Complexity Digest 2003.20

19-May-2003

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Content

  1. Kin Selection May Inhibit The Evolution Of Reciprocation, J. Theor. Biol.
  2. Learning To Control Brain Activity: A Review Of Brain-Computer Interface Systems, Brain & Cogn.
  3. Time-scales, Meaning, and Availability of Information in a Global Brain, arXiv
  4. Blowing Off Self-Esteem, ScienceNow
    1. Violent Song Lyrics Increase Aggression, NewScientist
  5. Mathematics Reveals The Cuttlefish's Wink, NewScientist.com
  6. Single Signal Unites Treatments That Prolong Life, Science
    1. Virus Tames Glioma, Science Now
  7. Cell Biology: Patches For Wounded Muscle, Nature
  8. Molecule Battles Heart Disease, The Atlanta Journal-Constutution
  9. Computational Biology: Biosensor Design, Nature
    1. Computational Design Of Receptor And Sensor Proteins With Novel Functions, Nature
  10. Folding At The Speed Limit, Nature
  11. Pattern Recognition Method Zeroes in on Genes, NSF Press Release
  12. Self-Organization In Evolution: A Mathematical Perspective, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc.
    1. Rapid Evolution Can Foil Even the Best-Laid Plans, Science
  13. Universal Scaling Relations In Food Webs, Nature
    1. Origin of the Scaling Rule for Fundamental Living Organisms Based on Thermodynamics, Biosystems
    2. Explaining the Abundance of Ants in Lowland Tropical Rainforest Canopies, Science
    3. Army Ants Have Defied Evolution For 100 Million Years, ScienceDaily
  14. The Evolutionary Origin Of Complex Features, Nature
  15. A Question of Dose, Science
    1. The Biogeochemical Cycles of Trace Metals in the Oceans, Science
    2. The Interface Between the Biological and Inorganic Worlds: Iron-Sulfur Metalloclusters, Science
  16. Microfluidic Memory and Control Devices, Science
    1. Complex Fluids: Spread The Word About Nanofluids, Nature
  17. Bad News for Quantum Clones, Science Now
  18. Mathematics: Conjuring With Conjectures, Nature
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. The Guantanamo Scandal, NYTimes
    2. The China Syndrome, NYTimes
    3. Osama's Offspring, NYTimes
    4. U.S. Agency to Review Its Role in Hunt for Texas Lawmaker, NYTimes
      1. A Texas-Size Power Grab, NYTimes
      2. Top 10 Differences Between Fugitive Texas Democrats and Saddam Hussein, Crosswalk.com
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Coming and Ongoing Webcasts
    3. Conference Announcements & Call for Papers
      1. Public Conference Calls
    4. Exploratorium's Complexity Web Site
    5. ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test

  1. Kin Selection May Inhibit The Evolution Of Reciprocation, J. Theor. Biol. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Kin selection and reciprocal cooperation provide two candidate explanations for the evolution of cooperation. Models of the evolution of cooperation have typically focussed on one or the other mechanism, despite claims that kin selection could pave the way for the evolution of reciprocal cooperation. We describe a computer simulation model that explicitly supports both kin selection and reciprocal cooperation. The model simulates a viscous population of discrete individuals with social interaction (...) We recount how the analytical and empirical study of this model led to the conclusion that kin selection may actually inhibit the evolution of effective strategies for establishing reciprocal cooperation.

  2. Learning To Control Brain Activity: A Review Of Brain-Computer Interface Systems, Brain & Cogn. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology relies on the ability of individuals to voluntarily and reliably produce changes in their electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. The present paper reviews research on cognitive tasks and other methods of generating and controlling specific changes in EEG activity that can be used to drive BCI systems. To date, motor imagery has been the most commonly used task. This paper explores the possibility that other cognitive tasks, including those used in imaging studies, may prove to be more effective.

  3. Time-scales, Meaning, and Availability of Information in a Global Brain, arXiv Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: We note the importance of time-scales, meaning, and availability of information for the emergence of novel information meta-structures at a global scale. We discuss previous work in this area and develop future perspectives. We focus on the transmission of scientific articles and the integration of traditional conferences with their virtual extensions on the Internet, their time-scales, and availability. We mention the Semantic Web as an effort for integrating meaningful information.

