Jan. 27, 2004
A Recovery Unlike Others Seems to Alter Fed Rate View, NYTimes 
Excerpts: Federal Reserve officials seem determined to continue offering remarkably cheap money, even though the economy seems poised for its fastest growth in four years.
Though the unemployment rate drifted downward to 5.7 percent in December, from 5.9 percent the previous month, that was almost entirely because as many as 300,000 discouraged workers had stopped looking for jobs.
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Excerpts: So better than two years into a recovery with output surging, is Greenspan favoring the reelection of President Bush by keeping short-term interest rates at their lowest level in more than 40 years?
"Judged purely by his actions, the answer is 'yes,'" says Mr. Schlesinger. "In every way possible, the Fed's monetary policy seems to be remarkably accommodative by historic standards."
(...)Fed should open its policy deliberations to the press. Congress opened its sessions to television two decades or so ago. It's time for the Fed to do the same.
Even for Experts, Analyzing the Job Market Is an Adventure, NYTimes
Excerpts:
Since September, the number of people receiving state jobless benefits has fallen by almost 500,000, or over 13 percent. A survey of executives suggests that companies in the service sector are increasing their employment at the fastest rate since 2000.
(...)
The amount of help-wanted advertising being placed across the country has risen more than 10 percent since May, according to an index compiled by the Conference Board, a research company in New York. In early January, Americans reported being more confident about the economy than they had been (...).
Editor's Note: How do we know that these figures are not the result of Enron-style accounting? The economic incentive certainly is there.
Economic Geography And International Inequality, J. Int. Economics
Abstract: This paper estimates a structural model of economic geography using cross-country data on per capita income, bilateral trade, and the relative price of manufacturing goods. We provide evidence that the geography of access to markets and sources of supply is statistically significant and quantitatively important in explaining cross-country variation in per capita income. This finding is robust to controlling for a wide range of considerations, including other economic, geographical, social, and institutional characteristics. Geography is found to matter through the mechanisms emphasized by the theory, and the estimated coefficients are consistent with plausible values for the model's structural parameters.
- Source: Economic Geography And International Inequality, S. Redding - s.j.redding
lse.ac.uk, A. J. Venables - a.j.venableslse.ac.uk, DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2003.07.001, Journal of International Economics, 2003/11/04 - Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01yahoo.com
Baby Arithmetic: One Object Plus One Tone, Cognition
Abstract: Recent studies using a violation-of-expectation task suggest that preverbal infants are capable of recognizing basic arithmetical operations involving visual objects. Here we provide new evidence that 5-month-old infants recognize basic arithmetic operations across sensory modalities. Using a violation-of-expectation task that eliminated the possibility of the familiarity and complexity preference, 5-month-old infants were presented alternatively with two types of arithmetical events. Results showed that subjects looked ignificantly longer at the unexpected events than at the expected events, suggesting that infants are able to recognize basic arithmetic operations across sensory modalities.
- Source: Baby Arithmetic: One Object Plus One Tone, T. Kobayashi - tesseidarwin.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp, K. Hiraki, R. Mugitani, T. Hasegawaa, DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2003.09.004, Cognition, 2003/11/13
- Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01yahoo.com
Is Language the Key to Human Intelligence?, Science
Excerpts: Humans have acquired six symbol systems: two that evolved--the genetic code and spoken language--and four that we invented: written language, arabic numerals, music notation, and labanotation (a system for coding choreography). Dobzhansky's quip "All species are unique, but humans are uniquest" raises the question: Is it language, the symbol system that evolved only in humans, that makes humans the "uniquest"? Dobzhansky's quip raises a more fundamental question: What exactly is the nature of human uniqueness?
Computational Constraints on Syntactic Processing in a Nonhuman Primate, Science
Abstract: The capacity to generate a limitless range of meaningful expressions from a finite set of elements differentiates human language from other animal communication systems. Rule systems capable of generating an infinite set of outputs ("grammars") vary in generative power. The weakest possess only local organizational principles, with regularities limited to neighboring units. We used a familiarization/discrimination paradigm to demonstrate that monkeys can spontaneously master such grammars. However, human language entails more sophisticated grammars, incorporating hierarchical structure. Monkeys tested with the same methods, syllables, and sequence lengths were unable to master a grammar at this higher, "phrase structure grammar" level.
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Excerpts: "His first patent was for a Device for the Autonomous Generation of Useful
Information," the official name of the Creativity Machine, Miller said. "His
second patent was for the Self-Training Neural Network Object. Patent Number
Two was invented by Patent Number One. Think about that. Patent Number Two
was invented by Patent Number One!"
Supporters say the technology is the best simulation of what goes on
in human brains, and the first truly thinking machine.
Others say it is something far more sinister - the beginning of "Terminator"
technology, in which self-aware machines could take over the world.
Thaler's technology was born from near-death experiences of dying computer
programs. Its foundation is the discovery that great ideas are the result of
noisy neurons and faulty memories.
