Complexity Digest 2005.23

06-Jun-2005

For individual e-mail subscriptions go to Subscriptions.
Previous issue 2005.22 | Next issue 2005.24

Content

  1. Human behaviour: Brain trust, Nature
    1. Oxytocin increases trust in humans, Nature
    2. Investing on a Whiff: Chemical spray shows power as trust booster, Science News
  2. A Mini-Enron on Every Corner?, NY Times
    1. Stocks Whose Futures Are on Sale, Fool.com
    2. Another Drink? Sure. China Is Paying., NY Times
    3. Will It Take a Tariff to Free the Yuan?, NY Times
  3. UK research councils claim success for open-access publishing plan, Nature
  4. The best solution, Nature
    1. Can Tamiflu save us from bird flu?, New Scientist
  5. Molecular medicine: Lost in translation, Nature
    1. Gene regulation: Kissing chromosomes, Nature
    2. Prion Toxicity: All Sail and No Anchor, Science
  6. Feeling the Beat: Movement Influences Infant Rhythm Perception, Science
  7. Mission to build a simulated brain begins, New Scientist
    1. Some Brain Cells 'Change Channels' To Fine-tune The Message, ScienceDaily
    2. Epigenetic Robotics: Modelling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems, Cognitive Systems Research
    3. Modelling Biological Complexity: A Physical Scientist's Perspective, Interface
  8. Sponging dolphins learn from mum, BBC News
    1. For Fruit Flies, Gene Shift Tilts Sex Orientation, NY Times
  9. 'Walking' octopus inspires soft robots, BBC News
    1. A Better Robot, With Help From Roaches, NY Times
  10. See virtual worlds in the round, New Scientist
    1. Molecular electronics: Charged with manipulation, Nature
    2. Morphing Memory - Superfast atom shuffling inspires data-storage alternatives, Science News
  11. Cosmology: Digitizing the Universe, Nature
    1. Simulations of the formation, evolution and clustering of galaxies and quasars, Nature
  12. Scaling Patterns in Exotic and Native Bird Species Distribution and Abundance, SFI Working Papers
  13. Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming, NY Times
    1. Earth's Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications, Science
  14. Chaos Theory As A Model For Interpreting Information Systems In Organizations, Info. Sys. J.
    1. Self-Organizing Information Fusion And Hierarchical Knowledge Discovery, Neural Networks
  15. Modes Of Communication During Jazz Improvisation, British J. Music Edu.
    1. What Creativity Isn't: The Presumptions Of Instrumental And Individual Justifications For Creativity In Education, British J. Edu. Studies
  16. Evolution Of Cooperation By Generalized Reciprocity, Proc. Biol. Sc.
    1. Metamorphoses Of Power: From Coercion To Cooperation?, Asian J. Social Sc.
    2. Formal Aspects of the Emergence of Institutions, SFI Working Papers
  17. In-Flight Voice And Data Communications Takes Off, IST News
  18. The State of Iraq: An Update, NY Times
    1. War From the Top Down, NY Times
    2. Latin Nations Resist Plan for Monitor of Democracy, NY Times
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terroist Networks
    1. Report Presses Easy Ways to Fix Airline Security, NY Times
    2. U.S. Set to Test Missile Defenses Aboard Airlines, NY Times
    3. Rights, Security and Perception, Post-9/11, NPR TOTN
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements

  1. Human behaviour: Brain trust, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Editorial summary: Little is known about the biological basis of trust in humans. But now a study (...) has come up with a finding of startling simplicity. The hormone oxytocin (applied as a nasal spray in this experiment) increases an individual's willingness to trust someone. Oxytocin had previously been found to have a key role in regulating positive social interactions in non-human mammals. (...) There could be clinical implications too, for patients with mental disorders associated with social dysfunctions, such as social phobia, autism and antisocial personality disorder.

    1. Oxytocin increases trust in humans, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Trust pervades human societies1, 2. Trust is indispensable in friendship, love, families and organizations, and plays a key role in economic exchange and politics3. In the absence of trust among trading partners, market transactions break down. In the absence of trust in a country's institutions and leaders, political legitimacy breaks down. Much recent evidence indicates that trust
      • Source: Oxytocin increases trust in humans, Michael Kosfeld, Markus Heinrichs, Paul J. Zak, Urs Fischbacher, Ernst Fehr, DOI: 10.1038/nature03701, Nature 435, 673-676, 05/06/02

    2. Investing on a Whiff: Chemical spray shows power as trust booster, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Some people smell fear in potential business partners. Others smell a rat. But individuals who smell a certain brain hormone become unusually trusting of others in financial transactions, according to a new report. Men who inhale a nasal spray spiked with oxytocin give more money to partners in a risky investment game than do men who sniff a spray containing no active ingredient, say economist Ernst Fehr of the University of Zurich and his colleagues.

