Complexity Digest 2003.27

07-Jul-2003

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Content

  1. Agent-Based Approach to Investors' Behavior and Asset Price Fluctuation in Financial Markets
  2. Who's in Charge?, American Scientist
    1. The Value of Positive Emotions, American Scientist
  3. Author Sees Molecular Future In Corporate World, Boston Globe
    1. Dynamics Between Order And Chaos In A Simple Reentrant Model Of Production Dynamics, Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos
  4. Medicare Cures Prove Easy To Presribe, Tricky to Predict, Wall Street Journal
    1. Find-A-Drug Attacks Aids With Grid Technology, Grid Today
  5. Alzheimer's Disease, The Molecular Origins Of The Disease Are Coming To Light, American Scientist
    1. Neurobiology: Synapses Unplugged, Nature
  6. Myosin Motors Walk the Walk, Science
    1. Myosin V Walks Hand-Over-Hand: Single Fluorophore Imaging with 1.5-nm Localization, Science
    2. Telomeres Shorten More Slowly In Long-Lived Birds And Mammals, Proc. Biol. Sc.
  7. Plant Hydraulics: The Ascent Of Water, Nature
  8. Opposites Do Not Attract In Mating Game, New Scientist
    1. Nature's Magic: Synergy in Evolution and the Fate of Humankind, Cambridge University Press
    2. The Emergent Properties Of A Dolphin Social Network, Alphagalileo & Biol. Lett.
  9. What Does It Take To Evolve Behaviorally Complex Organisms?, Biosystems
    1. The Small-World Dynamics Of Tree Networks And Data Mining In Phyloinformatics, Bioinformatics
  10. Form And Function: A Neuronal Dialog, Brain and Mind
  11. Beyond Input-Output Computings: Error-driven Emergence with Parallel Non-distributed Slime Mold Computer, Biosystems
    1. Quantum Information With Neutral Atoms As Qubits, Phil. Tran. A
  12. Sensors of the World, Unite!, Technology Review
    1. Spam May Sprout Viruses In Home PCs, CNET News.com
    2. Website Turns Tables On Government Officials, Boston Globe
    3. Computer Science: Scientists Launch Global Internet Research Lab, Science
  13. Scientists Announce First 3-D Assembly of Magnetic and Semiconducting Nanoparticles, NSF Press Release
    1. Sorting Technique May Boost Nanotube Research, Science
    2. Ultracold Molecules Pave Way for Quantum "Super Molecule", NIST News Release
  14. Accelerating Universe Theory Dispels Dark Energy, Nature Science Update
    1. Is Cosmic Speed-Up Due To New Gravitational Physics?, arXiv
  15. Atmospheric Physics: Electric Jets, Nature
    1. Gigantic Jets Between A Thundercloud And The Ionosphere, Nature
  16. Microbe-Processors:Researchers Attempt To Turn Living Cells Into Computers, Boston Globe
    1. Microbe Fuel Cell Packs More Power, Nature Science Update
  17. Why Tax Cuts Will Not Pay Off, Do Workers Really Make Hay While The Sun Shines, NYTimes
  18. How Many Candidates Are Needed to Make Elections Hard to Manipulate?, arXiv
    1. Internet Helps Make Candidate a Contender, NYTimes
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. Two Britons May Face U.S. Tribunal, AP/Newsday
    2. Cyberterroism in Today's World, Electronic News
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Papers
    2. Coming and Ongoing Webcasts
    3. Conference Announcements & Call for Papers
    4. ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test

  1. Agent-Based Approach to Investors' Behavior and Asset Price Fluctuation in Financial Markets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: In this paper, we use Agent-Based Approach to analyze how asset prices are affected by investors and investment systems that are based on Behavioral Finance. We build a virtual financial market that contains two types of investors: fundamentalists and non-fundamentalists. As a result of intensive experiments in the market, we find that (1) the traded price agrees with the fundamental value and the fundamentalists survive according to the principle of natural selection in the case that the market contains the same number of fundamentalists and trend predictors (investors who make trend prediction), (2) the traded price largely deviates from the fundamental value and the non-fundamentalists frequently obtain excess returns and therefore the fundamentalists are eliminated according to the principle of natural selection in the case that the proportion of trend predictors is extremely high or in the case that the investment ratio of the risk asset is restricted, and (3) the traded price largely deviates from the fundamental value in the case that the non-fundamentalists estimate the losses excessively, as pointed in Prospect Theory. These results indicate that the non-fundamentalists affect the traded prices and obtain excess returns also in real markets.

