Complexity Digest 2006.14 Archive: http://comdig.unam.mx "I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Stephen Hawking, 2000 _________________________________________________________________ 01. Welcome to the Machine, NY Times 01.01. Quantum Mechanics In The Brain, Nature 02. Changing Sides Or Changing Minds? Party Identification And Policy Preferences In The American Electorate, Ameri. J. Polit. Sc. 03. Market Efficiency and the Long-Memory of Supply and Demand: Is Price Impact Variable and Permanent or Fixed and Temporary?, SFI Working Papers 04. Artificial Intelligence: Working Backwards From HAL, ZDNet UK 04.01. Chip Ramps Up Neuron-To-Computer Communication, New Scientist 05. Strategic Sustainable Brain, KurzweilAI.net 05.01. Is AI Near a Takeoff Point?, KurzweilAI.net 05.02. Singularities and Nightmares 06. Life Begins At N=40, New Scientist 07. Chaos = Order: WUSTL Physicists Make Baffling Discovery - Pandemoniumm On Demand, Washington University in St. Louis News & Information 07.01. Chaos Like You've Never Seen It Before, New Scientist 08. In a Jumble of Grains, a Good Hard Shake Restores Order, Science 09. Computer Model Maps Strengths, Weaknesses Of Nanotubes, ScienceDaily 09.01. Semiconductor Advance May Help Reclaim Energy From 'Lost' Heat, Science 10. Stem Cells and Their Niches, Science 10.01. Stem Cells From Testes: Could It Work?, Nature 10.02. Stem Cells And Cancer: Two Faces Of Eve, Cell 11. An Antibody Paradox, Resolved, Science 12. 'More Genes' Needed To Make Life, BBC News 12.01. Hierarchical Self-Organization in the Finitary Process Soup, SFI Working Papers 12.02. Eukaryotic Evolution, Changes And Challenges, Nature 12.03. Chance And Necessity In The Evolution Of Minimal Metabolic Networks, Nature 13. New Signs of Ancient Life in Another Martian Meteorite?, Science 14. Ecosystems As Evolutionary Complex Systems: Network Analysis of Fitness Models, Environmental Modelling & Software 14.01. Altruism Through Beard Chromodynamics, Nature 15. How Does The Brain Know What The Right Hand Is Doing?, ScienceDaily 16. Los Alamos, UW Research Paints Grim Picture Of Bird Flu Pandemic, Seattle Post Intelligencer/AP 17. Lab-Grown Bladders 'A Milestone', BBC News 18. Nano-Guns, Nano-Germs, and Nano-Steel, KurzweilAI.net 19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Network 19.01. Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency, Antiwar.com 19.02. Defense Leader Thanks Lawmakers for Support of Special Ops Forces, American Forces Press Service 20. Links & Snippets 20.01. Other Publications 20.02. Webcast Announcements 20.03. Conference Announcements 20.04. Call for Papers - Course/Book Announcements _________________________________________________________________ 01. Welcome to the Machine , NY Times Excerpts: Boris Kulikov Book report on: 'Programming the Universe,' by Seth Lloyd (...) tackles computer logic, thermodynamics, chaos theory, complexity, quantum mechanics, cosmology, consciousness, sex and the origin of life (...). Lloyd, a professor of mechanical engineering at M.I.T., takes as his topic the fundamental workings of the universe, which he thinks has been horribly misunderstood. Scientists have looked at it as a ragtag collection of particles and fields while failing to see what it is as a majestic whole: an enormous computer. Every physical event, everywhere, feeds information into it. And the output of the cosmic computer is nothing less than reality itself. * [1] Welcome to the Machine, Corey S. Powell, 06/04/02, NYTimes [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/books/review/02powell.html _________________________________________________________________ 01.01. Quantum Mechanics In The Brain , Nature Excerpts: Why should evolution have turned to quantum computation, so fickle and capricious, if classical neural-network computations are evidently entirely sufficient to deal with the problems encountered by nervous systems?The empirical demonstration of slowly decoherent and controllable quantum bits in neurons connected by electrical or chemical synapses, or the discovery of an efficient quantum algorithm for computations performed by the brain, would do much to bring these speculations from the 'far-out' to the mere 'very unlikely'. Until such progress has been made, there is little reason to appeal to quantum mechanics (...). * [2] Quantum Mechanics In The Brain, Christof Koch, Klaus Hepp, 06/03/30, DOI: 10.1038/440611a, Nature 440, 611 [2] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/440611a.html _________________________________________________________________ 02. Changing Sides Or Changing Minds? Party Identification And Policy Preferences In The American Electorate , Ameri. J. Polit. Sc. Excerpts: Scholars have long debated the individual-level relationship between partisanship and policy preferences. We argue that partisanship and issue attitudes cause changes in each other, but the pattern of influence varies systematically. Issue-based change in party identification should occur among individuals who are aware of party differences on an issue and find that issue to be salient. Individuals who are aware of party differences, but do not attach importance to the issue, should evidence party-based issue change. Those lacking awareness of party differences on an