Complexity Digest 2008.38

18-Sept-2008

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Content

  1. Science Unveils Hidden Drivers Of Stock Bubbles And Crashes, PhysOrg.com
    1. Neuroeconomics: Subliminal Choices, Nature
  2. Traffic Jams - Queuing Conundrums - Strange As It Might Seem, Closing Roads Can Cut Delays, The Economist
  3. Computers Figuring Out What Words Mean, PhysOrg.com
    1. Warning Sounded On Web's Future, BBC News
    2. Berners-Lee Opens New Web Foundation, vnunet.com
  4. New Ant Species Found, Science News
  5. Paleoanthropology: Brainy Babies And Risky Births For Neandertals, Science
    1. Evolution: Dynamics Of Body Size Evolution, Science
  6. The Evolution Of Superstitious And Superstition-Like Behaviour, Proc. Biol. Sc.
    1. Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior, ScienceDaily
  7. Giant Honeybees Do The Wave - Attackers Shy Away From Rippling Bee Masses, Science News
  8. A Bigger Picture - Beneath Cancer's Daunting Complexity Lies A Simplicity That Gives Grounds For Hope., Nature
    1. Cancer Complexity Slows Quest For Cure, Nature
  9. Schizophrenia: Incriminating Genomic Evidence, Nature
  10. Understanding The Limits To Generalizability Of Experimental Evolutionary Models, Nature
  11. Neural Correlates, Computation And Behavioural Impact Of Decision Confidence, Nature
    1. Remote Brainwaves Predict Future 'Eureka' Moment, ScienceDaily
    2. Unsupervised Natural Experience Rapidly Alters Invariant Object Representation in Visual Cortex, Science
    3. Chaotic Synchronization In General Network Topology For Scene Segmentation, Neurocomputing
  12. Niche Partitioning Increases Resource Exploitation by Diverse Communities, Science
    1. The Dangers Of Ignoring Stock Complexity In Fishery Management: The Case Of The North Sea cod, Biol. Lett.
  13. Understanding Soil Time, Science
    1. An Uncertain Future for Soil Carbon, Science
  14. Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes, Science
    1. White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming, PhysOrg.com
  15. Detecting Pollution With Living Biosensors - Color-Coded Bacteria Light The Way To Oil Spills At Sea., Technology Review
  16. Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with Thermoelectric Systems, Science
    1. Nanoflowers Improve Ultracapacitors - A Novel Design Could Boost Energy Storage., Technology Review
  17. Quantum Flashlight Pierces The Darkness With A Few Percent As Many Photons, Science
    1. Enhanced Sensitivity of Photodetection via Quantum Illumination, Science
    2. Quantum Mechanics: Entangled Families, Nature
  18. Space 'Firefly' Resembles No Known Object, NewScientist
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. Al-Qaeda 'Able To Reinvent Itself', news.com.au
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference Announcements
    4. Other Announcements

  1. Science Unveils Hidden Drivers Of Stock Bubbles And Crashes, PhysOrg.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Many economists believe that investors make decisions rationally, weighing up corporate data and other pricing signals to evaluate gain or risk before buying or selling stocks.

    But this keystone belief in how markets function is now under mounting attack after this month's global stocks crash, the latest in a string of financial shocks over the past two decades.

    Proponents of rival concepts say that primitive emotions, herd mentality and raging hormones are among the invisible motors that help inflate an asset bubble and then prick it.


    1. Neuroeconomics: Subliminal Choices, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Humans can learn to assess risks on the basis of visual hints they are not aware of seeing. (...)

      The subjects won more than they lost, indicating that their brains recognized the unperceived symbols and learned to associate them with reward or punishment. Functional neuroimaging showed that the mechanism involves the ventral striatum, a brain area associated with assessing reward value (...).

  2. Traffic Jams - Queuing Conundrums - Strange As It Might Seem, Closing Roads Can Cut Delays, The Economist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: They analysed 246 different links in the road network that could be used for the journey and calculated traffic flows at different volumes to produce what they call a "price of anarchy" (POA). This is the ratio of the total cost of the Nash equilibrium to the total cost of an optimal traffic flow directed by an omniscient traffic controller. In Boston they found that at high traffic levels drivers face a POA which results in journey times 30% longer than if motorists were co-ordinated into an optimal traffic flow.

