Complexity Digest 2007.49

21-Dec-2007

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Content

  1. Humanoid Robot Finds Learning Child's Play, New Scientist
    1. Rapid Facial Mimicry In Orangutan Play, Biol. Lett.
  2. Q&A: Peter Norvig - The Evolution Of Web Search., Technology Review
    1. Encouraging People To Contribute Knowledge, The Official Google Blog
  3. Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms, Washington Post
  4. Dynamic Personalities Of Proteins, Nature
    1. The Molecular Sociology Of The Cell, Nature
  5. Transformation And Diversification In Early Mammal Evolution, Nature
  6. Small RNAs: Delivering The Future, Nature
    1. Small RNAs: The Vehicle Laboratory, Nature
  7. Researchers Train The Immune System To Deliver Virus That Destroys Cancer In Lab Models., Science Daily
    1. Neurobiology: Immune Molecules Prune Synapses in Developing Brain, Science
  8. Calculating Drugs' Side Effects, Technology Review
    1. Stem Cells Show Power To Predict Disease, Drug Toxicity, ScienceDaily
  9. Circadian Rhythms: Daily Watch on Metabolism, Science
  10. Flying Without Fractals - A New Study Raises Doubts About Fractal Patterns In Animal Behavior, Science News
  11. Losses Of Long-established Genes Contribute To Human Evolution, ScienceDaily
    1. Oral Stories And Culture Areas: From Northeast India To Southwest China, South Asia: J. South Asian Studies
  12. Molecular Biology: Genome Under Surveillance, Nature
  13. Abnormal Neuroscience: Scanning Psychopaths, Nature
  14. Malaria: Differential Parasite Drive, Nature
  15. Effect Of Remote Sea Surface Temperature Change On Tropical Cyclone Potential Intensity, Nature
    1. Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, Science
    2. Complex Carbon Picture Clearer, Innovations-report
  16. Photonics: Rogue Waves Surface In Light, Nature
    1. Optical Rogue Waves, Nature
  17. Physics: Simple Scheme Stores Light by Converting It Into Vibration and Back, Science
    1. Stored Light in an Optical Fiber via Stimulated Brillouin Scattering, Science
    2. Enigmatic Clouds Illuminated - Satellite Data Shed Light On Twilight Skies., Nature
  18. Move Over, Silicon: Advances Pave Way For Powerful Carbon-Based Electronics, PhysOrg.com
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. An 'All Elements Of Power' Strategy For Combating Terrorism, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference Announcements
    4. Other Announcements

  1. Humanoid Robot Finds Learning Child's Play, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Could a robot learn its tasks as easily and as naturally as a child?

    Sylvain Calinon and his colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne think so. They have created software that allows them to teach a humanoid robot new tasks - such as how to move chess pieces - simply by guiding its limbs through the necessary motions. The 60-centimetre-tall robot, called HOAP-3, is made by Fujitsu.

    1. Rapid Facial Mimicry In Orangutan Play, Biol. Lett. Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Emotional contagion enables individuals to experience emotions of others. This important empathic phenomenon is closely linked to facial mimicry, where facial displays evoke the same facial expressions in social partners. In humans, facial mimicry can be voluntary or involuntary, whereby its latter mode can be processed as rapid as within or at 1s. Thus far, studies have not provided evidence of rapid involuntary facial mimicry in animals. (...) Our study revealed the first evidence on rapid involuntary facial mimicry in non-human mammals. This finding suggests that fundamental building blocks of positive emotional contagion and empathy (...).
      • Source: Rapid Facial Mimicry In Orangutan Play, M. D. Ross, S. Menzler, E. Zimmermann, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0535, Biological Letters, 2007/12/11
      • Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinayahoo.co.in

  2. Q&A: Peter Norvig - The Evolution Of Web Search., Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: As director of research at Google, Peter Norvig is intimately involved in the attempt to manage the world's information. He's a good match for the job, having spent much of his life thinking about how computers think and making them do it more efficiently. An expert on artificial intelligence, he has taught at universities, held research jobs in the corporate world and at NASA, and cowritten the influential textbook AI: A Modern Approach.