  4. Blowing Off Self-Esteem, ScienceNow Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: (...) "indiscriminate praise might just as easily promote narcissism." And thinking you're great doesn't necessarily mean you are. (...) Self-esteem as panacea is "a very compelling illusion," because it correlates with happiness and other good things, says Baumeister. But he believes psychologists "were a little too eager in promoting the program before the data were in." Baumeister says his current research contains quite a different lesson about how to be a successful person: "Forget about self-esteem--concentrate on self-control."

    1. Violent Song Lyrics Increase Aggression, NewScientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Songs with violent lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and emotions, suggests a study in US college students. The study contradicts a popular suggestion that music loaded with violent imagery, such as some rap and heavy metal, are cathartic in venting aggression. (...) Although, the effects were measured over a short time only, the team believes listening to violent lyrics could have a long-term effect - contributing to the development of a more aggressive and confrontational personality.

  5. Mathematics Reveals The Cuttlefish's Wink, NewScientist.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The patterns on cuttlefish's backs change as they try to camouflage themselves, or when they are startled.(...) The team obtained 30 clear pictures of the patterns. (...) the researchers used a mesh of reference points to convert each image into a plan view of the animal's back. They then used specialised ICA computer software to study the images. The technique looks for elements within the images that change independently of one another between pictures, and assumes these are the building blocks used to create the patterns.

  6. Single Signal Unites Treatments That Prolong Life, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Many techniques can bestow Methuselah-like life-spans on yeast and other lab creatures: heating their environments, tinkering with their genes, or restricting their food, for example. But the molecular mechanisms that translate these manipulations into longevity remain mysterious. New work suggests that, at least in yeast, a protein whose antiaging powers had been unrecognized until now could explain how diverse stimuli stall aging.

    1. Virus Tames Glioma, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation barely slow the progression of malignant glioma, a chillingly aggressive brain cancer. The fast growing tumors destroy the brain and kill most people within a year. But for the first time, researchers have completely cured mice of the disease using a modified virus.

  7. Cell Biology: Patches For Wounded Muscle, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Cell membranes in tissues such as skin, gut and muscle are routinely exposed to mechanical damage, which can produce holes in them. When that damage is not repaired, the consequences can be severe - often resulting in cell death - and may contribute to the development of the muscle degenerative diseases termed muscular dystrophies. From a combination of observations on human muscular dystrophy patients and experiments with mice, (...) a protein called dysferlin is a component of the mechanism for resealing the holes, and thus healing the muscle membrane.

  8. Molecule Battles Heart Disease, The Atlanta Journal-Constutution Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A molecule called beta3 integrin that scientists thought contributed to heart disease now appears to help fight it.(...) The scientists fed a high-fat diet to mice that lacked the beta3 molecule and got unexpected results. The mice developed lung inflammation and clogged arteries, and about two-thirds of the mice died within six weeks. That suggests that long-term suppression of this beta3 molecule may contribute to the development of heart disease, instead of preventing it, the study concludes. The information may help guide new strategies for developing drugs to combat heart disease.

  9. Computational Biology: Biosensor Design, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: A series of bacterial receptor proteins have been 'redesigned' by computer so that they bind molecules that are quite different from their natural ligands. The approach might be useful for designing catalytic proteins. On page 185 of this issue, Looger and colleagues describe a powerful computational method for designing proteins that can detect small molecules. The authors have tested their approach on compounds such as trinitrotoluene (TNT) and the neurotransmitter serotonin, and their findings might see applications in, for instance, medicine and biotechnology.

    1. Computational Design Of Receptor And Sensor Proteins With Novel Functions, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Here we present a structure-based computational method that can drastically redesign protein ligand-binding specificities. (...) we also incorporated them into synthetic bacterial signal transduction pathways, regulating gene expression in response to extracellular trinitrotoluene or L-lactate. The use of various ligands and proteins shows that a high degree of control over biomolecular recognition has been established computationally. The biological and biosensing activities of the designed receptors illustrate potential applications of computational design.