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Abstract: A common value auction experiment is run to compare the relative influence of observation and experience on learning. It is shown that the ex-post observation of opponents' actions and payoffs homogenizes behavior and accelerates learning toward the Nash equilibrium. Additionally, experiential, and observational learning are both relevant and of comparable magnitude. A general reinforcement model for continuous strategies, encompassing choice reinforcement learning, direction learning and payoff dependent imitation, performs well in explaining the experimental data, and it dominates competing models such as the reinforcement of best response strategies.
- Source: Does Observation Influence Learning?, O. Armantier - olivier.armantiersunysb.edu, DOI: 10.1016/S0899-8256(03)00124-6, Games & Econ. Behav., online 2003/11/21
- Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01yahoo.com
Engineering Google Results to Make a Point, NYTimes
Excerpts: Time was - say, two months ago - when typing the phrase "miserable failure" into the Google search box produced an unexpected result: the White House's official biography of President George W. Bush.
But now the president has a fight on his hands for the top ranking - from former President Jimmy Carter, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and the author-filmmaker Michael Moore.
The unlikely electoral battle is being waged through "Google bombing," or manipulating the Web's search engines to produce, in this case, political commentary.
For a Fee, Wind Up Atop the Search Heap, NYTimes
Excerpts: As Internet users seek to differentiate themselves from people who share their names, some are buying their way to prominence on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. The added exposure comes courtesy of keyword advertising, in which marketers - or common folk, for that matter - bid to have brief advertisements appear atop or beside search results whenever Internet users type in certain words.
Most commonly, that means users who type the phrase "airline tickets" into a search box on Google or Yahoo will see a prominent text ad (...).
A Memory Model For Internet Hits After Media Exposure, Physica A
Abstract: We present a cognitive model (...) on download relaxation dynamics. We collected data on the number of daily visits at our web site after a radio interview with the second author, in which the name of the web site was mentioned. A model based on an exponential hit time distribution and a homogeneous point process for regular visitors fits our data (...) and is superior to both the power law and the logarithmic function. The fits suggest that hit data from different sources share the same cognitive mechanism, which are controlled merely by the encoding and retrieval of the target information memorised.
Measuring User Perceptions Of Web Site Reputation, Info. Processing & Manag.
Abstract: In this study, we compare a search tool, TOPIC, with three other widely used tools that retrieve information from the Web: AltaVista, Google, and Lycos. These tools use different techniques for outputting and ranking Web sites: external link structure (TOPIC and Google) and semantic content analysis (AltaVista and Lycos). Metrics derived from reputation research were used in the assessment (...) identify a key factor, which we call `repute'. The results of this research include insight into the factors that Web users consider in formulating perceptions of Web site reputation, and insight into which search tools are outputting reputable sites for Web users.
A Day In The Life Of Web Searching: An Exploratory Study, Info. Processing & Manag.
Abstract: Understanding Web searching behavior is important in developing more successful and cost-efficient Web search engines. We provide results from a comparative time-based Web study of US-based Excite and Norwegian-based Fast Web search logs, exploring variations in user searching related to changes in time of the day. Findings suggest: (1) fluctuations in Web user behavior over the day, (2) user investigations of query results are much longer, and submission of queries and number of users are much higher in the mornings, and (3) some query characteristics, including terms per query and query reformulation, remain steady throughout the day.
- Source: A Day In The Life Of Web Searching: An Exploratory Study, S. Ozmutlu - sedauludag.edu.tr, A. Spink - spinkist.psu.edu, H. C. Ozmutlu - hcouludag.edu.tr, DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4573(03)00044-X, Information Processing & Management, 2003/07/08
- Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in
Mutating Software Could Predict Hacker Attacks, NewScientist
Excerpts: Novel computer viruses and worms can sweep the world within hours, (...), because firewalls and antiviral software work by identifying the telltale signatures of known attacks. They are useless against anything completely new.
But now software engineers at Icosystem in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have developed a program that can predict what is coming next by "evolving" future hacker and virus attacks based on information from known ones.(...)
The idea would be to generate these novel attack strategies centrally, then remotely update the intrusion-detection software protecting PCs and networks around the world.
Device 'Quarantines' Infected Network Computers, NewScientist
Excerpts: A new device that quarantines different portions of a computer network could stop worms and viruses infecting an entire company once they have breached its perimeter defences.
The InterSpect system, unveiled by California-based network security company Check Point on Tuesday, monitors network traffic for signs of suspicious activity. It can then automatically isolate a single computer or a group of machines to prevent wider infection.
(...) once one computer has been infected, there is normally little to prevent it from spreading viral code to every other machine on the network.
Cascade Control in Complex Networks, arXiv
Abstract: Complex networks with a skewed distribution of loads may undergo a global cascade of overload failures when key elements of the network are attacked or removed. Since a small shock has potential to trigger a global cascade, a fundamental question regards the possible mechanisms of defense. Here we show that a selective further removal of network elements can be used to prevent the cascade from propagating through the entire network, substantially reducing the damage caused by the attack or failure.