    1. Encouraging People To Contribute Knowledge, The Official Google Blog Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The web contains an enormous amount of information, and Google has helped to make that information more easily accessible by providing pretty good search facilities. But not everything is written nor is everything well organized to make it easily discoverable. There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it. We believe that many do not share that knowledge today simply because it is not easy enough to do that. The challenge posed to us by Larry, Sergey and Eric was to find a way to help people share their knowledge. This is our main goal.

  3. Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms, Washington Post Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Scientists at LS9 Inc. in San Carlos, Calif., are using artificial DNA to reprogram E. coli bacteria to produce a cheap alternative fuel. Photo Credit: Photos Courtesy Ls9
    Now researchers are poised to cross a dramatic barrier: the creation of life forms driven by completely artificial DNA.

    Scientists in Maryland have already built the world's first entirely handcrafted chromosome -- a large looping strand of DNA made from scratch in a laboratory, containing all the instructions a microbe needs to live and reproduce.

    In the coming year, they hope to transplant it into a cell, where it is expected to "boot itself up," like software downloaded from the Internet, and cajole the waiting cell to do its bidding.

  4. Dynamic Personalities Of Proteins, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Because proteins are central to cellular function, researchers have sought to uncover the secrets of how these complex macromolecules execute such a fascinating variety of functions. Although static structures are known for many proteins, the functions of proteins are governed ultimately by their dynamic character (or 'personality'). The dream is to 'watch' proteins in action in real time at atomic resolution. This requires addition of a fourth dimension, time, to structural biology so that the positions in space and time of all atoms in a protein can be described in detail.

    1. The Molecular Sociology Of The Cell, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Proteomic studies have yielded detailed lists of the proteins present in a cell. Comparatively little is known, however, about how these proteins interact and are spatially arranged within the 'functional modules' of the cell: that is, the 'molecular sociology' of the cell. This gap is now being bridged by using emerging experimental techniques, such as mass spectrometry of complexes and single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, to complement traditional biochemical and biophysical methods. With the development of integrative computational methods to exploit the data obtained, such hybrid approaches will uncover the molecular architectures, and perhaps even atomic models, of many protein complexes.

  5. Transformation And Diversification In Early Mammal Evolution, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Evolution of the earliest mammals shows successive episodes of diversification. Lineage-splitting in Mesozoic mammals is coupled with many independent evolutionary experiments and ecological specializations. Classic scenarios of mammalian morphological evolution tend to posit an orderly acquisition of key evolutionary innovations leading to adaptive diversification, but newly discovered fossils show that evolution of such key characters as the middle ear and the tribosphenic teeth is far more labile among Mesozoic mammals. Successive diversifications of Mesozoic mammal groups multiplied the opportunities for many dead-end lineages to iteratively evolve developmental homoplasies and convergent ecological specializations, parallel to those in modern mammal groups.

  6. Small RNAs: Delivering The Future, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Drugs to treat diseases from cancer to AIDS could soon rely on short strands of RNA for their effects. But scientists must first work out how to navigate these fragments around the body. Nathan Blow reports.

    The remarkable ability of short sequences of synthetic RNA to interfere with messenger RNA and thereby silence the activity of specific genes has proved incredibly helpful to geneticists wrestling with genetic function. And the push to harness this RNA interference (RNAi) for therapeutic use is now beginning to make headway.

    1. Small RNAs: The Vehicle Laboratory, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Many companies are realizing that the development of new delivery vehicles for therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi) will require collaborative efforts. "We view the delivery of small RNAs as one of the most important biomedical endeavours in modern biological science," says John Maraganore, chief executive of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "And when you have such a broad-scale challenge and opportunity, you can't do everything internally - you have to work with the best groups outside as well."

  7. Researchers Train The Immune System To Deliver Virus That Destroys Cancer In Lab Models., Science Daily Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: An international team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic have designed a technique that uses the body's own cells and a virus to destroy cancer cells that spread from primary tumors to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system. In addition, their study shows that this technology could be the basis for a new cancer vaccine to prevent cancer recurrence.

    The technology combines infection-fighting T-cells with the vesicular stomatitis virus that targets and destroys cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed.

    1. Neurobiology: Immune Molecules Prune Synapses in Developing Brain, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The complement cascade is part of the body's innate immune defense: a protein work crew whose duties include tagging bacteria and other bad guys for elimination. A new study suggests that complement proteins may have a surprising yet analogous function in the developing brain, tagging unwanted synapses for removal. The work also hints that these proteins may promote synapse loss in early stages of neurodegenerative disease.

