Hydrology: Tropical Rain Recycling, Nature 
Excerpts: The behaviour of water in the atmosphere is a poorly understood part of the hydrological cycle. Applying the principles of isotope chemistry to satellite data provides a powerful approach for improving the situation.
Water is arguably our most precious resource. It moves through Earth's system in many ways, beginning with its evaporation from the oceans into the atmosphere. (...) The processes behind this delivery of a water molecule from ocean to cloud to rain droplet (or snowflake), and eventually back to the ocean, are highly complex.
Sudden Chill - Even A Limited Nuclear Exchange Could Trigger A Climate Catastrophe, Science News
Excerpts:  COOL SPELL. Average global temperature has risen for more than a century, but a hypothetical 100-bomb nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would more than offset that change. The 1.25˘XC drop attributable to such a nuclear war is shown in red on this graph of average global temperature changes since 1880. NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Robock et al. |
But high-flying smoke and soot in the aftermath of even a limited nuclear war-one with as few as 100 Hiroshima-size bombs-would be much denser than that and the materials would block the sun as effectively as the thick clouds of a stormy day do, (...). If those bombs exploded over the most-populated areas of the nations, more than 5 million metric tons of smoke and soot would soar into the sky. Most of those particles would stay aloft for more than 6 years, says Oman.
Mesoscale Iron Enrichment Experiments 1993-2005: Synthesis and Future Directions, Science
Excerpts: Since the mid-1980s, our understanding of nutrient limitation of oceanic primary production has radically changed. Mesoscale iron addition experiments (FeAXs) have unequivocally shown that iron supply limits production in one-third of the world ocean, where surface macronutrient concentrations are perennially high. The findings of these 12 FeAXs also reveal that iron supply exerts controls on the dynamics of plankton blooms, which in turn affect the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, silicon, and sulfur and ultimately influence the Earth climate system.
Algae-Based Fuels Set To Bloom - Oil From Microorganisms Could Help Ease The Nation's Energy Woes., Technology Review
Excerpts:  Microalgae cultured in Southwestern deserts like those pictured here could prove to be a great source of renewable fuel. Credit: Paul Roessler DOE/NREL |
Algae makes oil naturally. Raw algae can be processed to make biocrude, the renewable equivalent of petroleum, and refined to make gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and chemical feedstocks for plastics and drugs. Indeed, it can be processed at existing oil refineries to make just about anything that can be made from crude oil. This is the approach being taken by startups Solix Biofuels, based in Fort Collins, CO, and LiveFuels, based in Menlo Park, CA.
Using Self-Dissimilarity To Quantify Complexity, Complexity
Excerpt: For many systems characterized as complex the patterns exhibited on different scales differ markedly from one another. For example, the biomass distribution in a human body looks very different depending on the scale at which one examines it. Conversely, the patterns at different scales in simple systems (e.g., gases, mountains, crystals) vary little from one scale to another. Accordingly, the degrees of self-dissimilarity between the patterns of a system at various scales constitute a complexity signature of that system. Here we present a novel quantification of self-dissimilarity. (...)
Roots In Space: A Spatially Explicit Model For Below-Ground Competition In Plants, Proc. Biol. Sc.
Excerpt: Game theory provides an untapped framework for predicting how below-ground competition will influence root proliferation in a spatially explicit environment. We model root competition for space as an evolutionary game. In response to nutrient competition between plants, an individual's optimal strategy (the spatial distribution of root proliferation) depends on the rooting strategies of neighbouring plants. The model defines and predicts the fundamental (in the absence of competition) and realized (in the presence of competition) root space of an individual plant. (...)
A Molecular Information Ratchet, Nature
Excerpts: Motor proteins and other biological machines are highly efficient at converting energy into directed motion and driving chemical systems away from thermodynamic equilibrium1. (...) The selective transport of particles between two compartments by brownian motion in this way bears similarities to the hypothetical task performed without an energy input by a 'demon' in Maxwell's famous thought experiment. Our observations demonstrate that synthetic molecular machines can operate by an information ratchet mechanism, in which knowledge of a particle's position is used to control its transport away from equilibrium.