issue should show neither effect. (...) * [3] Changing Sides Or Changing Minds? Party Identification And Policy Preferences In The American Electorate, T. M. Carsey , Geoffrey C. Layman, Apr. 2006, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00196.x, American Journal of Political Science * Contributed by [4] Pritha Das [3] http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00196.x [4] mailto:prithadas01@yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ 03. Market Efficiency and the Long-Memory of Supply and Demand: Is Price Impact Variable and Permanent or Fixed and Temporary? , SFI Working Papers Excerpt: In this comment we discuss the problem of reconciling the linear efficiency of price returns with the long-memory of supply and demand. We present new evidence that shows that efficiency is maintained by a liquidity imbalance that co-moves with the imbalance of buyer vs. seller initiated transactions.(...) * [5] Market Efficiency and the Long-Memory of Supply and Demand: Is Price Impact Variable and Permanent or Fixed and Temporary?, J. Doyne Farmer, Austin Gerig, Fabrizio Lillo, Szabolcs Mike, DOI: SFI-WP 06-03-012, SFI Working Papers [5] http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/wpabstract/200603012 _________________________________________________________________ 04. Artificial Intelligence: Working Backwards From HAL , ZDNet UK Excerpts: Work on machine intelligence started with chess, and Maniac 1, the first chess program to beat a human player, was demonstrated in 1956 by Stanislaw Ulam at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US. This was an early success in the quest for machine intelligence that started a long sequence of work on chess-playing computers by many researchers around the world. In 1966 Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT developed the first computer program capable of engaging in a conversation with a human ˇX Eliza. This clever program was able to hold a seemingly intelligent conversation with a human, and many felt that given enough computer power and a large enough vocabulary these algorithms would make it possible for a machine to meet Turing's test for intelligence. * [6] Artificial Intelligence: Working Backwards From HAL, Nick Hampshire, 06/03/27, ZDNet UK [6] http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020439,39259512,00.htm _________________________________________________________________ 04.01. Chip Ramps Up Neuron-To-Computer Communication , New Scientist Excerpts: A specialised microchip that could communicate with thousands of individual brain cells has been developed by European scientists. The device will help researchers examine the workings of interconnected brain cells, and might one day enable them to develop computers that use live neurons for memory. The computer chip is capable of receiving signals from more than 16,000 mammalian brain cells, and sending messages back to several hundred cells. * [7] Chip Ramps Up Neuron-To-Computer Communication, Tom Simonite, 06/03/27, NewScientist.com news service [7] http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8902-chip-ramps-up-neurontocomputer-communication.html _________________________________________________________________ 05. Strategic Sustainable Brain , KurzweilAI.net Excerpts: The human brain faces a challenging future. To cope with accelerating nanotech- and biotech-based developments in an increasingly complex world, compete with emerging superintelligence, and maintain its performance and sustainability as people live longer, the fragile human brain will need major enhancements: a backup system, eliminating degenerative processes, direct mind-linkup to ubiquitous computing networks, error-correction for memory, and a global Net connection with remote neural access. (...) Executive Statement of the Brain * [8] Strategic Sustainable Brain, Natasha Vita-More, 06/03/31, KurzweilAI.net [8] http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/artRedirect.html?artID=662&m=642 _________________________________________________________________ 05.01. Is AI Near a Takeoff Point? , KurzweilAI.net Excerpts: Computers built by nanofactories may be millions of times more powerful than anything we have today, capable of creating world-changing AI in the coming decades. But to avoid a dystopia, the nature (and particularly intelligence) of government (a giant computer program -- with guns) will have to change. (...) In the meantime, purely synthetic computer-based artificial intelligence has been proceeding apace, beating Kasparov at chess, proving a thorny new mathematical theorem that had eluded any human mathematician, and driving off-road vehicles 100 miles successfully, in the past decade. * [9] Is AI Near a Takeoff Point?, J. Storrs Hall, 06/03/28, KurzweilAI.net [9] http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/artRedirect.html?artID=655&m=642 _________________________________________________________________ 05.02. Singularities and Nightmares Excerpts: Options for a coming singularity include self-destruction of civilization, a positive singularity, a negative singularity (machines take over), and retreat into tradition. Our urgent goal: find (and avoid) failure modes, using anticipation (thought experiments) and resiliency -- establishing robust