  10. Folding At The Speed Limit, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Many small proteins seem to fold by a simple process explicable by conventional chemical kinetics and transition-state theory. This assumes an instant equilibrium between reactants and a high-energy activated state. In reality, equilibration occurs on timescales dependent on the molecules involved, below which such analyses break down. The molecular timescale, normally too short to be seen in experiments, can be of a significant length for proteins. To probe it directly, we studied very rapidly folding mutants of the five-helix bundle protein, whose activated state is significantly populated during folding.

  11. Pattern Recognition Method Zeroes in on Genes, NSF Press Release Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Using a new technique for recognizing patterns in biological databases, a team of U.S. and Israeli computer scientists and geneticists has developed a practical computational method that zeroes in on the genes responsible for controlling the genetic machinery of a cell. (...) Ordinarily, regulatory genes are identified experimentally, not computationally. The new computational method makes the experimental process much more efficient. It identifies regulatory candidates for testing in the lab and predicts how each regulator will affect cellular activity.

  12. Self-Organization In Evolution: A Mathematical Perspective, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: The neo-Darwinian view of evolution centres upon the role of the gene. Here there seems to be little scope for self-organization. However, models based on phenotypes, and including nonlinear and collective effects, suggest that evolution can indeed be viewed as a process whereby the ecosystem self-organizes. Here we focus on the phenomenon of speciation, and discuss a series of phenotypic models which together illuminate some of the issues surrounding the role of self-organization, including new approaches to fitness landscapes and species selection. All of these models represent speciation as a symmetry-breaking bifurcation, but in different mathematical contexts (...).

    1. Rapid Evolution Can Foil Even the Best-Laid Plans, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: A number of biologists now suspect that fisheries managers have been inadvertently triggering similar bouts of rapid evolution. To keep stocks from collapsing, managers often put a minimum size limit on catch, giving younger fish a chance to breed before they are killed. Despite these efforts, the average size of caught fish has been falling in recent decades in many fisheries. (...) suggest that the strategy selects for smaller individuals. The evolutionary advantages are clear: If fish can become sexually mature while still small, they have more chance to reproduce (...).

  13. Universal Scaling Relations In Food Webs, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Furthermore, food webs (except in isolated cases) do not share general features with other types of network (including the Internet, the World Wide Web and biological webs). These features are a small-world character and a scale-free (power-law) distribution of the degree (the number of links per vertex). Here we propose to describe food webs as transportation networks by extending to them the concept of allometric scaling (how branching properties change with network size). (...)We show that, (...), spanning trees are characterized by universal scaling relations.

    1. Origin of the Scaling Rule for Fundamental Living Organisms Based on Thermodynamics, Biosystems Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: The regular relationships between metabolic energy and body mass M of unicellular organisms, poikilotherms and homeotherms were well known as general equations. The metabolic energy rate and the life span are proportional to M0.75 and to M0.25, respectively. As a result, the product of the metabolic energy rate and the life time, namely, life metabolic energy, is proportional to the mass of the living organism. The origin of the scaling rules for environmental organizing systems is as follows: (1) the scaling rules for internal energy, activation energy and free energy as a function of temperature and mass of a mole of molecules. (2) The majority of species of the living organisms have the same molecules such as polysaccharides, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids in nearly same the ratio. (3) The internal energy of reactants in living organisms is equilibrium with the internal energy of water. Then, the integrated metabolic energy over the synthesizing time depends on internal energy of water and is proportional to mass M, despite the synthesizing time of the system depending on reaction rate. The proportional constant is obtained based on the thermodynamics for fundamental living organisms such as unicellular organisms and plants. Information on the environmental organizing system is also discussed.

    2. Explaining the Abundance of Ants in Lowland Tropical Rainforest Canopies, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: The extraordinary abundance of ants in tropical rainforest canopies has led to speculation that numerous arboreal ant taxa feed principally as "herbivores" of plant and insect exudates. Based on nitrogen (N) isotope ratios of plants, known herbivores, arthropod predators, and ants from Amazonia and Borneo, we find that many arboreal ant species obtain little N through predation and scavenging. Microsymbionts of ants and their hemipteran trophobionts might play key roles in the nutrition of taxa specializing on N-poor exudates. For plants, the combined costs of biotic defenses and herbivory by ants and tended Hemiptera are substantial, and forest losses to insect herbivores vastly exceed current estimates.

