Transdisciplinary research knits together knowledge from diverse epistemic communities in addressing social-environmental challenges, such as biodiversity loss, climate crises, food insecurity, and public health. This article reflects on the roles of philosophy of science in transdisciplinary research while focusing on Indigenous and other subjugated forms of knowledge. We offer a critical assessment of demarcationist approaches in philosophy of science and outline a constructive alternative of transdisciplinary philosophy of science. While a focus on demarcation obscures the complex relations between epistemic communities, transdisciplinary philosophy of science provides resources for meeting epistemic and political challenges of collaborative knowledge production.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive technique to modulate human brain responses and has been used successfully in the treatment of depression. In this study tDCS was used as an add-on to psychotherapeutic interventions for the treatment of nicotine dependence. The goal of this study is to investigate modifications of brain activity before and after tDCS therapy.

The study is based on a sample of 32 smokers, 22 to 65 years; participants were divided into a placebo group and a verum group. Each participated in fMRI measurements before and after treatment (tDCS plus psychotherapy). During the fMRI sessions, pictures with or without a connection to smoking were presented in a pseudo-randomised order, in order to assess craving-related responses.

The results indicate cue-related brain activations, mainly within the basal ganglia, in the thalamus, the occipital cortex and the cuneus. The verum group showed an increased activation of the frontal cortex which is possibly related to a reinforcement of the brain's control function. The placebo group demonstrated reduced responses in the thalamus, the parahippocampal gyrus and the occipital cerebral cortex after tDCS, which may be related to changes of general attention and alertness.

A photogrammetric survey in 1998 formed the basis for compiling a map of the Tuyuksu glacier region in the northern Tien Shan, Central Asia. Comparison with a map from 1958 enables calculation of the change in glacier volume over 40 years. The results are compared with direct annual measurements carried out continuously since 1956. Central Tuyuksu glacier shows a mass balance of –12.6 mw.e. for the geodetic method and –16.8 m for glaciological measurements. In view of the high accuracy of the maps, the discrepancy can be explained mainly by deficiencies in the glaciological measurements. Application of the precipitation–runoff model HBV-ETH represents the hydrological method of mass-balance determination and delivers specific mass-balance losses almost twice those indicated by the geodetic observations. This discrepancy is suspected to be caused by erroneous runoff measurements. The volume balance derived by the geodetic method is used to calibrate both the glaciological and the hydrological method.

We present our latest 3D model atmospheres for carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars computed with the CO5BOLD code. The stellar parameters are representative of hot turn-off objects (Teff ~ 6250 K, log g = 4.0, [Fe/H]=−3). The main purpose of these models is to investigate the role of 3D effects on synthetic spectra of the CH G-band (4140-4400 Å), the CN BX-band (3870-3890 Å), and several UV OH transitions (3122-3128 Å). By comparison with the synthetic spectra from standard 1D model atmospheres (assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, LTE), we derive 3D abundance corrections for carbon and oxygen of up to −0.5 and −0.7 dex, respectively.

The mid-to-late Pleistocene Devils Hole δ 18O record has been extended from 60,000 to 4500 yr ago. The new δ 18O time series, in conjunction with the one previously published, is shown to be a proxy of Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) off the coast of California. During marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 2 and 6, the Devil Hole and SST time series exhibit a steady warming that began 5000 to > 10,000 yr prior to the last and penultimate deglaciations. Several possible proximate causes for this early warming are evaluated. The magnitude of the peak δ 18O or SST during the last interglacial (LIG) is significantly greater (1 per mill and 2 to 3°C, respectively) than the peak value of these parameters for the Holocene; in contrast, benthic δ 18O records of ice volume show only a few tenths per mill difference in the peak value for these interglacials. Statistical analysis provides an estimate of the large shared information (variation) between the Devils Hole and Eastern Pacific SST time series from ∼ 41 to ∼ 2°N and enforces the concept of a common forcing among all of these records. The extended Devils Hole record adds to evidence of the importance of uplands bordering the eastern Pacific as a source of archives for reconstructing Pacific climate variability.

Detailed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys at 50 and 200 MHz on Hansbreen, a polythermal glacier in southern Svalbard, are presented and interpreted. Comparison of the variations in character of the radar reflections with borehole thermometry and water levels in moulins suggests that GPR can be used to study the hydrothermal properties of the glacier. The high resolution of the GPR data shows that the hydrothermal structure of the glacier is highly variable both along the centre line and on transverse profiles. Water contents for many places and depths within the glacier were calculated by estimating radar-wave velocities to point reflectors. We find typical water contents of 1-2% for the temperate ice, but wetter ice associated with surface crevassing and moulins (typically 4% water content). There is evidence that wet ice sometimes overlays drier ice. The hydrothermal structure is thus shown to be very complex. Temperature gradients in the cold ice indicate freezing rates of temperate ice below cold ice of 0.1-0.5 ma-1, while isolated point reflectors within the cold ice indicate large water-filled bodies that are probably related to the regular drainage structure of the glacier.

The petrographic and morphologic differences between calcite precipitated below, at, or above the present water table and uranium-series dating were used to reconstruct a chronology of water-table fluctuation for the past 120,000 yr in Browns Room, a subterranean air-filled chamber of Devils Hole fissure adjacent to the discharge area of the large Ash Meadows groundwater flow system in southern Nevada. The water table was more than 5 m above present level between about 116,000 and 53,000 yr ago, fluctuated between about +5 and +9 m during the period between about 44,000 and 20,000 yr ago, and declined rapidly from +9 to its present level during the past 20,000 yr. Because the Ash Meadows groundwater basin is greater than 12,000 km2 in extent, these documented water-table fluctuations are likely to be of regional significance. Although different in detail, water-level fluctuation recorded by Browns Room calcites generally correlate with other Great Basin proxy palcoclimatic data.

Reanalysis and additional dating of the Devils Hole δ18O paleotemperature record confirm that the last interglaciation in the Great Basin (the continental analog of marine isotopic substage 5e) lasted ∼22,000 yr, consistent with the Vostok paleotemperature record which suggests a duration of ∼19,000 yr for this event in Antarctica. The three preceding interglaciations in the Devils Hole record (analogs of marine isotopic substages 7e, 9c, and 11c) range from 20,000 to 26,000 yr in duration. A ∼20,000-yr duration for the last interglaciation is consistent with TIMS uranium-series dated sea-level high stands. Thus, the widely held view that interglaciations were of 11,000- to 13,000-yr duration and constituted only about 10% of mid-to-late Pleistocene climatic cycles needs reexamination. The warmest portion of each interglaciation in the Devils Hole time series is marked by a δ18O plateau, signifying apparent climatic stability for periods of 10,000- to 15,000-yr duration.