- Source: A Molecular Information Ratchet, Viviana Serreli, Chin-Fa Lee, Euan R. Kay, David A. Leigh, DOI: 10.1038/nature05452, Nature 445, 523-527, 07/02/01
Maxwell's Demon Tamed, Physicsweb
Excerpts: A manmade molecular machine that can drive a system away from equilibrium is the first to do so using an "information ratchet", claim researchers in Scotland. The machine, in which a light-powered gate controls the transport of molecules, uses a similar principle to Maxwell's demon, a famous thought experiment devised to challenge the second law of thermodynamics (Nature 445 523). Nature uses molecular machines to drive chemical systems away from thermodynamic equilibrium in virtually every major biological process. But while scientists have been eager to create similar machines to perform nanoscale tasks, they have so far only had success with simple switches that proceed towards equilibrium.
Mathematical Physics: On The Right Scent, Nature
Excerpts: Searching for the source of a smell is hampered by the absence of pervasive local cues that point the searcher in the right direction. A strategy based on maximal information could show the way. (...) The problem of searching for odour sources with scarce information is common not only to many air- and water-borne animals3, but also to olfactory robots designed to search for chemical leaks, drugs and explosives4 (Fig. 1). Because of the random nature of the odour plume, an exact model of the environment is not available in these cases.
How Does Your Brain Tell Time? Study Challenges Theory Of Inner Clock, ScienceDaily
Excerpts: "Time" is the most popular noun in the English language, yet how would we tell time if we didn't have access to the plethora of watches, clocks and cell phones at our disposal? For decades, scientists have believed that the brain possesses an internal clock that allows it to keep track of time. Now a UCLA study (...) proposes a new model in which a series of physical changes to the brain's cells helps the organ to monitor the passage of time. "The value of this research lies in understanding how the brain works," said (...).
Dimensions of Mind Perception, Science
Excerpts: Participants compared the mental capacities of various human and nonhuman characters via online surveys. Factor analysis revealed two dimensions of mind perception, Experience (for example, capacity for hunger) and Agency (for example, capacity for self-control). The dimensions predicted different moral judgments but were both related to valuing of mind.
- Source: Dimensions of Mind Perception, Heather M. Gray, Kurt Gray, Daniel M. Wegner, DOI: 10.1126/science.1134475, Science Vol. 315. no. 5812, p. 619, 07/02/02
Understanding Complex Environmental Systems: A Dual Approach, Environmetrics
Excerpts: An approach to interpreting field data exploiting the duality of data- and theory-based models, and their associated methods of system identification, is presented. This approach seeks to overcome the respective limitations of the two branches of the duality: that theory-based models are not unambiguously identifiable from the observations, while a well-identified data-based model may not be capable of a satisfactory theoretical interpretation. The purpose of the approach is thereby to gain a deeper understanding of complex, poorly defined environmental systems. (...)
In Many Habitats, Competition Is The Drama, But Benefactors Set The Stage, Innovations-report
Excerpts: Is the world basically good or basically bad? It appears that in the natural world the answer is "basically good." Positive interactions in which plants and animals benefit from association with one another create the basis for many of the world's ecosystems. Coral reefs, kelp forests, marshes, and other familiar habitats can harbor a diversity of life by providing shelter from both harsh conditions and predators. New experimental work, (...) researchers suggests those positive effects of living habitats are the most important factor in driving the diversity and abundance of organisms in many ecosystems. (...)
Quantum Physics: Photon Lab In A Circuit, Nature
Excerpts: Electrical circuits might be regarded as rather mundane pieces of classical engineering. But their electromagnetic fields are, like light, a quantum object whose energy comes in discrete units - photons.