    3. Army Ants Have Defied Evolution For 100 Million Years, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Army ants, nature's ultimate coalition task force, strike their prey en masse in a blind, voracious column and pay no attention to the conventional wisdom of evolutionary biologists. The common scientific belief has been that army ants originated separately on several continents over millions of years. Now it is found there was no evolution. Using fossil data and the tools of a genetics detective, a Cornell University entomologist has discovered that these ants come from the same point of origin, because since the reign of the dinosaurs, about 100 million years ago, army ants in essence have not changed a bit.

  14. The Evolutionary Origin Of Complex Features, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: A long-standing challenge to evolutionary theory has been whether it can explain the origin of complex organismal features. (...). Complex functions evolved by building on simpler functions that had evolved earlier, provided that these were also selectively favoured. However, no particular intermediate stage was essential for evolving complex functions. The first genotypes able to perform complex functions differed from their non-performing parents by only one or two mutations, (...). In some cases, mutations that were deleterious when they appeared served as stepping-stones in the evolution of complex features.

  15. A Question of Dose, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Summary: Metals have been adopted by biological systems because of their catalytic versatility, but their reactivity can also make them toxic at low concentrations. Hence they are classified as nutrients or poisons. But this is a misleading division, because many enzyme catalysts have reaction centers with diverse and variable metal associates. Such flexibility is useful for organisms living in metal-poor environments that may have to take what they can get, but it is potentially dangerous. Thus, the availability of trace metals may govern an organism's nutritional strategy in a particular environment. This special issue explores the double-edged nature of metal chemistry, how it can be exploited for our benefit, and the consequences if it is not tamed.

    1. The Biogeochemical Cycles of Trace Metals in the Oceans, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: Planktonic uptake of some essential metals results in extraordinarily low concentrations in surface seawater. To sequester or take up these micronutrients, various microorganisms apparently release strong complexing agents and catalyze redox reactions that modify the bioavailability of trace metals and promote their rapid cycling in the upper water column. In turn, the low availability of some metals controls the rate of photosynthesis in parts of the oceans and the transformation and uptake of major nutrients such as nitrogen. The extremely low concentrations of several essential metals are both the cause and the result of ultraefficient uptake systems in the plankton and of widespread replacement of metals by one another for various biochemical functions.

    2. The Interface Between the Biological and Inorganic Worlds: Iron-Sulfur Metalloclusters, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Complex iron-sulfur metalloclusters form the active sites of the enzymes that catalyze redox transformations of N2, CO, and H2, which are likely components of Earth's primordial atmosphere. Although these centers reflect the organizational principles of simpler iron-sulfur clusters, they exhibit extensive elaborations that confer specific ligand-binding and catalytic properties. These changes were probably achieved through evolutionary processes, including the fusion of small clusters, the addition of new metals, and the development of cluster assembly pathways, driven by selective pressures resulting from changes in the chemical composition of the biosphere.

  16. Microfluidic Memory and Control Devices, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: We demonstrate microscopic fluidic control and memory elements through the use of an aqueous viscoelastic polymer solution as a working fluid. By exploiting the fluid's non-Newtonian rheological properties, we were able to demonstrate both a flux stabilizer and a bistable flip-flop memory. These circuit elements are analogous to their solid-state electronic counterparts and could be used as components of control systems for integrated microfluidic devices. Such miniaturized fluidic circuits are insensitive to electromagnetic interference and may also find medical applications for implanted drug-delivery devices.

    1. Complex Fluids: Spread The Word About Nanofluids, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Liquid spreads and wets a surface, but wetting behaviour changes if the liquid contains nanoparticles.(...) Excess pressure (known as the disjoining pressure) can also develop in a thin liquid film (less than 10 nm thick) when its two surfaces attract or repel each other through van der Waals and electrostatic forces. The interplay of the capillary and disjoining pressures is critical to the stability of thin curved films, such as the wedge-like region at the edge of a wetting solution, trapped between a solid surface and the air above.