Internet's Critical Path Horizon, arXiv
Abstract: Internet is known to display a highly heterogeneous structure and complex fluctuations in its traffic dynamics. Congestion seems to be an inevitable result of user's behavior coupled to the network dynamics and it effects should be minimized by choosing appropriate routing strategies. But what are the requirements of routing depth in order to optimize the traffic flow? In this paper we analyse the behavior of Internet traffic with a topologically realistic spatial structure as described in a previous study (S-H. Yook et al. ,Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, {bf 99} (2002) 13382). The model involves self-regulation of packet generation and different levels of routing depth. It is shown that it reproduces the relevant key, statistical features of Internet's traffic. Moreover, we also report the existence of a critical path horizon defining a transition from low-efficient traffic to highly efficient flow. This transition is actually a direct consequence of the web's small world architecture exploited by the routing algorithm. Once routing tables reach the network diameter, the traffic experiences a sudden transition from a low-efficient to a highly-efficient behavior. It is conjectured that routing policies might have spontaneously reached such a compromise in a distributed manner. Internet would thus be operating close to such critical path horizon.
Making Way for Designer Insects, Washington Post
Excerpts: The insect world could shortly undergo a genetic makeover in the laboratory. Scientists are at work developing silkworms that produce pharmaceuticals instead of silk, honeybees resilient enough to resist pesticides and even mosquitoes capable of delivering vaccines, instead of disease, with every bite.
A new report scheduled for release this morning warns that the issues posed by gene-altered insects are so complex that unless federal agencies begin now to design methods of oversight, the necessary rules may not be in place when scientists are ready to start releasing insects into the environment.
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Excerpts: Plants appear to 'think', according to US researchers, who say that green plants engage in a form of problem-solving computation.
David Peak and co-workers at Utah State University in Logan say that plants may regulate their uptake and loss of gases by 'distributed computation' - a kind of information processing that involves communication between many interacting units1.
It's the same form of maths that is widely thought to regulate how ants forage. The signals that each ant sends out to other ants, by laying down chemical trails for example, enable the ant community as a whole to find the most abundant food sources.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/040119/images/stomata_180.jpg
Tiny holes in plant leaves open and close thanks to quick computations.
© SPL
Tumour Suppression: Putting On The Brakes, Nature
Excerpts: The question then is not what induces cells to multiply, but what restrains them from doing so. Leaving aside conceptually unproblematic factors such as external toxicity, there appears to be only one process that represses cell multiplication under physiological conditions, and that is differentiation. Differentiation determines tissue specificity, and in doing so, it may suppress multiplication altogether, as it largely does in the central nervous system. Alternatively, it may permit multiplication to continue, but under severely restricted and regulated conditions, as in the intestine or the bone marrow. In the extreme case, it can even encompass the elimination of the cell nucleus or programmed cell death.
Stem Cells React - Cell Lineages As Complex Adaptive Systems, Experimental Hematology
Abstract: It may be argued that adult stem cell processes or, more precisely, the cell lineages that arise from them, represent complex reactive or adaptive systems. Approaching hematopoietic and other stem cell lineages from this perspective has direct bearing on current debates regarding the plasticity of these lineage systems as well as on interpretation and modeling of clinical data regarding many diseases.
Self-Assembling Scaffold For Spinal-Cord Repair, Natue Science update
Excerpts: When the solution is injected into a damaged rodent spinal cord, it turns into a gel-like solid, says Stupp. The scaffold is designed to disintegrate after four to six weeks, hopefully leaving healthy spinal cord behind. (...)
The liquid is made up of negatively charged molecules. Normally, they repel one another and keep the substance in liquid form. But when the fluid encounters positively charged molecules - such as the calcium or sodium ions found in living tissue - they clump together. "The effect happens almost instantly," (...).
Big Chill Killed Off The Neanderthals, NewScientist
Excerpts:
The last ice age
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The Gravettians appeared in eastern Europe 29,000 to 30,000 years ago complete with flash new tools, such as javelin-like throwing spears and fishing nets, which allowed them to catch a greater range of prey.
They also had clothing to keep the cold out, such as sewn furs and woven textiles, and possibly more specialised social structures. Their ability to tough out the colder climes dominating Europe 18,000 to 25,000 years ago revitalised the human population.
The Neanderthals, however, without either new blood or new technology, found it impossible to survive (...).
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Excerpts: http://www.nature.com/nsu/040119/images/plankton_180.jpg
Phytoplankton suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
© P. Assmy
Researchers have embarked on a test to see whether dumping iron into the ocean can help remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, possibly alleviating global warming.
The controversial idea has been tested in small-scale projects before. But it has never been clear whether it would actually work, in part because it is difficult to track exactly what happens to the ecosystem after iron is added to the water. Now scientists intend to watch a large patch of ocean for a relatively long period of time in an attempt to find out.
The iron is expected to feed the growth of phytoplankton - single-celled algae that live in the sunlit upper layers of the sea - in areas where they are limited by little natural iron in the water.
The Architecture Of The Climate Network, Physica A
Abstract: We consider climate as a network of many dynamical systems and apply ideas from graph theory to a global data set to study its collective behavior. We find that the network has properties of `small-world' networks. (...) reveals that the overall dynamics emerge from the interaction of two interweaved subnetworks. The tropical one is an almost fully connected network, whereas the mid-latitude one is more like a scale-free network characterized by dominant super nodes, and multifractal properties. This unique architecture may lead to new insights (...) of other spatially extended complex systems with a large number of degrees of freedom.