systems that can deal with almost any problem as it arises. (...) In times to come, the worst dangers to civilization may not come from clearly identifiable and accountable adversariesˇXwho want to win an explicit, set-piece competitionˇXas much as from a general democratization of the means to do harm. * [10] Singularities and Nightmares, David Brin, 06/04/28, KurzweilAI.net [10] http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/artRedirect.html?artID=656&m=642 _________________________________________________________________ 06. Life Begins At N=40 , New Scientist Excerpts: Hollywood tends to portray mathematical geniuses as young, troubled and charismatic- (...). But this myth was blown apart last week with the award of the most prestigious prize in maths to a 78-year-old Swede. Mathematics is becoming ever more sophisticated, so that breakthroughs often require combining ideas from disparate areas of the mathematical canon. Mastering these techniques means experience is what really counts. In 1991, while in his sixties, he proved (...) the existence of something called a strange attractor in chaos theory. Strange attractors are the essence of chaos: (...). * [11] Life Begins At N=40, Marcus du Sautoy, 06/04/01, New Scientist [11] http://www.prq0.com/apps/redir.asp?link=XcdijcbdCI,ZbccegefebCJ&oid=UcjjbCB&iclitemid=YcdhbejhfDI&tid=WicjdigDG _________________________________________________________________ 07. Chaos = Order: WUSTL Physicists Make Baffling Discovery - Pandemoniumm On Demand , Washington University in St. Louis News & Information Excerpts: While working on their model - a network of interconnected pendulums, or "oscillators" - the researchers noticed that when driven by ordered forces the various pendulums behaved chaotically (...). This was unexpected - shouldn't synchronized forces yield synchronized pendulums? But then came the real surprise: When they introduced disorder - forces were applied at random to each oscillator - the system became ordered and synchronized. "The thing that is counterintuitive is that when you introduce disorder into the system - when the [forces on the pendulums] act at random - the chaos that was present before disappears and there is order," (...). * [12] Chaos = Order: WUSTL Physicists Make Baffling Discovery - Pandemoniumm On Demand, Douglas M. Main, 06/04/05, Washington University in St. Louis News & Information [12] http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/6845.html _________________________________________________________________ 07.01. Chaos Like You've Never Seen It Before , New Scientist Excerpts: Harvard chemist and physicist Eric Heller has created an mind-blowing image that simulates quantum chaos FEAST your eyes on quantum randomness. This image, called Random Sphere I, was created by Harvard University chemist and physicist Eric Heller. It shows waves randomly and repeatedly superposed on the surface of a sphere, simulating quantum chaos. * [13] Chaos Like You've Never Seen It Before, 06/04/01, New Scientist Magazine issue 2545 [13] http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg19025450.700 _________________________________________________________________ 08. In a Jumble of Grains, a Good Hard Shake Restores Order , Science Excerpts: Whether they're chess pieces on a board or nuts in a jar, things usually move and mix when shaken. But vibrations can cause flowing beads to "freeze" into an orderly pattern like atoms in a crystal, a pair of physicists reports. The surprising observation could lead to deeper insights into disorderly solids such as glasses, in which the atoms or molecules are locked or "jammed" into a random state because they lack the energy to reach a more orderly one. * [14] In a Jumble of Grains, a Good Hard Shake Restores Order, Adrian Cho, 06/03/31, Science : 1860-1861. [14] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/311/5769/1860b _________________________________________________________________ 09. Computer Model Maps Strengths, Weaknesses Of Nanotubes , ScienceDaily Excerpts: In theory, carbon nanotubes are 100 times stronger than steel, but in practice, scientists have struggled make nanotubes that live up to those predictions, in part, because there are still many unanswered questions about how nanotubes break and under what conditions. Because nanotubes are single molecules - about 80,000 times smaller than a human hair - finding out what makes them break involves the study of molecular bonds, atomic dynamics and complex quantum phenomena. The fact that there are hundreds of different kinds of nanotubes, sometimes with radically different properties, adds to the complexity. (...) * [15] Computer Model Maps Strengths, Weaknesses Of Nanotubes, 2006/03/29, ScienceDaily & Rice University * Contributed by [16] Atin Das [15] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060328224559.htm [16] mailto:dasatin@yahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 09.01. Semiconductor Advance May Help Reclaim Energy From 'Lost' Heat , Science Excerpts: Harnessing even a fraction of the waste heat given off by engines, boilers, and other high-temperature machines could save billions of dollars a year in energy costs. Researchers are counting on thermoelectrics--semiconductor devices that turn heat into