International Seminars on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies

The following section is included:

• CONTENTS

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION ABOUT WHERE WE COME FROM
• THE PRESENT SCIENTIFIC STRUCTURE OF OUR PROJECT
• THE WHOLE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
• THE LOGIC OF ‘SCIENCE FOR PEACE THE WORLD OVER’. THE PROJECT FOR MANKIND
• STATUS OF ‘SCIENCE FOR PEACE THE WORLD OVER’. THE PROJECT FOR MANKIND
• OVERVIEW OF THE 72 PLANETARY EMERGENCIES GROUPED INTO 15 CLASSES
• ACTIVITY AT PRESENT

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• GOVERNANCE
• ORGANIZATION
• GENERAL MANAGEMENT
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE ACCELERATOR SECTOR
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE RESEARCH SECTOR
• FACING DIFFICULTIES
• TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
• MAINTAINING THE MAGIC
• CONCLUSION

The following sections are included:

• PREFACE
• HISTORY
• LAA ACHIEVEMENTS
• IN SUMMARY
• REFERENCES

The INFN ELOISATRON project has a long and fruitful history of advancing the combined technologies of accelerators and detectors aimed at investigating fundamental particle physics at the highest energies and luminosities.

The following sections are included:

• INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT
• INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT
• INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT
• WFS NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT. REPRESENTATIVES AND DELEGATES

Economic development in many regions of the world have led to a deterioration of natural environment. The second half of the twentieth century bore witness to an increase of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere correlated with the air quality deterioration, deterioration of access to drinking water and extinction of wild species of fungi, plants and animals. That is caused by disruption of the existing proportions between carbon accumulated in geological resources, soils and forests, and carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere…

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• THE EMPIRICISM OF CLIMATE MODELS
• EMPIRICISM
• MODELS: EXTRAPOLATION, NOT FORECASTS
• CAN WE DO BETTER?
• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION: MODEL EVALUATION
• HAC-ROBUST TREND COMPARISONS
• BAYESIAN MODEL AVERAGING AND MODEL UNCERTAINTY
• ENCOMPASSING TESTS OF RIVAL HYPOTHESES
• OTHER EXAMPLES
• REFERENCES

There are over 35 different climate models which are used to make climate simulations and future climate projections. In principle, these models don’t only agree with each other, they don’t agree with reality. We will compare climate models at the “dynamics” level with a new approach in terms of climate networks…

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• ROLE OF THE WFS
• NETWORKS
• EXAMPLE: CONTROL OF PARTIAL SYNCHRONIZATION PATTERNS
• MOVING FORWARD
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES

The science of complex networks can provide new approaches to counter-terrorism through application of theoretical physics to terrorism as a non-linear self-organising system. The methodology for such an approach requires strategic development in international workshop collaboration and attraction of governments to this method through solutions to terrorism and wider applications which may include interests in sustainability of cities, water, transportation, terrorism and reduction of perturbations in energy systems. The pursuit of this process through an international collaborative effort would broaden the application of cultural factors and the range of problems addressed by this methodology. Ideally collaborative work through an International Centre based in one of the existing centres for the study of the science of complex networks would provide long term sustainability for the research focus.

The following sections are included:

• OUTLINE OF PROPOSAL
• CULTURE OF SAFETY CONFERENCES, REPORT AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
• MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
• ACHIEVING IMPACT

The prospects of nuclear power in the global energy mix remain indeterminate. In a future characterized by stringent global greenhouse gas emission constraints, the technology’s climate and energy security benefits alone should guarantee it an expanding role. That this is currently not the case globally, hinges on several pivotal factors. One of which is reactor safety and, more generally, the safety and security of nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations, as well as the perception of the technology amongst the public, the media and decision makers. This includes perceptions of potential problems associated with the technology of the back-end of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (NFC) - specifically waste management technology for the safe and secure storage and disposal of spent fuel and radioactive wastes…