  2. Who's in Charge?, American Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: (...) neural activity that begins an action starts up around a third of a second before the agent's conscious decision to act. Neuroscientists have frequently interpreted this as showing that decisions are somehow illusions: (...)." They maintain that the action is originally precipitated in some part of the brain, and off fly the signals to muscles, pausing en route to tell you, the conscious agent, what is going on (but like all good officials letting you, the bumbling president, maintain the illusion that you started it all).
    • Source: Who's in Charge?, Simon Blackburn, Freedom Evolves, Daniel C. Dennett, xvi + 347 pp. Viking, 2003., 24.95., American Scientist 03/07-08

    1. The Value of Positive Emotions, American Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Positive emotions-joy, interest and contentment-are a puzzle to scientists. From an evolutionary point of view they don't seem to have the same survival value as negative emotions such as fear or anger. The negative emotions elicit specific actions to run or attack, which must surely have helped our ancestors survive the dangers of life on the savannah. But what's the survival value of feeling joy or contentment? Psychologist Fredrickson argues that positive emotions allowed our ancestors to broaden their minds and build resources-intellectual, physical and social-that served them in good stead during hard times.
      • Source: The Value of Positive Emotions, The emerging science of positive psychology is coming to understand why it's good to feel good, Barbara L. Fredrickson, American Scientist, 03/07-08

  3. Author Sees Molecular Future In Corporate World, Boston Globe Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: "The book, just published, charts out a new approach to corporate growth and innovation. ''It's Alive,'' by Christopher Meyer and Stan Davis, contends that the future of business is molecular, that biology and evolution are the new models for the next exciting leaps in the world of business. And we're not just talking about scientific advances. ''It's Alive,'' subtitled ''The Coming Convergence of Information, Biology and Business,'' is full of biological metaphors to explain the way business in general works, the way it will work. The future of management and product development is explained in terms of concepts like adaptation, recombination, coevolution, and emergence."

    1. Dynamics Between Order And Chaos In A Simple Reentrant Model Of Production Dynamics, Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: We consider a simple reentrant model of a manufacturing process, consisting of one machine at which two different types of items have to be processed. The model is completely deterministic: all delivery and processing times are fixed, and are generally incommensurate. Dependent on the arrival and processing times, a queue of waiting items grows, remains constant or disappears. We demonstrate that the dynamics of the system crucially depends on the queue type. Complexity is most observed for the case of growing queue.

  4. Medicare Cures Prove Easy To Presribe, Tricky to Predict, Wall Street Journal Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: (...) Medicare has surprised those who created, changed and managed it. Predicting the speed and direction of medical progress has proved impossible, and it hasn't been much easier to predict how patients and the health-care industry will react to governmental fine-tuning. (...) But Medicare is a leading example of the law of unintended consequences. It's a living laboratory in which science moves in unpredictable spurts, government-created incentives often do much more or much less than expected, profit-minded entrepreneurs exploit unintended loopholes and costs squeezed out of one place pop up elsewhere.

    1. Find-A-Drug Attacks Aids With Grid Technology, Grid Today Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Find-a-Drug is pleased to announce the start of its HIV project. (...) PC owners may participate in the project by downloading the THINK software and molecules from http://www.find-a-drug.org. The information about protein and molecule data as well are encrypted to ensure that it is securely transmitted between the PCs and Find-a-Drug Internet servers. This is a necessary and valuable precaution in order to prevent the introduction of a harmful agent such as a virus on to the computers. Once installed, the software does not require any interaction by the owner (...).

  5. Alzheimer's Disease, The Molecular Origins Of The Disease Are Coming To Light, American Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Alzheimer's disease follows the same course whether you get it at 50 or 85. By uncovering the genetics and molecular biology of Alzheimer's, scientists can now explain this observation and many other aspects of the disease at a mechanistic level. In this article, the author explains the state-of-the-art understanding of how the disease works, and shows how recent findings have helped identify new possibilities for interrupting the process. Several next-generation strategies for treating the disease are discussed, including the author's own development of decoy peptides that bind and inactivate the main Alzheimer's culprit.

    1. Neurobiology: Synapses Unplugged, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: At the junctions between two neurons, the machinery that releases neurotransmitter from one cell must lie near calcium channels and align with detectors in the receiving cell. (...) The computational power of the brain depends on the precise connections, or synapses, that link together the many billions of nerve cells. (...) The rapidity with which calcium influx leads to neurotransmitter release (within 200 microseconds) means that the voltage-gated calcium channels must be very close to - perhaps even physically associated with - the molecular

  6. Myosin Motors Walk the Walk, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: (...) myosin V is a molecular motor that moves along actin filaments powered by the hydrolysis of ATP. However, unlike muscle myosin, which depends on teamwork for movement, myosin V works alone to move intracellular vesicles around cells. A hotly debated question is whether the two heads of the myosin V motor move along an actin filament in a hand-over-hand manner (akin to human walking), or whether they shuffle along one behind the other like "inchworms." (...) data that are consistent with the "hand-over-hand" model.