  17. Bad News for Quantum Clones, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Now, however, all the old questions of classical computing, such as whether there can be a universal constructor, are being asked again in the quantum domain. And that question, at least, has been answered with a resounding no. Pati and Samuel Braunstein (...), have proven that in a universe with finite resources, a quantum robot would be unable to make a perfect copy of itself. So, in a sense, Pati argues, it could never be "alive." (...) Not quite, says Seth Lloyd, (...).

  18. Mathematics: Conjuring With Conjectures, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: In 1904, Henri Poincare was making fundamental advances in topology - the multi-dimensional study of mathematical properties such as 'knotted' or 'connected', which are unchanged by continuous deformations. Buried in his work was an unjustified assumption about three-dimensional spaces. When he noticed it, and failed to find a proof, the assumption became first a question, and then a conjecture. (...) 'Millennium Prize Problems' for whose solutions a substantial cash prize is offered1. Grisha Perelman of the Steklov Institute of Mathematics in St Petersburg, Russia, may now have found the answer 2 , 3 .

  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. The Guantanamo Scandal, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: The extraordinary attacks of Sept. 11 clearly demanded extraordinary measures. All reports, moreover, indicate that the prisoners have not been physically mistreated. But America vowed after Sept. 11 that the terrorists would not be allowed to drag us down to their level. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has held more than 600 male prisoners, some as young as 13 - and of 42 different nationalities, including citizens of our closest allies - in a concentration camp. (...) declared "unlawful combatants" in order to deny them the protection of the Geneva Convention.

    2. The China Syndrome, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: (...) during the Iraq war: many Americans turned to the BBC for their TV news. They were looking for an alternative point of view - something they couldn't find on domestic networks, (...). Leave aside the rights and wrongs of the war itself, and consider the paradox. The BBC is owned by the British government, and one might have expected it to support that government's policies. In fact, however, it tried hard - (...) - to stay impartial. America's TV networks are privately owned, yet they behaved like state-run media.

    3. Osama's Offspring, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: "Al Qaeda is on the run," President Bush said last week. "That group of terrorists who attacked our country is slowly but surely being decimated. . . . They're not a problem anymore." (...) "This was the big game for them - you put up or shut up, and they have failed," Cofer Black, who heads the State Department's counterterrorism office, told The Washington Post last week. (...) Al Qaeda works at its own pace and knows how to conduct operations on the run.

    4. U.S. Agency to Review Its Role in Hunt for Texas Lawmaker, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The Department of Homeland Security said today that it would conduct an internal investigation to see if there was misuse of federal resources when the department helped Texas law enforcement agencies in a politically inspired search for the private plane of a prominent Democratic state legislator. The department said the investigation would be conducted by the agency's acting inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, a Houston Republican who is well known among some of the same state lawmakers in Texas who wanted the plane tracked down.

      1. A Texas-Size Power Grab, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

        Excerpts: The Constitution requires that a census be held every 10 years and that it be the basis for Congressional reapportionment. District lines are redrawn at that point, but once they are, whether by a legislature or a court, there is a strong tradition of keeping them until the next census. Lines have been redrawn at mid-decade to deal with extraordinary circumstances, like a voting rights violation, but there is no basis for redistricting simply so a political party can gain an advantage.

      2. Top 10 Differences Between Fugitive Texas Democrats and Saddam Hussein, Crosswalk.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

        Excerpt: 1) Saddam concealed his weapons of mass destruction. Texas Fugitive Dems are concealing their weapons of mass obstruction. 2) Saddam granted a prime-time hour-long interview with Dan Rather right before the war. Texas Fugitive Dems refuse to talk with media except in a choreographed news conference. 3) Saddam ran an oil for food program. Texas Fugitive Dems are running a blackmail for quorum program.
        Editor's Note: These two examples hint at an attempt to associate political opponents with an enemy ("terrorist", "unlawful combatant") for whom some constitutional protection ("Bill of Rights") has been denied. From a complex systems perspective this is not a surprising consequence of a diminution of checks and balances.

