent to which information can be derived via LLS and to improve the adaptive ability of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), a novel strategy is presented, which directly uses the information of the flow field to distinguish the object obstacle. The flow fields around different targets are obtained by the numerical method, and the pressure signal on the virtual lateral line is studied based on the chaos theory and fast Fourier transform (FFT). The compounded parametric features, including the chaotic features (CF) and the power spectrum density (PSD), which is named CF-PSD, are used to recognize the kinds of obstacles. During the research of CF, the largest Lyapunov exponent (LLE), saturated correlation dimension (SCD), and Kolmogorov entropy (KE) are taken into account, and PSD features include the number, amplitude, and position of wave crests. A two-step support vector machine (SVM) is built and used to classify the shapes and incidence angles based on the CF-PSD. It is demonstrated that the flow fields around triangular and square targets are chaotic systems, and the new findings indicate that the object obstacle can be recognized directly based on the information of the flow field, and the consideration of a parametric feature extraction method (CF-PSD) results in considerably higher classification success.
    [Show full text]
  • IV. on Growth and Form and D'arcy Wenworth Thompson
    Modified 4th chapter from the novel „Problem promatrača“ („Problem of the observer“), by Antonio Šiber, Jesenski i Turk (2008). Uploaded on the author website, http://asiber.ifs.hr IV. On growth and form and D'Arcy Wenworth Thompson St. Andrews on the North Sea is a cursed town for me. In a winter afternoon in year 1941, a bearded, grey-haired eighty year old man with swollen eyes and big head covered by even bigger hat was descending down the hill side to the harbor. He had a huge butcher’s knife in his hand. A few workers that gathered around a carcass of a huge whale which the North Sea washed on the docks visibly retreated away from a disturbing scene of a tall and hairy figure with an impressive knife. The beardo approached the whale carcass and in less than a minute swiftly separated a thick layer of underskin fat, and then also several large pieces of meat. He carefully stored them in a linen bag that he threw over the shoulder and slowly started his return, uphill. The astonished workers watched the whole procedure almost breathlessly, and then it finally occurred to one of them who was looking in the back of a slowly distancing old man that it was not such a bad idea. It is a war time and shortage of meat. And if professor of natural philosophy Sir D’Arcy Thompson concluded that the fish is edible… Who would know better than him? After all, he thinks only of animals and plants. Of course, Thomson knew perfectly well that the whale is not fish, but to workers this was of not much importance.
    [Show full text]
  • Perspectives
    PERspECTIVES steady-state spatial patterns could also arise TIMELINE from such processes in living systems21. The full formalization of the nature of Self-organization in cell biology: self-organization processes came from the work of Prigogine on instabilities and the a brief history emergence of organization in ‘dissipative systems’ in the 1960s22–24, and from Haken who worked on similar issues under the Eric Karsenti name of synergetics11 (TIMELINE). Abstract | Over the past two decades, molecular and cell biologists have made It was clear from the outset that the emergence of dynamical organization important progress in characterizing the components and compartments of the observed in physical and chemical systems cell. New visualization methods have also revealed cellular dynamics. This has should be of importance to biology, and raised complex issues about the organization principles that underlie the scientists who are interested in the periodic emergence of coherent dynamical cell shapes and functions. Self-organization manifestations of life and developmental concepts that were first developed in chemistry and physics and then applied to biology have been actively working in this field19,25–29. From a more general point various morphogenetic problems in biology over the past century are now of view, Kauffman built on the ideas of beginning to be applied to the organization of the living cell. Prigogine and Haken in an attempt to explain the origin of order in biology30–32. One of the most fundamental problems in this complex state of living matter as a self- Self-organization was also invoked to biology concerns the origin of forms and organized end8–10.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    1 Symmetry of Shapes in Biology: from D’Arcy Thompson to Morphometrics 1.1. Introduction Any attentive observer of the morphological diversity of the living world quickly becomes convinced of the omnipresence of its multiple symmetries. From unicellular to multicellular organisms, most organic forms present an anatomical or morphological organization that often reflects, with remarkable precision, the expression of geometric principles of symmetry. The bilateral symmetry of lepidopteran wings, the rotational symmetry of starfish and flower corollas, the spiral symmetry of nautilus shells and goat horns, and the translational symmetry of myriapod segments are all eloquent examples (Figure 1.1). Although the harmony that emanates from the symmetry of organic forms has inspired many artists, it has also fascinated generations of biologists wondering about the regulatory principles governing the development of these forms. This is the case for D’Arcy Thompson (1860–1948), for whom the organic expression of symmetries supported his vision of the role of physical forces and mathematical principles in the processes of morphogenesisCOPYRIGHTED and growth. D’Arcy Thompson’s MATERIAL work also foreshadowed the emergence of a science of forms (Gould 1971), one facet of which is a new branch of biometrics, morphometrics, which focuses on the quantitative description of shapes and the statistical analysis of their variations. Over the past two decades, morphometrics has developed a methodological Chapter written by Sylvain GERBER and Yoland SAVRIAMA. 2 Systematics and the Exploration of Life framework for the analysis of symmetry. The study of symmetry is today at the heart of several research programs as an object of study in its own right, or as a property allowing developmental or evolutionary inferences.