    1. Myosin V Walks Hand-Over-Hand: Single Fluorophore Imaging with 1.5-nm Localization, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Myosin V is a dimeric molecular motor that moves processively on actin, with the center of mass moving 37 nanometers for each adenosine triphosphate hydrolyzed. We have (...) measured the step size with a standard deviation of <1.5 nanometers, with 0.5-second temporal resolution, and observation times of minutes. The step size alternates between 37 + 2x nm and 37 - 2x, where x is the distance along the direction of motion between the dye and the midpoint between the two heads. These results strongly support a hand-over-hand model of motility, not an inchworm model.

    2. Telomeres Shorten More Slowly In Long-Lived Birds And Mammals, Proc. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: We know very little about physiological constraints on (...) the evolution of variation in lifespan. Identifying mechanisms that underlie adaptive variation in lifespan should provide insight into the evolution of trade-offs between lifespan and other life-history traits. Telomeres, the DNA caps at the ends of linear chromosomes, usually shorten as animals age, but whether telomere rate of change is associated with lifespan is unknown. We measured telomere length in erythrocytes from five bird species with markedly different lifespans. Species with shorter lifespans lost more telomeric repeats with age than species with longer lifespans.

  7. Plant Hydraulics: The Ascent Of Water, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: The transport system that drives sap ascent from soil to leaves is extraordinary and controversial. Like their animal counterparts, large multicellular plants need to supply all their cells with fuel and water. (...) Plants took a different route to solve the problem of osmoregulation, encasing each cell in a rigid exoskeleton, the cell wall. But this rigidity brought with it a lack of mobility (...). Plant tissues were too rigid to evolve a pump mechanism for long-distance transport. So what force is responsible for the ascent of water in plants?

  8. Opposites Do Not Attract In Mating Game, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: While some celebrity marriages may fit this pattern, most men and women are seeking a mate who is similar to them in qualities such as income, beauty, and desire to have children. The new study flouts the traditionally accepted views that, to maximise our ability to reproduce, men are seeking young, attractive women who are likely to bear them children while women are seeking older, successful men who have the resources to support and protect their young. (...) Unions of "like" individuals are more advantageous from an evolutionary perspective (...).

    1. Nature's Magic: Synergy in Evolution and the Fate of Humankind, Cambridge University Press Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Corning proposes that synergy is not only a ubiquitous phenomenon in the natural world but it is also a wellspring of creativity and the "driver" of the broad evolutionary trend toward increased complexity, in nature and human societies alike. In contrast with the many theories of emergence or complexity that rely on some underlying force or "law," the "Synergism Hypothesis," as Corning calls it, is in essence an economic (or "bioeconomic") theory of biological complexity; it is fully consistent with mainstream evolutionary biology. (...) Synergy has also played a key role in the evolution of complex modern societies, he concludes.

    2. The Emergent Properties Of A Dolphin Social Network, Alphagalileo & Biol. Lett. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: Many complex networks, including human societies, have emerging properties that allow information to be exchanged quickly among members. This study demonstrates that animal societies also organise in a manner that permits a quick and efficient transfer of information. The community of bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, has a structure similar to human and human-made networks. However, contrary to previously studied networks, the cohesiveness of this dolphin community remains unaffected by the removal of key individuals. This property could be applied to human-made networks, such as the World-Wide Web, that are seriously damaged by attacks that remove key nodes.

  9. What Does It Take To Evolve Behaviorally Complex Organisms?, Biosystems Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: What genotypic features explain the evolvability of organisms that have to accomplish many different tasks? The genotype of behaviorally complex organisms may be more likely to encode modular neural architectures because neural modules dedicated to distinct tasks avoid neural interference, i.e. the arrival of conflicting messages for changing the value of connection weights during learning. (...) favorable mutations may fall on one portion of the genotype encoding one neural module and unfavorable mutations on another portion encoding another module. We show that this can prevent the genotype from reaching an adaptive optimum.

    1. The Small-World Dynamics Of Tree Networks And Data Mining In Phyloinformatics, Bioinformatics Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: A noble and ultimate objective of phyloinformatic research is to assemble, synthesize, and explore the evolutionary history of life on earth. (...) network connectivity dynamics will play an important role in future methods. Here we apply similar analyses to networks of phylogenetic trees in order to understand how synthetic information can emerge from a database of phylogenies Analyses (...) show that a collection of phylogenetic trees behaves as a small-world network-while on the one hand the trees are clustered (...). More stringent definitions of 'neighbour' greatly delay the threshold whence a database achieves sufficient maturity for a coherent network to emerge.

  10. Form And Function: A Neuronal Dialog, Brain and Mind Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: The influence of electrical activity as a regulator of early developmental events such as proliferation and migration is being considered. Spontaneous neuronal activity may influence early axonal and dendritic arbor (...). Electrical (or 'neural') activity is important for synapse stabilization and circuit formation and sensory experience performs a refinement of neuronal shape. This fine-tuning appears to be a dynamical process sustained into adulthood, with smaller scale changes occurring mainly at the dendritic spine level. Events at dendritic spines underlie alterations in the morphology of individual neurons that will ultimately affect the function of complex neuronal networks.
    • Source: Form And Function: A Neuronal Dialog, M. Rocha, D. A. Furtado, J. R. L. Menezes & C. H. Pereira, DOI: 10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00171-X, Apr. 2003
    • Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01ayahoo.com

  11. Beyond Input-Output Computings: Error-driven Emergence with Parallel Non-distributed Slime Mold Computer, Biosystems Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: The emergence derived from errors is the key importance for both novel computing and novel usage of the computer. In this paper, we propose an implementable experimental plan for the biological computing so as to elicit the emergent property of complex systems. An individual plasmodium of the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum acts in the slime mold computer. Modifying the Elementary Cellular Automaton as it entails the global synchronization problem upon the parallel computing provides the NP-complete problem solved by the slime mold computer. The possibility to solve the problem by giving neither all possible results nor explicit prescription of solution-seeking is discussed. In slime mold computing, the distributivity in the local computing logic can change dynamically, and its parallel non-distributed computing cannot be reduced into the spatial addition of multiple serial computings. The computing system based on exhaustive absence of the super-system may produce, something more than filling the vacancy.

    1. Quantum Information With Neutral Atoms As Qubits, Phil. Tran. A Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: One of the essential features of a quantum computer is a quantum 'register' of well-characterized qubits. Neutral atoms in optical lattices are a natural candidate for such a register. We have demonstrated a patterned-loading technique that can be used to load atoms into large arrays of tightly confined but optically resolvable lattice sites. We have also seen preliminary indications of the Mott-insulator transition, which provides a route for single-atom initialization of the individual sites. Combining the two experiments should allow for large arrays of individually addressable single atoms, a system which provides a starting point for further quantum computation studies.
      • Source: Quantum Information With Neutral Atoms As Qubits, J. V. Porto, S. Rolston, B. Laburthe Tolra, C. J. Williams & W. D. Phillips, DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2003.1211, Phil. Tran. Math., Phys. & Eng. Sc., 2003/07/15
      • Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinayahoo.co.in

  12. Sensors of the World, Unite!, Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Imagine sprinkling tiny sensors on road and fields for surveillance, putting them in buildings and bridges to monitor structural health, and installing them in industrial facilities to manage energy, inventory and manufacturing processes.That's the idea behind the emerging technology of wireless sensor networks (see "Casting the Wireless Sensor Net"). Boston-based Ember is at the epicenter of this field. The MIT spinoff sells radio chips with embedded processors that can organize themselves into networks to manage real-world data from sensors.

    1. Spam May Sprout Viruses In Home PCs, CNET News.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Junk e-mailers are spreading viruses that let them send spam anonymously through home computers (...). The company, MessageLabs, operates servers that block spam and viruses for its clients. Its analysis of data shows that mass distributions of junk e-mail are increasingly coming from the Internet addresses of computers that have in the past sent out viruses as e-mail attachments. (...) Open proxies, also known as open relays, are computers that can resend e-mail or other network data, erasing the original address information that could identify the source of the traffic.

    2. Website Turns Tables On Government Officials, Boston Globe Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The system will start by offering standard background information on politicians, but then go one bold step further, by asking Internet users to submit their own intelligence reports on government officials -- reports that will be published with no effort to verify their accuracy. (...) But GIA will go one step further. Starting today, the site will allow the public to submit information about government officials, and this information will be made available to anyone visiting the site. No effort will be made to verify the accuracy of the data.

    3. Computer Science: Scientists Launch Global Internet Research Lab, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Planting the seeds for tomorrow's Internet, a group of researchers announced this week that it's launched a new virtual Internet research laboratory. Called PlanetLab, the collaboration consists of researchers from 60 universities in 16 countries as well as from computer giants Intel and Hewlett-Packard. The new partnership aims to build a proving ground for applications that could enable the Internet to monitor itself for viruses and worms, recall Web pages long after they've disappeared, and develop other powerful new capabilities.

  13. Scientists Announce First 3-D Assembly of Magnetic and Semiconducting Nanoparticles, NSF Press Release Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The particle sizes were calculated from the mathematical ideal of the structures they wanted to create. In addition to fine-tuning the sizes, the particles had to be very uniform, all within 5 percent of the target size. (...) Next, Redl assembled the nanoparticles-or more to the point, had the particles assemble themselves-into three different repeating 3-D patterns by tailoring the experimental conditions. Forming these so-called "crystal structures," as opposed to random mixtures of nanoparticles, is essential for the composite material to exhibit consistent, predictable behaviors.

    1. Sorting Technique May Boost Nanotube Research, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpt: Nanotubes' ability to conduct electricity either like metals or like semiconductors, depending on their precise atomic arrangement, has made them the darlings of molecular electronics and led to their incorporation into a wide range of nanosized building blocks of computer circuitry. But the method used to produce nanotubes--zapping graphite with either a laser or an electric jolt--creates a jumble of metallic and semiconducting tubes, and so far there has been no way to separate them. Now a new scheme may greatly reduce nanotube researchers' headaches.

    2. Ultracold Molecules Pave Way for Quantum "Super Molecule", NIST News Release Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: They paired individual potassium atoms belonging to a class of particles called fermions into molecules that are part of a fundamentally different class of particles known as bosons. Though the transformation lasts only a millisecond, the implications may be long lasting. (...) step toward creating a "super molecule," a blend of thousands of molecules acting in unison that would provide physicists with an excellent tool for studying molecular quantum mechanics and superconductivity. (...) Creation of a "super atom" (known as a Bose-Einstein condensate or BEC

  14. Accelerating Universe Theory Dispels Dark Energy, Nature Science Update Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The accelerating expansion of the Universe can be explained without invoking a force of dark energy, a group of US physicists is proposing1. Gravity alone might be driving everything apart with ever-increasing speed, they claim. (...) In Einstein's theory of general relativity, matter alters gravity by curving space-time, like a bowling ball on a rubber sheet. Turner and his colleagues have added a term to Einstein's equations that strengthens as the Universe flattens.

    1. Is Cosmic Speed-Up Due To New Gravitational Physics?, arXiv Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: We show that cosmic acceleration can arise due to very tiny corrections to the usual gravitational action of General Relativity of the form $R^n$, with $n<0$. This eliminates the need for dark energy, though it does not address the cosmological constant problem. Since a modification to the Einstein-Hilbert action of the form $R^n$, with $n>0$, can lead to early-time inflation, our proposal provides a unified and purely gravitational origin for the early and late time accelerating phases of the Universe.

  15. Atmospheric Physics: Electric Jets, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Powerful electric currents have been detected in discharges between thunderclouds and the upper atmosphere. Carried by gigantic jets, they are a new factor in the model of the Earth's electrical and chemical environment. Although cloud-to-ground lightning is a familiar disruption in the modern electronic world, lightning formed above the clouds is also an important factor in what is known as the global circuit of atmospheric electricity. Radio atmospherics are natural electromagnetic emissions from lightning discharges and can propagate thousands of kilometres through the 'waveguide' formed by the Earth's surface (...).

    1. Gigantic Jets Between A Thundercloud And The Ionosphere, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Transient luminous events in the atmosphere, such as lighting-induced sprites and upwardly discharging blue jets, were discovered recently in the region between thunderclouds and the ionosphere. (...) Our result indicates that the extremely-low-frequency waves were generated by negative cloud-to-ionosphere discharges, which would reduce the electrical potential between ionosphere and ground. Therefore, the conventional picture of the global electric circuit needs to be modified to include the contributions of gigantic jets and possibly sprites.

  16. Microbe-Processors:Researchers Attempt To Turn Living Cells Into Computers, Boston Globe Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Of course, bacteria aren't exactly silicon chips, and while cells have the advantage of being very compact, silicon will be hard to beat (...). Computer chips rely on the precise and nearly-instantaneous manipulation of zeros and ones. Biochemical reactions, on the other hand, are slow even by human standards, taking minutes for proteins to travel within and between cells. And even the behavior of small, isolated genetic networks can be hard to predict, not to mention open to interference from all the proteins and chemicals floating around inside a living cell.

    1. Microbe Fuel Cell Packs More Power, Nature Science Update Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: (...) a prototype microbial fuel cell that captures the energy produced by Escherichia coli as it feeds on sugar1. Making up to 150 milliamps, the bacterial battery can drive a medical ventilator, for example. Many microorganisms convert sugars and other carbohydrates to alcohols, acids and carbon dioxide. When no air is present, this fermentation process can also produce hydrogen - the fuel in most fuel cells, such as those being developed for 'green' electric vehicles. The energy released by the reaction of the gas with oxygen generates electricity.

