In environmental science, where information from sensor devices are sparse, data fusion for mapping purposes is often based on geostatistical approaches. We propose a methodology called adaptive distance attention that enables us to fuse sparse, heterogeneous, and mobile sensor devices and predict values at locations with no previous measurement. The approach allows for automatically weighting the measurements according to a priori quality information about the sensor device without using complex and resource-demanding data assimilation techniques. Both ordinary kriging and the general regression neural network (GRNN) are integrated into this attention with their learnable parameters based on deep learning architectures. We evaluate this method using three static phenomena with different complexities: a case related to a simplistic phenomenon, topography over an area of 196 $ {km}^2 $ and to the annual hourly $ {NO}_2 $ concentration in 2019 over the Oslo metropolitan region (1026 $ {km}^2 $). We simulate networks of 100 synthetic sensor devices with six characteristics related to measurement quality and measurement spatial resolution. Generally, outcomes are promising: we significantly improve the metrics from baseline geostatistical models. Besides, distance attention using the Nadaraya–Watson kernel provides as good metrics as the attention based on the kriging system enabling the possibility to alleviate the processing cost for fusion of sparse data. The encouraging results motivate us in keeping adapting distance attention to space-time phenomena evolving in complex and isolated areas.

In recent years, a variety of efforts have been made in political science to enable, encourage, or require scholars to be more open and explicit about the bases of their empirical claims and, in turn, make those claims more readily evaluable by others. While qualitative scholars have long taken an interest in making their research open, reflexive, and systematic, the recent push for overarching transparency norms and requirements has provoked serious concern within qualitative research communities and raised fundamental questions about the meaning, value, costs, and intellectual relevance of transparency for qualitative inquiry. In this Perspectives Reflection, we crystallize the central findings of a three-year deliberative process—the Qualitative Transparency Deliberations (QTD)—involving hundreds of political scientists in a broad discussion of these issues. Following an overview of the process and the key insights that emerged, we present summaries of the QTD Working Groups’ final reports. Drawing on a series of public, online conversations that unfolded at www.qualtd.net, the reports unpack transparency’s promise, practicalities, risks, and limitations in relation to different qualitative methodologies, forms of evidence, and research contexts. Taken as a whole, these reports—the full versions of which can be found in the Supplementary Materials—offer practical guidance to scholars designing and implementing qualitative research, and to editors, reviewers, and funders seeking to develop criteria of evaluation that are appropriate—as understood by relevant research communities—to the forms of inquiry being assessed. We dedicate this Reflection to the memory of our coauthor and QTD working group leader Kendra Koivu.1

Southern Iceland is one of the main outlets of the Icelandic ice sheet and is subject to seismicity of both tectonic and volcanic origins along the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ). A sedimentary complex spanning Marine Isotopic Stage 6 (MIS 6) to the present includes evidence of both activities. It includes a continuous sedimentary record since the Eemian interglacial period, controlled by a rapid deglaciation, followed by two marine glacioisostasy-forced transgressions, separated by a regression phase connected to an intra-MIS 5e glacial advance. This record has been constrained by tephrostratigraphy and dating. Analysis of this record has provided better insights into the interconnectedness of hydrology and volcanic and tectonic activity during deglaciations and glaciations. Low-intensity earthquakes recurrently affected the water-laid sedimentation during the early stages of unloading, accompanying rifting events, dyke injection, and fault reactivations. During full interglacial periods, earthquakes were significantly less frequent but of higher magnitude along the SISZ, due to stress accumulation, favored by low groundwater levels and more limited magma production. Occurrence of volcanism and seismicity in Iceland is commonly related to rifting events. Subglacial volcanic events seem moreover to have been related to stress unlocking related to limited or full unloading/deglaciation events. Major eruptions were mostly located at the melting margin of the ice sheet.

We present herein a joint physical/physico-chemical study and, more specifically, the first application of Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization coupled with Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) to analyze small-sized ZnO quantum dots (QDs) (2.8-3.1 nm diameter range) synthesized by sol-gel chemistry and stabilized through an aminosilane coating. A careful investigation of the stability of ZnO QDs was initiated once these dots were dispersed in different media (water, biological buffer) for a period up to 3 weeks. Positive ion mode mass spectra MALDI-TOF-MS combined with optical spectrometry was used to monitor the stability of ZnO QDs when aging. Such a unique combination of MALDI-TOF-MS and physico-chemical techniques is likely to bring new insights into the structure analysis, the stability and consequently the potential toxicity of QDs.

In the search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, it is essential to clarify what is to be meant by ‘life’ and ‘intelligence’. I first analyse what it means to ‘define’ these words. I will show that some philosophical prejudice is unavoidable. As a working hypothesis, I consider two types of philosophy: ‘natural philosophy’, seeking for some essence of things, and ‘critical (or analytical) philosophy’, devoted to the analysis of the procedures by which we claim to construct a reality. An extension of critical philosophy, epistemo-analysis (i.e. the psycho-analysis of concepts) is presented and applied to the definition of exolife and to extraterrestrial ‘intelligence’. Some pragmatic conclusions are finally drawn for future search strategies.

In the context of life detection on terrestrial exoplanets, new methods of search for spectral signatures of chlorophyll and other biomarkers in the Earthshine have been developed in the last few decades. Astronomical observations made at OHP and ESO (NTT) showed a significant signal when continents are facing the Moon. This signal, called the Vegetation Red Edge (VRE), is undoubtedly due to chlorophyll absorption properties. In order to strengthen these results, the LUCAS (LUmière Cendrée en Antarctique par Spectroscopie) project dedicated to the measurement of the Earthshine from the Concordia Research Station (C Dome, Antarctica) has been set up. One of the objectives of LUCAS was to observe prolonged variations of the VRE corresponding to various parts of the Earth facing the Moon. An extension of this project, called LUCAS II, would allow long-term observations to detect seasonal variations of the vegetation signal. These data, together with accurate measurements of the Earth's albedo, will help validate a model of global and spectral albedo of our planet.

We present numerical results of the science performance of the SPICES mission, which aims to characterize the spectro-polarimetric properties of cold exoplanets and circumstellar disks in the visible. We focus on the instrument ability to retrieve the spectral signatures of molecular species, clouds and surface of super-Earths in the habitable zone of solar-type stars. Considering realistic reflected planet spectra and instrument limitation, we show that SPICES could analyse the atmosphere and surface of a few super-Earths within 5 pc of the Sun.

SPICES (Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems) was proposed in 2010 for a five-year M-class mission in the context of ESA Cosmic Vision. Its purpose is to image and characterize long-period extrasolar planets located at several AUs (0.5-10 AU) from nearby stars (<25 pc) with masses ranging from a few Jupiter masses down to super-Earths (~2 Earth radii, ~10 M⊕), possibly habitable. In addition, circumstellar disks as faint as a few times the zodiacal light in the Solar System can be studied. SPICES is based on a 1.5-m off-axis telescope and can perform spectro-polarimetric measurements in the visible (450 - 900 nm) at a spectral resolution of about 40. This paper summarizes the top science program and the choices made to conceive the instrument. The performance is illustrated for a few emblematic cases.

The aim of the LUCAS program is to observe chlorophyll and atmospheric molecules in the Earthshine spectrum in order to prepare the detection of life in terrestrial extrasolar planets to be discovered. Actually, observations from Antarctica offer a unique possibility to study the variations of Earthshine spectrum during Earth rotation while various parts of Earth are facing the Moon. Special instrumentation for the LUCAS program was designed and put in the Concordia station in the Dome C. Observations are in progress.