electricity--to perform that trick. First, however, these devices must do their job much more efficiently. Two years ago, a group led by Mercouri Kanatzidis, a chemist at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, took a huge stride in that direction by unveiling a thermoelectric semiconductor with higher energy-conversion properties than any such bulk material ever invented. * [17] Semiconductor Advance May Help Reclaim Energy From 'Lost' Heat, Robert F. Service, 06/03/31, Science : 1860. [17] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/311/5769/1860a _________________________________________________________________ 10. Stem Cells and Their Niches , Science Excerpts: A constellation of intrinsic and extrinsic cellular mechanisms regulates the balance of self-renewal and differentiation in all stem cells. Stem cells, their progeny, and elements of their microenvironment make up an anatomical structure that coordinates normal homeostatic production of functional mature cells. Here we discuss the stem cell niche concept, highlight recent progress, and identify important unanswered questions. We focus on three mammalian stem cell systems where large numbers of mature cells must be continuously produced throughout adult life: intestinal epithelium, epidermal structures, and bone marrow. * [18] Stem Cells and Their Niches, Kateri A. Moore, Ihor R. Lemischka, 06/03/31, Science : 1880-1885. [18] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/311/5769/1880 _________________________________________________________________ 10.01. Stem Cells From Testes: Could It Work? , Nature Excerpts: Mice cells hint at potential for therapeutic strategy. On Friday 24 March, researchers at the Georg August University of Goettingen in Germany announced they had found a source of reprogrammable cells in the testes of adult mice. By Sunday morning, more than ten companies had e-mailed senior team member Gerd Hasenfuss about collaborating on future work. * [19] Stem Cells From Testes: Could It Work?, David Cyranoski, 06/03/30, DOI: 10.1038/440586a, Nature 440, 586-587 [19] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/440586a.html _________________________________________________________________ 10.02. Stem Cells And Cancer: Two Faces Of Eve , Cell Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that a subset of cancer cells within some tumors, the so-called cancer stem cells, may drive the growth and metastasis of these tumors. Understanding the pathways that regulate proliferation, self-renewal, survival, and differentiation of malignant and normal stem cells may shed light on mechanisms that lead to cancer and suggest better modes of treatment. * [20] Stem Cells And Cancer: Two Faces Of Eve, [21] M. F. Clarke, M. Fuller, 2006/03/24, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030115, Cell * Contributed by [22] Atin Das [20] http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867406003126 [21] mailto:mfclarke@stanford.edu [22] mailto:dasatin@yahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 11. An Antibody Paradox, Resolved , Science Excerpts: Lymphocytes are the epitome of migrant cells in the body, coursing through blood and lymphatic vessels, (...). Yet the numbers of these highly mobile populations of immune cells--B and T lymphocytes and natural killer cells--must be balanced and maintained to sustain lymphoid homeostasis. In the absence of such balance, autoimmunity or the failure to respond to an infection may result. (...). As it turns out, these antibodies paradoxically enhance the potency of the cytokine in vivo and disrupt lymphoid homeostasis. * [23] An Antibody Paradox, Resolved, Martin Prlic , Michael J. Bevan, 06/03/31, Science : 1875-1876. [23] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/311/5769/1875 _________________________________________________________________ 12. 'More Genes' Needed To Make Life , BBC News Excerpts: Scientists trying to make artificial life forms in the lab may have more work ahead of them than they thought. The simplest life forms could require twice as many genes to survive than was previously believed, a research team claims in the journal Nature. The "minimal genome" is the least number of genes an organism needs to survive in its environment. The traditional way of identifying essential genes may label some as expendable when they are not. * [24] 'More Genes' Needed To Make Life, 06/04/03, BBC News [24] http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/4857868.stm _________________________________________________________________ 12.01. Hierarchical Self-Organization in the Finitary Process Soup , SFI Working Papers Abstract: Current analyses of genomes from numerous species show that the diversity of an organism’s functional and behavioral characters is not proportional to the number of genes that encode the organism. We investigate the hypothesis that the diversity of organismal character is due to hierarchical organization. We do this with the recently introduced model of the finitary process soup, which allows for a detailed mathematical and quantitative analysis of the population dynamics of structural complexity. Here we show that global complexity in the finitary process soup is due to the emergence of successively higher levels of organization, that the hierarchical structure appears spontaneously, and that the process of structural innovation is facilitated by the discovery and maintenance of relatively noncomplex, but general individuals in a population. * [25] Hierarchical Self-Organization in the Finitary Process Soup, Olof Goernerup, James P. Crutchfield, DOI: SFI-WP 06-03-008, SFI Working Papers [25] http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/wpabstract/200603008 _________________________________________________________________ 12.02. Eukaryotic Evolution, Changes And Challenges , Nature Excerpts: The idea that some eukaryotes primitively lacked mitochondria and were true intermediates in the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition was an exciting prospect. It spawned major advances in understanding anaerobic and parasitic eukaryotes and those with previously overlooked mitochondria. But the evolutionary gap between prokaryotes and eukaryotes is now deeper, and the nature of the host that acquired the mitochondrion more obscure, than ever before. * [26] Eukaryotic Evolution, Changes And Challenges, T. Martin Embley, William Martin, 06/03/30, DOI: 10.1038/nature04546, Nature 440, 623-630 [26] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/nature04546.html _________________________________________________________________ 12.03. Chance And Necessity In The Evolution Of Minimal Metabolic Networks , Nature Excerpts: It is possible to infer aspects of an organism's lifestyle from its gene content. Can the reverse also be done? Here we consider this issue by modelling evolution of the reduced genomes of endosymbiotic bacteria. The diversity of gene content in these bacteria may reflect both variation in selective forces and contingency-dependent loss of alternative pathways. Using an in silico representation of the metabolic network of Escherichia coli, we examine the role of contingency by repeatedly simulating the successive loss of genes while controlling for the environment. * [27] Chance And Necessity In The Evolution Of Minimal Metabolic Networks, Csaba P?l, Bal?zs Papp, Martin J. Lercher, P?ter Csermely, Stephen G. Oliver and Laurence D. Hurst, 06/03/30, DOI: 10.1038/nature04568, Nature 440, 667-670 [27] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/nature04568.html _________________________________________________________________ 13. New Signs of Ancient Life in Another Martian Meteorite? , Science Excerpts: They're back. Ten years ago, astrobiologist David McKay of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, and colleagues found potentially life-generated minerals, organic matter, and even wormy-looking relics in martian meteorite ALH84001. Now the mini-Martians have returned with a twist. At the meeting, much the same group presented new evidence of organic remains of life in another martian meteorite. And they're not alone. This week, another group published entirely independent, inorganic evidence of microbial life in the same meteorite. * [28] New Signs of Ancient Life in Another Martian Meteorite?, Richard A. Kerr, 06/03/31, Science: 1858-1859. [28] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/311/5769/1858a _________________________________________________________________ 14. Ecosystems As Evolutionary Complex Systems: Network Analysis of Fitness Models , Environmental Modelling & Software Excerpt: Understanding and managing ecosystems as biocomplex wholes is the compelling scientific challenge of our times. Several different system-theoretic approaches have been proposed to study biocomplexity and two in particular, Kauffman's NK networks and Patten's ecological network analysis, have shown promising results. This research investigates the similarities between these two approaches (...) * [29] Ecosystems As Evolutionary Complex Systems: Network Analysis of Fitness Models, Brian D. Fath, W.E. Grant, 2006/03/22, DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2005.12.023, Environmental Modelling & Software, Article in Press, Corrected Proof [29] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2005.12.023 _________________________________________________________________ 14.01. Altruism Through Beard Chromodynamics , Nature Excerpts: However, recognition of altruists could provide an alternative route towards the evolution of altruism. Arguably the simplest recognition system is a conspicuous, heritable tag, such as a green beard. Despite the fact that such genes have been reported, the 'green beard effect' has often been dismissed because it is unlikely that a single gene can code for altruism and a recognizable tag. Here we model the green beard effect and find that if recognition and altruism are always inherited together, the dynamics are highly unstable, leading to the loss of altruism. * [30] Altruism Through Beard Chromodynamics, Vincent A. A. Jansen , Minus van Baalen, 06/03/30, DOI: 10.1038/nature04387, Nature 440, 663-666 [30] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/nature04387.html _________________________________________________________________ 15. How Does The Brain Know What The Right Hand Is Doing? , ScienceDaily Excerpts: (...) how the brain knows where limbs are without looking at them. You don't have to watch your legs and feet when you walk. Your brain knows where