  17. Why Tax Cuts Will Not Pay Off, Do Workers Really Make Hay While The Sun Shines, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Alan B Krueger Economic Scene column on conflicting results of studies to determine whether people will work more if their take-home pay rate rises, core tenet of supply-side economics; says there is little reason to believe that recently enacted tax cuts will increase work effort if they are preceived as permanent; photo (M) A CORE tenet of supply-side economics is that people will work more if their take-home pay rate rises. Support for this proposition has proved surprisingly difficult to find, however, especially in regard to men.

  18. How Many Candidates Are Needed to Make Elections Hard to Manipulate?, arXiv Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: In multiagent settings where the agents have different preferences, preference aggregation is a central issue. Voting is a general method for preference aggregation, but seminal results have shown that all general voting protocols are manipulable. (...) It turns out that the voting protocols under study become hard to manipulate at 3 candidates, 4 candidates, 7 candidates, or never.

    1. Internet Helps Make Candidate a Contender, NYTimes Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Howard Dean's prominence among the nine Democrats running for president is largely attributable to his campaign's early embrace of the Internet for organizing supporters and raising money. Dr. Dean, a former governor of Vermont, has generated more money and attention online than any other candidate, through direct appeals and a growing base of supporters who are hooking up on a Web site called Meetup.com, which enables people with like interests to connect and meet.

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

    1. Two Britons May Face U.S. Tribunal, AP/Newsday Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: U.S. officials have refused to identify the six detainees, but said all were suspected of being either members of the al-Qaida terrorist network or otherwise involved in terrorism. The next step is for a prosecutor to draft charges. Begg's father, Azmat Begg, said he feared his son would not receive a fair trial. "The trial will be military, the judge will be military and yet my son is a civilian," Azmat Begg said. "(...) If the government or military are appointing people in the court, that is absolutely wrong. It should be an independent person."

    2. Cyberterroism in Today's World, Electronic News Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: An emerging class of terrorists -- cyberterrorists -- may be aggregating their resources and preparing to launch attacks to cripple the computer networks of American companies, organizations, and governments, hampering business operations and costing untold amounts to correct. What does this worst-case scenario mean to individual citizens? Not much; the people in charge are on the case. Thanks to the century-plus legacy of secure telephony networks, the government is well prepared to keep data networks as secure as possible.
      Editor's Note: This article seems to be no longer available although the link on Google still exists. Maybe a demonstration of the topic of the article?