  8. Calculating Drugs' Side Effects, Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Double bind: Selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as the breast-cancer drug tamoxifen, bind to a specific pocket (top, shown with an unrelated molecule used to determine the pocket's shape) in a protein called estrogen receptor alpha. The modulators may also bind to a similarly shaped pocket (bottom, again shown with a shape-gauging molecule) in another protein called SERCA. If they do, that could explain several of the side effects associated with tamoxifen. The blue and red coloring denotes electrostatic potential, which helps determine where and how a small molecule (like a drug) will bind to a protein. Credit: Lei Xie, Jian Wang, and Philip Bourne (Creative Commons Attribution License)
    Drugs work by latching onto very specific receptor sites on protein targets, much like a key fitting into a lock. If a drug also happens to latch onto another, unintended target, it may produce unwanted side effects. The new method analyzes the shape of the intended lock and then combs through the structures of other proteins to look for similarly shaped locks. If such a lock is found, an algorithm rigorously determines whether the drug fits snugly into it. If it does, the technique has probably identified what's called an "off-target."

    1. Stem Cells Show Power To Predict Disease, Drug Toxicity, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: For the first time, scientists have used human embryonic stem cells to predict the toxic effects of drugs and provide chemical clues to diagnosing disease. (...) reports the use of all-purpose stem cells to elicit and identify the telltale chemical signals secreted by the cells when exposed to a drug known to cause autism. The work is important because it is a critical first step toward fulfilling the promise of embryonic stem cells not only to screen drugs for safety but one day, possibly, to use the cells themselves as crucibles for making new drugs. (...)

  9. Circadian Rhythms: Daily Watch on Metabolism, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Most organisms enhance fitness by coordinating their development with daily environmental changes through molecular timekeepers known as circadian clocks. In eukaryotes, these clocks comprise interlocking loops of transcriptional feedback and protein turnover (1). This system of multiple connected loops increases the clock's robustness and provides numerous points of input and output to the clock. Many metabolic pathways are regulated by circadian clocks in plants and animals (2, 3). Two papers in this issue, Dodd et al. on page 1789 (4) and Yin et al. on page 1786 (5), provide evidence that clock feedback mechanisms in plants and animals incorporate small metabolites and signaling molecules.

  10. Flying Without Fractals - A New Study Raises Doubts About Fractal Patterns In Animal Behavior, Science News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    The drawing on the left shows the path of a dot traversing a Levy flight. Most steps are small, but occasionally, the dot jumps a long way. This forms a pattern of clumps made up of smaller clumps made up of smaller clumps. The drawing on the right, by contrast, shows Brownian motion. The random motions of a speck of dust are Brownian. The dust can travel significant distances, but only by a series of steps. It doesn't make huge jumps. Wikipedia
    (...) Levy flights provide the best strategy in searching for objects at random locations. This suggested that the bird's behavior has adaptive value. "If I lost my child in the woods, the best way to find my child would be to do a search with Levy flight motion," says H. Eugene Stanley of Boston University, a co-author on all of the studies. "A simple random walk retraces its same sites over and over and over again." (...)


  11. Losses Of Long-established Genes Contribute To Human Evolution, ScienceDaily Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: While it is well understood that the evolution of new genes leads to adaptations that help species survive, gene loss may also afford a selective advantage. A group of scientists (...) has investigated this less-studied idea, carrying out the first systematic computational analysis to identify long-established genes that have been lost across millions of years of evolution leading to the human species. "The idea that gene losses might contribute to adaptation has been kicked around, but not well studied," said Zhu, who is first author of the paper. "We found three examples in the literature, and all of them could have medical implications." (...)

    1. Oral Stories And Culture Areas: From Northeast India To Southwest China, South Asia: J. South Asian Studies Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: This essay explores the possibility of defining a culture area by the comparative study of oral stories. (...) The data presented in the essay comes both from the author's fieldwork on oral stories and rituals (...). Based on this evidence (primarily three separate oral stories and one ritual event), the essay suggests that we can consider the 'extended eastern Himalayas' as a culture area. This proposed culture area consists of three regions: central Arunachal Pradesh, the Myanmar (Burma)/India/Bangladesh border, and upland Southeast Asia/Southwest China. (...) the argument is that the shared stories derive from a common oral tradition among Tibeto-Burman speakers. (...)

