Complexity Digest 2008.32

10-Aug-2008

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Content

  1. Survival Of The Unfittest, The HCM Market Letter
    1. What's The Big Deal? It's The Little Things, LATimes
  2. Quantum Computing: Cloudy Computing, Nature
    1. How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World, Business Week
  3. The Dynamics of Internet Traffic: Self-Similarity, Self-Organization, and Complex Phenomena, arXiv
    1. Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer, arXiv
  4. Military's Social Science Grants Raise Alarm, Washington Post
    1. Multiple Gossip Statements And Their Effect On Reputation And Trustworthiness, Proc. Biol. Sc.
  5. Knowledge, Sentience And Receptivity: A Paradigm Of Lifelong Learning, Euro. J. Edu.
  6. Science At The Olympics: Can Ice Vests Provide a Competitive Chill?, Science
    1. Science At The Olympics: Can Neuroscience Provide a Mental Edge?, Science
  7. Universal Scaling in the Branching of the Tree of Life, arXiv
    1. Across the Curious Parallel of Language and Species Evolution, PLoS Biol
  8. Dopamine Could Help The Sleep-Deprived Still Learn, Science News
  9. Cancer: Ins And Outs Of Tumour Control, Nature
    1. Thousands Of Proteins Affected By miRNAs, Nature
  10. First 'Virophage' Could Take The Fight To Viruses, New Scientist
  11. Fish Lie - Males Don't Show Their True Preferences In Front Of Rivals, Science News
    1. Life In A Bubble, Innovations-report
    2. How Some Bacteria May Steal Iron From Their Human Hosts, Innovations-report
  12. Cellular Symmetry: What Cues Tell A Cell To Divide At The Center, ScienceDaily
  13. Solar-Power Breakthrough, Technology Review
  14. Researchers Mash Google Earth With Electrical Data To Predict National Grid Problems, NetWorkWorld
    1. Energy: Upgrading The Grid, Nature
  15. Climate Change: Did You Say "Fast"?, Science
    1. Hopping Hotspots: Global Shifts in Marine Biodiversity, Science
    2. Climate Maps Offer Wildlife Hope Of Sanctuary, New Scientist
  16. Complex Clock Combines Calendars, Nature
  17. Quantum Physics Makes Water Different, Science News
    1. Nanotechnology: Patterns From Molecular Corrals, Nature
  18. Astronomy: The Cosmic Rosetta Stone, Science
    1. Dark-Matter Simulation Reveals Lumpy Haloes, PhysicsWorld.com
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. New Examination Of What Makes A Terrorist, The West Australian
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference Announcements
    4. Other Announcements

  1. Survival Of The Unfittest, The HCM Market Letter Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: By engaging in selective protectionism of a few favored companies rather than re- imposing the uptick rule and treating all companies equally, the SEC furthered the appearance of favored treatment for large institutions that raises serious moral hazard concerns and dampens confidence in U.S. financial markets. (...)

    Finally, this desperate measure is yet another example of the capitalism-for-the poor, socialism-for-the-rich economic model that American financial authorities have adopted over the past two decades.

    1. What's The Big Deal? It's The Little Things, LATimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The way small causes yield huge effects is itself only one piece of the much grander idea of simplexity, a science that is increasingly being studied at universities and institutes around the world, but nowhere more intensely than at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. (...)

      No single unified rule governs all complex or simple systems, but there are a few big ones. There's the concept of phase changes: (...)

      The most powerful of the simplexity concepts, however, is choke points -- the keyholes in complex systems that can sometimes shut them down entirely.

  2. Quantum Computing: Cloudy Computing, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Quantum computing is in its infancy, in part because creating a large number of quantum bits, or 'qubits', is impossible without better control over quantum states. Side-stepping this snag, Klaus Molmer (...) propose encoding lots of qubits in clouds of polar molecules.

    Their theoretical set-up would use a laser to 'write' qubits as a pattern across an entire molecular cloud - an easier task than controlling individual molecules.

    1. How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World, Business Week Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      GETTY IMAGES
      A major shift in the way companies obtain software and computing capacity is under way as more companies tap into Web-based applications. (...)

      The term "cloud computing" encompasses many areas of tech, including software as a service, a software distribution method pioneered by Salesforce.com about a decade ago. It also includes newer avenues such as hardware as a service, a way to order storage and server capacity on demand from Amazon and others. What all these cloud computing services have in common, though, is that they're all delivered over the Internet, on demand, from massive data centers.(...)


