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The Arctic continental shelves are important reservoirs of methane stored in gas hydrates and deeper geological formations. However, little is known about methane dynamics in deeper oceanic settings such as mid-ocean ridges, mainly due to operational challenges related to their remoteness. This study investigates a recently discovered methane seepage environment at Svyatogor Ridge, a sediment-covered transform fault on the western flank of the Arctic mid-ocean ridge west of Svalbard. Svyatogor Ridge was previously hypothesized to host deep gas hydrates and active fluid flow systems, which is a unique combination for this setting and requires geochemical evidence. Based on sediment and foraminiferal geochemistry, we demonstrate that Svyatogor Ridge hosts a shallow methane cycle with anaerobic oxidation of microbial methane, sustaining chemosynthetic communities at the seafloor. Our geochemical datasets also suggest that methane fluxes were higher in the past than today and long-lasting, with episodes of intense methane oxidation recorded in pre-Holocene sediments. Methane seepage is still ongoing at this location, although no evidence exists that methane is reaching the sea surface. The results provide the first evidence of a methane seepage environment ever reported from the ultra-slow spreading Arctic mid-ocean ridge, thus calling for a reevaluation of the role of this type of ridge in the ocean methane cycle.

ispartof: Cahiers de Civilisation Medievale vol:256bis status: accepted

This article explores the historical transformation of mindfulness, through a process of transculturation and commodification, into a biopolitical tool and analyzes possible future scenarios in which this tool will acquire even greater biopolitical strength through the integration of technological devices and artificial intelligence applications, particularly focusing on the growing divide between mindfulness-based therapies and traditional meditation. While both methodologies share the common objective of providing health and psychophysical benefits, they differ fundamentally in their theoretical frameworks, with mindfulness being egolatric and performance oriented while traditional meditation emphasizes transcending psychophysical identity. The development of mindfulness has been influenced by the sociocultural context of neoliberal and capitalist societies, resulting in a model that fosters self-regulation and emphasizes social control. The article also examines the potential biopolitical risks arising from the integration of AI-powered tools into mindfulness-based therapies. The increasing use of digital devices and applications for monitoring physical and mental health may contribute to a society characterized by constant self-surveillance and self-monitoring, reinforcing biopolitical control of the body. Consequently, this raises critical questions regarding the limits of surveillance and the potential exploitation of vulnerabilities through the incorporation of AI-powered tools.

AbstractReverend Thomas Bridges’ Yagan-English dictionary (1879) has hitherto been little explored outside of linguistics but is highly valuable as a complementary source to archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic records in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina and Chile). The dictionary contains 22,800 entries and yields rich information concerning the marine lifeways of the Yagan and their and intimate knowledge about Fuegian seascapes. The idea behind this paper is that environments have strong bearings on linguistic vocabularies. Treating words as archaeological objects that map onto landscapes, we identify important landforms for Yagan marine foragers and Norwegian fisher-farmers in a comparative study of word frequencies in Bridges’ dictionary and Ivar Aasen’s Norwegian dictionary (1850). Moreover, we explore in detail how marine lifestyles and Fuegian seascapes emerge in Bridges’ dictionary and discuss the dictionary’s relevance for historical archaeology in Tierra del Fuego.

AbstractIn the last decade, future thinking has rapidly gained importance as a topic of historical study. This article provides an overview of the existing historiographies of future thinking as well as the actions and practices that follow such thoughts. We trace the pedigree of histories of the future back to the German historian of ideas Reinhart Koselleck and show how his conceptual framework has been adopted and adapted by later scholars. We highlight the sources and methods that are typically used. A particularly fruitful approach that emerges from our meta study revolves around the concept of pluritemporality – the coexistence of different layers of time. The article also seeks to uncover some weaknesses and biases that are still present in the field. The most urgent issue being probably the lack of consensus on a conceptual apparatus; other blind spots concern the relationship between future thinking and its linguistic expression in historical sources, the question of whose future thinking we are talking about, how future thinking relates to human action in the past, and how short‐term futures interact with their long‐term futures equivalents. Overall, however, the aim of this survey is to emphasise the potential of this burgeoning field for future historical research. Much is to be gained from new theories of historical time which are themselves the consequence of ideas about climate change and the dangers of the Anthropocene, human extinction and trans‐ and post‐humanism and about artificial intelligence and the digital world.

These slides were presented at the HS Academy workshop titled "Working Group on Research Infrastructures and Heritage Science Career Paths," organized jointly by the IPERION HS and E-RIHS projects. The presentation was held in Bologna on January 25, 2024.

There has been a growing policy interest in establishing connections between heritage and education. Nevertheless, there seems to be very little evaluation or critical reflection on what actually happens in practice, and it remains unclear how heritage education is employed in countries throughout Europe. The aim of this paper is to assess the current status of heritage education in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium) via a literature review and an exploratory case study. The perceptions and opinions of pre-service teachers (n = 17) were investigated using three instruments: a questionnaire, document analysis, and the think aloud method. The results show that the pre-service teachers had a traditional interpretation of heritage, mainly relying on well-known and monumental examples and following a rather historical–artistic conception. However, it was found that their opinions were positive towards the use of heritage as an educational resource, and their evaluations of educational materials from the heritage and museum sector provided detailed information concerning teachers’ desires and needs in this regard. The implications of this study should encourage initial teacher training in Flanders to further consider the epistemological and methodological challenges in the emerging field of heritage education.