  12. Molecular Biology: Genome Under Surveillance, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Decoding the information stored in DNA requires an intricate balance between processes that turn gene expression on or off. A protein that influences the packaging of DNA regulates this balance genome-wide.

    Organisms store instructions for their own existence in DNA. Specific proteins access and read the DNA sequence either to replicate it or to mediate gene expression. But this DNA-reading process is impeded by chromatin - tight packages of DNA and histone proteins that are essential for nuclear compartmentalization of the genome.

  13. Abnormal Neuroscience: Scanning Psychopaths, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Are their brains not wired to feel what others feel, or do they just not care? (...)

    (...) Keysers is comparing 'normally' empathic people with those who lack empathy, such as people with autism, and psychopaths. He suspects that psychopaths may be able to recognize emotions in others but that they are also able to disconnect that recognition from their own emotions. "Our question is: do they do terrible things to other people because, unlike most of us, they do not share the pain they inflict?" (...).

  14. Malaria: Differential Parasite Drive, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Our knowledge of the inner workings of malaria parasites comes largely from lab-based studies. But parasites growing in humans may have greater metabolic flexibility than those growing in Petri dishes.

  15. Effect Of Remote Sea Surface Temperature Change On Tropical Cyclone Potential Intensity, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The response of tropical cyclone activity to global warming is widely debated. It is often assumed that warmer sea surface temperatures provide a more favourable environment for the development and intensification of tropical cyclones, but cyclone genesis and intensity are also affected by the vertical thermodynamic properties of the atmosphere. Here we use climate models and observational reconstructions to explore the relationship between changes in sea surface temperature and tropical cyclone 'potential intensity' - a measure that provides an upper bound on cyclone intensity and can also reflect the likelihood of cyclone development.

    1. Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is expected to exceed 500 parts per million and global temperatures to rise by at least 2 deg C by 2050 to 2100, values that significantly exceed those of at least the past 420,000 years during which most extant marine organisms evolved. Under conditions expected in the 21st century, global warming and ocean acidification will compromise carbonate accretion, with corals becoming increasingly rare on reef systems. The result will be less diverse reef communities and carbonate reef structures that fail to be maintained.
      • Source: Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, P. J. Mumby, A. J. Hooten, R. S. Steneck, P. Greenfield, E. Gomez, C. D. Harvell, P. F. Sale, A. J. Edwards, K. Caldeira, N. Knowlton, C. M. Eakin, R. Iglesias-Prieto, N. Muthiga, R. H. Bradbury, A. Dubi, M. E. Hatziolos, Science : 1737-1742., 07/12/14

    2. Complex Carbon Picture Clearer, Innovations-report Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: (...) looks at a poorly understood process with potentially critical consequences for climate change. (...) published the findings of their long-term study on the effects of increased plant litter on soil carbon and nutrient cycling (...). As CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise, increases in plant productivity - and litterfall - are likely. The study considers the impact of an increase in organic matter on the ground on processes belowground. Results suggest that the balance of carbon stored in the soils (thought to be a long-term sink for carbon) can be changed with the addition of fresh leaf litter. (...)

  16. Photonics: Rogue Waves Surface In Light, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: How do the freak waves that haunt seafarers' nightmares arise? We don't know, is the short answer - but the discovery of a similar phenomenon in optical waves might assist in getting to the bottom of the mystery. (...)

    Solli and colleagues' essential argument is that rogue waves, whether oceanic or optical, are associated with solitons. Generally speaking, solitons are particularly robust solitary wave packets that propagate in a dispersive medium (one in which a wave's speed depends on its wavelength) without becoming distorted.

    1. Optical Rogue Waves, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Recent observations show that the probability of encountering an extremely large rogue wave in the open ocean is much larger than expected from ordinary wave-amplitude statistics. Although considerable effort has been directed towards understanding the physics behind these mysterious and potentially destructive events, the complete picture remains uncertain.
      • Source: Optical Rogue Waves, D. R. Solli, C. Ropers, P. Koonath, B. Jalali, DOI: 10.1038/nature06402, Nature 450, 1054-1057, 07/12/13

  17. Physics: Simple Scheme Stores Light by Converting It Into Vibration and Back, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A few years ago, physicists slowed light to a crawl and then stopped it entirely (Science, 26 January 2001, p. 566). To do that, they exploited strange quantum-mechanical interactions between light and atoms in a gas, converting a pulse of light into a subtle arrangement of spinning atoms. On page 1748, three physicists report a simpler way to hit the brakes: They convert light in an optical fiber into a slow-moving vibration and then back into light.