  3. The Dynamics of Internet Traffic: Self-Similarity, Self-Organization, and Complex Phenomena, arXiv Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A new review article comprehensively covering the complex dynamics of Internet traffic from both the physics and engineering perspectives, this article discusses famous topics in Internet traffic such as self-similar/multifractal traffic patterns, phase transition and critical phenomena in network congestion on simulated packet forwarding models, Internet traffic oscillations & periodicities, and other large-scale Internet phenomena such as BGP storms.

    1. Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer, arXiv Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: An thorough introduction is given at an introductory level to the field of quantitative complex system science, with special emphasis on emergence in dynamical systems based on network topologies. Subjects treated include graph theory and small-world networks, a generic introduction to the concepts of dynamical system theory, random Boolean networks, cellular automata and self-organized criticality, the statistical modeling of Darwinian evolution, synchronization phenomena and an introduction to the theory of cognitive systems.

  4. Military's Social Science Grants Raise Alarm, Washington Post Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is calling on "eggheads" to help the military unravel questions about the recruitment of terrorists, the resurgence of the Taliban and messages delivered in militant Muslim religious schools.

    Many eggheads are wary.

    The Pentagon's $50 million Minerva Research Initiative, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom and warriors, will fund social science research deemed crucial to national security.

    1. Multiple Gossip Statements And Their Effect On Reputation And Trustworthiness, Proc. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Empirical and theoretical evidence from various disciplines indicates that reputation, reputation building and trust are important for human cooperation, social behaviour and economic progress. Recently, it has been shown that reputation gained in games of indirect reciprocity can be transmitted by gossip. But it has also been shown that gossiping has a strong manipulative potential. We propose that this manipulative potential is alleviated by the abundance of gossip. Multiple gossip statements give a better picture of the actual behaviour of a person, and thus inaccurate or fake gossip has little power as long as it is in the minority. (...)

  5. Knowledge, Sentience And Receptivity: A Paradigm Of Lifelong Learning, Euro. J. Edu. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: This article aims to develop a paradigm of lifelong learning situations. The starting point is the EU-Commission policy document where three kinds of learning situations are identified: formal, non-formal and informal. The article tries to deepen this categorisation by searching for the underlying ontological and epistemological dimensions. (...) Formal knowledge is a knowing you can formulate, basically as concepts in thoughts possible to formulate in words. Non-formal knowledge consists of the learner's ability to see and sense what an actual event shows and (literally) make sense-ible. It is a circumstantial knowledge. (...)

  6. Science At The Olympics: Can Ice Vests Provide a Competitive Chill?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Does lowering body temperature prior to an athletic event improve performance? It depends on the event, experts say--but it still won't make an athlete unbeatable.(...)

    Since the 1970s, numerous studies have shown that precooling can dramatically affect some measures of athletic output. A 1995 study of 14 male runners found that if they were first chilled for 30 minutes in a chamber at 5¢XC, they could run on a treadmill at a certain level of exertion for an average of 26.4 minutes, a whopping 3.8 minutes longer than they averaged otherwise.

    1. Science At The Olympics: Can Neuroscience Provide a Mental Edge?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity in 11 swimmers who'd failed to make the 2004 Canadian Olympic team and three who made the team but performed poorly. The researchers compared brain activity elicited by two video clips: one of the swimmer's own failed race and a control clip featuring a different swimmer. Watching their own poor performance sparked activity in emotional centers in the brain similar to that seen in some studies of depression,(...). Perhaps more tellingly, the researchers found reduced activity in regions of the cerebral cortex essential for planning movements.

  7. Universal Scaling in the Branching of the Tree of Life, arXiv Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Understanding the patterns and processes of diversification of life in the planet is a key challenge of science. The Tree of Life represents such diversification processes through the evolutionary relationships among the different taxa, and can be extended down to intra-specific relationships. Here we examine the topological properties of a large set of interspecific and intraspecific phylogenies and show that the branching patterns follow allometric rules conserved across the different levels in the Tree of Life, all significantly departing from those expected from the standard null models. The finding of non-random universal patterns of phylogenetic differentiation suggests that similar evolutionary forces drive diversification across the broad range of scales, from macro-evolutionary to micro-evolutionary processes, shaping the diversity of life on the planet.