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• HOW “SAFE” ARE CURRENT NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS?
• ASSUMPTIONS TO ACHIEVE THIS LEVEL OF SAFETY
• WHAT COULD CAUSE A GIVEN NPP TO FAIL TO ACHIEVE THESE SAFETY LEVELS?
• WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF A WEAK SAFETY CULTURE?
• A BIT OF HISTORY – THE 3 MAJOR NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANT ACCIDENTS
• FUTURE EXPANSION INTO “NEWCOMER” COUNTRIES ??
• THE PROPOSED NUCLEAR SAFETY CENTRE
• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• A PLANETARY EMERGENCY – THE NEED FOR ELECTRICITY
• THE MULTIPLE NUCLEAR DIMENSION
• NUCLEAR SECURITY VULNERABILITIES
• INTERNATIONAL RESPONSES
• EFFECTIVE NUCLEAR GOVERNANCE
• MEETING A NEW TIME, WITH NEW REQUIREMENTS
• PROGRESS THROUGH THE NUCLEAR SAFETY CENTER

The security and proliferation concerns associated with the spread of nuclear power in the first decade of this century are almost entirely focussed on enrichment technology at the frontend of the nuclear fuel cycle and on reprocessing. Although these are the highest risk areas, it is also important that the potential security problems associated with waste management (in particular with the storage and disposal of spent fuel and radioactive wastes) are not neglected. It is an important environmental policy imperative that waste disposal issues are not neglected by continuing or new nuclear programmes, as they were during the early decades of the development of nuclear power (and, arguably, still are even today in some countries). This crucial issue must not be ignored - either by the countries that are marketing and exporting nuclear power plants or fuel supply services, or by those countries anxious to expand their national nuclear energy programmes. In addition to its front-end reactor safety activities, the proposed Nuclear Safety Centre (Difiglio 2017) will provide an independent, non-biased capability for studies of the back-end safety and security issues that are summarised below, based on an earlier publication (Chapman et al 2009) and on a presentation at the 2016 Erice Seminars.

On the 49th edition of the International Seminars on the Planetary Emergencies, we presented a proposal focussed on the development of novel technologies for nuclear safeguards, security, and forensics to counteract illicit activities involving nuclear and other radioactive materials. The aim of the project is to enhance border security and response to illicit movement and use of such materials, which is a central goal of the Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). Here, we briefly describe the scenarios that generate radiological threats and the current activities carried out by the JRC to address the risks associated with a misuse of nuclear materials and thus contribute to improve nuclear security. We then present the lines along which the proposed project will develop.

New high efficiency, high count-rate detectors are proposed for application in different areas including Nuclear Safeguards. Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) are high performance detectors of charged particles featuring good spatial resolution (<0.5 cm), excellent timing properties, high rate capability (>MHz/mm²) and large area coverage (> m²) at reasonable cost. By using a suitable neutron converter a GEM detector with efficiency > 30% for thermal neutrons can be obtained. Results are presented here on a prototype detector where the neutron converter is a system of thin lamellas coated with 1 μm layer of ¹⁰B₄C, the so-called Boron Array Neutron Detector (BAND). The performance of the first BAND-GEM detector is reported.

Professor Zichichi has challenged all of us to look at our areas of work in a more comprehensive manner, to inspire ourselves with the singular concentrated effort of the then Manhattan Project, and to think big concerning our own domain. That is a lofty, an ambitious goal, but it is necessary and timely, commensurate with the evolving menace many of the planetary emergencies which we have identified have to face in the often very near future. That is particularly true of the threats accompanying the evolution of digital technologies, a true planetary emergence of rapidly growing proportion…

Professor Zichichi had an immense influence on the way people think. The way the development of science is taking place in India we started up with the International Conference On Cyber Law, Cyber Crime And Cyber Security. Professor Zichichi is kind enough to support the event. We had a massive event last time it was attended more than 300 people from different parts of the world and we are following that up with the International Conference On Cyber Law Cyber Crime Cyber Security which is being supported by the world federation of scientist and I thought this moment will best if we could give a small trophy as a token of our appreciation to professor Zichichi, on behalf with the conference…

The following section is included:

• PRESENTATION OF PROJECT

When Blackett visited Erice, what would become the “Piersanti Mattarella Tower of Thought” was only the highest point of sight in Erice. From this highest point in Erice (Photo 1) you can see the view (Photo 2) that enchanted Professor Blackett and since 1963 continues to enchant all fellows (two examples in Photos 3 and 4) participating in the activities of the 126 International Schools of the EMFCSC.

