Energy Geotechnics includes 97 technical papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Energy Geotechnics (ICEGT 2016, Kiel, Germany, 29-31 August 2016). The contributions provides significant advances and critical challenges facing the areas of fundamentals, constitutive and numerical modelling, testing techniques and energy geotechnics applications. Energy Geotechnics contains seven regular sessions and six minisymposia, with contributions on discrete and continuum based modelling as well as investigations based on experimental studies at various scales. The papers on discrete and continuum based modelling examine the behaviour of gas hydrate sediments, cyclic and Themo-Hydro-Mechanical (T-H-M) modelling of energy piles, non-linear behaviour of energy geo-storage and geo-structures, deformation of geomaterials, modelling of borehole heat exchangers and energy walls, analysis of hydraulic fracturing and discontinuities in reservoirs, engineering problems involving gas hydrates sediments, and modelling of environmental impact of energy geotechnical processes.

This open access book not only describes the challenges of climate disruption, but also presents solutions. The challenges described include air pollution, climate change, extreme weather, and related health impacts that range from heat stress, vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity and chronic diseases to malnutrition and mental well-being. The influence of humans on climate change has been established through extensive published evidence and reports. However, the connections between climate change, the health of the planet and the impact on human health have not received the same level of attention. Therefore, the global focus on the public health impacts of climate change is a relatively recent area of interest. This focus is timely since scientists have concluded that changes in climate have led to new weather extremes such as floods, storms, heat waves, droughts and fires, in turn leading to more than 600,000 deaths and the displacement of nearly 4 billion people in the last 20 years. Previous work on the health impacts of climate change was limited mostly to epidemiologic approaches and outcomes and focused less on multidisciplinary, multi-faceted collaborations between physical scientists, public health researchers and policy makers. Further, there was little attention paid to faith-based and ethical approaches to the problem. The solutions and actions we explore in this book engage diverse sectors of civil society, faith leadership, and political leadership, all oriented by ethics, advocacy, and policy with a special focus on poor and vulnerable populations. The book highlights areas we think will resonate broadly with the public, faith leaders, researchers and students across disciplines including the humanities, and policy makers.

The first modern scholarly synthesis of animal domestication Across the globe and at different times in the past millennia, the evolutionary history of domesticated animals has been greatly affected by the myriad, complex, and diverse interactions humans have had with the animals closest to them. The Process of Animal Domestication presents a broad synthesis of this subject, from the rich biology behind the initial stages of domestication to how the creation of breeds reflects cultural and societal transformations that have impacted the biosphere. Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra draws from a wide range of fields, including evolutionary biology, zooarchaeology, ethnology, genetics, developmental biology, and evolutionary morphology to provide a fresh perspective to this classic topic. Relying on various conceptual and technical tools, he examines the natural history of phenotypes and their developmental origins. He presents case studies involving mammals, birds, fish, and insect species, and he highlights the importance of domestication for the comprehension of evolution, anatomy, ontogeny, and dozens of fundamental biological processes. Bringing together the most current developments, The Process of Animal Domestication will interest a wide range of readers, from evolutionary biologists, developmental biologists, and geneticists to anthropologists and archaeologists.

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, comprise an ambitious and sweeping agenda that unites economic, social, and environmental aims. What resources do the world's religious and secular traditions offer in support of these objectives? Which principles do these traditions hold in common, and how can these shared values help advance global goals? This book presents an in-depth and deeply engaged conversation among interfaith religious leaders and interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners in pursuit of an ethical consensus that could ground sustainable development efforts. Drawing on more than two years of close-knit discussions convened by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Marcelo Sa nchez Sorondo, it offers an extensive and inclusive vision of how to promote human flourishing. The book features theological, philosophical, and ethical deliberations of great diversity and depth on the challenges of sustainable development, addressing questions of poverty, environmental justice, peace, conflict, and the future of work. It includes consensus statements on the moral imperatives of sustainable development, introductions to seven major religious traditions and their conceptions of the common good, and thematic reflections. Wide-ranging and urgent, this book represents a major contribution to interreligious dialogue and to the articulation of a shared global ethics. The book features a foreword by Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

This book presents the results of a joint meeting organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences where renowned international scholars discussed the importance of education in an increasingly globalized world. The papers cover a wide range of topics, including immigration, education in developing countries, knowledge transfer, social, economic, cultural, and political conditions in global education, technology, communication, access to information and knowledge, as well as, bio-anthropological issues.