- Source: The Architecture Of The Climate Network, A. A. Tsonis - aatsonisuwm.edu, P. J. Roebber, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2003.10.045, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, online 2003/11/14
- Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in
Self-Organized Pedestrian Crowd Dynamics and Design Solutions, Traffic Forum
Abstract: We present empirical results of pedestrian streams in normal and panic-like situations gained from video recordings. It turns out that the geometric boundary conditions are not only relevant for the capacity of the elements of pedestrian facilities. They also influence the time gap distribution of pedestrians, indicating the existence of self-organization phenomena. For example, when two pedestrian streams intersect, the formation of moving stripes is observed. This findings can be used to improve design elements of pedestrian facilities and egress routes. For example, we propose to use ``obstacles'' to stabilize flow patterns and to make them more fluid. Moreover, we suggest increasing diameters of egress routes in stadia, theaters and lecture halls to avoid overproportional waiting times for people in the back and shock waves due to impatience. In addition, zick-zack-shaped geometries and columns can reduce the pressure in panicking crowds. The proposed design solutions are expected to increase the efficiency and safety of train stations, airport terminals, stadia, theaters, public buildings, passenger ships, and mass events in the future.
Quantum Computing in Neural Networks, arXiv
Abstract: According to the statistical interpretation of quantum theory, quantum computers form a distinguished class of probabilistic machines (PMs) by encoding n qubits in 2n pbits. This raises the possibility of a large-scale quantum computing using PMs, especially with neural networks which have the innate capability for probabilistic information processing. Restricting ourselves to a particular model, we construct and numerically examine the performance of neural circuits implementing universal quantum gates. A discussion on the physiological plausibility of proposed coding scheme is also provided.
Action, Illusion, and Perception, Science
Excerpts: These investigators set out to tease apart the neural processes in the brain that lead to movement versus those related to the perception of that movement. To do this, Schwartz et al. used the classical approach of requiring different movements in response to the same visual stimulus--in other words, altering the mapping between visual input and motor output [e.g., (2, 3)]. They asked human subjects to trace, using a hand-controlled cursor, a continuously visible contour that was either circular or ellipsoid. During tracing, subjects saw the cursor and the target contour but had no direct vision of their arm. On some trials, called illusion trials, a mismatch was created between the actual and visible arm trajectories by altering the gain of the cursor along the horizontal dimension only.
Don't Imitate the Robot, Science Now
Excerpts: Being able to mimic the actions of others is an important skill, and not just for budding ballerinas and baseball players. It was critical for the development of tool use in humans. Research reported this week in Current Biology suggests that our ability to imitate others is hard-wired into our brains, but the use of tools isn't. (...)
So to test whether humans perceive nonbiological movement differently, Umberto Castiello, a neuroscientist at Royal Halloway, University of London, and colleagues used positron emission tomography (PET) to monitor the activity of people's mirror neurons while watching someone either grasp a cylinder or manipulate a robotic arm to do so. The robotic arm was dressed and gloved to look human, although the operator was visible to the subjects in the experiment.
'Sleeping On It' Really Can Solve Problems, NewScientist
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Excerpts: (...) presented subjects with a series of numbers. They gave participants a simple rule with which to generate a second string of numbers from the first, and asked them to deduce the final digit in this sequence.
However, they didn't tell them about a hidden shortcut that allowed the final digit to be calculated almost immediately.
People who tackled the problem in the evening and returned refreshed after eight hours' sleep were more than twice as likely to spot the shortcut as those who had stayed awake.
Evidence That Memories Are Consolidated During Sleep, ScienceDaily
Excerpts: By exposing rats to novel objects and measuring their brain signals, Duke University researchers have detected telltale signal reverberations in wide areas of the brain during sleep that reveal the process of consolidating memories. (...) findings offer important evidence that extensive regions of the brain are involved in processing memories during a particular form of sleep, called slow-wave sleep. (...) and also establishes roles for both slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in memory consolidation. Slow-wave sleep is a deep dreamless sleep, and REM sleep is associated with dreaming.
For A Bigger Brain, Juggle, The Age
Excerpts: Juggling and probably other visual skills that take time to master increase the size of your brain.
(...)
University of Regensburg neurologist Arne May and colleagues asked 12 people in their early 20s, most of them women, to learn a classic three-ball juggling trick over three months until they could sustain a performance for at least a minute.
Another 12 were a "control" group who did not juggle.
All the volunteers were given a brain scan with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the start of the program, and a second after three months.
After this, the juggling group were told not to practice their skills at all for three months, and then a third scan was taken of all 24 volunteers.
The scans found that learning to juggle increased by about three per cent the volume of "grey matter" in the mid-temporal area and left posterior intra-parietal sulcus, which are parts of the left hemisphere of the brain that process data from visual motion.
Achieving Balance in Body, Soul and Trigger Finger, NY Times
Excerpts: Most video games aim to amuse, but The Journey to the Wild Divine: The Passage, (...), wants to change your life and bring your mind, soul and body into alignment.
(...) a biofeedback device that measures your heart rate and perspiration. Instead of the eye-hand coordination central to many games, Divine asks for mind-body coordination. To make a ball float in the air, the player must relax; moving a boat across the water requires a speeding pulse. In other places you must breathe evenly while concentrating on your heartbeat.
Democracy at Risk, NY Times
Excerpts: The disputed election of 2000 left a lasting scar on the nation's psyche. (...) in red states, which voted for George W. Bush, 32 percent of the public believes that the election was stolen. In blue states, the fraction is 44 percent.
Now imagine this: in November the candidate trailing in the polls wins an upset victory - but all of the districts where he does much better than expected use touch-screen voting machines. Meanwhile, leaked internal e-mail from the companies that make these machines suggests widespread error, and possibly fraud.
Arabs Slam U.S. Over Democracy, Reuters
Excerpts: At a public debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos, senior figures from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran accused the Bush administration of ignoring Israeli weapons of mass destruction and human rights abuses towards Palestinians while pressuring Arab and Muslim states to disarm and democratise. (...)
He complained that the United States talked about promoting democracy in the Middle East yet refused to recognise one of the few democratically elected leaders in the region, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
(...) democracy could not be imposed by force (...)
Editor's Note: There are a growing number of indicators suggesting the emergence of instabilities in the democratic form of government (not only in the US and the Middle East). That sounds similar to what was already described in
Plato's Republic 360 B.C.E.
Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
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Excerpts: Has the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein distracted the United States from more pressing matters, most notably the global war against al-Qaida?
(...) Given that we are in a political season, people's opinions on this question tend to follow their partisan views. Rather than simply offering a yes/no answer, it seems more useful to construct a framework for evaluating this complicated question in an analytical way.(...)
The United States has used about half of the Army and about one-third of the Marine Corps at any one time in the Iraq war, (...).
Lie-Detector Glasses Offer Peek At Future Of Security, EE Times
Excerpts: Nemesysco's patented Poly-Layered Voice Analysis measures 18 parameters of speech in real-time for interrogators at police, military and secret-services agencies. According to Nemesysco, its accuracy as a lie detector has proven to be less important than its ability to more quickly pinpoint for interrogators where there are problems in a subject's story. Officers then can zero in much more quickly with their traditional interrogation techniques.
V Entertainment is leveraging the concept to let consumers in on the truth telling, eyeing such applications as a lie detector that could be used while watching, say, the 2004 presidential debates on TV.
Links & Snippets
Other Publications
- Announcing The Release Of Multi-Value Discrete Dynamics Lab, Tools for researching discrete dynamical networks -
from Cellular Automata to Random Boolean Networks and beyond.Contributed by Andy Wuensche
- "Structural Vulnerability of the North American Power Grid", Reka Albert, Istvan Albert, Gary L. Nakarado
- "Playing with sandpiles", Michael Creutz
- Evolving a Stigmergic Self-Organized Data-Mining , Vitorino Ramos, Ajith Abraham, preprint submitted by author
- New York City In 2050 , This hour, we'll take a look at New York City in the year 2050, after a century of human-induced climate change. What will a warming planet mean for this city and its people? Plus, can sustainable design--from green office buildings to green roofs--ensure a better future for the Big Apple?
- US Wants Changes To Obesity Plan, US officials have demanded the World Health Organization reconsider plans to tackle global obesity rates.
- Text Messaging Reaches New High, Last year was yet another record-breaking year for text messaging, and this year is set to be bigger.
- Cuba Law Tightens Internet Access, The Cuban Government introduces a new law making it impossible for many Cubans to access the internet.
- Science on Stage , From Proof to Copenhagen, plays starring science have met with critical acclaim. But what makes for a good science drama? In this hour, we'll look at how science is being brought to the stage. Have we moved beyond the stereotype of the crazy-haired professor? Plus, we'll hear songs from two science musicals: Fermat's Last Tango andEinstein's Dreams.
- Delays and Split on Iraqi Council Imperil U.S. Plan, Edward Wong, A powerful cleric's demand for quick elections could disrupt the timetable for a transfer of power to an Iraqi government.
- More and More Autism Cases, Yet Causes Are Much Debated, Erica Goode, An upsurge in childhood autism cases has led to calls for more research and government spending, but what lies behind the increase is sharply debated.
- Cheney Calls for More Unity in Fight Against Terrorism, Eric Schmitt, Mark Landler, Speaking on Saturday at an international conference in Davos, Switzerland, Vice President Dick Cheney sought to patch up strains with European allies.
- The Tyranny of Copyright?, Robert S. Boynton, Is copyright law curbing our freedoms and making it harder to create anything new? This could be the first new social movement of the century.
- Politics of the Web: Meet, Greet, Segregate, Meet Again, Amy Harmon, Online political discussion has become so fragmented that some public policy scolds warn that the Internet may be narrowing the spectrum of debate.
- War of Ideas, Part 6, Thomas L. Friedman, It is impossible for us to talk about winning the war of ideas in the Arab-Muslim world without talking about jobs.