Terrorism is a complex planetary emergency requiring sophisticated understanding of the widely varying motivations for, and pathways to, extreme violence. Only in understanding these motivations and pathways can we hope to prevent attacks that are becoming more frequent, from Paris to Dhakar, Istanbul to Brussels, and to try and mitigate the slide into ever worsening conflicts across the world. But, as in most fields of research, as one question is answered others replace them: as children discover young, one can always ask “why”? in response to the answer to any question. This has been called the philosopher’s regress, but it can be applied to any field (no sooner were sub-atomic particles found, but they, too, were found to be divisible), and the study of terrorism is not exempt.

Critical national infrastructure (CNI) includes fixed and mobile targets of substantial national significance and/or to national security implications either symbolically or physically. For example, Hoover Dam and the White House. CNI may also be event-driven, for instance, the Super Bowl stadium, which would be classified as a Special Security Event (SSE)…

The following sections are included:

• BACKGROUND
• UAVS FOR ENHANCED SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
• IN SUMMARY

The presence of a population of small planetary objects that may cross the orbit of the Earth constitutes a danger for the human civilization and more in general for the terrestrial biosphere. This is well known, and the scientific community is currently doing important actions to prevent possible collisions and mitigate the possible effects of such events. On the side of the detection of potentially hazardous objects, dedicated sky surveys are currently operational from ground and from space, and new, more powerful instruments will be made operational in the next years. On the side of the physical characterization of potential impactors, we have available a variety of techniques to be able to estimate the size and composition of these bodies, in spite of their relative faintness. In case of the discovery of an object moving along a trajectory that can lead to an impact with the Earth, different possible techniques can be considered to prevent the collision, depending on the time available between the discovery of the object and its predicted impact. What is still sorely missing is an agreed framework in which any possible activity of defense can be put into existence according to internationally agreed laws and treaties. The defense of the Earth against collisions with celestial bodies is a task that cannot be solved by scientists alone, but it requires actions by well-informed decision makers at an international level. For this reason, we propose in the framework of the New Manhattan Project the organization of an international conference in Erice, with the participation of scientists, engineers, lawyers, top officers of the most important Space Agencies and high-level members of the governments of different countries, as a first necessary step to establish a body of internationally agreed rules to set up a real system of defence against catastrophic collisions with near-Earth objects.

The following sections are included:

• THREAT FROM SPACE
• WHAT IS IT NECESSARY TO DO?
• PRINCIPLES OF PREPARING OF THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY
• STAGES OF CREATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL PDS
• PROPOSALS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• MISSION
• OBJECTIVES
• PROPOSAL
• BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH LINE
• APPLIED SCIENCE RESEARCH LINE

Environmental stressors can adversely affect the development of fetuses, infants and children. The consequence has been a marked increase over recent decades in risk of a wide range of diseases, many of which are not expressed until adulthood or middle age. This issue is the focus of a new field of science: The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Environmental stressors that can adversely impact normal development include environmental chemicals in water, air and food, drugs, malnutrition and psycho-social stress. Our focus here is on the adverse health effects of exposure during development to the endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) as well as the consequences on offspring of maternal psycho-social stress. An interesting finding is that male and female fetuses often show opposite responses to these environmental stressors. We also discuss the failure of the regulatory system to ensure that harmful chemicals are removed from products in a timely manner and the use of “regrettable substitutions” when replacement chemicals are introduced without regard to their potential to cause the same adverse effects as the chemical being replaced.

Obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes are interrelated metabolic disorders which prevalence has increased substantially in the past two decades [1].Insulin resistance occurs when increasing amounts of insulin are required to correctly regulate transport of plasma glucose into peripheral tissues. Although the precise mechanism is unclear, insulin resistance is commonly associated with an increase in central (visceral) obesity [2]…

A brief review of a model employed by developmental physicians and researchers to represent the interactions between genes, environment and specific exposures to different agents during early critical developmental stages in humans, is presented. Main categories of known or suspected harmful exposures include endocrine disruptors, preterm delivery, poor intra and extra uterine nutrition and impoverish environment. Endocrine disruptors are further discussed and the role they play as a potential planet-wide threat for the present and future of human beings is illustrated with two study cases: Diethylstilbestrol (DES) and Bisphenol A (BPS). Evidence linking antenatal-perinatal and infancy-early childhood exposure with detrimental somatic and neurodevelopmental outcomes is summarized and briefly discussed. A conceptual framework for identifying implications is proposed, and general implications for policy and research are presented…

Demographic reshaping of human population has already been noticed a few decades ago, to become a serious socio-economic issue of the twentieth century and beyond. The demographic distribution diagram is changing from the conventional pyramid type to a slimmer, elongated column type or an upside-down pyramid. As the present people will outlive than their predecessors and the mean-value age of human population becomes older, the elderly society is more realistic than ever. For example, a world of more than 10% of total human population are older than 80 is neither unexpected nor unreachable. The elders who characterize the elderly society are not a burden but an asset of human kind…

The following section is included:

• PROJECT PREVIEW

Since 2015 a biomonitoring project has been conducted in a specific area of the Campania Region so called “Terra dei Fuochi”, where in association to illegal dumping waste an increase of cancer incidence has been reported in 2006 and thereafter. In 2014 preliminary data on the persistent detection of contaminants in critical area of the Campania Region have been reported. Moreover, association of high levels of natural arsenic in the volcanic soil of the Area Flegrea has been associated to high incidence of bladder cancer…

The following sections are included:

• BACKGROUND: INFECTIOUS DISEASES: A PLANETARY EMERGENCY
• TERMINOLOGY
• EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES (EID)
• MAJOR EPIDEMICS SINCE 1980
• REASONS FOR A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN EPIDEMICS
• IMPORTANT EPIDEMICS
• THREATS
• OPPORTUNITIES
• MEASLES
• TUBERCULOSIS
• TUBERCULOSIS: FINANCIAL GAP
• LOOKING FORWARD
• HIV: BURDEN AND TRENDS IN ASIA PACIFIC
• HIV: CHALLENGES IN FINANCING HIV PROGRAMMES
• HEPATITIS B and C: DISTRIBUTION OF ESTIMATED NUMBER OF ANNUAL DEATHS
• HEPATITIS: GAPS AND CHALLENGES
• DISEASES PREVENTED BY VACCINATION
• WHY INDIA IS THE PHARMACY FOR THE WORLD?
• MEDICINES PATENT POOL (MPP)
• LOOKING FORWARD
• MILESTONES INCLUDE
• CHALLENGES FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES, DATA, RESOURCES AND FURTHER READINGS

We review the history of the Manhattan Project as a platform from which to regard contemporary initiatives to swiftly effect large-scale improvements in the human condition, with particular reference to past, present and future campaigns to eliminate infectious diseases through global eradication of their causative pathogens…