  3. Computers Figuring Out What Words Mean, PhysOrg.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The Internet got smarter this week with the release of a semantic map that teaches computers the meanings behind words -- and gives the machines a vocabulary far larger than that of a typical US college graduate.

    Cognition Technologies began licensing the map Tuesday to software creators interested in having programs "understand" words based on tenses and sentence context -- in much the same way as the human brain does.


    1. Warning Sounded On Web's Future, BBC News Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The internet needs a way to help people separate rumour from real science, says the creator of the World Wide Web.

      Talking to BBC News Sir Tim Berners-Lee said he was increasingly worried about the way the web has been used to spread disinformation.

      Sir Tim spoke prior to the unveiling of a Foundation he has co-created that aims to make the web truly worldwide.

      It will also look at ways to help people decide if sites are trustworthy and reliable sources of information.

    2. Berners-Lee Opens New Web Foundation, vnunet.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee has announced the formation of the World Wide Web Foundation, a new group awarded a $5m seed grant to advance the web and increase its openness. "The mission of the Foundation is to advance a web that is free and open, to expand the web's capability and robustness and to extend the web's capabilities to all people on the planet," Berners-Lee said (...). (...) To address the people issue, the Foundation will look at the use, and potential use, of technology in undeveloped countries and the poorest regions of the world. (...)

  4. New Ant Species Found, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    This newly discovered ant species, with mouthparts like forceps and no eyes, may come from the most ancient known lineage of living ants. Credit: Rabeling and M. Verhaagh
    One weird ant suggests lost world of ancient ants living underground. (...)

    Its DNA may be even more interesting. Genetic analysis puts the new ant so far from other species that it deserves its own subfamily, Martialinae, (...).


  5. Paleoanthropology: Brainy Babies And Risky Births For Neandertals, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: As adults, the extinct Neandertals had brains and bodies larger than those of living people. But little has been known about their early brain development because few fossils have been found of Neandertal newborns or female pelves. A 1990 study of 10 Neandertal fossils between the ages of 2 and 10 found that their brain volumes were as large as those of modern humans. But the new study uses "amazing specimens" to provide the first data on infants, (...).

    1. Evolution: Dynamics Of Body Size Evolution, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Is bigger better? Does climate affect size? The processes controlling body size evolution remain unclear.

      Body size is one of the simplest organismic traits one can measure, yet it correlates with almost every aspect of the biology of a species, from physiology and life history to ecology. So, not surprisingly, biologists have long been interested in understanding how body size evolves. Two things are obvious when one looks at the distribution of body sizes of species within large groups: The sizes span multiple orders of magnitude, and species are not distributed uniformly within this range.

  6. The Evolution Of Superstitious And Superstition-Like Behaviour, Proc. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Superstitious behaviours, which arise through the incorrect assignment of cause and effect, receive considerable attention in psychology and popular culture. Perhaps owing to their seeming irrationality, however, they receive little attention in evolutionary biology. Here we develop a simple model to define the condition under which natural selection will favour assigning causality between two events. This leads to an intuitive inequality (...) that shows that natural selection can favour strategies that lead to frequent errors in assessment (...). (...) We conclude that behaviours which are, or appear, superstitious are an inevitable feature of adaptive behaviour in all organisms, including ourselves.

    1. Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Without a way to measure religious beliefs, anthropologists have had difficulty studying religion. Now, two anthropologists from the University of Missouri and Arizona State University have developed a new approach to study religion by focusing on verbal communication, an identifiable behavior, instead of speculating about alleged beliefs in the supernatural that cannot actually be identified. (...) "We noticed that communicating acceptance of a supernatural claim tends to promote cooperative social relationships. This communication demonstrates a willingness to accept, without skepticism, the influence of the speaker in a way similar to a child's acceptance of the influence of a parent." (...)