- Ten major medical advances you're likely to see in the coming year, Tara Parker-Pope, The Wall Street Journal
- Spatiotemporal Resonances in Mixing of Open Viscous Fluids, F. Okkels, P. Tabeling,, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 038301 (2004)
- Self-Assembly of Mesoscopic Metal-Polymer Amphiphiles, Sungho Park, Jung-Hyurk Lim, Sung-Wook Chung, Chad A. Mirkin, Science Jan 16 2004: 348-351
- As One Door Closes..., Geoff Brumfiel, David Cyranoski, Carina Dennis, Jim Giles, Hannah Hoag, Quirin Schiermeier, Nature 427, 190 - 195 (15 January 2004), DOI: 10.1038/427190a
- Bayesian Integration In Sensorimotor Learning , Konrad P. Körding, Daniel M. Wolpert, Nature 427, 244 - 247 (15 January 2004), DOI: 10.1038/nature02169
- An Eye for a Nose, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
- Marine Superglue: Mussels Get Stickiness From Iron In Seawater, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
The secret behind the binding power of mussel glue lies in iron extracted from seawater.
- 9/11's Fatal Road Toll: Terror Attacks Presaged Rise In U.S. Car Deaths, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
Federal data indicate that fear of flying after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks caused a second toll of lives on U.S. roads in the last three months of that year.
- Cheap Taste? Bowerbirds Go For Bargain Decor, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
When male spotted bowerbirds collect sticks and other doodads to wow females, they don't search for the rare showpiece but go for the cheap trinket.
- When to Change Sex, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
A research team contends that animals that routinely change sex, even those prompted by mate loss or other social cues, tend to do so when they reach 72 percent of their maximum size.
- Fear Not, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
- Electronic Skin Senses Touch, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
A pressure-detecting membrane laminated onto a sheet of flexible plastic electronics may lead to artificial skin for robots.
- Tapping Sun's Light And Heat To Make Hydrogen, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
Researchers have demonstrated a highly efficient means of splitting water molecules to generate hydrogen fuel.
- Nanowires Grow On Viral Templates, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 3, 04/01/17, Also available in Audible format.
Researchers are using viruses to assemble semiconducting nanowires—the building blocks of future electronic circuits.
- 'No Cosmic Ray Climate Effects', 01/04/24, Human activities rather than cosmic rays are the main cause of global warming, scientists say.
- Realities of Labor, Nicholas D. Kristof, 04/01/14, NYTimes Audio Slideshow
- U.S. Stalls U.N. Plan to Fight Obesity, Stephanie Nebehay, 04/01/20, Reuters
- Spirit Finds Puzzling Mix of Minerals, Leonard David, 04/01/20, Space.com
- Experts Demand 'Cowboy Cloners' Ban, 04/01/21, BBC News,
Human cloning is condemned by many experts
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Lord Robert May, president of the Royal Society, said "cowboy cloners" caused great public anxiety and should be stopped.
- Fossil Find Is Oldest Land Animal, 04/01/21, Experts say a fossil found on an Aberdeenshire beach is that of the oldest creature ever to live on land.
BBC
- Web Lifeline For Iraqi Academics, 04/01/21, Iraqi academics are using the power of the web to help rebuild their country's intellectual power.
BBC
- No Foolproof Way Is Seen to Contain Altered Genes, Andrew Pollack, 04/01/21, NYTimes
- How Fluoride Firms Up Teeth, Mark Peplow, 04/01/22, Computer models show that fluoride locks calcium into your pearly whites.Nature Science update
- Audience Charmed By The Paranormal, John Whitfield, 04/01/22, Nature Science update
- Federal Remote Voting System Called Flawed, 04/01/22, CNN
- Pentagon E-Voting Plan 'Flawed', 04/01/22, BBC News
- Why Libya Gave Up on the Bomb, Flynt Leverett, 04/01/23, NYTimes
- Gates Forecasts Victory Over Spam, 04/01/24, The Microsoft boss says spam e-mail will soon be a thing of the past, and praises rival Google at the WEF in Davos.
Tim Weber
BBC
- Fossil Find Breaks Age Record, Michael Hopkin, 04/01/27, Scottish millipede represents earliest known air-breathing animal.Nature Science update
- Host-Parasite Co-evolution and Optimal Mutation Rates for Semi-conservative Quasispecies, Yisroel Brumer, Eugene I. Shakhnovich, 2003-01-20, arXiv, DOI: q-bio.PE/0401026
- A Mathematical Model Of Motorneuron Dynamics In The Heartbeat Of The Leech, P.-L. Buono, A. Palacios - palacioseuler.sdsu.edu, 2003/12/01, Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, DOI: 10.1016/j.physd.2003.08.003
- Exploration of Scale-free Networks, Thomas Petermann, Paolo De Los Rios, 2004-01-06, arXiv, DOI: cond-mat/0401065
- Quantitative Patterns in the Structure of Model and Empirical Food Webs, J. Camacho, R. Guimera, D. B. Stouffer, L. A. N. Amaral, 2004-01-16, arXiv, DOI: q-bio.PE/0401023
- Constraints On Muscular Performance: Trade-Offs Between Power Output And Fatigue-Resistance, R. S. Wilson, R. S. James, 2004/01/19, Alphagalileo & Biology Letters
- Ancient Lakes As Evolutionary Reservoirs: Evidence From The Thalassoid Gastropods Of Lake Tanganyika, A. B. Wilson, M. Glaubrecht, A. Meyer, 2004/01/19, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences
- Motor Mechanisms Of A Vocal Mimic: Implications For Birdsong Production, S. A. Zollinger, R. A. Suthers, 2004/01/19, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences
- To Age Or Not To Age, P. D. Sozou, R. M. Seymour, 2004/01/19, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences
- The Mathematics Of Motion Camouflage, P. A. Glendinning, 2004/01/19, Alphagalileo & Proceedings Biological Sciences
- Scientists Create Chip That Detects Viruses Faster, Better And Cheaper Than Ever Before, D. Reid - david.reidiop.org, 2004/01/20, Alphagalileo
- Primates Trade Smell For Sight, 2004/01/20, ScienceDaily & Public Library Of Science
- Human Migration Tracked In Stanford Computer Simulation, 2004/01/22, ScienceDaily & Stanford University Medical Center
- UCSD Researchers Describe Cell Activity Leading To Disruption Of Neuron Migration, 2004/01/22, ScienceDaily & University Of California - San Diego
- Financial Earthquakes, Aftershocks And Scaling In Emerging Stock Markets, F. Selçuk - farukbilkent.edu.tr, online 2003/11/19, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2003.10.060
- Learning With Perfect Information, P. Dubey - pradeepkdubeyyahoo.com, O. Haimanko - orihbgumail.bgu.ac.il, online 2003/11/21, Games & Econ. Behav., DOI: 10.1016/S0899-8256(03)00127-1
- Special Attention Network, J. O. Indekeu - joseph.indekeufys.kuleuven.ac.be, online 2003/11/27, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2003.10.081
- Putting The Pieces Back Together Again: An Illustration Of The Problem Of Interpreting Development Indicators Using An African Case Study, S. Morse - s.morsereading.ac.uk, online 2003/12/05, Applied Geography, DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2003.10.002
Webcast Announcements
-
Voices of Public Intellectuals Lecture Series: Democracy's Response to the Terrorist Threat
Now in its fifth year, the Radcliffe Institute Voices of Public Intellectuals lecture series brings issues affecting civic life to a public forum. This year's series of three lectures features experts in the study of terrorism and the prosecution of terrorists to explore the effects of terrorism on democracy. These lectures take place in Cambridge on February 26, March 4, and March 11 at 4 p.m.
- World Economic Forum 2004, Davos, Switzerland
-
Riding the Next Democratic Wave,
Al-Thani, Khan, Vike-Freiberga, Wade, Soros, Zakaria, World Economic Forum, 04/01/25
- The Future of Global Interdependence, Kharrazi, Held, Owens, Shourie, Annan, Martin, Schwab, World Economic Forum, 04/01/25
-
Why Victory Against Terrorism Demands Shared Values
-
The Process of Curricular Review: Redefining a World-Class Education, Benedict Gross, Thomas Bender, Harvard@home, 04/01/21, Dean of Harvard College Benedict Gross discusses Harvard's first comprehensive review of the undergraduate curriculum in almost 3 decades. This program introduces the process of curricular review by presenting two segmented lectures. The first, by Dean Gross, outlines the approach and considerations in undertaking the current review. The second lecture, presented by NYU Professor Thomas Bender, presents a historical perspective on academic culture.
-
Cancer Biology , NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16, How the spread of cancer is like wound healing gone awry.
- Tracking Ebola , NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16, A new study might help scientists predict where Ebola may!
strike next.
- Animal Thought and Communication, NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16,
How do animals think and communicate with each other? And what can studying animals tell us about the evolution of language in humans? In this hour, NPR's Ira Flatow and guests look at thought and communication in apes, gorillas and monkeys. What can non-human primates tell us about communication in humans?