they are. For decades scientists have debated two options for how the brain achieves this: (1) the outflow hypothesis says that the brain monitors signals it sends to the muscles telling them how strongly to contract, and uses this to predict where the limb has moved to; (2) the inflow hypothesis suggests that the brain relies on information from sensors within tissues (...) provides evidence that outflow is involved. (...) * [31] How Does The Brain Know What The Right Hand Is Doing?, 2006/03/27, ScienceDaily & Blackwell Publishing Ltd. * Contributed by [32] Atin Das [31] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060322140608.htm [32] mailto:dasatin@yahoo.co.in _________________________________________________________________ 16. Los Alamos, UW Research Paints Grim Picture Of Bird Flu Pandemic , Seattle Post Intelligencer/AP Excerpts: Left unchecked, a global outbreak of bird flu could infect 54 percent of the U.S. population and peak in just over two months, while a less-contagious strain could affect a third of the population and peak after 117 days, a new report predicts. Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Washington used supercomputers to show the rapid spread of a mutated form of bird flu - a strain that currently does not exist. The research also looked into how to slow the spread to give the vaccine industry more time to respond. * [33] Los Alamos, UW Research Paints Grim Picture Of Bird Flu Pandemic, 06/04/04, Seattle Post Intelligencer/AP [33] http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_NM_Bird_Flu.html _________________________________________________________________ 17. Lab-Grown Bladders 'A Milestone' , BBC News Excerpts: US scientists have successfully implanted bladders grown in the laboratory from patients' own cells into people with bladder disease. The researchers, from North Carolina's Wake Forest University, have carried out seven transplants, and in some the organ is working well years later. The achievement, details of which have been published online by The Lancet, is being described as a "milestone". The team is now working to grow organs including hearts using the technique. * [34] Lab-Grown Bladders 'A Milestone', 06/04/03, BBC News [34] http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/health/4871540.stm _________________________________________________________________ 18. Nano-Guns, Nano-Germs, and Nano-Steel , KurzweilAI.net Excerpts: Powered by molecular manufacturing, near-future wars may threaten our freedom, our way of life, and even our survival. Superior military technology allowed the Spanish to conquer the Incan empire in 1532. Could today's most powerful civilization, the United States, be just as easily conquered by a nano-enabled attacker? (...) These advantages can be categorized as follows (with items from 1532 in parentheses): Battle technology (guns, steel weapons, and horses) Physical fitness (infectious diseases) Transportation technology (maritime) Effective command and control (centralized organization) Communications technology (writing) Originally published in Nanotechnology Perceptions: A Review of Ultraprecision Engineering and Nanotechnology, Volume 2, No. 1, March 27 2006. * [35] Nano-Guns, Nano-Germs, and Nano-Steel, Mike Treder, 06/03/29, KurzweilAI.net [35] http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/artRedirect.html?artID=658&m=642 _________________________________________________________________ 19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Network _________________________________________________________________ 19.01. Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency , Antiwar.com Excerpts: A collection of essays from leading researchers in the fields of counterterrorism, insurgencies, and organized crime, Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency is a revealing and sometimes provocative book that tackles these seminal issues from a variety of perspectives, concentrating on extremist groups from around the globe - everyone from al-Qaeda to the Chechens to the IRA - while also offering theoretical insights into the developing trends in collaboration between terrorists, criminals, and ideologues. * [36] Networks, Terrorism, and Global Insurgency, Christopher Deliso, 06/04/05, Antiwar.com [36] http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=8804 _________________________________________________________________ 19.02. Defense Leader Thanks Lawmakers for Support of Special Ops Forces , American Forces Press Service Excerpts: Ultimate victory in the Long War requires the U.S. military to adopt more unconventional and indirect approaches in the way it fights, and the Defense Department is doing just that, the Pentagon's top special operations official told a Senate panel here today. In testimony prepared for delivery to the emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee of the Senate Armed Service's Committee, Thomas W. O'Connell said the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review sets a course for continued special operations transformation from a reactive force with regional capabilities to a pre-emptive global force. Editor's Note: ''Long War'' is now what used to be the ''War Against Terror''? Does that imply that the main emphasis now is the indefinite extension of presidential powers during a time of war? * [37] Defense Leader Thanks Lawmakers for Support of Special Ops Forces, John D. Banusiewicz, 06/04/06, American Forces Press Service [37] http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/20060405_4721.html _________________________________________________________________ 20. Links & Snippets _________________________________________________________________ 20.01. Other Publications - Chemical Carnot Cycles, Landauer’s Principle, and the Thermodynamics of Natural Selection, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 06-03-011 - Qubit Complexity of Continuous Problems, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 06-03-010 - A Model of the Ethylene Signaling Pathway and its Gene Response in Arabidopsis thaliana: Noise-Filtering Properties, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 06-03-009 - Dynamic Patterns of Gene Regulation I: Simple Two Gene Systems, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 06-03-007 - Application Of Chaos Game Representation To Nonlinear Time Series Analysis, Mar. 2006, Fractals [Complex Geometry, Patterns, and Scaling in Nature and Society], DOI: 10.1142/S0218348X06003064 - Who Controls The Internet? Illusions Of A Borderless World, Mar. 2006, Book Announcement, Oxford Univ. Press - Nanotech Risks Opening Pandora's Box: Weapons Of Mass Destruction On An Unprecendented Scale, 2006/03/27, vnunet.com - Phishers Stick The Boot Into World Cup Fans: Beware Of Emails Bearing Gifts, 2006/03/27, vnunet.com - Scientists Show That Children Think Like Scientists, 2006/03/29, Innovations-report & Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Complex Population Dynamics And Complex Causation: Devils, Details And Demography, 2006/03/24, Proceedings: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3495 - Division Of Labour And Colony Efficiency In Social Insects: Effects Of Interactions Between Genetic Architecture, Colony Kin Structure And Rate Of Perturbations, 2006/03/29, Proceedings: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3513 - Physician Experience Related To Accurate Identification Of Third Heart Sound, 2006/03/28, ScienceDaily & University of California - San Francisco - Researchers Get Neurons And Silicon Talking, 2006/03/28, ScienceDaily & IST Results - Comparing Iraq To Vietnam: Recognition, Recall, And The Nature Of Cohort Effects, Spring 2006, Public Opinion Quarterly, DOI: 10.1093/poq/nfj010 - Building Reputation: Why Governments Fight Some Separatists But Not Others, Apr. 2006, American Journal of Political Science, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00186.x - The Internet And Civil Society: Environmental And Labour Organizations In Hong Kong, Dec. 2005, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2005.00625.x - How Fast Was Wild Wheat Domesticated?, 06/03/31, Science: 1886. The abundance of wild shattered wheat spikelets in archaeological sites in the Near East implies that domestication of cereals started early but proceeded slowly. - Changes in Surface Water Supply Across Africa with Predicted Climate Change, 06/03/31, Science : 1917-1921. Published online 2 March 2006(in Science Express Reports) Simulations of future precipitation imply that reduced stream flow will further restrict water availability across much of sub-Saharan Africa over the next century., DOI: 10.1126/science.1119929 - Sleep Report Opens Eyes - A Lack Of Shut-Eye Is Costing Lives And Dollars., 06/04/05, Nature News - Scans Suggest IQ Scores Reflect Brain Structure, 06/03/30, Nature 440, 588-589. Research results reignite intelligence controversy. (...), suggests that performance in IQ tests is associated with changes in the brain during adolescence., DOI: 10.1038/440588b - Neuroscience: Rewinding The Memory Record, 06/03/30, Nature 440, 615-617. How does the brain store sequences of experience? Clues come from brain recordings of rats running along a track. The animals' memories seem to be consolidated in an unexpected way as they rest between runs., DOI: 10.1038/440615a - Materials Science: Nanostructures In A New League, 06/03/30, Nature 440, 618-619. Aperiodic materials do not surrender details of their structure as readily as do their crystalline counterparts. The latest computational solution to this problem brings aspects of 'the beautiful game' into play., DOI: 10.1038/440618a _________________________________________________________________ 20.02. Webcast Announcements Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27 [38] An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06 [39] Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25 [40] Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23 [41] Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14 [42] ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9 [43] T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, [44] The Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), [45] Podcast [46] 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 [47] Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19 [48] 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 [49] World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 05/01/26-30 [50] 1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7 