Both a coherent light beam and thermal, 'black-body' radiation given out by a heat source are archetypal, classical electromagnetic fields. (...). But even classical electromagnetic fields have an inherent quantum nature. That much is amply demonstrated by the experiments of Schuster et al. (...), which measure the statistics of photons in microwave electromagnetic fields confined within the solidly classical surroundings of an electrical circuit.
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Excerpts: "Hypotheses non fingo," wrote Isaac Newton 300 years ago in the second edition of his Principia Mathematica. It has been variously translated as "I do not make hypotheses" or "I do not feign hypotheses". Instead, Newton established laws of nature such as his theory of universal gravitation - simple, economical equations of broad explanatory power able to account for diverse phenomena both known and yet to be observed. His natural philosophy became the dominant paradigm of the mechanical world-view and, more generally, what we call the scientific method.
Scientists Devise Test For String Theory, EE Times
Excerpts: String theory allows engineers to compute the number of extra dimensions that explain quantum mechanics' statistical interpretation of matter-namely, gauge anomalies. (...) There are tens of thousands of possible shapes for the 10 dimensions of space, according to string theory. By observing their effects in three-dimensional space, we can infer which possible shape best describes our universe. These effects will be easier to see at the beginning of the universe because the tiny dimension of string theory will match the tiny dimensions of space at its birth.
Early Fix: Prion Disease Remedied In Mice, Science News
Excerpts: Mad cow disease and other brain disorders stemming from prion proteins have long resisted cure. (...) Prions-misfolded versions of a natural protein called PrP-trigger normal PrP to misfold in the same way. Over time, prion infection kills so many neurons that the brain becomes riddled with holes.
(...) tested whether shutting off the prions' supply of PrP could alter the course of disease. They worked with genetically engineered mice that make PrP only for the first 9 weeks of life and normal mice that make PrP indefinitely.
Beyond The DNA: Chemical Signatures Reveal Genetic Switches In The Genome, EurekAlert
Excerpts: Study uses 'histone code' for functional genome annotation While the DNA sequence can identify genes (the 'what') within the genome, it cannot answer the more fundamental questions of 'how,' 'when' and 'where' gene products are expressed. (...) developed a novel method to identify and predict the 'promoter' and 'enhancer' regions that switch on transcription, the first step in gene expression. This study is an important step towards large-scale functional annotation of 'enhancers,' which establish the rate at which gene expression occurs and determine the tissues in which genes are expressed.
Reproductive Biology: Sperm Alliance, Nature
Excerpts: In 2002, biologists were presented with a vivid account of how sperm of the common wood mouse hook up together in 'trains'. Such trains, it was shown, form a fast vehicle in the race for the great prize - fertilization of an egg. But only one sperm can be successful in that goal. Simone Immler and colleagues have now revisited the question of what prompts the selfless behaviour of the others (PloS One doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000170; 2007).
Evolution Of Species Interactions In A Biofilm Community, Nature
Excerpts: Biofilms are spatially structured communities of microbes whose function is dependent on a complex web of symbiotic interactions. (...) Here we show, with the use of a two-species community, that selection in a spatially structured environment leads to the evolution of an exploitative interaction. Simple mutations in the genome of one species caused it to adapt to the presence of the other, forming an intimate and specialized association. The derived community was more stable and more productive than the ancestral community.
Developmental Biology: Moonlighting At The Pole, Nature
Excerpts: Which end of a fly embryo becomes the head is partly dictated by the accumulation of bicoid RNA at the anterior pole. The protein that amasses the RNA turns out to be an old acquaintance from a different context. Protein production can be restricted to particular areas within cells by targeting the messenger RNAs encoding them to those sites. Such localization of mRNAs can affect the function of single cells, particularly those that have a polarity such as neurons. More dramatically, it can influence the development of whole organisms.