    1. Across the Curious Parallel of Language and Species Evolution, PLoS Biol Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: In February 1837 - even before he sailed on the Beagle - Charles Darwin wrote to his sister Caroline, discussing the linguist Sir John Herschel's idea that modern languages were descended from a common ancestor. If this were really the case, it cast doubt on the Biblical chronology of the world: "[E]veryone has yet thought that the six thousand odd years has been the right period but Sir J. thinks that a far greater number must have passed since the Chinese [and] the Caucasian languages separated from one stock".

  8. Dopamine Could Help The Sleep-Deprived Still Learn, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Study is the first to reveal molecular processes that connect learning and sleep. (...)

    The new study raises the possibility that learning is impaired not because sleep sneaks up on us when we're supposed to be paying attention, but because staying awake too long erodes some biological process in the brain critical for learning and forming memories, (...).

  9. Cancer: Ins And Outs Of Tumour Control, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: When a potentially dangerous cell can't be repaired, it must be either stopped or killed. Premature senescence of cancerous cells is one such 'stop' mechanism, in which immune mediators play an unexpected part. (...)

    This pro-apoptotic activity of secreted proteins was demonstrated by forced expression of IGFBP7 in melanoma cells. Understanding how to interfere with the cytokine secretome to efficiently kill advanced tumours, without activating compensatory mechanisms, is a challenge that will undoubtedly lead us to other unexpected loops and kinks in cancer cells and their microenvironment.

    1. Thousands Of Proteins Affected By miRNAs, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) subtly influence a vast number of proteins involved in most key biological processes, according to the first large-scale analyses of how these small pieces of noncoding RNA affect proteins. (...)

      These analyses showed that a single miRNA can indeed dampen levels of hundreds of proteins by impeding their translation ¡X not just by breaking down their messenger RNAs. (...)

      But the most intriguing finding from the studies is that the effects of miRNAs on proteins are usually quite modest, changing their expression levels by less than twofold.

  10. First 'Virophage' Could Take The Fight To Viruses, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A newly discovered type of virus that spreads at the expense of other viruses, could be used to combat viral infections, say researchers.

    (...) the virus, called Sputnik, spreads by hijacking the replication machinery of the mamavirus - itself a new strain of the giant mimivirus.

    The team says Sputnik is the first member of a new class they call "virophages" because of similarities with bacteriophages or phages - viruses that infect bacteria - and is the first time a virus has been seen to propagate at the expense of a viral host.

  11. Fish Lie - Males Don't Show Their True Preferences In Front Of Rivals, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: When a male molly pursues a female, other males tend to chase her, too, Plath says. Thus he and his colleagues propose that switching preferences in front of a rival could deflect the competition's interest to a less desirable female.

    The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that social environment affects mating preferences, Plath says, adding another layer of complexity to the study of sexual choices and evolution.

    1. Life In A Bubble, Innovations-report Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Hundreds of insect species spend much of their time underwater, where food may be more plentiful. MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how those insects breathe underwater. By virtue of their rough, water-repellent coat, when submerged these insects trap a thin layer of air on their bodies. These bubbles not only serve as a finite oxygen store, but also allow the insects to absorb oxygen from the surrounding water. "Some insects have adapted to life underwater by using this bubble as an external lung," said (...).

    2. How Some Bacteria May Steal Iron From Their Human Hosts, Innovations-report Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Like their human hosts, bacteria need iron to survive and they must obtain that iron from the environment. While humans obtain iron primarily through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms to allow them access to iron. (...) discovered that some bacteria are equipped with a gene that enables them to harvest iron from their environment or human host in a unique and energy efficient manner. (...) "Iron is the single most important micronutrient bacteria need to survive," Doyle says. "Understanding how these bacteria thrive within us is a critical element of learning how to defeat them." (...)

  12. Cellular Symmetry: What Cues Tell A Cell To Divide At The Center, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Cells are intrinsically artistic. When the right signals tell a cell to divide, it usually splits down the middle, resulting in two identical daughter cells. (Stem cells are the exception to the rule.) This natural symmetry is visible on the macroscopic scale as well. All living creatures, be they mushrooms or humans, are visibly symmetric, a product of our cells' preference for equilibrium. Scientists (...) are curious to know what cues tell a cell to divide at the center. (...) are placing sea urchin eggs in snug, microscopic chambers shaped like triangles, squares, rectangles, stars, and ice cream cones to see (...).