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• PATHOGEN ERADICATION AS A GENERAL PATH-FORWARD
• MALARIA ERADICATION AS A CASE STUDY
• POLIO ERADICATION AS A CASE STUDY
• THE CHALLENGE OF EMERGING EPIDEMICS
• AREAS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
• CONCLUSIONS: THE PATH-FORWARD
• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF TAU, PRP, AND TDP-43 IN NEURON FUNCTION AND METABOLISM
• CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Arrived on the scene just 200,000 years Homo sapiens is now pushing the earth into the so-called anthropocene (a geological epoch characterized by the global impact of humans on ecology and geology). Human activities (eg technological and economical choices), although not deliberately engineered in the past, are now changing our world in a way that threaten its ability to sustain us and other species. The planetary emergencies we are facing (i.e. food, diseases, pollution, biodiversity, climate, energy, economy, demographic, social and political factors) are highly interwoven. Overlooking this interrelation or trying to solve these problems separately put the human life at risk. Collaboration across countries, areas of expertise and stakeholder groups is necessary to effectively address these global risks. It is necessary a profound cultural “metanoia” based on science that can guide the decision makers to use new economic, social and scientific strategies aimed to preserve the present and as well as the future humankind needs. Within this context the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice and the International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies may play a key role for 1) the introduction of the concept of sustainability into the classic and applied scientific culture and 2) a new cultural and educational approach of the next generation of scientists that will contribute to counteract the present situation and guarantee a sustainable future for our planet.

The Project copes with the Energy (Renewable) and the Pollution (Urban and Domestic) Emergencies, identified in the “Project for Mankind”…

The following sections are included:

• SCOPE
• OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDIES
• PROPOSED TITLES
• COMPONENTS AND ACTIVITIES
• INVOLVED INSTITUTIONS
• WORK PLAN
• INTERESTED AGENCIES

During the last decades, ‘fast timing’ has played a vital role in the field of particle physics. This has also led to an impressive series of technological developments in medical physics, especially with the TOF-PET camera. In this report we examine the breakthrough that will be obtained if precise timing was pushed to the limit for devices used for medical diagnostics.

The following sections are included:

• INTRODUCTION
• THE VATICAN ENCYCLICAL, ‘LAUDATO SI’, ON WATER
• WATER AND CONFLICTS
• WORLD WATER CRISIS CENTRE PROPOSAL OBJECTIVES
• PROJECT APPROACH
• PROJECT IMPACTS
• PROJECT COMMUNICATION

Droughts are transitory events caused by a combination of supply and demand circumstances resulting in insufficient availability of water to satisfy the needs of the region. This can result in various degrees of negative impacts for a region. Drought management plans designed to mitigate the impacts of droughts in four regions of the world that have experienced significant droughts are compared for California, Australia, the Horn of Africa in Eastern Africa, and Israel. The experiences of these four regions illustrate the varying degrees of success in mitigating negative impacts of drought. Australia and California applied various institutional and technical actions to primarily address the short to medium term impacts of the drought. Responses to the droughts in the Horn of Africa were totally reactive and centered on alleviating the devastating starvation crisis. However, only Israel has developed and implemented a long-term, sustainable plan for drought management that makes the country essentially independent of significant negative impacts of future droughts. Israel’s drought management program includes components including governance, infrastructure, water use, and technology.

The following sections are included:

• THE FIRST REMARK
• SEVEN DEFINITIONS OF COMPLEXITY
• COMPLEXITY EXISTS AT ALL SCALES
• THE EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF COMPLEXITY
  • AFB PHENOMENA FROM BEETHOVEN TO THE SUPERWORLD
  • UEEC EVENTS, FROM GALILEI UP TO SM&B
• THE TWO ASYMPTOTIC LIMITS: HISTORY AND SCIENCE
• COMPLEXITY AND PREDICTIONS
• CHAOS, EVOLUTION AND HISTORY
  • CHAOS
  • EVOLUTION OF LIVING MATTER
  • A FEW WORDS ON HISTORY
• THE LESSON FOR THE FUTURE
• CLOSING REMARKS: FROM PLANCK TO COMPLEXITY
• THE FINAL QUESTION
• ADDENDUM 1: THE PLATONIC GRAND UNIFICATION
• ADDENDUM 2: THE PLATONIC SUPERWORLD
• ADDENDUM 3: THE WHOLE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
• ADDENDUM 4: UEEC EVENTS IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS
• ADDENDUM 5: UEEC EVENTS WHERE I HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY INVOLVED
• REFERENCES

The following sections are included:

• PROJECT EVALUATION COMMITTEE
• SUMMARY OF PROJECTS AND COORDINATORS
• SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS