Complexity Digest 2004.33

16-Aug-2004

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Content

  1. Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies, Science
    1. Already the Day After Tomorrow?, Science
    2. More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st Century, Science
  2. Climate Change: Models Change Their Tune, Nature
  3. Oceanography: Noah's Flood, Nature
    1. Volcano! Why America's Coast Could Be Toast, Independent
    2. Expert Slams Wave Threat Inertia, BBC News
  4. Did Climate Change Shape the Alps?, Science Now
  5. Sustainable Hydrogen Production, Science
    1. The Hydrogen Backlash, Science
    2. Can the Developing World Skip Petroleum?, Science
  6. Working And Training: A Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis Of Human Capital Development, Japanese Econ. Rev.
  7. Monkeys Test 'Hardworking Gene', BBC News
    1. Cognitive Science: Rank Inferred By Reason, Nature
  8. Intelligence And Culture: How Culture Shapes What Intelligence Means, Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc.
    1. Group Dynamics: Nature's Complex Relationships, ScienceDaily
  9. Implementing And Avoiding Control: Contemporary Art And The Chinese State, China: An Int. J.
    1. SARS: "Waterloo" Of Chinese Science, China: An Int. J.
  10. Financial Markets, Development And Economic Growth: Tales Of Informational Asymmetries, J. Econ. Surveys
  11. Economics And Complexity, Adv. in Complex Sys.
  12. Understanding Well-Being In The Evolutionary Context Of Brain Development, Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc.
  13. Complex Social Behaviour Can Select For Variability In Visual Features, Alphagalileo & Proc. B
    1. Locusts Inspire Technology That May Prevent Car Crashes, National Geographic news
    2. Borrowed From the Beetles, Science Now
    3. Terrible T. rex Teens, Science Now
  14. Human Genetics: An Expression Of Interest, Nature
  15. Scientists Help Police Bust Forgers, Institute of Physics
    1. Handwriting Analysis Goes 3D, Science Now
  16. Seeing the Science for the Trees, Science Now
    1. Fighting Oak Death With Fire?, Science Now
  17. The Unruly Power Grid, IEEE Spectrum
    1. Preventing Power Grid Failure, NPR TOTN
    2. The Grid: Defining The Future Of The Internet, Grid Today
  18. Nonlinear Dynamics: Quantizing The Classical Cat, Nature
    1. A New Twist on Black Hole Jets, Science Now
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. Al Qaeda Showing New Life, U.S. Surprised by Signs of Regrouping, Washington Post
    2. Police Tactic Against Terror: Let's Network, NY Times
    3. Tyranny in the Name of Freedom, NY Times
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements

  1. Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century. A portfolio of technologies now exists to meet the world's energy needs over the next 50 years and limit atmospheric CO2 to a trajectory that avoids a doubling of the preindustrial concentration. Every element in this portfolio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project; many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale. Although no element is a credible candidate for doing the entire job (or even half the job) by itself, the portfolio as a whole is large enough that not every element has to be used.

    1. Already the Day After Tomorrow?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Summary: The thermohaline circulation of the ocean is a process that generates a giant flow pattern in which water moves around the planet. Recently, dire predictions and Hollywood movies have raised public consciousness of the impact of ocean flows on climate change. In their Perspective, Hansen et al. discuss recent observations and suggest that although the circulation may be weakening, which might lead to climate cooling in northern Europe, compensating effects make the picture richer and more complex and difficult to predict than previously thought.

    2. More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st Century, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: A global coupled climate model shows that there is a distinct geographic pattern to future changes in heat waves. Model results for areas of Europe and North America, associated with the severe heat waves in Chicago in 1995 and Paris in 2003, show that future heat waves in these areas will become more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting in the second half of the 21st century. Observations and the model show that present-day heat waves over Europe and North America coincide with a specific atmospheric circulation pattern that is intensified by ongoing increases in greenhouse gases, indicating that it will produce more severe heat waves in those regions in the future.

  2. Climate Change: Models Change Their Tune, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Climate models are usually tuned to match observations. A new approach, in which the models are detuned instead, increases our confidence in projections of future warming.

  3. Oceanography: Noah's Flood, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Did a great flood once surge into the Black Sea, forming the basis of a Biblical tale? Quirin Schiermeier investigates a computer model that has added weight to the idea.

    1. Volcano! Why America's Coast Could Be Toast, Independent Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: It sounds like the plot of a fanciful Hollywood disaster movie. A dangerous volcano in the Canary Islands erupts, sends a giant tsunami travelling faster than a jet aircraft into the major population centres of America's east coast, killing tens of millions and wiping out New York and Washington DC.

    2. Expert Slams Wave Threat Inertia, BBC News Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: A scientist has attacked the inaction over a threat from a dangerous volcano in the Canary Islands which could send a tidal wave crashing against the US. Bill McGuire of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre said no one was keeping a proper watch on the mountain. If Cumbre Vieja volcano erupts, it may send a rock slab the size of a small island crashing into the sea, creating a huge tidal wave, or tsunami. Walls of water 300 feet high would travel to the US at the speed of a jet.

  4. Did Climate Change Shape the Alps?, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Youthful wrinkles. Although the tectonic forces that formed them have subsided, the Alps still look rugged.
    CREDIT: JACQUES DESCLOITRES/MODIS RAPID RESPONSE TEAM/GSFC/NASA
    It sounds backward, but ancient erosion may explain old mountains' ruggedness

    Once mountain ranges stop rising, the mighty forces of erosion will eventually rub them from Earth's face. Some peaks get a new lease on life, but the mechanism has been mysterious. In a paper in the August issue of Geology, researchers suggest that the European Alps may owe their sharp relief to a spell of wet weather that trimmed the mountains and caused them to rise once more.

  5. Sustainable Hydrogen Production, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Identifying and building a sustainable energy system are perhaps two of the most critical issues that today's society must address. Replacing our current energy carrier mix with a sustainable fuel is one of the key pieces in that system. Hydrogen as an energy carrier, primarily derived from water, can address issues of sustainability, environmental emissions, and energy security. Issues relating to hydrogen production pathways are addressed here. Future energy systems require money and energy to build. Given that the United States has a finite supply of both, hard decisions must be made about the path forward, and this path must be followed with a sustained and focused effort.

    1. The Hydrogen Backlash, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Summary: As policymakers around the world evoke grand visions of a hydrogen-fueled future, many experts say that a broader-based, nearer-term energy policy would mark a surer route to the same goals.

    2. Can the Developing World Skip Petroleum?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Summary: If technologies for hydrogen fuel take off, one of the biggest winners could be the developing world.

  6. Working And Training: A Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis Of Human Capital Development, Japanese Econ. Rev. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: We tend to think of workers completing their education and then entering the workforce, where they will gradually develop their skills. In fact, however, a worker's career may be characterized not only by this gradual buildup of job-related skills but also by recurrent education, i.e. the phenomenon whereby a worker alternates between earning-intensive periods and training-intensive periods along his career path. In this study, we build a dynamic optimization model of earning/training decisions of a worker in which these patterns of his career path can be explained in an integrated manner.

  7. Monkeys Test 'Hardworking Gene', BBC News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: "Normal monkeys and people procrastinate - tend not to work very well when they have a lot of time to get the job done, and work better when the reward is nearer in time," Dr Richmond says. "The monkeys under the influence of the treatment don't procrastinate." The treatment consists of blocking an important brain chemical - dopamine.

    1. Cognitive Science: Rank Inferred By Reason, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Pinyon jays seem to work out how to behave towards an unfamiliar jay by watching it in encounters with members of their own flock. (...)

      Susan is taller than Billy. Peter is taller than Susan. Who is taller, Billy or Peter? Knowledge about pairs of objects linked by relationships such as 'taller' or 'stronger' permits conclusions to be drawn about novel pairs (here, Billy and Peter) - a process known as transitive inference. Monkeys, rats and some birds can solve transitive-inference tasks in the laboratory1, but why would this ability evolve?

  8. Intelligence And Culture: How Culture Shapes What Intelligence Means, Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: This paper discusses the relationship between culture and intelligence. The main message of the paper is that intelligence cannot fully or even meaningfully be understood outside its cultural context. Behaviour that is considered intelligent in one culture may be considered unintelligent in another culture, and vice versa. Moreover, people in different cultures have different implicit (folk) theories of intelligence (...). The paper opens with a general discussion of issues regarding the relationship between the two concepts. It then describes the theory of successful intelligence, which motivates our work on the interface between culture and intelligence. Finally, the article draws some conclusions.

    1. Group Dynamics: Nature's Complex Relationships, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Every family unit is a complex social network influenced by numerous inputs. In nature, social organizations at the family and small-group level can range from violent to peaceful, monogamous to polyandrous, segregated to sharing work. On Wednesday August 4, 2004, scientists will gather for the symposium, "Family Dynamics: the Evolution and Consequences of Family Organization." The session, (...) will examine the varied structures of social organization and the conditions, from genetics to habitat, that affect the evolution and development of these groups. (...)

  9. Implementing And Avoiding Control: Contemporary Art And The Chinese State, China: An Int. J. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: This article investigates how the legalisation and economic privatisation processes taking place in China since the late 1970s have contributed to the formation of autonomous public spheres. It explores how unofficial artists have worked to create a space for innovative elite culture outside both state-promoted official culture and market-driven popular culture. Unofficial artists have found their own sphere by counting on non-interference from the state and by risking punishment if the state decided to interfere. This strategy requires non-state resources available through the market economy. The artists' strategy fits with the liberal conception of private economy (...).

    1. SARS: "Waterloo" Of Chinese Science, China: An Int. J. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Abstract: It was Mainland China where SARS first struck, and where ultimately there were the most cases. However, Mainland Chinese scientists and physicians failed to capitalise, in terms of research publications, on their advantages and resources. They could have been the first to identify the pathogen, sequence its genome and describe how it sickens its victims. This article examines the reasons why the country lost an opportunity to show off its growing scientific prowess to the international community - authoritative and institutional structures, scientists from different jurisdictions not collaborating, etc. - and concludes that nothing has since changed.
      • Source: SARS: "Waterloo" Of Chinese Science, C Cao - eaicaocanus.edu.sg, DOI: 10.1142/S0219747204000147, China: An International Journal, Sep. 2004
      • Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinayahoo.co.in

  10. Financial Markets, Development And Economic Growth: Tales Of Informational Asymmetries, J. Econ. Surveys Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The development of financial systems is very often characterised by the development of innovative financial contracts which allow a more efficient allocation of resources and a higher level of capital productivity and economic growth. (...) economists have recently managed to shed new light on the well studied issue of the relationship between financial market development and economic growth. This paper reviews the most recent progress of this literature which shows that the amount of information asymmetry in the credit market and the degree of heterogeneity between borrowers (typically firms) and lenders (typically workers or savers) determine the nature of the financial system. (...)

  11. Economics And Complexity, Adv. in Complex Sys. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Abstract: This paper presents a view of the economy as a complex system with heterogeneous interacting agents who collectively organize themselves to generate aggregate phenomena which cannot be regarded as the behavior of some average or representative individual. There is an essential difference between the aggregate and the individual and such phenomena as bubbles and crashes, herd behavior, the transmission of information and the organization of trade are better modeled in the sort of framework suggested here than in more standard economic models.
    • Source: Economics And Complexity, A. Kirman - kirmanaehess.vcharite.univ-mrs.fr, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525904000123, Advances in Complex Systems, Jun. 2004
    • Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinayahoo.co.in

  12. Understanding Well-Being In The Evolutionary Context Of Brain Development, Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Much of the work on well-being and positive emotions has tended to focus on the adult, (...). However, it is pertinent to ask if early life events might engender certain predispositions that have consequences for adult well-being. The human brain undergoes much of its growth and development postnatally until the age of seven (...). Indeed, the prefrontal association cortex, areas of the brain concerned with forward planning (...) continue to develop until the age of 20. In this article, I consider the significance of this extended postnatal developmental period for brain maturation and how brain evolution has encompassed certain biological changes (...).

  13. Complex Social Behaviour Can Select For Variability In Visual Features, Alphagalileo & Proc. B Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Previous research has shown that Polistes fuscatus wasps use variation in marking patterns to recognize their nestmates as individuals. Here, we examine markings across paper wasps to determine which species have the kind of highly variable markings necessary (...). We find that variable markings are confined to species with complex social behaviour. Therefore, complex social behaviours likely select for individuals with variable, distinctive markings that allow individual recognition. Selection for distinctiveness may provide another explanation for the evolution of phenotypic diversity, as other taxa with complex social behaviour have been noted for their unusually variable visual features (eg wolves, wild dogs, humans).