  13. Solar-Power Breakthrough, Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry at MIT, has developed a catalyst that can generate oxygen from a glass of water by splitting water molecules. The reaction frees hydrogen ions to make hydrogen gas. The catalyst, which is easy and cheap to make, could be used to generate vast amounts of hydrogen using sunlight to power the reactions. The hydrogen can then be burned or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity whenever it's needed, including when the sun isn't shining.

  14. Researchers Mash Google Earth With Electrical Data To Predict National Grid Problems, NetWorkWorld Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: What do you get when you combine images from Google Earth and the brainpower from researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs? Well in this case you get a tool that enables real-time status of the national electric grid that federal state and local agencies can use to coordinate and respond to major problems such as wide-area power outages, natural disasters and other catastrophic events.

    The Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth (VERDE) system, announced this week, mashes together images and stats of everything from real-time status of the electric grid and weather information to power grid behavior modeling and simulation.

    1. Energy: Upgrading The Grid, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Electricity grids must cope with rising demand and complexity in a changing world. Emma Marris explores the intricacies involved in controlling the power supply. (...)

      New tools include sensors and other 'smart-grid' technologies that will make the grid better able to manage itself. They include energy-smart appliances, (...) that will help consumers control how much power they draw from the grid.

      And, of course, they include measures to get both approaches - smart grids and demand management - working together. After all, the more that sources of power generation diversify, and the more information that clever appliances send back up the wires, the smarter the grid will have to be to cope with the complexity.

  15. Climate Change: Did You Say "Fast"?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Greenland ice-core data show that large climatic shifts can occur within just 1 to 3 years.(...)

    The surprising result is that the deuterium excess shifts within 1 to 3 years. The authors interpret the deuterium excess data as a reorganization of the atmospheric circulation in mid to high northern latitudes, leading to a spatial shift in the source region and, therefore, the source temperature of the precipitation. The deuterium excess shift happens very early, whereas the other records continue to change gradually over the subsequent 50 to 150 years.

    1. Hopping Hotspots: Global Shifts in Marine Biodiversity, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Hotspots of high species diversity are a prominent feature of modern global biodiversity patterns. Fossil and molecular evidence is starting to reveal the history of these hotspots. There have been at least three marine biodiversity hotspots during the past 50 million years. They have moved across almost half the globe, with their timing and locations coinciding with major tectonic events. The birth and death of successive hotspots highlights the link between environmental change and biodiversity patterns. The antiquity of the taxa in the modern Indo-Australian Archipelago hotspot emphasizes the role of pre-Pleistocene events in shaping modern diversity patterns.
      • Source: Hopping Hotspots: Global Shifts in Marine Biodiversity, W. Renema, D. R. Bellwood, J. C. Braga, K. Bromfield, R. Hall, K. G. Johnson, P. Lunt, C. P. Meyer, L. B. McMonagle, R. J. Morley, A. O'Dea, J. A. Todd, F. P. Wesselingh, M. E. J. Wilson, J. M. Pandolfi, Science : 654-657., 08/08/01

    2. Climate Maps Offer Wildlife Hope Of Sanctuary, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The ClimateWizard, (...), enables biologists to specify which area they are interested in, then see how its temperature and precipitation are likely to change. Users fill in a web query form and receive their answers in the form of graphs and maps.

      An interface with Google Maps also allows users to see animated maps of likely changes in temperature and precipitation - a function that Girvetz believes will be particularly useful for communicating the implications of climate change to policy-makers. "When you see the changes occur, it really means a lot more," he says.

  16. Complex Clock Combines Calendars, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Antikythera Mechanism may have timetabled ancient Olympic Games.

    The Antikythera Mechanism, a clockwork device made in Greece around 150-100 BC, astounded the world two years ago when scientists deduced how this machine was used to make complex astronomical time-reckonings. Now they say that the instrument, discovered in 1901 in a Mediterranean shipwreck, did much more than that.

  17. Quantum Physics Makes Water Different, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    The distance between oxygen and the heavier deuterium in a D2O molecule in liquid heavy water is three percent shorter than the distance between oxygen and hydrogen in an H2O molecule; and the hydrogen bond (dotted) is four percent longer in heavy water than in light.
    Credit: J. Korenblat/Science News
    The length of bonds connecting water molecules could demonstrate quantum effects and help explain some of water's weirdness.

    Heavy water is not just heavier. Swapping each H in H2O with a D - hydrogen's isotope deuterium - changes many of water's properties. Heavy water is poisonous, and its freezing point is 4 deg Celsius, instead of 0deg. Those differences may reveal that quantum effects rule in ordinary water, researchers have now found.

    (...) could shed light on quantum theory's relevance for ordinary water, which is the medium for most of the action inside living cells. The work could also help explain some controversial findings on how biological molecules behave in water.

    1. Nanotechnology: Patterns From Molecular Corrals, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Many nanotechnology devices will require components that consist of arrays of molecules positioned on surfaces with nanometre precision. One way to make these is to let the molecules organize themselves.

      A major challenge in nanotechnology is to find a way of positioning molecules and atoms on surfaces in regular patterns, with nanometre precision yet over large surface areas. (...)

      Compared with the self-assembly of macromolecular complexes in solution, the analogous process on a surface is less well developed. Assemblies of molecules that form open network structures are of particular interest as surface templates because they contain cavities that can be filled by 'guest' molecules.

  18. Astronomy: The Cosmic Rosetta Stone, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Numerical simulations of the first stars to appear in the universe may illuminate the general processes of star formation.

    Cosmologists have made great strides in tracing the entire history of the universe, but there remains one crucial gap: the first billion years after the Big Bang when the first stars lit up the universe. Before the formation of the first stars, the universe was extremely simple, but evolved toward a state of increasing complexity.

    1. Dark-Matter Simulation Reveals Lumpy Haloes, PhysicsWorld.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Cosmologists in the US and Switzerland have made the most detailed simulation yet of how gravitational interactions have led to the "haloes" of dark matter we see near the centres of galaxies today. The feat could help future experiments grasp the nature of the dark matter, an elusive substance thought to make up nearly a quarter of the universe. (...)

      Physicists believe dark matter particles, such as so-called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), can collide and annihilate each other while emitting gamma rays.
      Editor's Note: Emission of gamma rays could be a mechanism that prevents dark matter from collapsing into black holes. On the other hand dark matter particles don't interact with gamma photons.

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

    1. New Examination Of What Makes A Terrorist, The West Australian Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: (...) result of surveys among the populations of Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey taken in early 2004. They were asked if suicide attacks in Iraq were justified. "The clear finding was that people with a higher level of education were more likely to say that suicide attacks against Westerners in Iraq are justified," he wrote.

      The same conclusion was drawn by Nasara Hassan, a United Nations worker, based on interviews with 250 Palestinian militants. He found "none of them were uneducated, desperately poor, simple-minded or depressed. Many were middle-class and, unless they were fugitives, held paying jobs. Two were the sons of millionaires."

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Chemistry: New Catalyst Marks Major Step in the March Toward Hydrogen Fuel, Robert F. Service, 08/08/01, Science : 620. This week, researchers report online in Science a new water-splitting catalyst that works under environmentally friendly conditions.
      2. Mapping the Structural Core of Human Cerebral Cortex, Patric Hagmann, Leila Cammoun, Xavier Gigandet, Reto Meuli, Christopher J. Honey, Van J. Wedeen, Olaf Sporns, 2008/07/1, PLoS Biol 6(7): e159, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060159
      3. Automatic Imitation In Budgerigars, R. Mui, M. Haselgrove, J. Pearce, C. Heyes, 2008/07/29, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0566
      4. Diamonds May Have Been Life's Best Friend On Primordial Earth, 2008/07/30, ScienceDaily & American Chemical Society
      5. Nanoparticles + Light = Dead Tumor Cells, 2008/07/31, ScienceDaily & American Institute of Physics
      6. Improved Estrogen Reception May Sharpen Fuzzy Memory, 2008/07/31, ScienceDaily & University of Florida
      7. Welsh Monks Get Broadband Boost: Cistercian Surfers Hit 30Mbps, G. Dixon, 2008/08/01, vnunet.com
      8. Flies Depend On Sense Of Smell To Survive Lean Times, 2008/08/01, Innovations-report
      9. Feds Claim Right To Laptops: Computers Can Be Seized And Held Indefinitely By DHS, S. Nichols, 2008/08/02, vnunet.com
      10. Free Academic Articles Get Read But Don't Generate More Citations, 2008/08/03, ScienceDaily & Cornell University
      11. Determinants Of Regime Type In Newly Independent States, N. Rost - rostnaun.org, J. A. Booth, Aug. 2008, Online 2008/07/09, European Journal of Political Research, DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-6765.2008.00781.x
      12. Rank One Chaos: Theory And Applications, Q. Wang - dwangamath.arizona.edu, A. Oksasoglu - ali.oksasogluahoneywell.com, May 2008, International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, DOI: 10.1142/S0218127408021002
      13. Just War Theory And The Privatization Of Military Force, J. Pattison, Summer 2008, Online 2008/06/28, Ethics & International Affairs, DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-7093.2008.00140.x

    2. Webcast Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Can Ants Solve Traffic Jams?, Danielle Parsons, Slatev.com, 08/07/22

        As roads and highways become ever more clogged, Danielle Parsons tells us how researchers are studying ways to learn from nature's own traffic-flow experts: ants.