  7. Giant Honeybees Do The Wave - Attackers Shy Away From Rippling Bee Masses, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Colonies of giant honeybees dangle from a water tower.
    Credit: Kastberger
    Smaller waves of a few bees break out as nest mates arrive and take off. When bee-hunting hornets buzz in, however, bees wave big. Seventy bees can flip into action in 600 milliseconds and hundreds of bees join in as the pattern swirls over the nest. (...)

    Ripples of bee rears, though, change the hornet's direction. At closer than 52 centimeters, the hunter veers away as the audience waves. The bees' sudden motion may startle the predator, but whatever the mechanism, it works, Kastberger says. Waving maintains a rough no-hornet zone around the colony.
    Editor's note: These waves look very similar to those from a variety of excitable systems such as chemicals, neurons, slime mold etc.

  8. A Bigger Picture - Beneath Cancer's Daunting Complexity Lies A Simplicity That Gives Grounds For Hope., Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The richness of the data becoming available in these and other studies allows researchers to cut through the complexity. Genes work together in pathways of reactions to accomplish a particular biological function, such as cell division - and many or most of the mutated genes picked up by these cancer studies are involved in a comparatively small number of pathways. The Johns Hopkins team found that most of the mutations in their pancreatic tumours affected just 12 pathways. The Genome Atlas team found that most of its glioblastomas showed mutations in a set of three pathways.

    1. Cancer Complexity Slows Quest For Cure, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Genomic analysis reveals multiple mutations in tumours. (...)

      He and others say that the focus should shift from hunting for individual genes that cause certain cancers, to disrupting the broader biological pathways that support cancer growth. (...)

      The studies find that individual cancer patients each carry dozens of genetic mutations - an average of 63 alterations in pancreatic cancer and 47 DNA mutations in one type of brain cancer. Similar results have been found in previous studies of other cancers.

  9. Schizophrenia: Incriminating Genomic Evidence, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The genetic factors that contribute to schizophrenia can vary, making it difficult to pinpoint which DNA changes are the main culprits. Large genome-wide studies provide the most reliable clues yet. (...)

    This lack of progress in understanding the genetic aspects of schizophrenia - which perhaps partially reflects challenges in diagnosis - is mainly due to the genetic heterogeneity among patients; many different genes might be involved in the disorder, but in a given family perhaps just one or a few of these genes mediate schizophrenia.

  10. Understanding The Limits To Generalizability Of Experimental Evolutionary Models, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Given the difficulty of testing evolutionary and ecological theory in situ, in vitro model systems are attractive alternatives; however, can we appraise whether an experimental result is particular to the in vitro model, and, if so, characterize the systems likely to behave differently and understand why? (...)

    A combination of in vitro systems and appropriately configured mathematical models is an effective means to isolate results particular to the in vitro system, to characterize systems likely to behave differently and to understand the biology underpinning those alternatives.

  11. Neural Correlates, Computation And Behavioural Impact Of Decision Confidence, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Moreover, when tested using a delayed reward version of the task, we found that rats' willingness to wait for rewards increased with confidence, as predicted by the theoretical model. These results indicate that confidence estimates, previously suggested to require 'metacognition' and conscious awareness are available even in the rodent brain, can be computed with relatively simple operations, and can drive adaptive behaviour. We suggest that confidence estimation may be a fundamental and ubiquitous component of decision-making.

    1. Remote Brainwaves Predict Future 'Eureka' Moment, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Real-world problems come in two broad flavors: those requiring sequential reasoning and those requiring transformative reasoning: a break from past thinking and restructuring followed by an insight (also known as Eureka or "Aha!"), which is a process by which a problem solver abruptly, through a quantum leap of understanding with no conscious forewarning, moves from a state of not knowing how to solve a problem to a state of knowing how to solve it. Despite its widespread reports, the brain mechanism underlying eureka is poorly understood. (...) In a new study (...) detected an array of specific patterns in characteristic brainwaves (...).