Fish Can Infer Social Rank By Observation Alone, Nature
Excerpts: Transitive inference (TI) involves using known relationships to deduce unknown ones (for example, using A > B and B > C to infer A > C), and is thus essential to logical reasoning. First described as a developmental milestone in children, TI has since been reported in nonhuman primates, rats and birds. (...) Here we show that male fish (...) can successfully make inferences on a hierarchy implied by pairwise fights between rival males. These fish learned the implied hierarchy vicariously (as 'bystanders'), by watching fights between rivals arranged around them in separate tank units.
Nonvenomous Asian Snakes 'Borrow' Defensive Poison From Toxic Toads, Innovations-report
Excerpts: Most snakes are born with poisonous bites they use for defense. But what can non-poisonous snakes do to ward off predators? What if they could borrow a dose of poison by eating toxic toads, then recycling the toxins? That's exactly what happens in the relationship between an Asian snake and a species of toad, according to a team of researchers (...). (...) describe dietary sequestration of toxins by the snakes. The process allows the snakes to store toxins from the toads in their neck glands. When under attack, the snakes re-release the poisons from these neck glands. (...)
Connections A Twenty-First Century Science, Nature
Excerpts: If handled appropriately, data about Internet-based communication and interactivity could revolutionize our understanding of collective human behaviour. Few would deny that many of the major problems currently facing humanity are social and economic in nature. From the apparent wave of religious fundamentalism sweeping the Islamic world (and parts of the Western world), to collective economic security, global warming and the great epidemics of our times, powerful yet mysterious social forces come into play.
Connections Biology's Next Revolution, Nature
Excerpts: The emerging picture of microbes as gene-swapping collectives demands a revision of such concepts as organism, species and evolution itself. (...) In the wild, microbes form communities, invade biochemical niches and partake in biogeochemical cycles. The available studies strongly indicate that microbes absorb and discard genes as needed, in response to their environment. Rather than discrete genomes, we see a continuum of genomic possibilities, which casts doubt on the validity of the concept of a 'species' when extended into the microbial realm.
'Electric' Fish Shed Light On Ways The Brain Directs Movement, Innovations-report
Excerpts: Scientists have long struggled to figure out how the brain guides the complex movement of our limbs, from the graceful leaps of ballerinas to the simple everyday act of picking up a cup of coffee. Using tools from robotics and neuroscience, two Johns Hopkins University researchers have found some tantalizing clues in an unlikely mode of motion: the undulations of tropical fish. Their findings, (...) shed new light on the communication that takes place between the brain and body. The fish research may contribute to important medical advances in humans, including better prosthetic limbs and improved rehabilitative techniques (...).
Science Education: States Urged to Sign Up for a Higher Standard of Learning, Science
Excerpts:  CREDIT: SOURCE: NAEP, MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION; PHOTOS.COM |
Legislators, expert panel join the chorus of those seeking a voluntary national standard for science and math in U.S. schools Mississippi education officials patted themselves on the back in 2005 when state-administered tests showed that 53% of the state's 8th graders were proficient in math--a jump of 14 percentage points in the 3 years since federal mandates for improving school performance went into effect. But a few months later, a nonbinding, nationwide evaluation found that only 13% of that cohort were proficient, ranking Mississippi last on the country's math scorecard.
Chemical Biology: Sticky Spices, Nature
Excerpts: The spiciness of foods such as horseradish is perceived through sensory neurons of the pain pathway. The lingering pungency of some such foods results from chemical modification of the channels that trigger these neurons.
(...) Activated TRPA1 mediates the flow of ions into the endings of specialized neurons in the mouth and skin. This excites the neurons, resulting in local inflammation and our perception of burning pain. (...) But two studies now provide evidence that the spicy compounds found in the foods listed above activate TRPA1 in a different, and often more sustained, manner (...).
Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
Interrogation Comes Under Fire, Nature
Excerpts: Tough questioning tactics lack scientific foundation, intelligence agencies told. There is no scientific basis for current interrogation techniques, a US government-funded study has found. The report has stirred up controversy by calling for more research into the matter, angering many psychiatrists who believe such work is unethical. (...)
In a controversial final chapter, the report calls for a systematic investigation of interrogation techniques to determine which yield the best information, and suggests reviewing the testimonials of former US prisoners of war to understand whether and how torture worked on them.
Terror Network - For Today's Marketers, Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures, Boston Globe
Excerpts: Last week, there was a successful terrorist attack in Boston. The perpetrators were Turner Broadcasting and the Cartoon Network, and they succeeded in hijacking something that every American holds dear: our attention. For a moment, Scooter and Baghdad and Mary Cheney's pregnancy were shoved aside by a talking milk shake, fries, and meatball. There's nothing at all complicated about the desperate ideology that hatched this plan, dispersed 38 LED devices across the city, and splattered "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" across our cultural windshield.
Links & Snippets
Other Publications
- Cognitive Adaptations Of Social Bonding In Birds, N. J. Emery, A. M. Seed, A. M. P. von Bayern, N. S. Clayton, 2007/01/24, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2006.1991
- Did Farming Arise From A Misapplication Of Social Intelligence?, S. Mithen, 2007/01/26, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2006.2005
- Second Life Laughs Off Parody Site: Sense Of Humour Mandatory, Says Linden Lab, I. Thomson, 2007/01/31, vnunet.com
- Human Preference For Other Species Could Determine Whether They Survive, 2007/01/31, Innovations-report
- Chaos On A Chip, 2007/01/31, ScienceDaily & American Institute Of Physics
- Mutant Gene Shatters Nerves: Was Abe Lincoln Affected?, 2007/01/31, ScienceDaily & Brain Institute At The University Of Utah
- Theoretical Modeling Brings New Understanding Of Self-Assembly Of 'Cell Skeletons', 2007/02/02, ScienceDaily & National Institute For Nanotechnology / National Research Council Of Canada
- Corruption, The Resource Curse And Genuine Saving, S. Dietz, E. Neumayer, I. De Soysa, Feb. 2007, online 2007 /01/29, Environment and Development Economics, DOI: 10.1017/S1355770X06003378
- Interacting Neural Networks And The Emergence Of Social Structure, C. S.-Klüver, J. Klüver - juergen.kluever
uni-due.de, Jan.-Feb. 2007, online 2007/01/17, Complexity, DOI: 10.1002/cplx.20163
Webcast Announcements
World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 07/01/24-28
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TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006
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Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03
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Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments, and the Media 2006, Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/03-05
- 6th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30
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Artificial Life X,
10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington, IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07
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6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18
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Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
- An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
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Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
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Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
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Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
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ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life,
Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
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T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, The Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), Podcast
- 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
- Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19
- 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
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1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
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From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
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Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
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International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
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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
Conference Announcements
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Intl Wkshp Complex Dynamics Of Physiological Systems: From Heart To Brain, Kolkata, India, 07/02/12-14
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2007 Complexity and Educational Research Conference, Vancouver, BC, 07/02/18-20
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Coordination Dynamics 2007: Coordination: Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics, Boca Raton, Florida, 07/02/22-25
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2nd Transdisciplinary Workshop on the Complexity Approach
Complejidad Camagüey-2007, Camagüey, Cuba, 07/02/20-22
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3rd International Workshop on Complexity and Philisophy, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 07/02/22-23
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Unconventional Computation: Quo Vadis?, Santa Fe, NM, 07/03/20-23
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Complex Social Systems Course
at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom, 07/03/20-28
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NEXUS for Change, Bowling Green, Ohio, 07/03/22-23