  2. A Mini-Enron on Every Corner?, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: While the collapses of Enron and WorldCom have focused attention on large corporations, the companies at the bottom are no strangers to playing fast and loose with the rules.

    ON that Christmas day in 1998, life could hardly have seemed better for the Gordon brothers, David and Greg. They brought their wives to celebrate the holiday amid the festive d?cor of their parents' home in Conroe, Tex., a onetime oil boom town north of Houston. As family members relaxed,...

    1. Stocks Whose Futures Are on Sale, Fool.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Finding a great company trading at a huge discount to its intrinsic value is tough. But sometimes the market doesn't assign much value to the company's future, despite its ability to generate cash. I've found two stocks whose futures are on sale.

    2. Another Drink? Sure. China Is Paying., NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Poor countries have become the financiers of the United States, fueling one of the most extravagant consumption drives in world history.

      GUESS who's paying for America's spending binge - for the ballooning credit card bills, the scramble for homes, the country's gaping budgetary hole? Poor countries have become the financiers of the United States, fueling one of the most extravagant consumption drives in world history.

    3. Will It Take a Tariff to Free the Yuan?, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Since China artificially keeps the value of its currency low, American companies are placed at a competitive disadvantage.

      DISMAYED by China's failure to play fair on free trade, we have offered legislation to impose a tariff on Chinese exports to the United States if Beijing continues to keep the value of its currency, the yuan, artificially low compared with the dollar. While our efforts to pressure China to change have been called protectionist, nothing could be further from the truth.

  3. UK research councils claim success for open-access publishing plan, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Papers based on funded research will be posted on free websites. Britain's main public funders for research seem to have achieved the impossible ¡X they've come up with a policy that pleases both sides in the debate over open-access publishing. But appearances can be deceptive. Behind public praise for the statement, some publishers are voicing fears that small journals will go out of business, which could put scientific societies at risk.

  4. The best solution, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Optimization: this beguilingly simply idea allows biologists not only to understand current adaptations, but also to predict new designs that may yet evolve.

    1. Can Tamiflu save us from bird flu?, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: AMID ominous signs that H5N1 bird flu is acquiring the ability to spread more readily among people, many health authorities are pinning their hopes on Tamiflu, the only available antiviral drug known to block the replication of the virus. But can the drug really help stop an emerging flu pandemic? Even if efforts to develop a vaccine are successful (New Scientist, 26 March, p 10), it could take many months to produce the billions of doses needed in the event of a pandemic.

  5. Molecular medicine: Lost in translation, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Gene regulation: Kissing chromosomes, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: A three-dimensional examination of gene regulation suggests that portions from different chromosomes 'communicate' with each other, and bring related genes together in the nucleus to coordinate their expression.

    2. Prion Toxicity: All Sail and No Anchor, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Within the past 2 years, our understanding of the infectious particles responsible for fatal neurological conditions such as mad cow disease, scrapie, and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease has seen considerable progress. There is now strong evidence that prions, the culprit infectious particles, can be synthesized in systems that are completely free of cellular material. This may essentially settle the score as to the purely proteinaceous nature of the infectious agent. As to the march of prions toward the brain, or "neuroinvasion," a wealth of players has been uncovered, (...).

  6. Feeling the Beat: Movement Influences Infant Rhythm Perception, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: We hear the melody in music, but we feel the beat. We demonstrate that the perception of musical rhythm is a multisensory experience in infancy. In particular, movement of the body, by bouncing on every second versus every third beat of an ambiguous auditory rhythm pattern, influences whether that auditory rhythm pattern is encoded in duple form (a march) or in triple form (a waltz). Visual information is not necessary for the effect, indicating that it likely reflects a strong, early-developing interaction between auditory and vestibular information in the human nervous system.

  7. Mission to build a simulated brain begins, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: An effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level, was launched on Monday.

    The ¡§Blue Brain¡¨ project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM's Blue Gene design.

    The hope is that the virtual brain will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness.