    [Show full text]
  • Engineering the Quantum Foam
    Engineering the Quantum Foam Reginald T. Cahill School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia [email protected] _____________________________________________________ ABSTRACT In 1990 Alcubierre, within the General Relativity model for space-time, proposed a scenario for ‘warp drive’ faster than light travel, in which objects would achieve such speeds by actually being stationary within a bubble of space which itself was moving through space, the idea being that the speed of the bubble was not itself limited by the speed of light. However that scenario required exotic matter to stabilise the boundary of the bubble. Here that proposal is re-examined within the context of the new modelling of space in which space is a quantum system, viz a quantum foam, with on-going classicalisation. This model has lead to the resolution of a number of longstanding problems, including a dynamical explanation for the so-called `dark matter’ effect. It has also given the first evidence of quantum gravity effects, as experimental data has shown that a new dimensionless constant characterising the self-interaction of space is the fine structure constant. The studies here begin the task of examining to what extent the new spatial self-interaction dynamics can play a role in stabilising the boundary without exotic matter, and whether the boundary stabilisation dynamics can be engineered; this would amount to quantum gravity engineering. 1 Introduction The modelling of space within physics has been an enormously challenging task dating back in the modern era to Galileo, mainly because it has proven very difficult, both conceptually and experimentally, to get a ‘handle’ on the phenomenon of space.
    [Show full text]
  • Hyperbolic Prism, Poincaré Disc, and Foams
    Hyperbolic Prism, Poincaré Disc, and Foams 1 1 Alberto Tufaile , Adriana Pedrosa Biscaia Tufaile 1 Soft Matter Laboratory, Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (E-mail: [email protected]) Abstract. The hyperbolic prism is a transparent optical element with spherical polished surfaces that refracts and reflects the light, acting as an optical element of foam. Using the hyperbolic prism we can face the question: is there any self-similarity in foams due to light scattering? In order to answer this question, we have constructed two optical elements: the hyperbolic kaleidoscope and the hyperbolic prism. The key feature of the light scattering in such elements is that this phenomenon is chaotic. The propagation of light in foams creates patterns which are generated due to the reflection and refraction of light. One of these patterns is observed by the formation of multiple mirror images inside liquid bridges in a layer of bubbles in a Hele-Shaw cell. We have observed the existence of these patterns in foams and their relation with hyperbolic geometry using the Poincaré disc model. The images obtained from the experiment in foams are compared to the case of hyperbolic optical elements, and there is a fractal dimension associated with the light scattering which creates self-similar patterns Keywords: Hyperbolic Prism, Poincaré Disc, Foams, Kaleidoscope. 1 Introduction Physically based visualization of foams improves our knowledge of optical systems. As long as the light transport mechanisms for light scattering in foams are understood, some interesting patterns observed can be connected with some concepts involving hyperbolic geometry, and this study involves mainly the classical scattering of light in foams and geometrical optics.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory of the Growth and Evolution of Feather Shape
    30JOURNAL R.O. PRUMOF EXPERIMENTAL AND S. WILLIAMSON ZOOLOGY (MOL DEV EVOL) 291:30–57 (2001) Theory of the Growth and Evolution of Feather Shape RICHARD O. PRUM* AND SCOTT WILLIAMSON Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 ABSTRACT We present the first explicit theory of the growth of feather shape, defined as the outline of a pennaceous feather vane. Based on a reanalysis of data from the literature, we pro- pose that the absolute growth rate of the barbs and rachis ridges, not the vertical growth rate, is uniform throughout the follicle. The growth of feathers is simulated with a mathematical model based on six growth parameters: (1) absolute barb and rachis ridge growth rate, (2) angle of heli- cal growth of barb ridges, (3) initial barb ridge number, (4) new barb ridge addition rate, (5) barb ridge diameter, and (6) the angle of barb ramus expansion following emergence from the sheath. The model simulates growth by cell division in the follicle collar and, except for the sixth param- eter, does not account for growth by differentiation in cell size and shape during later keratiniza- tion. The model can simulate a diversity of feather shapes that correspond closely in shape to real feathers, including various contour feathers, asymmetrical feathers, and even emarginate prima- ries. Simulations of feather growth under different parameter values demonstrate that each pa- rameter can have substantial, independent effects on feather shape. Many parameters also have complex and redundant effects on feather shape through their influence on the diameter of the follicle, the barb ridge fusion rate, and the internodal distance.