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Rice Could Spare Diabetics Daily Injections, 2003/05/14, Discovery Health
      2. Reconstructing Prehistoric Civilizations in a New Theory of Civilizations, Blaha, Stephen, 2003/05/07, CogPrints
      3. The Self-Composing Brain: Towards A Glial–Neuronal Brain Theory, B. Mitterauer & K. Kopp, Brain & Cogn., Vol. 51, Issue 3, pp:357-367, Apr. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00043-5
      4. Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Dreaming Is Characterized By Uncoupled EEG Activity Between Frontal And Perceptual Cortical Regions, M. Corsi-Cabrer & E. Miró, Y. R. Portilla, E. Pérez-Garcia, Y. Villanueva & M. A. Guevara, Brain & Cogn., Vol. 51, Issue 3, pp: 337-345, Apr. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00037-X
      5. Birds Tails Do Act Like Delta Wings But Delta-Wing Theory Does Not Always Predict The Forces They Generate, M. R. Evans, Alphagalileo & Proc. B, 2003/05/12
      6. Towards The Delineation Of The Ancestral Eutherian Genome Organization: Comparative Genome Maps Of Human And The African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) Generated By Chromosome Painting, L Fronicke, J. Wienberg, G. Stone, L. Adams & R. Stanyon, Alphagalileo & Proc. B, 2003/05/12
      7. Self-Organization And Complexity: A New Age For Theory, Computation And Experiment, P. V. Coveney, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc., 2003/05/02, DOI:10.1098/rsta.2003.1191
      8. Self-Organized Living Systems: Conjunction Of A Stable Organization With Chaotic Fluctuations In Biological Space-Time, Auffray and others, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc., 2003/05/02, DOI:10.1098/rsta.2003.1188
      9. 'Order >From Disorder Sprung': Recognition And Regulation In The Immune System, T. W. Mak, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc., 2003/05/02, DOI:10.1098/rsta.2003.1196
      10. Self-Organized Maps Of Sensory Events, T. Kohonen, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc., 2003/05/06, DOI:10.1098/rsta.2003.1192
      11. The Formation Of Spatial Patterns In Social Insects: From Simple Behaviours To Complex Structures, Theraulaz And Others, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc., 2003/05/06, DOI:10.1098/rsta.2003.1198
      12. Bacterial Self-Organization: Co-Enhancement Of Complexification And Adaptability In A Dynamic Environment, E. Ben-Jacob, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Engg. Sc., 2003/05/07, DOI:10.1098/rsta.2003.1199
      13. Fetus Heart Races When Mom Reads Poetry; New Findings Reveal Fetuses Recognize Mother’s Voice In-utero, ScienceDaily & Queen's Univ., 2003/05/13
      14. Astronomers Map The Hidden Universe, ScienceDaily & Cardiff Univ., 2003/05/13
      15. Researchers Develop Techniques For Computing Google-style Web Rankings Up To Five Times Faster; Speed-up May Make 'Topic-sensitive' Page Rankings Feasible, ScienceDaily & National Sc. Found., 2003/05/14
      16. A Mathematical Model For Self-Limiting Brain Tumors, W. I. Newman & J. A. Lazareff, J. Theor. Biol., Vol. 222, Issue 3, pp:361-371, 2003/06/07, doi:10.1016/S0022-5193(03)00043-2
      17. Statistical Information Approaches For The Modelling Of The Epileptic Brain, P. M. Pardalos, J. C. Sackellares, L. D. Iasemidis, V. Yatsenko, M. C.K. Yang, D. S. Shiau & W. Chaovalitwongse, Compu. Stat. & Data Anal., Vol. 43, Issue 1,  pp:79-108, Apr. 2003
      18. Discovering Simple Rules In Complex Data: A Meta-Learning Algorithm And Some Surprising Musical Discoveries, G. Widmer, Arti. Intell., Vol. 146, Issue 2, pp:129-148, Jun. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0004-3702(03)00016-X
      19. How Fast Elements Can Affect Slow Dynamics, K. Fujimoto & K. Kaneko, Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, Vol. 180, No 1-2, pp:1-16, May 2003
      20. Complexity In The Case Against Accuracy Estimation, R. Nock, Theor. Comp. Sc., Vol. 301, Issue 1-3, pp:143-165, May 2003
      21. Cro Magnons Are Close Kin, The DNA sequences they analyzed are like those of modern humans and very different from those of Neandertals, consistent with the notion that there is little or no Neandertal blood in the human heritage, 2003/5/12
      22. Bizarre New Jellyfish Discovered, 18:03 07 May 03, Shaoni Bhattacharya
      23. Proteins Are Transformed, Then Put To More Uses, Andrew Pollack, May 13, 2003
      24. Time Slows For People Who Stop Smoking, Shaoni Bhattacharya, 14:00 10 May 2003
      25. 'Digital Organisms' Illuminate Evolution, Will Knight, 19:00 07 May 2003
      26. Technology: A New Tool for Translating Ancient, Flowing Script, Ian Austen, Sanskrit, in which classical Indian literature was composed, is among the world's oldest recorded languages. But putting works created over the last 3,000 years onto the Web has not been easy.May 15, 2003
      27. 'Matrix' Virtually Frames The Future, Kevin Coughlin, Star-Ledger Staff, 2003/05/15