    1. Some Brain Cells 'Change Channels' To Fine-tune The Message, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Johns Hopkins researchers have identified the proteins that allow specific brain cells to "change channels," a rare ability that tweaks what can come into the cell. (...) Much as turning the television dial changes what comes into the living room, these brain cells are able to change what they allow in by swapping one kind of channel, or membrane opening, for another. Doing so lets the cells fine-tune their messages and adjust connections within the cerebellum, the brain region that controls fine motor skills. (...)

    2. Epigenetic Robotics: Modelling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems, Cognitive Systems Research Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: (...) the goal of Epigenetic robotics is to understand, and model, the role of development in the emergence of increasingly complex cognitive structures from physical and social interaction. As such, Epigenetic Robotics is an interdisciplinary effort, combining developmental psychology, neuroscience, and robotics. This still recent field is being driven by two main, somewhat parallel, motivations: (a) to understand the brain by constructing embodied systems - the so-called synthetic approach, and (b) to build better systems by learning from human studies.
      See Also: Special Issue on Epigenetic Robotics

    3. Modelling Biological Complexity: A Physical Scientist's Perspective, Interface Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: We discuss the modern approaches of complexity and self-organization to understanding dynamical systems and how these concepts can inform current interest in systems biology. From the perspective of a physical scientist, it is especially interesting to examine how the differing weights given to philosophies of science in the physical and biological sciences impact the application of the study of complexity. We briefly describe how the dynamics of the heart and circadian rhythms, canonical examples of systems biology, are modelled by sets of nonlinear coupled differential equations, which have to be solved numerically. (...)

  8. Sponging dolphins learn from mum, BBC News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Female dolphins are taught by their mothers how to use marine sponges to look for food, according to a study.

    Female bottlenose dolphins are taught by their mothers to use marine sponges to look for food, according to a study.

    The finding represents the first case of material culture observed in a marine mammal species.

    An international team looked at wild dolphins from western Australia and used DNA analysis to investigate if the behaviour could be inherited.

    1. For Fruit Flies, Gene Shift Tilts Sex Orientation, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: International Herald Tribune

      scientific finding will likely prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine sexual orientation.

      n the genetically altered fruit fly was released into the observation chamber, it did what these breeders par excellence tend to do. It pursued a waiting virgin female. It gently tapped the girl with its leg, played her a song (using wings as instruments) and, only then, dared to lick her - all part of standard fruit fly seduction.

  9. 'Walking' octopus inspires soft robots, BBC News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The discovery that octopi can "walk" along the sea bed inspires scientists seeking to create soft, flexible robots. The surprise discovery that octopi can "walk" along the sea bed on two tentacles has inspired scientists seeking to create of a new generation of soft, flexible robots. Two species of octopus have been observed moving in an upright bipedal stride since the discovery was announced in March this year.

    1. A Better Robot, With Help From Roaches, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: A graduate student has taken a novel approach to the problem of robotic navigation: he's using roaches as "drivers."

      net Hertz, a graduate student at the University of California, Irvine has given a roach a car.

      idea, he says, is to take a novel approach to the problem of robotic navigation. In the past, robots have not been particularly adroit; getting from Point A to Point B can be arduous, and navigation systems cumbersome and complex.

  10. See virtual worlds in the round, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    A GOLDFISH bowl in which 3D video images appear suspended in mid-air could help surgeons target tumours more precisely, air-traffic controllers prevent air accidents, and drug designers better understand the structures of promising molecules. "On a 2D screen, a protein molecule looks like tangled spaghetti. But when it appears in our machine, you begin to fully grasp its 3D structure," says Gregg Favalora of Actuality Systems, which is behind the $40,000 display. As Favalora walks around his display, a 3D computer model of a protein molecule hovers inside its smoky white soccer-ball-sized sphere. At the click of a mouse, the molecule disappears and is replaced by images of two airliners on a collision course in simulated 3D airspace.

    1. Molecular electronics: Charged with manipulation, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The ability to control charge transport through individual molecules sandwiched between electrodes could lead to further miniaturization of electronics. A better understanding of how such junctions work is crucial.

    2. Morphing Memory - Superfast atom shuffling inspires data-storage alternatives, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      BIT BY BIT. Even low currents heat thin metallic vanes in this array of phase-change memory cells viewed by an electron microscope. Unobstructed vanes abruptly heat adjacent areas (arrows) of the phase-change material called GST and cause rapid atomic rearrangements between amorphous and crystalline states, representing bits 0 and 1, respectively. Pellizzer/STMicroelectronics
      Anyone who purchases an electronic camera, cell phone, voice recorder, travel disk, or PDA, typically brings home a stick, card, or some other medium containing a chip ready to store information via a technology known as flash memory. Last year, consumers worldwide bought almost $12 billion worth of flash products, which depend on electrons to store data. The semiconductor industry expects global demand to surpass $18 billion by 2007.