This open access book examines recent advances in how artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have elicited widespread debate over their benefits and drawbacks for humanity. The emergent technologies have for instance implications within medicine and health care, employment, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, and armed conflict. While there has been considerable attention devoted to robotics/AI applications in each of these domains, a fuller picture of their connections and the possible consequences for our shared humanity seems needed. This volume covers multidisciplinary research, examines current research frontiers in AI/robotics and likely impacts on societal well-being, human - robot relationships, as well as the opportunities and risks for sustainable development and peace. The attendant ethical and religious dimensions of these technologies are addressed and implications for regulatory policies on the use and future development of AI/robotics technologies are elaborated.

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, comprise an ambitious and sweeping agenda that unites economic, social, and environmental aims. What resources do the world's religious and secular traditions offer in support of these objectives? Which principles do these traditions hold in common, and how can these shared values help advance global goals? This book presents an in-depth and deeply engaged conversation among interfaith religious leaders and interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners in pursuit of an ethical consensus that could ground sustainable development efforts. Drawing on more than two years of close-knit discussions convened by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Marcelo Sa nchez Sorondo, it offers an extensive and inclusive vision of how to promote human flourishing. The book features theological, philosophical, and ethical deliberations of great diversity and depth on the challenges of sustainable development, addressing questions of poverty, environmental justice, peace, conflict, and the future of work. It includes consensus statements on the moral imperatives of sustainable development, introductions to seven major religious traditions and their conceptions of the common good, and thematic reflections. Wide-ranging and urgent, this book represents a major contribution to interreligious dialogue and to the articulation of a shared global ethics. The book features a foreword by Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The first modern scholarly synthesis of animal domestication Across the globe and at different times in the past millennia, the evolutionary history of domesticated animals has been greatly affected by the myriad, complex, and diverse interactions humans have had with the animals closest to them. The Process of Animal Domestication presents a broad synthesis of this subject, from the rich biology behind the initial stages of domestication to how the creation of breeds reflects cultural and societal transformations that have impacted the biosphere. Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra draws from a wide range of fields, including evolutionary biology, zooarchaeology, ethnology, genetics, developmental biology, and evolutionary morphology to provide a fresh perspective to this classic topic. Relying on various conceptual and technical tools, he examines the natural history of phenotypes and their developmental origins. He presents case studies involving mammals, birds, fish, and insect species, and he highlights the importance of domestication for the comprehension of evolution, anatomy, ontogeny, and dozens of fundamental biological processes. Bringing together the most current developments, The Process of Animal Domestication will interest a wide range of readers, from evolutionary biologists, developmental biologists, and geneticists to anthropologists and archaeologists.

This open access book not only describes the challenges of climate disruption, but also presents solutions. The challenges described include air pollution, climate change, extreme weather, and related health impacts that range from heat stress, vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity and chronic diseases to malnutrition and mental well-being. The influence of humans on climate change has been established through extensive published evidence and reports. However, the connections between climate change, the health of the planet and the impact on human health have not received the same level of attention. Therefore, the global focus on the public health impacts of climate change is a relatively recent area of interest. This focus is timely since scientists have concluded that changes in climate have led to new weather extremes such as floods, storms, heat waves, droughts and fires, in turn leading to more than 600,000 deaths and the displacement of nearly 4 billion people in the last 20 years. Previous work on the health impacts of climate change was limited mostly to epidemiologic approaches and outcomes and focused less on multidisciplinary, multi-faceted collaborations between physical scientists, public health researchers and policy makers. Further, there was little attention paid to faith-based and ethical approaches to the problem. The solutions and actions we explore in this book engage diverse sectors of civil society, faith leadership, and political leadership, all oriented by ethics, advocacy, and policy with a special focus on poor and vulnerable populations. The book highlights areas we think will resonate broadly with the public, faith leaders, researchers and students across disciplines including the humanities, and policy makers.

How can we bring together the study of genes, embryos and fossils? "Embryos in Deep Time" is a critical synthesis of the study of individual development in fossils. It brings together an up-to-date review of concepts from comparative anatomy, ecology and developmental genetics, and examples of different kinds of animals from diverse geological epochs and geographic areas. Can fossil embryos demonstrate evolutionary changes in reproductive modes? How have changes in ocean chemistry in the past affected the development of marine organisms? What can the microstructure of fossil bone and teeth reveal about maturation time, longevity and changes in growth phases? This book addresses these and other issues and documents with numerous examples and illustrations how fossils provide evidence not only of adult anatomy but also of the life history of individuals at different growth stages. The central topic of Biology today - the transformations occurring during the life of an organism and the mechanisms behind them - is addressed in an integrative manner for extinct animals.