        


    2. Coming and Ongoing Webcasts Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. U.S. Militarism Threatens the Destiny of Humanity, Ramsey Clark, c-span, 03/05/12
      2. NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, Video/Audio Report, 03/05/11
      3. Robert Baer, Fmr. CIA Field Officer Baer discusses his article in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly on Saudi Arabia's counter-terrorism efforts, c-span, 4/30/2003, 1 hr., (Video clip13399)
      4. Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected and Unknowable, The University of Texas Austin, Texas USA, 2003/04/10-12
      5. Autonomous Agents, Stuart Kauffman, FRIAM Group sponsored Applied Complexity Lecture Series at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/03/13
      6. New Trends In Industrial Partnership And Innovation Management At European Research Laboratories, CERN, Geneva, 2003/03/19 (with webcast)
        1. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      7. "New Frontiers of Neuroscience" Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan, 2003/03/07
      8. INSC 2003, International Nonlinear Sciences Conference, Vienna, Austria, 2003/02/07-09
      9. World Economic Forum Meeting "Building Trust", Davos, Switzerland, 2003/01/23-28
      10. Artificial Life Conference (A-Life 8), Sydney, Australia, 2002/12/09-13
      11. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998

       


    3. Conference Announcements & Call for Papers Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, UIUC, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 2003/05/19-21
      2. The Opening of Systems Theory, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, DK, 2003/05/23-25
      3. Innovating Strategy Processes: Concepts, Experiences And Experiments, Storrs, Connecticut U.S.A. 03/05/25-28
      4. SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/06/01-04
      5. The First International Workshop on "Socio-Cognitive Grids: The Net as a Universal Human Resource", Santorini, Greece, 2003/06/01-04
      6. 21st ICDE World Conf on Open Learning and Distance Education, Hong Kong, 2003/06/01-05
      7. The Co-Revolutionary Competition An Alternative War Game Inspired By The New Sciences, Newport, RI, 2003/06/03-05
      8. Summer School on Nonlinear Phenomena In Computational Chemical Physics, Barcelona, Spain, 2003/06/09-14
      9. 17th Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Simulation (PADS 2003), San Diego, California, 2003/06/10-13
      10. One-Week Intensive Course: Complex Physical, Biological and Social Systems, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 2003/06/16-20
      11. 2003 Summer Computer Simulation Conference (SCSC '03), Montreal, Canada, 2003/06/20-24
      12. 5th Intl Conf "Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics", Kiev, Ukraine, 2003/06/23-29, Mirror
      13. Workshops of Dynamical Systems with Applications to Biology, Hsinchu, Taiwan, 2003/06/24-28
      14. UQÀM Summer Institute in Cognitive Sciences 2003: Categorization In Cognitive Sciences, Montreal, 2003/06/30-07/11
      15. 9th International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA, 2003/07/07-09, Wkshp on Assistive Technologies for the Blind, 2003/07/07-09
      16. 47th Meeting of the Intl Soc for the System Sciences: Conscious Evolution Of Humanity: Using Systems Thinking To Construct Agoras Of The Global Village, Iraklion, Crete, Greec, 2003/07/07-11
      17. 2nd International School Topics In Nonlinear Dynamics, Siena (Italy), 2003/07/09-11
      18. 2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003), Chicago, IL,2003/07/12-16
      19. 2nd Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS-2003), Melbourne, Australia, 2003/07/14-18
      20. 7th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI 2003), Orlando, Florida, 2003/07/27-30
      21. Intl Conf on Socio Political Informatics and Cybernetics: SPIC '03, Orlando, Fl, USA, 2003/07/31-08/02