    1. Stored Light in an Optical Fiber via Stimulated Brillouin Scattering, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: We describe a method for storing sequences of optical data pulses by converting them into long-lived acoustic excitations in an optical fiber through the process of stimulated Brillouin scattering. These stored pulses can be retrieved later, after a time interval limited by the lifetime of the acoustic excitation. In the experiment reported here, smooth 2-nanosecond-long pulses are stored for up to 12 nanoseconds with good readout efficiency: 29% at 4-nanosecond storage time and 2% at 12 nanoseconds.

    2. Enigmatic Clouds Illuminated - Satellite Data Shed Light On Twilight Skies., Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Noctilucent clouds form when water vapour condenses onto 'seed' particles in the mesosphere, the layer of the atmosphere that extends from about 50 to 80 kilometres up. They have appeared more frequently and at lower latitudes in recent years, perhaps as a result of rising concentrations of greenhouse gases. Increasing amounts of methane can result in more water vapour at the relevant altitudes, and rising levels of carbon dioxide cause temperatures in the mesosphere to drop, enhancing the conditions in which the clouds can occur. Noctilucent clouds typically form at temperatures of between -134 and -148 deg C.

  18. Move Over, Silicon: Advances Pave Way For Powerful Carbon-Based Electronics, PhysOrg.com Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Bypassing decades-old conventions in making computer chips, Princeton engineers developed a novel way to replace silicon with carbon on large surfaces, clearing the way for new generations of faster, more powerful cell phones, computers and other electronics.

    The electronics industry has pushed the capabilities of silicon -- the material at the heart of all computer chips -- to its limit, and one intriguing replacement has been carbon, said Stephen Chou, professor of electrical engineering.

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

    1. An 'All Elements Of Power' Strategy For Combating Terrorism, Washington Institute for Near East Policy Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: For the United States to make substantial progress in its global efforts against terrorism, it must employ a multi-layered strategy that makes full use of its range of resources. The United States must disrupt terror networks, fight extremism, support liberal institutions, combat government corruption, and continue to build its military and security programs. Since it is impossible to incarcerate or kill every terrorist, the United States must target the root causes of terrorism by supporting local democratization efforts and working to help countries achieve the rule of law.