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Intl Conf on Morphological Computation, Venice, Italy, 07/03/26-28
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American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) 2007 Conference,
Urbana IL, 07/03/29-04/01
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4th Lake Arrowhead Conference on Human Complex Systems,
Lake Arrowhead, CA, 07/04/25-29
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Intl Conf on Morphological Computation, Venice Italy, 07/03/26-28
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Capturing Business Complexity with Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation
Useful, Usable, and Used Techniques - A Course on Business Applications, Argonne Natl Lab, Woodridge, IL, 07/04/16-20
- Complexity and Organizational Resilience
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The Village, Pohnpei, Micronesia, 07/05
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9th GEF -The World Festival of Creativity in Schools, Sanremo ITALY, 07/05/02-06
- 2nd Intl Conf on Built Environment Complexity - Embracing complexity thinking in built environments, Cape Town South Africa, 07/05/21-25
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ECO 2007 Summit: Ecological Complexity and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities for 21st-Century Ecology, Beijing, China, 07/05/22-27
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2007 IEEE/ICME Intl Conf on Complex Medical Engineering-CME2007, Beijing, China, 07/05/23-27
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Analysis and Control of Complex Networks, Milan, Italy, 07/05/24-26
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The 7th Intl Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex Systems, Beijing, 07/05/27-30
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2nd Intl Wkshp on Engineering Emergence in Decentralised Autonomic Systems EEDAS 2007, Jacksonville, Fl, 07/06/11-15
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7th conf
SYMMETRY IN NONLINEAR MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS, Kiev, Ukraine, 07/06/24-30
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Summer School In Complexity Science, London, UK, 07/07/08-17
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2007 Genetic And Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2007), London, UK, 07/07/07-11
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SASO 2007 - First IEEE Intl Conf Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems
, Boston, Mass., USA, 07/07/09-11
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NKS 2007 Wolfram Science Conference,
Burlington, VT, 07/07/13-15
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Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences
17th Annual Intl Conf,
Orange, Ca, USA, 07/07/27-29
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ICCM 2007 - 8th Intl Conf on Cognitive Modeling, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 07/07/27-29
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Natural Complexity: Data and Theory in Dialogue, Cambridge, UK, 07/08/13-17
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ECAL 2oo7 - 9th European Conference on Artificial Life
, Lisbon, Portugal, 07/09/10-14
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European Conference on Complex Systems 2007 (ECCS'07) , Dresden, Germany, 07/10/01-05
Call for Papers - Course/Book Announcements
- The international journal
Emergence: Complexity & Organization (E:CO) is now available. The issue contains:
Volume 8 Number 4, 2006
Special Issue: Complexity & Leadership
Editors: Jeffrey A. Goldstein & James K. Hazy
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EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION IN PRACTICE
Series in Studies in Computational Intelligence, Springer Verlag,
Chapter proposal due 07/02/04
- Call for Submissions:
The Journal of Developmental Processes will publish its first issue in fall 2006. , The JDP recognizes that complex developmental processes characterize the growth of living organisms. In humans, this complexity is highly elaborated, so that developmental change is affected by many interrelated factors of the body, the mind, family, society and the environment. New discoveries continually add to our understanding of these processes and demonstrate the inadequacy of reductionist approaches.
- Call for Papers:
Special Issue of the Artificial Life journal on the Evolution of Complexity,
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Digital Graphics for Quantitative Finance,
Lineplot Productions, 2006
Why create movies of financial models? Because key stakeholders often don't understand them. The mathematical, data-intensive sphere of quantitative financial analysis can be a black box even for many in the industry. It is vital for users of this analysis to appreciate, understand and buy into, often literally, these difficult and important concepts.
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Life: An Introduction to Complex Systems Biology, Kunihiko Kaneko, Springer Series: Understanding Complex Systems, 2006
What is life? Has molecular biology given us a satisfactory answer to this question? And if not, why, and how to carry on from there? This book examines life not from the reductionist point of view, but rather asks the question: what are the universal properties of living systems and how can one construct from there a phenomenological theory of life that leads naturally to complex processes such as reproductive cellular systems, evolution and differentiation? The presentation has been deliberately kept fairly non-technical so as to address a broad spectrum of students and researchers from the natural sciences and informatics.
- Chaos and Complexity
Resources for Students and Teachers, 06/03/01