  11. Cosmology: Digitizing the Universe, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: For years, cosmologists have been racing each other to develop ever more sophisticated and realistic models of the evolution of the Universe. The competition has just become considerably stiffer.

    1. Simulations of the formation, evolution and clustering of galaxies and quasars, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v435/n7042/full/nature03597.html Volker Springel1, Simon D. M. White1, Adrian Jenkins2, Carlos S. Frenk2, Naoki Yoshida3, Liang Gao1, Julio Navarro4, Robert Thacker5, Darren Croton1, John Helly2, John A. Peacock6, Shaun Cole2, Peter Thomas7, Hugh Couchman5, August Evrard8, J?rg Colberg9 and Frazer Pearce10
      • Source: Simulations of the formation, evolution and clustering of galaxies and quasars, Volker Springel, Simon D. M. White, Adrian Jenkins, Carlos S. Frenk, Naoki Yoshida, Liang Gao, Julio Navarro, Robert Thacker, Darren Croton, John Helly, John A. Peacock, Shaun Cole, Peter Thomas, Hugh Couchman, August Evrard, J?rg Colberg, Frazer Pearce, DOI: 10.1038/nature03701, Nature 435, 673-676, 05/06/02

  12. Scaling Patterns in Exotic and Native Bird Species Distribution and Abundance, SFI Working Papers Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Scaling phenomena are at the core of a great variety of ecological processes ranging from individual physiology to population, community and ecosystems, and emerge as the result of the operation of general principles governing their structure and functioning. In this chapter, we assess the generality of scaling relationships in the distribution and abundance of species by comparing invasive exotics and native species recorded in the Breeding Bird Survey within the North American continent. To do this we compare scaling patterns in nine exotic species (the exotic set) and compare them to a set of native species chosen to maximize taxonomic and ecological similarity (the similar set) and to a random set of native species (the random set). For each set of species we assessed the scaling of the spatial characteristics of range occupancy, the intraspecific and interspecific scaling between distribution and abundance and the scaling of the abundance frequency distribution. Our results indicate that exotic and native species show similar scaling patterns in their distribution and abundance, which suggests they are under the influence of similar processes thus supporting the generality of these scaling relationships. However, exotic species do differ from natives in a key aspect of their ecology; they are able to reach higher maximum abundances and show a more even abundance-distribution relationship, probably as a result of having broad ecological tolerances, which could be a key to their successful establishment and further spread.

  13. Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A White House official repeatedly edited climate reports in ways that play down links between emissions and global warming.

    hite House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

    1. Earth's Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Our climate model, driven mainly by increasing human-made greenhouse gases and aerosols, among other forcings, calculates that Earth is now absorbing 0.85 ¡Ó 0.15 watts per square meter more energy from the Sun than it is emitting to space. This imbalance is confirmed by precise measurements of increasing ocean heat content over the past 10 years. Implications include (i) the expectation of additional global warming of about 0.6¢XC without further change of atmospheric composition; (ii) the confirmation of the climate system's lag in responding to forcings, implying the need for anticipatory actions to avoid any specified level of climate change; and (iii) the likelihood of acceleration of ice sheet disintegration and sea level rise. (...)
      • Source: Earth's Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications, James Hansen, Larissa Nazarenko, Reto Ruedy, Makiko Sato, Josh Willis, Anthony Del Genio, Dorothy Koch, Andrew Lacis, Ken Lo, Surabi Menon, Tica Novakov, Judith Perlwitz, Gary Russell, Gavin A. Schmidt, icholas Tausnev, Science: 1431-1435., 05/06/03

  14. Chaos Theory As A Model For Interpreting Information Systems In Organizations, Info. Sys. J. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Chaos theory concerns the qualitative study of unstable aperiodic behaviour in deterministic non-linear dynamical systems. Concepts from chaos theory have recently been applied as a model for interpreting organizational change and understanding organizational behaviour. This paper applies these concepts to the study of information systems in organizations. Key concepts from chaos theory are identified and used to develop an interpretive framework. The importance of understanding the initial conditions when an information systems strategy is developed or an information system is implemented is highlighted. (...)

    1. Self-Organizing Information Fusion And Hierarchical Knowledge Discovery, Neural Networks Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Classifying novel terrain or objects from sparse, complex data may require the resolution of conflicting information from sensors working at different times, locations, and scales, and from sources with different goals and situations. Information fusion methods can help resolve inconsistencies, as when evidence variously suggests that an object's class is car, truck, or airplane. The methods described here address a complementary problem, supposing that information from sensors and experts is reliable though inconsistent, as when evidence suggests that an object's class is car, vehicle, and man-made. (...)

  15. Modes Of Communication During Jazz Improvisation, British J. Music Edu. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: This study investigated modes of communication adopted by six student jazz musicians during rehearsal and performance. Six one-hour rehearsal sessions and a performance were observed and videotaped for analysis. Results revealed six modes of communication that formed two main categories, verbal and non-verbal, each containing three distinct modes of communication: instruction, cooperation and collaboration. Non-verbal collaborative mode displayed empathetic attunement, which is a vehicle for empathetic creativity. Empathetic creativity is a theoretical concept proposed by the author based on the concept of empathetic intelligence (….). Practical applications of empathetic creativity are discussed with reference to music education (...).

    1. What Creativity Isn't: The Presumptions Of Instrumental And Individual Justifications For Creativity In Education, British J. Edu. Studies Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: Creativity is a popular but heterogeneous word in educational parlance these days. By looking at a selection of recent discourses that refer to creativity to sustain their positions, the paper suggests that two key themes emerge, both with questionable assumptions. Romantic individualists would return us to a naïve bygone age of authentic self-expression, while politicians and economists would use the term instrumentally by binding it to the future needs of the workforce without questioning substantive issues. Cultural theories of creativity indicate pathways out.

  16. Evolution Of Cooperation By Generalized Reciprocity, Proc. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: The evolution of cooperation by direct reciprocity requires that individuals recognize their present partner and remember the outcome of their last encounter with that specific partner. Direct reciprocity thus requires advanced cognitive abilities. Here, we demonstrate that if individuals repeatedly interact within small groups with different partners in a two person Prisoner's Dilemma, cooperation can emerge and also be maintained in the absence of such cognitive capabilities. It is sufficient for an individual to base their decision of whether or not to cooperate on the outcome of their last encounter-even if it was with a different partner.

    1. Metamorphoses Of Power: From Coercion To Cooperation?, Asian J. Social Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: In probing metamorphoses of power and changing understandings of power, this treatment examines the question of whether there is a general trend from coercive towards cooperative and consensual forms of power over time. This reflection unpacks power in its various dimensions, (...) and then examines the hypothesis of a growing trend towards cooperative forms of power in domestic politics and civil society, and in international politics.

    2. Formal Aspects of the Emergence of Institutions, SFI Working Papers Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: We argue that social institutions emerge on the basis of the human cognitive ability to integrate an evaluation of the behavior and performances of other group members over long time periods. The results of those evaluations are condensed into the social status of an individual, and that status is the link between short time achievements and long term success within the group. Altruistic behavior on a short time scale can be advantageous for an individual on a longer time scale as it contributes to her or his status. Conversely, building mating decisions not on events that may be quite random on a short time scale, but on long term accumulations is an evolutionarily rational behavior because it reduces stochastic fluctuations by averaging. Our proposal does not need any group selection scheme. It calls some approaches to computer simulations of social dynamics into question. It is based on considerations from system theory, in particular, concerning the integration of different temporal scales. It utilizes a new concept of emergence as opposed to self-organization through nonlinear interactions of simple elements. It requires further studies from the social sciences to understand that scale shift as encoded in social status.

  17. In-Flight Voice And Data Communications Takes Off, IST News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Demonstrating a pioneering and flexible working architecture for wireless in-flight communications is a group of European researchers whose system will enable aircraft travellers to make mobile phone calls, switch on laptops, connect to the company intranet via an in-cabin wireless link, and download and update files without problems. (...) "We demonstrated the system aboard an Airbus A340-600 aircraft while in flight, not in a simulator (...) We connected to two live networks, and passengers could phone in and out with their own mobile telephone, use a laptop (...). Moreover cabin crew communications or emergency telemedicine services are available." (...)

  18. The State of Iraq: An Update, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: More than two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains a complex mix of tragedy and hope. More than two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains a complex mix of tragedy and hope. To give a sense of the ebb and flow, this chart shows data for three key monthsy 2003 (the first full month after the fall of Baghdad), June 2004 (the last month before the Coalition Authority gave way to the interim Iraqi

    1. War From the Top Down, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Unless we provide Iraq with good leadership, our plan to spread democracy will end in defeat. MOST Americans, including many of those making military decisions in Washington, have been surprised by the intensity of the Iraqi insurgency since the January elections. How, despite their failure to coalesce into a united front and their lack of a coherent political program, have the armed factions shown such staying power? History suggests an answer and, more important, provides a model for putting the insurgency down.

    2. Latin Nations Resist Plan for Monitor of Democracy, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Major Latin American nations told the U.S. they could not support its plan for a panel of the Organization of American States that would monitor democracy.

      The major nations of Latin America have told the United States that they cannot support an American plan to establish a permanent committee of the Organization of American States that would monitor the exercise of democracy in the hemisphere, Latin American diplomats said Sunday.

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

    1. Report Presses Easy Ways to Fix Airline Security, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Modest changes in screening passengers and bags could enhance security at the nation's airports and help reduce waits.

      Significant gaps in security at the nation's airports could be curtailed even at a time of rising passenger traffic by quickly making a wide range of relatively modest changes in screening people and bags, a confidential report by the Department of Homeland Security has concluded.

      Fixing serious weaknesses in the nation's aviation security system is critical as passenger traffic rises beyond levels seen before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the report observed.

    2. U.S. Set to Test Missile Defenses Aboard Airlines, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Critics of the plan say the administration's focus on small arms, such as shoulder-fired missiles, ignores greater threats to aviation. In an airplane hangar north of Fort Worth, technicians are preparing to mount a fire-hydrant-shaped device onto the belly of an American Airlines Boeing 767. It is an effort that could soon turn into a more than $10 billion project to install a high-tech missile defense system on the nation's..

    3. Rights, Security and Perception, Post-9/11, NPR TOTN Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: In a recent report, Amnesty International labeled Guantanamo Prison as the gulag of our time. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calls that description reprehensible. We examine the war of words between Amnesty and the Bush administration and what's behind it.

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Stationary State Structure of a Random Copying Mechanism over a Complex Network, César A. Hidalgo, Francisco Claro, Pablo A. Marquet, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 05-05-020
      2. Chaos in Chemoton Dynamics, Andreea Munteanu, Ricard V. Solé, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 05-05-017
      3. Binding of Activators and Repressors to DNA. Part I: Equilibria, Peter Schuster, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 05-05-016
      4. Building Virtual Hominids: Musical Duo Reconstructs Ancient Fossils, Michael Balter, 05/06/03, Science : 1404-1405. A pair of researchers team up professionally and personally to perfect the art of putting distorted fossils back together in the computer.
      5. Anemone Wars: Clone armies deploy scouts, attack tidally, 05/06/04, ScienceNews, The first description of clashing armies of sea anemones has revealed unsuspected military tactics.
      6. Empty Nets, 05/06/04, ScienceNews, New research has begun challenging long-held assumptions about the consequences for fish stocks of harvesting the biggest fish first.
      7. Built-in bird perch spreads the pollen, 05/06/04, ScienceNews, Tests confirm the idea that a plant benefits from growing a bird perch to let pollinators get the best angle for reaching the flowers.
      8. Inflammation inhibitor may limit heart attacks, 05/06/04, ScienceNews, A new drug suppresses an inflammation-causing protein that has been linked to heart attacks.
      9. Menstrual cycle changes the brain, 05/06/04, ScienceNews, Hormonal fluctuations over the course of a woman's menstrual cycle change the abundance of a type of receptor on nerve cells, which can change the cells' behavior.
      10. Ordered Asynchronous Processes in Multi-agent Systems, David Cornforth, David G. Green, David Newth, 2005/05/01, Physica D 204(1-2): 70-82, DOI: 10.1016/j.physd.2005.04.005
      11. The Cyborg Astrobiologist: Scouting Red Beds for Uncommon Features with Geological Significance, Patrick C. McGuire, et al., 2005/05/23, arXiv, DOI: cs.CV/0505058
      12. Americas Had Seventy 'Founding Fathers', Michael Hopkin, 2005/05/24, News@Nature, DOI: 10.1038/news050523-3
      13. Life Is Short in Online News, Phillip Ball, 2005/05/27, News@Nature, DOI: 10.1038/news050523-10
      14. New Insight Into People Who 'See' Colors In Letters And Numbers, 2005/05/30, ScienceDaily & Cell Press
      15. Correlations in Interacting Systems with a Network Topology, S.N. Dorogovtsev, A.V. Goltsev, J.F.F. Mendes, 2005/05/31, arXiv, DOI: cond-mat/0506002
      16. Developing Nations Losing Spam Battle, 2005/06/01, Information Society Technologies News
      17. Differential Gene Expression In Queen-Worker Caste Determination In Bumble-Bees, J. J. M. Pereboom, W. C. Jordan, S. Sumner, R. L. Hammond, A. F. G. Bourke, 2005/06/01, Proceedings: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2004.3060
      18. Robustness Mechanisms In Primate Societies: A Perturbation Study, J. C. Flack, D. C. Krakauer, F. B. M. de Waal, 2005/06/01, Proceedings: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2004.3019
      19. Brain Networks Change According To Cognitive Task, 2005/06/01, ScienceDaily & Northwestern University
      20. Why Highly Expressed Proteins Evolve Slowly, D. Allan Drummond, Jesse D. Bloom, Christoph Adami, Claus O. Wilke, Frances H. Arnold, 2005/06/02, arXiv, DOI: q-bio.PE/0506002
      21. Germany Plans Biometric Passports For November, 2005/06/03, Information Society Technologies News
      22. Crazed By Consumption: Consumers Cope With The Stresses Of Shopping, 2005/06/03, ScienceDaily & University of Chicago Press Journals
      23. Information Theory, Novelty And Hippocampal Responses: Unpredicted Or Unpredictable?, B. A. Strange - bstrangeafil.ion.ucl.ac.uk, A. Duggins, W. Penny, R. J. Dolan, K. J. Friston, Apr. 2005, online 2005/03/19, Neural Networks, DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2004.12.004
      24. Implementing Belief Propagation In Neural Circuits, A. P. Shon - aaronacs.washington.edu, R. P.N. Rao - raoacs.washington.edu, Jun. 2005, Online 2004/12/10, Neurocomputing, DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2004.10.035
      25. Neurokinematic Modeling Of Complex Swimming Patterns Of The Larval Zebrafish, S. A. Hill - sahillamailaps.org, X.-P. Liu, M. A. Borla, J. V. José - jjvaneu.edu, D. M. O'Malley, Jun. 2005, Online 2004/12/16, Neurocomputing, DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2004.10.092
      26. Division Of Foraging Labor In Ants Can Mediate Demands For Food And Safety, A. Kay - adkayastthomas.edu, S. W. Rissing, Jun. 2005, online 2005/02/23, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, DOI: 10.1007/s00265-005-0914-x
      27. Money Is Privacy, C. M. Kahn, J. McAndrews, W. Roberds, May 2005, International Economic Review, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2354.2005.00323.x
      28. Origin, Structure, And Role Of Background EEG Activity. Part 3. Neural Frame Classification, W. J. Freeman, May 2005, online 2005/03/02, Clinical Neurophysiology, DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2004.12.023

    2. Webcast Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19
      2. Changing Habitats...Vanishing Species , Harvard University Science Center, 04/11/12
      3. Symposium : Energy For The Future, Taipei, Taiwan, 05/04/08
      4. Nonlinearity, Fluctuations, and Complexity, with a celebration of the 65th birthday of Gregoire Nicolis. , Complexity Session, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, 05/03/16
      5. World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 05/01/26-30
      6. 1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
      7. Neurobiological Foundation For The Meaning Of Information, Kolkata, India, Conference Webcast, 04/11/22-25
      8. ALife 9: Ninth International Conference on Artificial Life, Boston, MA, 04/09/12-15
      9. The 4th Intl Workshop on Meta-synthesis and Complex System, Beijing, China, 04/07/22-23
      10. Intl Conf on Complex Networks: Structure, Function and Processes, Kolkata, India, 04/06/27-30
      11. From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
      12. ECC8 Experimental Chaos Conference, Florence, Italy, 04/06/14-17
      13. Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
      14. International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
      15. Life, a Nobel Story, Brussels, Belgium, 04/04/28
      16. Nonlinear Dynamics and Statistical Mechanics Days, Brussels, Belgium, 04/04/26-27
      17. Science Education Forum for Chinese Language Culture, Panel Discussion, Taipei, Taiwan, 04/05/01
      18. Biologically Inspired Approaches to Advanced Information Technology, , Lausanne,Switzerland, 04/01/29-30
      19. Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994
      20. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      21. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
      22. Edge Videos

    3. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements Bookmark and Share

      1. 2005 World Exposition " Nature's Wisdom, Aichi, Japan, 05/03/25-09/25
      2. 2ndShanghai Intl Symposium on Nonlinear Science and Applications, Shanghai, 05/06/03-07
      3. SwarmFest 2005, Torino, Italy, June 5-7, 2005/06/05-07
      4. IEEE Swarm Intelligence Symposium Pasadena, California, USA, 05/06/08-10
      5. 10th Annual Workshop on Economic Heterogeneous Interacting Agents (WEHIA 2005) , University of Essex, United Kingdom, 05/06/13-15
      6. Powders & Grains 2005, Stuttgart, Germany, 05/06/18-22
      7. NKS Summer School, Brown University, Providence, RI, 05/06/20-07/08
      8. 6th Intl Conf Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics, Kiev, Ukraine, 05/06/20-26
      9. Workshop on Complexity and Policy Analysis, Cork, Ireland, 05/06/22-24
      10. 2005 Genetic And Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2005), Washington, DC, USA, 05/06/25-29
      11. 6th Intl Summer School/Conference "Let's Face Chaos Through Nonlinear Dynamics"Dedicated to the 75th Birthday of Professor Siegfried Grossmann, Maribor, Slovenia, 05/06/26-07/10
      12. Computational Social and Organizational Science (NAACSOS 2005), University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN USA, 05/06/26-28
      13. The Potential Impacts Of Systemics On Society, 49th Annual Meeting of the Intl Soc for the System Sciences, Cancun, Mexico, 05/07/01-05
      14. WOSC 13th International Congress Of Cybernetics And Systems, Maribor, Slovenia, 05/07/06-10
      15. Summer Graduate Workshop In Computational Social Science Modeling And Complexity, Santa Fe, NM, 05/07/10-23
      16. Sino-Japan Workshop on Meta-synthesis and Creativity Support System, Beijing, 05/07/11-13
      17. First Summer School on Aspects of Complexity, Bertinoro (Forlì), Italy, 05/07/18-28
      18. 4th International Workshop on Computational Intelligence in Economics and Finance (CIEF'2005), Salt Lake City, 05/07/21-26
      19. Epigenetic Robotics, Nara, Japan 05/07/22-24
      20. 5th Gathering on Biosemiotics, Urbino, Italy, 05/07/22-24
      21. Soc for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences 15th Annual Intl Conf, Denver, CO, USA, 05/08/04-06
      22. 2005 Intl Conf on Natural Computation (ICNC'05), Intl Conf on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD'05), Changsha, China, 05/08/27-29
      23. Summer School on Econophysics and Complexity, Romania, 05/09/02-09
      24. ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, Canterbury, Kent, UK, 05/09/05-09
      25. Complexity, Science and Society Conf 2005, Liverpool, UK, 05/09/11-14
      26. Dynamics Of Socio-Economic Systems: A Physics Perspective, Physics Center Bad Honnef, Germany, 05/09/18-24
      27. 18th International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations (ICNF 2005), Salamanca, Spain, 05/09/19-23
      28. Genomics in Context, University of Exeter, UK, 05/09/28-30
      29. CSDS-2005 Intl Conf on CONTROL AND SYNCHRONIZATION OF DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS , Leon, Guanajuato, MEXICO, 05/10/04-07
      30. < Traffic and Granular Flow", Berlin, Germany, 05/10/10-12
      31. Intl Congress of Nanotechnology 2005, San Francisco, USA, 05/10/31-11/04
      32. 5th Intl Workshop on Meta-synthesis and Complex System, Kobe, 05/11/14-17 (MCS'05 is also as a symposium of the 1st World Congress of International Federation for Systems Research)
      33. European Conference on Complex Systems, Paris, France, 05/11/14-18
      34. Econophysics Colloquium, Canberra (ANU), 05/11/14-18
      35. 3rd International Complexity Science and Educational Research Conference, Robert, Louisiana, 05/11/20-22, see also: Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education, Inaugural issue - Free Online Access
      36. Systems Thinking and Complexity Science: Insights for Action, , 11th Ann ANZSYS Conf/Managing the Complex V Christchurch, New Zealand, 05/12/05-07
      37. 2005 International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Security (CIS'2005), Hong Kong, China, 05/12/15-19
      38. The Second International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Approaches to Advanced Information Technology , Senri Life Science Center, Osaka, Japan, 06/01/26-27
      39. FRACTAL 2006 Complexity and Fractals in Nature, 9th Intl Multidisciplinary Conf, Vienna, Austria, 06/02/12-15

Also available in: Simple HTML format | TXT format | TXT format with links | Print