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Papers Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Quantum Erasure, Stephen P. Walborn, Marcelo O. Terra Cunha, Sebastião Pádua, Carlos H. Monken, American Scientist, 03/07-08
      2. The Gridbus Project To Release GridSim 2.1 Toolkit
      3. Modeling Complexity In Economic And Social Systems, edited by Frank Schweitzer, 02/12, World Scientific
      4. Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America, 03/06/17, Institute of Medicine Report
      5. The Sentient Office Is Coming, 03/06/19, The Economist
      6. Keeping Out the Competition, 03/06/25, Science Now
      7. A Neural Knack for Grammar, 03/06/26, Science Now
      8. Catalyzing a Greener Fuel Economy, 03/06/27, Science Now
      9. Genes That Affect Longevity, C. elegans., 03/06/30, bio.com, News & Features
      10. New Way to Thwart Anthrax, 03/06/30, bio.com, News & Features
      11. How HIV Neutralizing Antibody Works, 03/06/30, bio.com, News & Features
      12. Of Mice and Memory, 03/06/30, bio.com, News & Features
      13. Protein Group Vital for Synaptic Transmission, 03/06/30, bio.com, News & Features
      14. HASTAC: The Human Dimensions Of Emerging Science And Tech, 03/06/30, Grid Today
      15. NEC Unveils Methanol-Fueled Laptop, 03/06/30, Exite News
      16. Genome Survey Finds Depression Genes, 03/07/02, Reuters
      17. http://arxiv.org/abs/nlin.AO/0306055, Andreas U. Schmidt, 2003-06-26, arXiv
      18. http://arxiv.org/abs/nlin.CD/0306057, Bartosz Telenczuk, Miroslaw Latka, Bruce J. West, 2003-06-27, arXiv
      19. Discrete Agent Simulations of the Effect of Simple Social Structures on the Benefits of Resource Sharing, Stephen M. Younger, 2003-06-30, JASSS vol. 6, no. 3
      20. Sentiment and Social Mitosis: Implications of Heider's Balance Theory, Zhigang Wang, Warren Thorngate, 2003-06-30, JASSS vol. 6, no. 3
      21. Do Real Options Perform Better than Net Present Value? Testing in an artificial financial market, Massimo Sapienza, 2003-06-30, JASSS vol. 6, no. 3
      22. Network Dependence of Strong Reciprocity, R. Vilela Mendes, 2003-07-1, arXiv, DOI: nlin.AO/0307003
      23. http://arxiv.org/abs/nlin.AO/0307006, Margarita Ifti, Birger Bergersen, 2003-07-2, arXiv
      24. http://arxiv.org/abs/cs.RO/0307004, A. Abrams, R. Ghrist, 2003-07-2, arXiv
      25. Newly Mapped Gene For Ruptured Heart May Lead To Life-saving Treatment, 2003/06/26, ScienceDaily & Amer. Heart Asso.
      26. Evolutionary Trade-Offs Between Reproduction And Dispersal In Populations At Expanding Range Boundaries, C. L. Hughes, J. K. Hill & C. Dytham, 2003/06/30, DOI: 10.1016/S0010-0285(02)00519-4
      27. Music With Heart Beat, J .Ehrlenspiel - joh.ehrazv.fraunhofer.de, 2003/06/30
      28. Computers Operated By Brain Waves, J .Ehrlenspiel - joh.ehrazv.fraunhofer.de, 2003/06/30
      29. Vesicular Mechanisms And Estimates Of Firing Probability In A Network Of Spiking Neurons, R. Rodrigueza - rodrigacpt.univ-mrs.fr, p. lansky & v. di maio, 2003/07/01, DOI: 10.1016/S0167-2789(03)00093-9
      30. Habitat Loss And Reserve Network Selection, E. Davis - emily.davisaoxon.blackwellpublishing.com, 2003/07/02
      31. Scientists Take A Step Nearer To Creating An Artificial Egg Using A Somatic Cell, 2003/07/02, ScienceDaily & Euro. Soc. For Human Reprod. & Embryology
      32. Computer Vision Study Links How Brain Recognizes Faces, Moods, 2003/07/03, ScienceDaily & Ohio State Univ.
      33. Circadian Influence In Plants More Widespread Than Previously Thought, 2003/07/03, ScienceDaily & Dartmouth College
      34. A Tangerine-Scented Social Odour In A Monogamous Seabird, J. C. Hagelin, I. L. Jones & L. E. L. Rasmussen, 2003/07/07, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2379
      35. Steady State Of Ecosystem Flow Networks: A Comparison Between Balancing Procedures, S. Allesina - alleadsa.unipr.it & c. bondavalli, 2003/07/15, DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3800(03)00075-9
      36. AIDS Vaccines: Back to 'plan A', Erika Check, 26 June 2003, Nature 423, 912 - 914, DOI: 10.1038/423912a
      37. Evolution: The Battle Between The Sexes, Tom Tregenza, 26 June 2003, Nature 423, 929 - 930, DOI: 10.1038/423929a
      38. Mapping Multiple Features In The Population Response Of Visual Cortex, Amit Basole, Leonard E. White, David Fitzpatrick, 26 June 2003, Nature 423, 986 - 990, DOI: 10.1038/nature01721
      39. Neuroperception: Facial Expressions Linked To Monkey Calls, Asif A. Ghazanfar, Nikos K. Logothetis, 26 June 2003, Nature 423, 937 - 938, DOI: 10.1038/423937a
      40. Aging Affects The Engagement Of The Hippocampus During Autobiographical Memory Retrieval, E. A. Maguire - e.maguireafil.ion.ucl.ac.uk & c. d. frith, Jul. 2003, DOI: 10.1093/brain/awg157
      41. Complexity, Initial Condition Sensitivity, Dimension And Weak Chaos In Dynamical Systems, S. Galatolo - galatoloadm.unipi.it, Jul. 2003
      42. Saving Lives with Living Machines, Peter Fairley, July/August 2003, Technology Review
      43. Representation Of Change: Separate Electrophysiological Markers Of Attention, Awareness, And Implicit Processing, D. F. Duque, G. Grossi, I. M. Thornton & H. J. Neville, May 2003, DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2003.1217
      44. A Dynamic Theory Of The Transition To Democracy, P. J. Zak - paul.zakacgu.edu & y. feng, Sep. 2003, DOI: 10.1016/S0167-2681(03)00018-0

    2. Coming and Ongoing Webcasts Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. New Santa Fe Institute President About His Vision for SFI's Future Role, (Video, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/04)
      2. Edge Videos
        1. Einstein And Poincar&eacute;, Peter Galison, 03/06/
        2. Genome Changes Everything, Matt Ridley, 03/06/
        3. A United Biology, E.O. Wilson, 03/05/28
        4. In The Matrix, Martin Rees, 03/05/19
        5. Who Cares About Fireflies? Steven Strogatz, 03/05/12
      3. World Economic Forum Extraordinary Annual Meeting, Jordan, 03/06/21-23
      4. SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/06/01-04
      5. NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, Video/Audio Report, 03/05/11
      6. Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected and Unknowable, The University of Texas Austin, Texas USA, 2003/04/10-12
      7. New Trends In Industrial Partnership And Innovation Management At European Research Laboratories, CERN, Geneva, 2003/03/19 (with webcast)
        1. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      8. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998