    [Show full text]
  • Modelling and Simulation of Acoustic Absorption of Open Cell Metal Foams
    Modelling and Simulation of Acoustic Absorption of Open Cell Metal Foams Claudia Lautensack, Matthias Kabel Fraunhofer ITWM, Kaiserslautern Abstract We analyse the microstructure of an open nickel-chrome foam using computed tomography. The foam sample is modelled by a random Laguerre tessellation, i.e. a weighted Voronoi tessellation, which is fitted to the original structure by means of geometric characteristics estimated from the CT image. Using the Allard-Johnson model we simulate the acoustic absorption of the real foam and the model. Finally, simulations in models with a larger variation of the cell sizes yield first results for the dependence of acoustic properties on the geometric structure of open cell foams. 1. Introduction Open cell metal foams are versatile materials which are used in many application areas, e.g. as heat exchangers, catalysts or sound absorbers. The physical properties of a foam are highly affected by its microstructure, for instance the porosity or the specific surface area of the material or the size and shape of the foam cells. An understanding of the change of the foam’s properties with altering microstructure is crucial for the optimisation of foams for certain applications. Foam models from stochastic geometry are powerful tools for the investigation of these relations. Edge systems of random tessellations are often used as models for open foams. Geometric characteristics which are estimated from tomographic images of the foams are used for fitting the models to real data. Realisations of foams with slightly modified microstructure can then be generated by changing the model parameters. Numerical simulations in these virtual foam samples allow for an investigation of relations between the geometric structure of a material and its physical properties.
    [Show full text]
  • Crystalclear® Foam-B-Gone
    ® Airmax® Inc. CrystalClear Foam-B-Gone 15425 Chets Way, Armada, MI 48005 Phone: 866-424-7629 Safety Data Sheet www.airmaxeco.com SECTION 1: IDENTIFICATION Product Trade Name: CrystalClear® Foam-B-Gone Date: 09-15-15 Name and/or Family or Description: Organic-inorganic mixtures Chemical Name: Anti-Foam Emulsion Chemical Formula: N/A CAS No.: N/A DOT Proper Shipping Name: Chemicals Not Otherwise Indexed (NOI) Non-Hazardous DOT Hazard Class: Not Regulated - None DOT Label: None MANUFACTURER/IMPORTER/SUPPLIER/DISTRIBUTOR INFORMATION: COMPANY NAME: Airmax®, Inc. COMPANY ADDRESS: P.O. Box 38, Romeo, Michigan 48065 COMPANY TELEPHONE: Office hours (Mon - Fri) 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (866) 424-7629 COMPANY CONTACT NAME: Main Office EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBER: Poison Control 800-222-1222 SECTION 2: HAZARD(S) IDENTIFICATION OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE LIMITS Ingredient Percent CAS No. PEL (Units) Hazard N/A 100% N/A N/E N/A *This product contains no hazardous ingredients according to manufacturer. *No components, present in excess of 0.1% by weight are listed as carcinogens by IARC, NTP, or OSHA *.A.R.A Information - SARA Applies – No reportable quantity to 312 / 313 / 372 SECTION 3: COMPOSITION/ INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS INGREDIENT NAME CAS NUMBER WEIGHT % Propylene Glycol 57-55-6 1 - <3 Other components below reportable levels 90 - 100 *Designates that a specific chemical identity and/or percentage of composition has been withheld as a trade secret. SECTION 4: FIRST AID MEASURES INHALATION: Promptly remove to fresh air. Call a physician if symptoms develop or persist. SKIN: Wash skin with plenty of soap and water.
    [Show full text]
  • Low Rattling: a Predictive Principle for Self-Organization in Active Collectives
    Low rattling: a predictive principle for self-organization in active collectives Pavel Chvykov,1 Thomas A. Berrueta,2 Akash Vardhan,3 William Savoie,3 Alexander Samland,2 Todd D. Murphey,2 3 3 3;4 Kurt Wiesenfeld, Daniel I. Goldman, Jeremy L. England ∗ 1Physics of Living Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA 3School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA 4GlaxoSmithKline AI/ML, 200 Cambridgepark Drive, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140, USA ∗To whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: [email protected] Self-organization is frequently observed in active collectives, from ant rafts to molecular motor assemblies. General principles describing self-organization away from equilibrium have been challenging to iden- tify. We offer a unifying framework that models the behavior of com- plex systems as largely random, while capturing their configuration- dependent response to external forcing. This allows derivation of a Boltzmann-like principle for understanding and manipulating driven self-organization. We validate our predictions experimentally in shape- changing robotic active matter, and outline a methodology for con- trolling collective behavior. Our findings highlight how emergent or- arXiv:2101.00683v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech] 3 Jan 2021 der depends sensitively on the matching between external patterns of forcing and internal dynamical response properties, pointing towards future approaches for design and control of active particle mixtures and metamaterials. 1 ACCEPTED VERSION: This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science, (2021-01-01), doi: 10.1126/science.abc6182 Self-organization in nature is surprising because getting a large group of separate particles to act in an organized way is often difficult.
    [Show full text]