Asian Roboticism: Connecting Mechanized Labor to the Automation of Work

Abstract This article reconsiders the present-day automation of work and its transformation of who we are as humans. What has been missing from this important conversation are the social meanings surrounding Asian roboticism or how Asians have already been rendered as “robotic” subjects and labor. Through this racial gendered trope, I assess whether industrial automation will lessen, complicate, or exacerbate this modern archetype. By looking at corporate organizational practices and public media discourse, I believe that Asian roboticism will not simply vanish, but potentially continue to affect the ways such subjects are rendered as exploitable alienated robots without human rights or status

Climate risk mapping provides rice growers with adaptation options in the Mekong River Delta

The Mekong River Delta in Vietnam accounts for over half of the country’s domestic #rice production yet is increasingly affected by climate change. Dr. Bui Tan Yen is leading a team to develop an approach known as CS-MAP, a participatory approach of climate risk mapping, which provides farmers with adaptation options

Gaps between zeros of the derivative of the Riemann \xi-function

Assuming the Riemann hypothesis, we investigate the distribution of gaps between the zeros of \xi'(s). We prove that a positive proportion of gaps are less than 0.796 times the average spacing and, in the other direction, a positive proportion of gaps are greater than 1.18 times the average spacing. We also exhibit the existence of infinitely many normalized gaps smaller (larger) than 0.7203 (1.5, respectively).Comment: 15 page

The Impact of Quasi-Regulatory Mechanisms on Polluting Behavior: Evidence from Pollution Prevention Programs and Toxic Releases

To date, there is little convincing evidence on the effectiveness of “quasi-regulatory” mechanisms. Here I investigate how quasi-regulatory policies known as pollution prevention (“P2”) programs affect toxic pollution. I construct a data base on state-level P2 programs as well as the 1990 federal Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) and exploit variation in state adoption dates and program characteristics to study their effects on facility-level toxic releases. I find strong evidence that these mechanisms can affect pollution outcomes. In particular, I find that (1) the 1990 PPA has had a significant effect on toxic releases; (2) state programs geared to reducing the costs of P2 activities led to significant reductions in toxic releases; and (3) the response to P2 programs that increased the regulators’ ability to monitor polluting behavior could either increase or decrease reported releases, depending on the regulators’ ability to verify the accuracy of the reported releases.TRI, Quasi-Regulation, Voluntary Programs, Toxic Pollution