      &nbsp;


    3. Conference Announcements & Call for Papers Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Exystence Thematic Institute - Algorithms And Challenges In Hard Combinatorial Problems - Trieste, Italy, 03/07/01-31, Turin, Italy, 03/10/01-30
      2. UQ&Agrave;M Summer Institute in Cognitive Sciences 2003:&nbsp;Categorization In Cognitive Sciences, Montreal, 2003/06/30-07/11
      3. 9th International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA, 2003/07/07-09, Wkshp on Assistive Technologies for the Blind, 2003/07/07-09
      4. 47th Meeting of the Intl Soc for the System Sciences: Conscious Evolution Of Humanity: Using Systems Thinking To Construct Agoras Of The Global Village, Iraklion, Crete, Greec, 2003/07/07-11
      5. 2nd International School Topics In Nonlinear Dynamics, Siena (Italy), 2003/07/09-11
      6. 2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003), Chicago, IL,2003/07/12-16
      7. 2nd Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS-2003), Melbourne, Australia, 2003/07/14-18
        1. 4th Workshop on Multi-Agent Based Simulation, Melbourne, Australia, 2003/07/14
      8. 7th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI 2003), Orlando, Florida, 2003/07/27-30
      9. BIFURCATIONS 2003, Southampton, UK, 03/07/28-30
      10. Intl Conf on Socio Political Informatics and Cybernetics: SPIC '03, Orlando, Fl, USA, 2003/07/31-08/02
      11. Leadership for Complex Changes - Seattle Conference, Seattle, WA USA, 03/08/04-05
      12. 13th Annual International Conference, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life Sciences,Boston, MA, USA, 2003/08/08-10
      13. Thematic Institute "Networks and Risks", Budapest, Hungary, 03/08/25 - 09/27
      14. Conference on Growing Networks and Graphs in Statistical Physics, Finance, Biology and Social Systems, Rome, 03/09/01-05
      15. Call for Papers on Dynamical Hierarchies, Special Issue of Artificial Life, Deadline: 2003/09/05
      16. 7th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2003), Dortmund, Germany, 2003/09/14-17
      17. A Dual International Conference on Ethics, Complexity & Organisations & Creativity, London, UK, 2003/09/17-18
      18. 1st German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies (MATES'03), Erfurt, Germany, 2003/09/22-25
      19. Dynamics Days 2003, XXIII Annual Conference, 4 Decades of Chaos 1963-2003, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 03/09/24-27
      20. Improving The NHS Through The Lens Of Complexity, U Exeter, UK, 03/09/24-26
      21. Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 2003/09/24-25
      22. Intl School Mathematical Aspects of Quantum Chaos II Quantum Chaos on Hyperbolic Manifolds, Schloss Reisensburg (G&uuml;nzburg, Germany), 03/10/04-11
      23. 2003 IEEE/WIC Intl Joint Conf. Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology, Beijing, China, 2003/10/13-17
      24. American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) 2003 Conference (H.v.Foerster), Vienna, Austria , 2003/11/10-15
      25. Trends And Perspectives In Extensive And Non-Extensive Statistical Mechanics, In Honour Of The 60th Birthday Of Constantino Tsallis, Angra Dos Reis, Brazil, 2003/11/19-21
      26. ICDM '03: The Third IEEE International Conference on Data Mining, Melbourne, Florida, USA, 2003/11/19-22
      27. 4th Intl Conf on Systems Science and Systems Engineering, Hong Kong, 03/11/25-28
      28. 3rd International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex System, Guangzhou, China, 2003/11/29-30
      29. 2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 2003/12/15-17
      30. 1st International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Approaches to Advanced Information Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland, 04/01/29-30
      31. 4th Intl ICSC Symposium Engineering Of Intelligent Systems (EIS 2004), Island of Madeira, Portugal, 04/02/29-03/02
      32. Fractal 2004, "Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl Multidisciplinary Conf , Vancouver, Canada, 2004/04/04-07
      33. Urban Vulnerability and Network Failure: Constructions and Experiences of Emergencies, Crises and Collapse, Manchester, UK, 04/04/29-30
      34. Fifth International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004), Boston, MA, USA, 2004/05/16-21
      35. 13th International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Toulon, France, 04/06/03-05

      &nbsp;


    4. ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test Bookmark and Share

      We are in the process of upgrading the Complexity Digest archives to a format with improved search capabilities. Also, we will finally be able to adequately publish the valuable feedback and comments from our knowledgable readers. You are cordially invited to become a beta tester of our new ComDig2 archive.

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