      2. 7th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 07/10/28-11/02
      3. Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007
      4. World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 08/01/22-27
      5. TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006
      6. Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03
      7. Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments, and the Media 2006, Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/03-05
      8. 6th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30
      9. Artificial Life X, 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington, IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07
      10. 6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18
      11. Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
      12. An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
      13. Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
      14. Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
      15. Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
      16. ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
      17. T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, The Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), Podcast
      18. North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity 2005 Conference, Virtual Conference Network, St. Pete's Beach, Florida, 05/06/09-11
      19. Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19
      20. 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
      21. 1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
      22. From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
      23. Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
      24. International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
      25. Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994
      26. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      27. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
      28. Edge Videos

    3. Conference Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences 18th Annl Intl Conf, Richmond, Virginia, USA, 08/08/08-10
      2. Stochastic Resonance 2008, Perugia, Italy, 08/08/17-21
      3. 4th Intl Conf on Natural Computation (ICNC'08) - 5th Intl Conf on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD'08), Jinan, China, 08/08/25-27
      4. Intl Conf DEscribing COmplex Systems (DECOS), Zadar, Croatia, 08/09/03-07
      5. BICS Conference - Emergence in Complex Systems, Bath, UK, 08/09/09-11
      6. 5th European Conference on Complex Systems, Jerusalem, Israel, 08/09/14-19
      7. EPOS 2008, III Edition of Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation, Lisbon, Portugal, 08/10/02-03
      8. 1st Intl Conf on the Evolution and Development of the Universe, Paris, France, 08/10/08-09
      9. International Congress on Complex Thought, Hermosillo , Sonora , Mexico, 08/10/21-24
      10. What Is Computation? (How) Does Nature Compute? - 2008 Midwest NKS Conference, Bloomington, IN, 08/10/30-11/02
      11. 2nd Intl Congress of Complex Systems in Sport (2nd ICCSS) and 10th European Workshop of Ecological Psychology. (10th EWEP), Funchal, in Madeira Island, Portugal, 08/11/05-08
      12. 2008 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI-08), Sydney, Australia, 08/12/09-12
      13. COMPLEX'2009, First Intl Conf on Complex Systems: Theory and Applications, Shanghai, China, 09/02/23-25
      14. Models and Simulations 3 Conference, Charlottesville, USA 09/03/05-07

    4. Other Announcements Bookmark and Share

      1. PhD Studentship in Unconventional Computing or Cellular Automata, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, Deadline: 08/10/01
      2. A short notice from Dean LeBaron

        Dear ComDig Readers,

        Our editor, Dr. Gottfried Mayer, is affectionately esteemed by many of you -- as readers, you know he devotes himself unselfishly to widening our knowledge of complexity science. He was recently diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and given a timetable of a very few years. Knowing Gottfried, you can imagine that, in addition to the customary processes of chemotherapy, he would explore other frontier therapies, especially those arising out of interdisciplinary applications of complexity. These are expensive ... if he can find them.

        Many of you have sent your good wishes and indicated your desire to assist. With Gottfried's permission, I am posting this note with information, below, about how to send contributions to him. Please indicate the source since Gottfried will want to express his warm gratitude.

        I know that Gottfried, the good scientist that he is, will explain from time to time what he is doing and what the results are ... and we will follow his progress with great interest and hope.

        Dean LeBaron
        Publisher, Complexity Digest

        Bank Information:

        If your contribution is made by check:
        Please mail the check, payable to "Gottfried Mayer", to:
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        20 Mall
        Guilderland, NY 12084 USA
        (on the back of the check, please write: "For Deposit Only: Account # 983 338 3814")

        If your contribution is made by wire:
        Manufacturers & Traders Trust
        2080 Western Avenue
        20 Mall

        Guilderland, NY 12084 USA
        SWIFT Code# MANTUS33
        UID: 209 791
        ABA routing # 022 00 00 46 [for US wire transfers]
        Account # 983 338 3814
        Ref. Gottfried Mayer


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