    2. Unsupervised Natural Experience Rapidly Alters Invariant Object Representation in Visual Cortex, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Neurons in the most complex area of the brain's visual cortex can respond to a particular object in any orientation by rapidly learning to associate multiple views of that object.

      (...) Responses of neurons from the inferior temporal cortex (IT) are selective to different objects, yet tolerant ("invariant") to changes in object position, scale, and pose. How does the brain construct this neuronal tolerance? We report a form of neuronal learning that suggests the underlying solution. Targeted alteration of the natural temporal contiguity of visual experience caused specific changes in IT position tolerance.

    3. Chaotic Synchronization In General Network Topology For Scene Segmentation, Neurocomputing Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Chaotic synchronization has been discovered to be an important property of neural activities, which in turn has encouraged many researchers to develop chaotic neural networks for scene and data analysis. In this paper, we study the synchronization role of coupled chaotic oscillators in networks of general topology. Specifically, a rigorous proof is presented to show that a large number of oscillators with arbitrary geometrical connections can be synchronized by providing a sufficiently strong coupling strength. Moreover, the results presented in this paper not only are valid to a wide class of chaotic oscillators, but also cover the parameter mismatch case. (...)

  12. Niche Partitioning Increases Resource Exploitation by Diverse Communities, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: In an ecosystem comprising a parasite, an aphid, and a radish, the use of different resources by each species, not species diversity per se, increases overall consumption. (...)

    Within an aphid-parasitoid-radish community, we created a fully factorial manipulation of consumer resource-use breadth (specialist versus generalist) and species diversity (one versus three species) and found that resource exploitation improved with greater specialist, but not generalist, diversity. Therefore, resource partitioning, and not diversity per se, fostered greater overall resource consumption in our multispecies consumer communities.

    1. The Dangers Of Ignoring Stock Complexity In Fishery Management: The Case Of The North Sea cod, Biol. Lett. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The plight of the marine fisheries is attracting increasing attention as unsustainably high exploitation levels, exacerbated by more extreme climatic conditions, are driving stocks to the point of collapse. The North Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), a species which until recently formed a major component of the demersal fisheries, has undergone significant declines across its range. The North Sea stock is typical of many, with a spawning stock biomass that has remained below the safe biological limit since 2000 and recruitment levels near the lowest on record. (...) The possible implications of ignoring sub-structuring within management units for biocomplexity, local adaptation and ecosystem stability are considered.

  13. Understanding Soil Time, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Soils constitute the topmost layer of the regolith, the blanket of loose rock material that covers Earth's surface. An open system such as soil or regolith is sustainable, or in steady state, only when components such as rock particles are removed at the same rate they are replenished. However, soils are defined not only by rock particles but also by minerals, nutrients, organic matter, biota, and water. These entities--each characterized by lifetimes in regolith that vary from hundreds of millions of years to minutes--are often studied by scientists from different disciplines. If soils are to be maintained in a sustainable manner, scientists must develop models that cross these time scales to predict the effects of human impact.

    1. An Uncertain Future for Soil Carbon, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Predictions of how rapidly the large amounts of carbon stored as soil organic matter will respond to warming are highly uncertain. Organic matter plays a key role in determining the physical and chemical properties of soils and is a major reservoir for plant nutrients. Understanding how fast organic matter in soils can be built up and lost is thus critical not just for its net effect on the atmospheric CO2 concentration but for sustaining other soil functions, such as soil fertility, on which societies and ecosystems rely.

  14. Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Climate models suggest that extreme precipitation events will become more common in an anthropogenically warmed climate. However, observational limitations have hindered a direct evaluation of model-projected changes in extreme precipitation. We used satellite observations and model simulations to examine the response of tropical precipitation events to naturally driven changes in surface temperature and atmospheric moisture content. These observations reveal a distinct link between rainfall extremes and temperature, with heavy rain events increasing during warm periods and decreasing during cold periods.

    1. White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming, PhysOrg.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The idea of painting our roofs and roads white to offset global warming is not new, but a recent study has calculated just how significantly white surfaces could impact greenhouse gas emissions. (...)