      22. 13th Annual International Conference, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life Sciences,Boston, MA, USA, 2003/08/08-10
      23. Call for Papers on Dynamical Hierarchies, Special Issue of Artificial Life, Deadline: 2003/09/05
      24. A Dual International Conference on Ethics, Complexity & Organisations & Creativity, London WC2, UK, 2003/09/16-18
      25. 1st German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies (MATES'03), Erfurt, Germany, 2003/09/22-25
      26. Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 2003/09/24-25
      27. 7th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2003), Dortmund, Germany, 2003/09/14-17
      28. 2003 IEEE/WIC Intl Joint Conf. Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology, Beijing, China, 2003/10/13-17
      29. American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) 2003 Conference (H.v.Foerster), Vienna, Austria , 2003/11/10-15
      30. Trends And Perspectives In Extensive And Non-Extensive Statistical Mechanics, In Honour Of The 60th Birthday Of Constantino Tsallis, Angra Dos Reis, Brazil, 2003/11/19-21
      31. ICDM '03: The Third IEEE International Conference on Data Mining, Melbourne, Florida, USA, 2003/11/19-22
      32. 3rd International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex System, Guangzhou, China, 2003/11/29-30
      33. 2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 2003/12/15-17
      34. Fractal 2004, "Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl Multidisciplinary Conf , Vancouver, Canada, 2004/04/04-07
      35. Fifth International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004), Boston, MA, USA, 2004/05/16-21

       


      1. Public Conference Calls Next Article Bookmark and Share

        1. PlexusCalls: "Surprise! Surprise!", McDaniel, Reuben, Audio File Available Now, mp3
        2. Complexity And Medical Practice, Pat Rush & Bob Lindberg, PlexusCalls, 2003/01/10, Audio File Available Now, mp3
        3. John Holland in Conversation, PlexusCalls, - Audio File Available Now, mp3
        4. Are Disease and Aging Information/Complexity Loss Syndromes?, PlexusCalls, 2002/11/08, 1 - 2 pm EST (To learn more about Ary Goldberger’s work and HeartSongs, Music of the Heart.) Audio File Available Now, mp3
        5. Brenda Zimmerman in Conversation, PlexusCalls, Audio File Available Now, mp3
        6. The Complexity of Entrepreneurship: A Launchcyte Story, Tom Petzinger, PlexusCalls, 2002/11/22, Audio File Available Now, mp3
        7. A Practical and Appreciative Approach to Complex and Chronic Challenges, Keith McCandless, PlexusCalls, Jan 2003, Audio File Available Now, mp3

         


    4. Exploratorium's Complexity Web Site Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: This site attempts to place the idea of complexity in nature into a broader scientific context, and to provide newcomers to the field with an introduction to the concepts and theories that contribute to contemporary complexity research.

      Editor's Note: The Exploratorium is not only one of the best hands-on science museums in the world but also integrates informal science education in the museum with outstanding classroom science curriculum development in interaction with science teachers. Currently methods of integrating the Internet based science resources with hands-on science activities are explored. The Exploratorium is also part of a global science education network.

       


    5. ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test Bookmark and Share

      We are in the process of upgrading the Complexity Digest archives to a format with improved search capabilities. Also, we will finally be able to adequately publish the valuable feedback and comments from our knowledgable readers. You are cordially invited to become a beta tester of our new ComDig2 archive.

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