- CODIS 2004, International Conference On Communications, Devices And Intelligent Systems, 2004 Calcutta, India, 04/01/09-10
- EVOLVABILITY & INTERACTION: Evolutionary Substrates of
Communication, Signaling, and Perception in the Dynamics of Social
Complexity, London, UK, 03/10/08-10
- The Semantic Web
and Language Technology - Its Po
tential and Practicalities,
Bucharest, Romania, 03/07/28-08/08
- ECAL 2003, 7th
European Conference on Artificial Life, Dortmund, Germany,
03/09/14-17
- New Santa
Fe Institute President About His Vision for SFI's Future Role,
(Video, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/04)
- SPIE's 1st Intl Symp
on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/06/01-04
- NAS Sackler
Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, Video/Audio Report,
03/05/11
- 13th Ann Intl Conf,
Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life Sciences, Boston, MA, USA,
2003/08/08-10
- CERN
Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and
Live Events
- Dean
LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since
February 1998
- Edge Videos
Conference & Call for Papers Announcements
- 1st
International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Approaches to
Advanced Information Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland,
04/01/29-30
- Physics
of Socio-Economic Systems, 1st Intl Winter School
2004, Konstanz, Germany, 04/02/16-20
-
The O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, San Diego, CA, 04/02/09-12
- Advances
in Molecular Electronics: From molecular materials to single
molecule devices, Dresden, Germany, 04/02/23
- Leadership in
Rapidly Changing Business Environments -Learning and Adapting in
Time, Cambridge, MA, 04/02/26-27
- 4th
Intl ICSC Symposium Engineering Of Intelligent Systems (EIS
2004), Island of Madeira, Portugal, 04/02/29-03/02
- Conference
on Longevity , Sydney, Australia, 04/03/05-07
- Arbeitskreis
Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme Jahrestagung
(AKSOE), Regensburg, Germany, 04/03/08-12
- 11th Annual Winter Chaos Conference Dynamical Systems Thinking in Science and Society, Stony Creek, CT, USA, 04/03/12-14
- Capital
Science 2004, Washington, 04/03/20-21
- Fractal 2004,
"Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl
Multidisciplinary Conf, Vancouver, Canada, 04/04/04-07
- 6th German Workshop on Artificial Life 2004 (GWAL-6), Bamberg, Germany, 04/04/14-16
- The
9th IEEE Intl Conf on Engineering of Complex Computer
Systems, Florence, Italy, 04/04/14-16
- 2004
Advanced Simulation Technologies Conference (ASTC'04),
Arlington, VA., USA, 04/04/18-22
- NKS
(New Kind of Science) 2004 Conference and Minicourse,
Boston, Massachusetts, 04/04/22-25
- Urban
Vulnerability and Network Failure: Constructions and Experiences
of Emergencies, Crises and Collapse, Manchester, UK,
04/04/29-30
-
What Really Matters ?The Global Forum 2004, Santa Fe, NM, 04/05/02-040
- 5th
International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004),
Boston, MA, USA, 04/05/16-21
- 3rd Intl Conf on
Systems Thinking in Management (ICSTM 2004) "Transforming
Organizations to Achieve Sustainable Success",
Philadelphia, Pa, USA, 04/05/19-21
- 4th Intl Conf on
Fractals And Dynamic Systems In Geoscience, München, Germany, 04/05/19-22
- 9th
Annual Workshop on Economics and Heterogeneous Interaction Agents
(WEHIA04), Kyoto, Japan, 2004/05/27-29
- 13th
International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious
Diseases, Toulon, France, 04/06/03-05
- ECC8
Experimental Chaos Conference, Florence, Italy,
04/06/14-17
- 7th
Intl Conf on Linking Systems Thinking, Innovation,Quality, Entrepreneurship and Environment (STIQE),
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA, 04/06/24-26
-
NAACSOS 2004, North American Association for Computational Social and Organizational Science, Pittsburgh PA, 04/06/27-29
-
Statphys - Kolkata V An International Conference on Complex Networks: Structure, Function and Processes , Kolkata, India, 04/06/27-30
-
3rd Intl School Topics in Nonlinear Dynamics Discrete Dynamical Systems and Applications , Urbino (Italy), 04/07/07-09
- `Perspectives on Nonlinear Dynamics 2004 (PNLD-2004), Chennai, India, 04/07/12-15
- From Animals To Animats
8, 8th Intl Conf On The Simulation Of Adaptive Behavior
(SAB'04), Los Angeles, USA, 04/07/13-17
- 14th Annual International Conference The Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences , Milwaukee, WI, USA, 04/07/15-18
- 3rd
Intl Conf Autonomous Agents & Multi-Agent Systems Conference (AAMAS 2004), New York City, 04/07/19-23
- 7th
Intl Workshop on: Trust in Agent Societies , New York City, 04/07/19-20
- 8th
World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and
Informatics, Orlando, Florida, USA, 04/07/18-21
- 2004
Summer Simulation MultiConference (SummerSim'04), San Jose
Hyatt, San Jose, California, 04/07/25-29
- SME 2004 Symposium on Modeling
and Control of Economic Systems , University in Redlands, CA, 04/01/28-31
- 6th
International Mathematica Symposium (IMS 2004), Banff,
Canada, 04/08/02-06
- Fractals and Natural Hazards at
32nd Intl Geological Congress (IGC), Florence, Italy, 04/08/20-28
- ANTS
2004, 4th International Workshop on Ant Colony
Optimization and Swarm Intelligence, Brussels, Belgium,
04/09/05-08
- Dynamic
Ontology, An Inquiry into Systems, Emergence, Levels of Reality,
and Forms of Causality, Trento, Italy,
04/09/08-11
- 9th
Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems
(ALIFE9), Boston, Massachusetts, 04/09/12-15
- The
Verhulst 200 on Chaos, Brussels, BELGIUM, 04/09/16-18
- The
8th Intl Conf on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature
(PPSN VIII), Birmingham, UK, 04/09/18-22
- XVII Brazilian
Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Sao Luis, Maranhao -
Brazil, 04/09/22-24
- TEDMED Conference ,
Charleston SC, 04/10/12-15
- Wolfram
Technology Conference, Champaign, Illinois,
04/10/21-23
- 6th Intl Conf on Electronic Commerce
ICEC'2004: Towards A New Services Landscape, Delft, The Netherlands, 04/10/25-27
- Complexity and Philosophy Workshop - 2-Day Conference , Rio de Janeiro, 04/11
ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test
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.