From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20 Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28 International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21 Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994 CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998 Edge Videos [38] http://www.complexsys.org/news.htm target=new [39] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05ISF/index.html target=new [40] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ONCECS05/ target=new [41] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/CSS05/ target=new [42] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECAL2005/ target=new [43] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders0508.mov target=new [44] http://www.complexsys.org/ target=new [45] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders.mp3 [46] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05NASPSA/ target=new [47] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05UCS/ target=new [48] http://www.comdig2.de/Conf/Nicolis05/Target=new [49] http://clients.world-television.com/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2005/default.aspTarget=new [50] http://www.comdig2.de/Conf/ECCS04/Target=new _________________________________________________________________ 20.03. Conference Announcements Spring School in Complexity Science, Southampton, UK, 06/03/29-04/12 18th European Meetings on Cybernetics and Systems Research (EMCSR), Vienna, Austria, 06/04/18-21 5th Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents And Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2006) Future University, Hakodate, Japan, )6/05/08-12 Nonlinearities: from Turbulent to Magic, Copenhagen, Denmark. 06/05/17-20 Intl Wkshp on Software Engineering Challenges for Ubiquitous Computing , Lancaster, UK, 06/06/01-02 Alife X - The 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems,Bloomington, Indiana, 06/06/03-07 Workshop on the Evolution of Complexity Intl. Conference on Complex Systems Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30 1st Intl Conf on Economic Sciences with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, Univ of Bologna, Italy, 06/06/15-17 NKS 2006: The Wolfram Science Conference, Washington, D.C., 06/06/16-18 Beyond Genome, 8th Annual Systems Biology - Pathway and Disease Modeling, San Francisco, California, 06/06/19-21 Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, Ma, 06/06/25-30 11th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/07/05-08 2006 Genetic And Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2006), Seattle, Washington, USA, 06/07/08-12 Intl Soc for the Systems Sciences 50th Ann Conf - Complexity, Democracy & Sustainability, Sonoma, California, 06/07/09-14 The 1st Intl Conf on Knowledge Communication and Peer Reviewing: KCPR 2006 , Orlando, Florida USA, 06/07/20-23 Toward Social Mechanisms of Android Science, An ICCS Symposium co-located at CogSci 2006, Vancouver , Canada, 06/07/26 5th World Congress of Biomechanics, Munich, Germany, 06/07/29-08/04 50th Anniversary Summit of AI, Monte Verita, Switzerland, 06/07/09-14 FIAS Summer School - Theoretical Neuroscience & Complex Systems, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 06/08/05-27 2006 Intl Conf on Nonlinear Science and Complexity, Beijing, China, 06/08/07-12 Symmetry Festival 2006, Symmetry in Art and Science Education, Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/12-18 6th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents, Marina Del Rey, Ca, U.S.A., 06/08/21-23 World Conference on Social Simulation (WCSS-06) , Kyoto, Japan, 06/08/21-25 7th Intl Symposium on Knowledge and Systems Sciences (KSS'2006), Beijing, 06/09/22-25. European Conference on Complex Systems 2006 (ECCS'06), Oxford, England, 06/09/25-29 FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS 9, The Ninth Intl Conf on the SIMULATION OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR (SAB'06), Roma, Italy, 06/09/25-30 6th Intl Conf on Simulated Evolution and Learning , Hefei, China, 06/10/15-18 3rd International Workshop on Complexity and Philisophy, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 07/02/22-23 Summer School In Complexity Science, London, UK, 07/07/08-17 _________________________________________________________________ 20.04. Call for Papers - Course/Book Announcements Chaos and Complexity Resources for Students and Teachers, 06/03/01 MSc Complexity Science: Systems Thinking from New Biology to Novel Computation, Southampton, UK Volume Four Complexity and Knowledge Management: Understanding the Role of Knowledge in the Management of Social Networks, ISCE Managing the Complex Book Series New Issue of Emergence: Complexity & Organization (E:CO), Volume 7 Numbers 3 & 4, 2005 Special Double Issue: Complexity and Storytelling Guest Editors: Ken Baskin & David Boje was published online. _________________________________________________________________ [51]Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to organizations that may wish to repost ComDig to their own mailing lists. ComDig is published by the [52]Computer Sciences Department, [53]IIMAS and the [54]C3 at the [55]Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and edited by [56]Carlos Gershenson. 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