|
In an area of approximately 370 square kilometers (143 square miles) of Amazon rain forest and in the midst of communities that in many cases lack even electricity, five robots help gather data on the region, facilitating decisions and data analysis on one of the world's most sophisticated and wide-ranging ecosystems.
The robots are part of the Cognitus Project (Cognitive Tool for the Amazon), one of the three components of the Piatam Project (Potential Impacts and Environmental Risks of the Petroleum and Gas Industry in the Amazon), developed together by the Federal University of Amazonas and Petrobras. The robots are on display during the four days of the 1st International Piatam Congress, taking place in Manaus between December 11 and 15. The Cognitus Project is coordinated by Fernando Pellon de Miranda, a geologist who does research at the Petrobras Studies Center (Cenpes), and José Wagner Garcia, a scientist. They propose to establish a new parameter of scientific production by reconstituting the general bases of these activities. One of their biggest challenges is to perform a detailed study of the historical sequence of variations in the hydrological cycle of the Negro and Solimões Rivers - whose levels rise and fall as much as 14 meters between dry and rainy seasons. In addition, they will be able to indicate what ecosystems need to be protected in case of accidents involving oil spills. The Hybrid Environmental Robot is also on display at the Congress. "Equipped with a combination of mechanical, electrical, computational, and communication systems, the Hybrid Environmental Robot will be a forward unit for men in areas of the Amazon Rain Forest that are still inaccessible to human presence," affirms Garcia. Similar to a remote-controlled toy car, the robot was tested in the Solimões River and succeeded in crossing the current and the mangrove swamps, among other obstacles. Ten robots are expected to be in operation by the end of 2006. Adopting a novel form of observing natural processes and conceiving of nature as a thinking being capable of leading scientists to the most varied kinds of knowledge, Cognitus gathers biochemists, biologists, physicists, artists, philosophers, geologists, and engineers "in a cross-disciplinary effort that reaches the interfaces between science, art, and technology," those who are responsible for the project believe. Agência Brasil
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.
Based on the description of the article, these robots are there to find oil, not protect the environment or discover how it works. And the day, if it comes, oil is found, deforestation, pollution and oil spills will destroy the Amazon even more.
Looking for oil in the Amazon has nothing wrong, even if NGOs are not happy, but why hide the truth and explain the opposite of the reality ?
Common tactic from the actual government to explain the opposite of the reality !