    1. Locusts Inspire Technology That May Prevent Car Crashes, National Geographic news Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Locusts, have a large neuron called the locust giant movement detector (LGMD) located behind their eyes. The LGMD releases bursts of energy whenever a locust is on a collision course with another locust or a predatory bird. (...) "The [LGMD] system is complemented by the brain of the locust, which provides the necessary experience and knowledge to really react according to the situation" (...) Cuadri and his colleagues are responsible for adapting the locust collision-avoidance system to the automotive environment. Their adapted system is based on a single, integrated step that combines visual optics and electronics. The conventional way of doing this would involve tow steps: First, a camera would capture the image. Second, a digital processor would analyze it.

    2. Borrowed From the Beetles, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      The jewel beetle moves in to lay its eggs immediately after a forest fire has raged.
      CREDIT: HELMUT SCHMITZ
      Spotting wildfires as early as possible is vital in slowing their spread. Now, a beetle thought to be able to detect fires from as far away as 80 kilometers has inspired an ingenious and cheap new forest fire detector.

      The jewel beetle, Melanophila acuminate, is a living fire detector: (...)To spot fires, the bug has discs of cuticle in tiny pits under its wings, which absorb infrared radiation at 3 micrometers, the dominant wavelength emitted by a raging wildfire. The heat makes the discs expand, setting off mechanoreceptors.

    3. Terrible T. rex Teens, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      Hungry. Growth rings (inset) in a rib show that T. rex grew fast.
      CREDIT: THE FIELD MUSEUM
      Tyrannosaurus rex was a creature of superlatives. As big as a bull elephant, T. rex weighed 15 times as much as the largest carnivores living on land today. Now, paleontologists have for the first time charted the colossal growth spurt that carried T. rex beyond its tyrannosaurid relatives. "It would have been the ultimate teenager in terms of food intake," (...).

      (...) it packed on 2 kilograms a day and maxed out at more than 5600 kilograms at age 18.5.

  14. Human Genetics: An Expression Of Interest, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The baseline level of gene expression varies from person to person, but how is this determined genetically? The answer may improve our understanding of complex traits, including some genetic diseases.

  15. Scientists Help Police Bust Forgers, Institute of Physics Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Professor Giuseppe Schirripa Spagnolo, Carla Simonetti and Lorenzo Cozzella from the Universita` degli Studi "Roma Tre" in Rome, Italy, have devised a forgery detection method that creates a 3D hologram of a piece of handwriting and analyses tiny variations and bumps along its path using two common scientific techniques: virtual reality and image processing. (...) Schirripa Spagnolo's team create 3D holograms of the path of a piece of writing, generating an image on a computer that looks like a ditch or furrow. This makes it easy to analyse variations or "bumps" generated by the writer's pressure on the paper at cross over points, for example the mid-point of the figure eight.

    1. Handwriting Analysis Goes 3D, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      Different strokes. The bump in this 3D image indicates that the "S" line was drawn after the "F" line.
      CREDIT: SPAGNOLO ET AL.
      Researchers use holograms to separate fact from forgery

  16. Seeing the Science for the Trees, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Forest managers should borrow a page from medical science and base their practices on systematic reviews of scientific evidence, former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber told scientists (...). He also announced a new center to promote alternative approaches to natural resource policy that "are not inhibited by bureaucratic paralysis or driven solely by stakeholder politics."

    Management of natural resources in the U.S. West has been ineffective because government acts as the mediator of disputes between industry and conservationists rather using science to guide decision-making

    1. Fighting Oak Death With Fire?, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      Not just oaks. Sudden oak death affects at least 25 species, including California bay laurel.
      CREDIT: CALIFORNIA OAK MORTALITY TASK FORCE, ROB GROSS
      Humans may be important vectors for sudden oak death, according to new research, raising concerns that the disease ravaging California's oak woodlands may be difficult to control. But a study by another research group has yielded some potentially good news: Fire may limit the spread of the pathogen.

      (...), they discovered that the disease was much less prevalent in areas that had burned since 1950. "You almost never see infections in areas that have previously burned," says Moritz. "It's exceedingly rare, which is remarkable."

  17. The Unruly Power Grid, IEEE Spectrum Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics suggest that widespread blackouts will be an inevitable fact of life.
    The connection between chaos and blackouts began to tighten when researchers started to work with actual blackout data. In the mid-1990s, Doyle, at Caltech, began to mine data on blackouts that had been collected since 1984 (...).

    (...) observed that the frequency of large blackouts was much higher than they expected. (...) The curve fit what is called a power law-which refers not to the power in a circuit but to the fact that the probability of a blackout is related to its magnitude by some constant exponent.

    1. Preventing Power Grid Failure, NPR TOTN Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: It's been one year since a record blackout hit North America. What have we learned from it? Are blackouts preventable?

    2. The Grid: Defining The Future Of The Internet, Grid Today Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Grid computing is no longer the exclusive realm of researchers seeking to harness enough compute power for massive computational challenges. Commercial enterprises are now focused on the tremendous benefits that Grid computing will yield. Yet, it's still in an early stage of its evolution. "The Grid" has the potential to become a global Web of ubiquitous electronic services which will improve infrastructure utilization, increase data access/integration, enable new levels of communication and provide for the creation of new applications.

  18. Nonlinear Dynamics: Quantizing The Classical Cat, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A mathematical analysis of a pendulum system reveals the relevance to quantum systems of the classical concept of ‘monodromy' - why a falling cat always lands the right way up. (...)

    A quantummechanical cliché is Schrödinger's cat, whose role is to dramatize the superposition of quantum states by being both alive and dead.Classical mechanics now introduces a second cat, which dramatizes monodromy through its ability always to land on its feet.

    (...)beautiful example of the relation between nonlinear dynamics and quantum theory.

    1. A New Twist on Black Hole Jets, Science Now Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      Twist away. A new simulation suggests that black holes whip up nearby magnetic fields.
      CREDIT: V. SEMENOV ET AL.
      A question that's long vexed astrophysicists is how the gargantuan energy fountains called radio-loud quasars propel tight beams of particles and energy across hundreds of thousands of light-years. Scientists agree that the power comes from supermassive black holes. But they differ sharply about how the machinery works. Now, a new model tries to set the record straight, proposing that a whirling black hole can whip magnetic fields into a coiled frenzy that expels the energy as two narrow jets.

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

    1. Al Qaeda Showing New Life, U.S. Surprised by Signs of Regrouping, Washington Post Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: In the more than two years since U.S. forces destroyed al Qaeda's haven and much of its leadership in Afghanistan, many U.S. intelligence officials and terrorism experts had come to believe that other Islamist extremist groups now posed the gravest threat.

      From Istanbul to Madrid, local jihadists mounted daring and deadly attacks with little apparent support from Osama bin Laden's crippled network.

      (...) led to a new terrorism alert in the United States caught many U.S. officials and outside experts by surprise.

    2. Police Tactic Against Terror: Let's Network, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The city's counterterrorism investigators have been cultivating contacts with businesses that might become unwitting parts of a terror plot.(...)

      In January, their mission was to speak before a mosquito sprayers' convention in Harrisburg, Pa. In April, the detectives attended a meeting of self-storage business owners (...). This summer, they were in Naples, Fla., mingling with propane gas vendors (...).

      Called Operation Nexus, the program has focused on particular types of businesses based on intelligence that the department has culled from sources like an Al Qaeda manual for terrorist operatives (...).

    3. Tyranny in the Name of Freedom, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: If we don't recognize the distinction between passionate political speech and terrorism now, it may be too late to protest later. (...)

      It started with Attorney General John Ashcroft's declaration, shortly after 9/11: "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." This was an early attempt to couple disagreeing on civil liberties with abetting terrorists. And while I'm not reflexively opposed to the entire Patriot Act, two provisions do serve more to quell protest than terrorism.

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Protecting Baby: Calcium In Pregnancy Reduces Lead Exposure, By taking calcium supplements during pregnancy, a mother can significantly reduce the lead exposure of her fetus.
      2. Joint Effort: Bacteria In Yogurt Combat Arthritis In Rats, Yogurt containing certain types of live bacteria may help prevent or treat arthritis.
      3. Curbing Allergy To Insect Venom: Therapy Stops Reactions To Stings Years Later, Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
      4. To Err Is Human, Two researchers have issued a blunt critique of what they see as a misguided emphasis on immoral behaviors and mental flaws in many social psychology studies.
      5. Teenage T. Rex's Monstrous Growth, Tyrannosaurus rex achieved its massive size due to an enormous growth spurt during its adolescent years.
      6. Satellite Boosts Olympic Security, An enhanced satellite location system aims to help Olympic security guards react more quickly to emergencies.
      7. Security for the Homeland, Made in Alaska, LESLIE WAYNE, Two big security companies benefited from large Pentagon contracts because of ties to Alaskan businesses representing tribal groups.
      8. Will Russia, the Oil Superpower, Flex Its Muscles?, Erin E. Arvedlund, Russia is again emerging as a superpower - but the reason has less to do with nuclear weapons than with oil.
      9. Putting You in the Tractor's Seat, Brendan I. Koerner, A new computer game aimed at rural audiences, or those city dwellers with an agrarian bent, lets players plow, plant and risk bankruptcy.
      10. Evolving Ears as Whales Got Wet,
        Transitional. Remingtonocetus's ear ossicles--including the malleus and incus, colored blue and green, respectively--helped it hear better underwater
        CREDIT: J. G. M. THEWISSEN/LAUREN STEVENS
      11. Coming Soon: A New Solar System, Nearby star yields the closest example yet of rocky planets in the making
      12. A Wasp With a Taste for Brain,
        On target. The wasp Ampulex compressa finds the roach's brain with receptors in its stinger, which injects neurotoxins.
        CREDIT: FREDERIC LIBERSAT
      13. British Hospitals Struggle to Limit 'Superbug' Infections, Lizette Alvarez, Britain has one of the worst rates of hospital-acquired M.R.S.A., or "superbug," bloodstream infections in Europe, and the problem is getting worse.
      14. Supertubes, Phaedon Avouris, 04/08, IEEE Spectrum, The unique properties of carbon nanotubes may make them the natural successor to silicon microelectronics
      15. Quantum Chaos of Bogoliubov Waves for a Bose-Einstein Condensate in Stadium Billiards, Chuanwei Zhang, Jie Liu, Mark G. Raizen, Qian Niu, 04/08/09, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 074101
      16. Complexity of Vector Spin Glasses, J. Yeo, M. A. Moore, 04/08/09, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 077201
      17. Complex Auditory Behaviour Emerges From Simple Reactive Steering, BERTHOLD HEDWIG, JAMES F. A. POULET, 04/08/12, Nature 430, 781 - 785 , DOI: 10.1038/nature02787
      18. Visual Pattern Recognition in Drosophila Is Invariant for Retinal Position, Shiming Tang, Reinhard Wolf, Shuping Xu, Martin Heisenberg, 04/08/13, Science : 1020-1022.
      19. Will a Large Complex System with Time Delays Be Stable?, Viktor K. Jirsa, Mingzhou Ding, 04/08/13, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 070602
      20. Super Ant Colony Hits Australia, 04/08/14,
        Natural aggression kept numbers under control in the ants' native country
        BBC News
      21. Evolving Beyond Perfection: An Investigation of the Effects of Long-term Evolution on Fractal Gene Regulatory Networks, Peter J. Bentley, 2004/08/03, Biosystems, Article in Press, Corrected Proof, DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2004.05.019
      22. Physical Schemata Underlying Biological Pattern Formation - Examples, Issues and Strategies, Herbert Levine, Eshel Ben-Jacob, 2004/08/05, arXiv, DOI: q-bio.CB/0408003
      23. Power-law Distribution in a Learning Process: Competition, Learning and Natural Selection, Hari M. Gupta, José R. Campanha, 2004/08/06, Physica A, Article in Press, Uncorrected Proof, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.07.010
      24. An Evolving Ontogenetic Cellular System for Better Adaptiveness, Mathieu S. Capcarrece, 2004/08/06, Biosystems, Article in Press, Corrected Proof, DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2004.05.020
      25. Optical Properties Of The Scales Of Morpho Rhetenor Butterflies: Theoretical And Experimental Investigation Of The Back-Scattering Of Light In The Visible Spectrum, L. Plattner, 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo & Interface
      26. Prenatal Developmental Conditions Have Long-Term Effects On Offspring Fecundity, H. Gorman, R. G. Nager, 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo & Proceedings B (Biological Sciences)
      27. Efficient Face Detection By A Cascaded Support-Vector Machine Expansion, S Romshani, P. Torr, B. Scholkopf, A Blake, 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo & Proceedings A (Mathematical, Physical & Engineering Sciences)
      28. Smart Windows Block Heat Not Light, Mark Peplow, 2004/08/10, Nature Publishing Groups
      29. Biologists Deciphering Complex Lemur Scent Language, 2004/08/10, ScienceDaily & Duke University
      30. Once Upon A Digital Time, T. Morris - tmorrisagopa-cartermill.com, 2004/08/11, Alphagalileo
      31. Well-Being And Affective Style: Neural Substrates And Biobehavioural Correlates, R. J. Davidson, 2004/08/11, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1510
      32. Survey Explains Why Some Animals Have Smaller Eyes: Lifestyle Matters More Than Size, 2004/08/12, ScienceDaily & Cornell University
      33. Self-organization of Tree Form: A Model for Complex Social Systems, Tsvi Sachs, 2004/09/21, Journal of Theoretical Biology 230(2):197-202, DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2004.05.006
      34. Do 5-month-old Infants See Humans as Material Objects?, Valerie A. Kuhlmeier, Paul Bloom, Karen Wynn, 2004/11, Cognition 94(1):95-103, DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2004.02.007
      35. The Corruption (And Redemption) Of Science, D. W. Orr - david.orraoberlin. edu, Aug. 2004, Online at Zmag 2004/07/27, Conservation Biology & Zmag
      36. Open Problems In Using Agent-Based Models In Industrial And Labor Dynamics, N. Gilbert - n.gilbertasoc.surrey.ac.uk, Jun. 2004, Advances in Complex Systems, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525904000093
      37. Synchronization Of Neural Oscillations As A Possible Mechanism Underlying Episodic Memory: A Study Of Theta Rhythm In The Hippocampus, Y. Yamaguchi - yokoyabrain.riken.jp, Y. Aota, N. Sato, H. Wagatsuma, Z. Wu, Jun. 2004, Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1142/S0219635204000488
      38. The Brain-Computer: Origin Of The Idea And Progress In Its Realization, M. Ichikawa - ichikawaabrain.riken.jp, G. Matsumoto, Jun. 2004, Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1142/S0219635204000476
      39. An Average Linear Time Algorithm For Web Usage Mining, J. Borges - jlborgesafe.up.pt, M. Levene - markadcs.bbk.ac.uk, Jun. 2004, International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, DOI: 10.1142/S0219622004001021
      40. Computing Economic Chaos, Day R. H., Pavlov O. V., Jun. 2004, The Journal of Economic History, DOI: 10.1023/B:CSEM.0000026787.81469.1f

    2. Webcast Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. The 4th Intl Workshop on Meta-synthesis and Complex System, Beijing, China, 04/07/22-23
      2. Intl Conf on Complex Networks: Structure, Function and Processes, Kolkata, India, 04/06/27-30
      3. From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
      4. ECC8 Experimental Chaos Conference, Florence, Italy, 04/06/14-17
      5. Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
      6. International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
      7. Life, a Nobel Story, Brussels, Belgium, 04/04/28
      8. Nonlinear Dynamics and Statistical Mechanics Days, Brussels, Belgium, 04/04/26-27
      9. Science Education Forum for Chinese Language Culture, Panel Discussion, Taipei, Taiwan, 04/05/01
      10. Biologically Inspired Approaches to Advanced Information Technology, , Lausanne,Switzerland, 04/01/29-30
      11. Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994
      12. World Economic Forum 2004, Davos, Switzerland
      13. CODIS 2004, International Conference On Communications, Devices And Intelligent Systems, 2004 Calcutta, India, 04/01/09-10
      14. EVOLVABILITY & INTERACTION: Evolutionary Substrates of Communication, Signaling, and Perception in the Dynamics of Social Complexity, London, UK, 03/10/08-10
      15. The Semantic Web and Language Technology - Its Po tential and Practicalities, Bucharest, Romania, 03/07/28-08/08
      16. ECAL 2003, 7th European Conference on Artificial Life, Dortmund, Germany, 03/09/14-17
      17. New Santa Fe Institute President About His Vision for SFI's Future Role, (Video, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/04)
      18. SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/06/01-04
      19. NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, Video/Audio Report, 03/05/11
      20. 13th Ann Intl Conf, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life Sciences, Boston, MA, USA, 2003/08/08-10
      21. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      22. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
      23. Edge Videos

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      1. Gabriele Leidloff, Ugly Casting 1.4 , Berlin, Germany, 04/08/19-10/08
      2. Fractals and Natural Hazards at 32nd Intl Geological Congress (IGC), Florence, Italy, 04/08/20-28
      3. Intl Conf on Science of Complex Networks: from Biology to the Internet and WWW (CNET2004), Aveiro (Portugal), 04/08/29-09/02
      4. ICCC 2004, IEEE International Conference on Computational Cybernetics, s Vienna, Austria, 04/08/30-09/01
      5. ANTS 2004, 4th International Workshop on Ant Colony Optimization and Swarm Intelligence, Brussels, Belgium, 04/09/05-08
      6. Dynamic Ontology, An Inquiry into Systems, Emergence, Levels of Reality, and Forms of Causality, Trento, Italy, 04/09/08-11
      7. 9th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems (ALIFE9), Boston, Massachusetts, 04/09/12-15
      8. Dynamics Days 2004, XXIV Annual Conf , Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 04/09/13-17
      9. II. Socrates Workshop on Chaotic Systems, Maribor, Slovenia, 04/09/13-17
      10. Inquiries, Indices and Incommensurabilities: Managing Emergence, Complexity and Organization, Washington, DC, 04/09/18-19
      11. Neuroeconomics 2004, Charleston, SC, 04/09/16-19
      12. New Economic Windows 2004: Complexity Hints for Economic Policy, Salerno, Italy, 04/09/16-18
      13. The Verhulst 200 on Chaos, Brussels, BELGIUM, 04/09/16-18
      14. The 8th Intl Conf on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature (PPSN VIII), Birmingham, UK, 04/09/18-22
      15. The Nonlinear Waves in Fluids: Recent Advances and Modern Applications, Udine, Italy, 04/09/18-22
      16. XVII Brazilian Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Sao Luis, Maranhao - Brazil, 04/09/22-24
      17. 3rd Natll Conf on Systems Science , Trento (Italy), 04/10/07-09
      18. TEDMED Conference , Charleston SC, 04/10/12-15
      19. Intl Workshop On Bifurcations In Nonsmooth And Hybrid Dynamical Systems , Milano (Italy), 04/10/21-22
      20. Wolfram Technology Conference, Champaign, Illinois, 04/10/21-23
      21. 6th Intl Conf on Electronic Commerce ICEC'2004: Towards A New Services Landscape, Delft, The Netherlands, 04/10/25-27
      22. Complexity and Philosophy Workshop - 2-Day Conference , Rio de Janeiro, 04/11
      23. ICDM '04: The Fourth IEEE Intl Conf on Data Mining, Brighton, UK, 04/11/01-04
      24. Denaturing Darwin: International Conference on Evolution and Organization , Amersfoort, The Netherlands, 04/11/12-14
      25. The 7th Asia-Pacific Complex Systems Conference, Queensland, Australia, 04/12/06-10
      26. 17th Australian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Queensland, Australia, 04/12/06-10
      27. Cellular Computing Symposium, U Warwick (UK), 04/12/09-10
      28. International Conference On Computational Intelligence (Icci 2004) , Istanbul, Turkey, 04/12/15-17
      29. Kondratieff Waves, Warfare And World Security, NATO Advanced Research Workshop , Covilhã, Portugal, 05/02/14-17
      30. 5th Creativity And Cognition Conference, London.UK, 05/04/12-15
      31. Powders & Grains 2005, Stuttgart, Germany, 05/06/18-22
      32. Workshop on Complexity and Policy Analysis, Cork, Ireland, 05/06/22-24
      33. 18th International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations (ICNF 2005), Salamanca, Spain, 05/09/19-23


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