      If the 100 largest cities in the world replaced their dark roofs with white shingles and their asphalt-based roads with concrete or other light-colored material, it could offset 44 metric gigatons (billion tons) of greenhouse gases, the study shows. That amounts to more greenhouse gas than the entire human population emits in one year, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.

  15. Detecting Pollution With Living Biosensors - Color-Coded Bacteria Light The Way To Oil Spills At Sea., Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    A bright idea: Bacteria that are genetically engineered to glow a specific color in response to a particular chemical help researchers spot contaminants more quickly and cheaply than traditional tests do. In this image, magnified 1,000 times, bacteria that normally glow pink glow green when polyaromatic hydrocarbons are present.
    Credit: Olivier Binggeli and Robin Tecon, University of Lausanne
    They began with different strains of bacteria that naturally feast upon these chemicals, each releasing specialized enzymes when they come in contact with their chemical of choice. By hooking up the gene for a fluorescent or bioluminescent protein to the cellular machinery that makes those enzymes, the scientists effectively created a living light switch: whenever the chemical was present, the bacteria would glow.

    For each class of toxic chemical, Van der Meer used a different color protein, so that he could easily determine which chemicals were present based on the wavelength of emitted light.

  16. Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with Thermoelectric Systems, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Broad societal needs have focused attention on technologies that can reduce ozone depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and fossil fuel usage. Thermoelectric (TE) devices, which are semiconductor systems that can directly convert electricity into thermal energy for cooling or heating or recover waste heat and convert it into electrical power, are increasingly being seen as having the potential to make important contributions to reducing CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions and providing cleaner forms of energy.


    1. Nanoflowers Improve Ultracapacitors - A Novel Design Could Boost Energy Storage., Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      Nanoflower power: A transmission electron microscope image shows a flowerlike manganese oxide nanoparticle deposited at the junction of crossed carbon nanotubes. Used as an electrode material, this nanotube-manganese-oxide composite could improve the energy-storage ability of ultracapacitors, which show promise as powerful, long-lasting replacements for batteries.

      Credit: American Chemical Society

      Imagine a cell-phone battery that recharges in a few seconds and that you would never have to replace. That's the promise of energy-storage devices known as ultracapacitors, but at present, they can store only about 5 percent as much energy as lithium-ion batteries. (...)

      So far, ultracapacitors have been limited to niche applications that require high power and quick, repetitive recharging. For example, the devices provide quick bursts of power to buses, trucks, and light-rail trains over short stretches, and braking replenishes them. If they could store more energy, however, they could be a powerful, long-lasting replacement for batteries in hybrid-electric vehicles and portable electronics.

  17. Quantum Flashlight Pierces The Darkness With A Few Percent As Many Photons, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A theoretical analysis on page 1463 of this week's issue of Science shows how to detect objects using strangely interconnected particles of light, or photons, greatly reducing the number of photons needed. (...)

    A photon arriving from the chosen direction is then compared with the ancilla. If the arriving photon started out in the beam, its frequency and the ancilla's will add to the correct sum.

    1. Enhanced Sensitivity of Photodetection via Quantum Illumination, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The use of quantum-mechanically entangled light to illuminate objects can provide substantial enhancements over unentangled light for detecting and imaging those objects in the presence of high levels of noise and loss. Each signal sent out is entangled with an ancilla, which is retained. Detection takes place via an entangling measurement on the returning signal together with the ancilla. This paper shows that for photodetection, quantum illumination with m bits of entanglement can in principle increase the effective signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 2m, an exponential improvement over unentangled illumination.

    2. Quantum Mechanics: Entangled Families, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Quantum entanglement comes in a rich variety of types and families if more than two particles are involved. Experiments with photons are opening up fresh ways to systematically study multi-particle entanglement. (...)

      The increased diversity of experimentally 'tamed' entangled particles brings theoretical challenges. The number of parameters needed to describe a state increases exponentially with the number of particles in the state, but this increased complexity also increases the potential utility of multipartite entangled states.

  18. Space 'Firefly' Resembles No Known Object, NewScientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    The object responsible for the mysterious brightening (right, from observations made in May 2006) is ordinarily too dim to detect (left) (Image: Barbary et al.)
    Stars are known to brighten dramatically when they explode as supernovae. But supernovae reach their maximum brightness after about 20 days, and this object took a leisurely 100 days to hit its peak.

    The object's spectrum is also bizarre. It does not match that of anything seen in the mammoth Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has mapped more than a quarter of the sky.

    The spectrum shows a handful of spectral lines, but when astronomers try to trace any one of them to an element - such as magnesium, the other lines fail to match up with known elements.

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

    1. Al-Qaeda 'Able To Reinvent Itself', news.com.au Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: AL-QAEDA remains firmly committed to mass terrorist attacks and has been able to adapt, rebuild and reinvent itself, according to ASIO's [Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Ed.] latest assessment.

      ASIO says violent jihadism remains the principal terrorist threat faced by Australia, with Islamic extremist networks around the world continuing to attract a new generation of followers,(...)

      "Given the fluid and decentralised nature of the global jihad, we remain as concerned by the dynamic formation and splintering going on within extremist networks and cells, as by the activities of al-Qaeda," ASIO says.


  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. On Evolution Under Symmetric And Asymmetric Competitions, J. Zu - zujian122281ayahoo.com.cn, W. Wang, Y. Takeuchi, B. Zu, K. Wang, 2008/06/12, Journal of Theoretical Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2008.06.001
      2. Nonlinear Buckling Of Blood Vessels: A Theoretical Study, H.-C. Han - haichao.hanautsa.edu, 2008/08/28, online 2008/07/23, Journal of Biomechanics, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2008.06.012
      3. Autumn Leaves Seen Through Herbivore Eyes, T. F. Döring, M. Archetti, J. Hardie, 2008/09/09, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0858
      4. Pattern Formation On The Combs Of Honeybees: Increasing Fitness By Coupling Self-Organization With Templates, B. R. Johnson, 2008/09/09, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0793
      5. Immaturity Of The Brain May Cause Schizophrenia, 2008/09/11, ScienceDaily & BioMed Central Limited
      6. School Transition: Discrimination Against Children Of Less-Educated, Lower Income Parents, 2008/09/12, Innovations-report
      7. How Do Plants See Light?, 2008/09/12, Innovations-report
      8. Making Snack Food Choices: Are “Bad Intentions” Stronger Than “Good Intentions?”, 2008/09/12, Innovations-report
      9. Giant Honeybees Use Shimmering 'Mexican Waves' To Repel Predatory Wasps, 2008/09/15, ScienceDaily & Public Library of Science
      10. Network Properties Of A Model For Conscious And Unconscious Mental Processes, R. S. Wedemann - roseliaime.uerj.br, L. A. V. de Carvalho, R. Donangelo, Oct. 2008, online 2008/07/15, Neurocomputing, DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2008.02.023

    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. EPOS 2008, III Edition of Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation, Lisbon, Portugal, 08/10/02-03
      2. 1st Intl Conf on the Evolution and Development of the Universe, Paris, France, 08/10/08-09
      3. Spatial Evolutionary Dynamics Workshop, Paris, France, 08/10/17
      4. OD Network Conference 2008 - Advancing The Theory And Practice Of OD, Austin, Texas, 08/10/19-22
      5. International Congress on Complex Thought, Hermosillo , Sonora , Mexico, 08/10/21-24
      6. What Is Computation? (How) Does Nature Compute? - 2008 Midwest NKS Conference, Bloomington, IN, 08/10/30-11/02
      7. 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
      8. 2008 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI-08), Sydney, Australia, 08/12/09-12
      9. COMPLEX'2009, First Intl Conf on Complex Systems: Theory and Applications, Shanghai, China, 09/02/23-25
      10. Models and Simulations 3 Conference, Charlottesville, USA 09/03/05-07
      11. 2nd Conf on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-09.org), Arlington, Virginia, 09/03/06-09
      12. 2009 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, Nashville, Tennessee, USA,09/03/30-04/02

    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:
        Manufacturers & Traders Trust
        2080 Western Avenue
        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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