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Habitat Split and the Global Decline of Amphibians, Carlos Guilherme Becker, Carlos Roberto Fonseca, C?lio Fernando Baptista Haddad, R?mulo Fernandes Batista, Paulo In?cio Prado, 07/12/14, Science : 1775-1777. Amphibians that must travel to water in order to breed are particularly threatened by landscape disruption, explaining the severe decline in amphibians with aquatic larvae.
      2. Rev-erb, a Heme Sensor That Coordinates Metabolic and Circadian Pathways, Lei Yin, Nan Wu, Joshua C. Curtin, Mohammed Qatanani, Nava R. Szwergold, Robert A. Reid, Gregory M. Waitt, Derek J. Parks, Kenneth H. Pearce, G. Bruce Wisely, Mitchell A. Lazar, 07/12/14, Science : 1786-1789. A nuclear receptor is a heme sensor that coordinates circadian and metabolic functions by controlling the expression of a major clock component and the gene for generating sugar., DOI: 10.1126/science.1150179
      3. Pulling Together: Mitotic Ring Self-Assembly Revealed, 07/12/15, Science News, A ring of proteins forms around the "waistlines" of cells to contract and split the cells in two, and scientists have now discovered how that ring self-assembles.
      4. Prairie Revival, 07/12/15, Science News, Prairie restoration is attracting interest, but because so little long-term monitoring and comparative studies have been done, researchers are still wondering whether it's really possible to re-create a prairie.
      5. Asymmetric Mating Interactions Drive Widespread Invasion and Displacement in a Whitefly, Shu-Sheng Liu, P. J. De Barro, Jing Xu, Jun-Bo Luan, Lian-Sheng Zang, Yong-Ming Ruan, Fang-Hao Wan, 07/14/08, Science: 1769-1772. The success of the invasive whitefly in China and Australia is the result of reproductive suppression of native populations by the invader., DOI: 10.1126/science.1149887
      6. Social Learning Of Novel Route Preferences In Adult Humans, S. M. Reader, M. J. Bruce, S. Rebers, 2007/12/11, Biological Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0544
      7. Dispersal Without Errors: Symmetrical Ears Tune Into The Right Frequency For Survival, M. Gagliano, M. Depczynski, S. D. Simpson, J. A.Y. Moore, 2007/12/11, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1388
      8. The Trade-Off Between Number And Size Of Offspring In Humans And Other Primates, R. S. Walker, M. Gurven, O. Burger, M. J. Hamilton, 2007/12/11, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1511
      9. Scholars Argue That TV Is Not Merely An Instrument Of War But Part Of Today's Terror, 2007/12/12, Innovations-report
      10. Nokia Outlines Sell Phone Concept: Smartphone Orders Goods In A Snap, G. Dixon, 2007/12/14, vnunet.com
      11. Large Earthquakes May Broadcast Warnings, But Is Anyone Tuning In To Listen?, 2007/12/14, Innovations-report
      12. Biometrics: Unlocking Doors With Your Eyes, 2007/12/14, ScienceDaily
      13. Laser Beam 'Fire Hose' Used To Sort Cells; Could Enable New Kinds Of Biological Research, 2007/12/17, ScienceDaily
      14. Mattering: What It Means To Matter In School, J. Stern, Aug. 2007, Education 3-13, DOI: 10.1080/03004270701467291
      15. Delivering Every Child Matters: The Central Role Of Social And Emotional Learning In Schools, K. Weare, Aug. 2007, Education 3-13, DOI: 10.1080/03004270701467226
      16. Of Dowries And Brides: A Structural Analysis Of Israel's Occupation, S. Blackburn, Dec. 2007, New Political Science, DOI: 10.1080/07393140701740916

    2. Webcast Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. 7th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 07/10/28-11/02
      2. Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007
      3. World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 07/01/24-28
      4. TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006
      5. Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03
      6. Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments, and the Media 2006, Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/03-05
      7. 6th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30
      8. Artificial Life X, 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington, IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07
      9. 6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18
      10. Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
      11. An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
      12. Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
      13. Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
      14. Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
      15. ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
      16. T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, The Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), Podcast
      17. 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
      18. Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19
      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
      20. 1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
      21. From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
      22. Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
      23. International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
      24. Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994
      25. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      26. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
      27. Edge Videos

    3. Conference Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Winter School 2008: Chemical Discrimination and Localization using Biologically Based Olfactory Processing, San Diego, CA, 08/01/10-12
      2. Evolution and Physics Concepts, Models and Applications, Bad Honnef, Germany, 08/01/21-23
      3. The 1st Conf on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-08), Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 08/03/01-03
      4. The 3rd Intl Nonlinear Sciences Conference (INSC), Tokyo, Japan, 08/03/13-15
      5. 19th European Meeting On Cybernetics And Systems Research, (EMCSR 2008), Vienna, Austria, 08/03/25-28
      6. 2nd KES Intl Symp on Agent and Multi-Agent Systems : Technologies and Applications, Incheon, Korea, 08/03/26-28
      7. 2nd Applied Neuroscience Meeting, Monterrey, Mexico, 08/04/03-06
      8. Fumee 1 - 1St Futures Meeting - Understanding Anticipatory Systems, Rovereto (Italy), 08/04/10-12
      9. 1st Intl Conf on Social Entrepreneurship & Complexity, Garden City, NY, USA, 08/04/10-12
      10. CHAOS2008 Chaotic Modeling and Simulation International Conference, Chania, Crete, Greece, 08/06/03-06
      11. Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Tenth Annual... Applying Systems Biology, San Francisco, CA, 08/06/09-11
      12. 9nd Intl Mathematica Symposium, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 08/06/20-24
      13. The 14th Intl Conf on Auditory Display (ICAD), Paris, France, 08/06/24-27
      14. The 12th World Multi-Conf on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2008, Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02
      15. From Animals To Animats 10 - The 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation Of Adaptive Behavior (SAB'08), Osaka, