This article presents a speculative philosophical account of money as a computational machine. It does so by leveraging a computational and machinic framework, drawing primarily from the work of Philip Mirowski and Jean Cartelier. The argument is focused on a specific level of abstraction, i.e., the monetary operations involved in the creation and transfer of units of account, asking whether it is possible to view these operations as computations that mediate economic relations. As the primary function of such a machine would be one of social coordination, the article also highlights the political consequences of its implementation across society.

Automatic broiler catching machines have been developed for several reasons. Manual catching is expensive, often rough and may cause injury to the birds. Apart from animal welfare considerations, the demand for good quality meat means that rejection rates must be kept at a low level. The poor working conditions for manual catching teams are also an important factor. Only a few scientific studies on the effects of catching machines on bird health and welfare have been published. In this study, the carcase rejection rates in relation to manual and mechanical catching were compared at a poultry abattoir following a change of loading and unloading systems. The effect on the level of birds found ‘dead on arrival’ at the slaughterhouse initially varied considerably, regardless of catching method. During the last 3-month period of the study however, mechanically caught flocks showed significantly higher frequencies of dead birds on arrival than manually caught flocks. During the same last period, when running-in problems should be regarded as solved, the prevalence of bruises was also still significantly higher in the mechanically caught flocks, whereas the prevalence of fractures did not differ significantly between the two groups. This suggests that there are still opportunities for further improvements of the machine, although in Sweden it has now been accepted for commercial use in accordance with Swedish animal welfare legislation, under the supervision of the National Board of Agriculture.

In most European countries broilers are currently caught manually: broilers are caught by the leg, inverted and carried by a catcher with 3–4 birds in each hand. This method of catching broiler chickens is a welfare concern as it causes severe stress to the birds. A possible alternative to manual catching may be mechanical catching. The aim of this study was to compare the level of stress and injuries of broilers caught manually or with a harvesting machine (CIEMME Super Apollo L harvester) under commercial conditions. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in plasma corticosterone concentrations and duration of tonic immobility, which suggested that mechanically caught broilers were no more stressed than those caught manually. At the end of the catching process, mechanically caught broilers had even lower plasma corticosterone concentrations and shorter durations of tonic immobility, indicating that at this moment these broilers were less stressed than the manually caught birds. The incidence of wing haemorrhages was also reduced for broilers caught mechanically; however, there was no significant difference in the incidence of haemorrhages in the breast or legs between the two catching methods. As injuries are associated with pain and stress, this parameter is important not only for the welfare of the birds but also for product quality and the subsequent financial return. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of the mechanical harvesting machine, CIEMME Super Apollo L, appears to be a good alternative to manual catching. Nevertheless, some aspects of mechanical catching require further improvement.

When the global material reality has already been reshaped and determined by western modernity, Gandhism and Maoism stand for attempts to discover a material world other than the existing one. I examine the ways in which the theory and practice of the body in Mao and Gandhi resonates with new materialisms' views of the body and matter as dynamic multitude and anti-dualistic open system. Gandhi and Mao share the concerns of new materialism in terms of seeing human bodies, environments, (in)organic matters and systems as configurations of multiple influences and dependencies. To put Maoism and Gandhism in the perspective of today's new materialism, the entanglement of human, nature and matter in their ideas also functions as a kind of agency in connection to other socio-political forces (instead of deploying ethics, as current new materialist ontologies have done) to enact changes. The ways in which the two formidable Asian thinkers grasp materials sound more like an abstraction, revealing that materialisms – either old or new – may be something other than what they define themselves as.

Overuse of fertilizer is detrimental to the sustainability of crop production from an economic and environmental perspective. While rice side-deep fertilization technology can significantly improve fertilizer utilization efficiency, improve crop yield and reduce environmental pollution caused by improper use of fertilizer compared with conventional fertilization methods. Therefore, side-deep fertilization technology has an important role in the sustainable development of agriculture. This article describes fertilizer selection, side-deep fertilization devices and the effects of side-deep fertilization technology on rice plants and soil. We summarize the types and characteristics of side-deep fertilizers and their ratios and modes. The basic principles and characteristics of the key components of mechanical fertilization devices are described in detail, including fertilizer discharging devices (rotating disc type, outer groove wheel type, screw type), fertilizer conveying devices (pneumatic, mechanical forced type) and sensors. The effects and mechanisms of side-deep fertilization on rice growth, yield, quality, fertilizer utilization efficiency and soil microorganisms are summarized. Finally, based on current research on side-deep fertilization, future directions are identified to aid the development of this promising technology.

The crossbow trigger was a powerful device in early Chinese warfare that had a profound impact on military tactics. Against such a background, the word for “trigger,” namely ji, became a pregnant metaphor in ancient texts from the Warring States onwards. It refers to the correlation between a “subtle” initial state and a “dangerous” and far-reaching consequence, because the small movement of pulling the trigger may kill a person at a great distance. Borrowing insights from Hans Blumenberg's metaphorology, I offer a new theory of the original meaning of ji and argue that the trigger mechanism inspires a complex metaphorical scheme that consists of three levels of ambiguities and a web of associated images. It provides a linguistic and cognitive pattern for organizing a wide range of heterogeneous life-world situations, from the moral precariousness of human speech to the vulnerability of an outnumbered army in battle.

The central objective of the present author's research is to develop a system supporting the design of a technological process (a computer-aided process planning system) that functions similarly to a human expert in the field in question. The use of neural networks makes the creation of such a system possible. The proposed method uses a system of three blocks of neural networks, and involves the creation of neural networks to be used for the selection of machines, tools, and machining parameters. These networks are built for each process operation separately; that is, a set of neural networks is created for each selection. For the construction of models, different types of neural networks (multilayer networks with error backpropagation, radial basis function, and Kohonen) with different structures were employed, and the networks that made the best selections were identified. A method was also developed for the elimination of defects occurring during the production process. When a defect comes to light, this method suggests changes to the technological process, thus improving the quality of that process. Guidelines for the elimination of defects are produced in the form of decision rules. Such a computer-aided process planning system will be especially useful for process engineers who do not yet have sufficient experience in the design of technological processes, or who have only recently joined a particular manufacturing enterprise and are not fully familiar with its machines and other means of production (tools and instrumentation). It should be emphasized that such a system performs an advisory role, and it is always the process engineer who makes the final decision. The neural network models were tested on real data from an enterprise. A computer-aided process planning system based on rules and neural network models enables the intelligent design of technological processes.

Many of the evolving technologies related to machining will expand the traditional concept of the machine tool industry. Preprocessing of materials into net or near-net shapes will reduce or even eliminate the need for machining operations. Conversion of particles into parts is one generic approach which, when automated, could be integrated into a machining center. Similarly diecasting or squeeze casting could become an integrated part of the machining center for volume production. The machine tool industry could automate die manufacturing so that dies could be made in real time and could justify net shape production for small quantities and rush jobs.

Much and often most of the time and costs within a “machining” operation are generated by secondary operations such as heat treating, plating, and welding–operations done in different parts of or even at different plants. The concept of extending the machining center to include these secondary operations has been considered for several years and to a limited extent, has occurred. Laser extended machining centers provide one possibility for integrating several of the secondary operations with machines at a single site.

Post processing of machined parts at the site of the machining center can result in parts oriented and appropriately presented or packaged for subsequent operations. When several machined parts subsequently become an assembly or subassembly, the concept of machining could be extended to include the assembly.

When machining is considered in this broader context, the technology futures of the machine tool industry are considerably broadened. Smarter machine tools, improved support structures, and high speed machining are important, but competitors are looking at the same opportunities and the competitive advantage is likely to be limited. “Leap frog” improvement depends on some of the less conventional technologies considered in this paper. Broadening of the machine tool horizons is likely to offer the technology path for revitalization and growth of the machine tool industry.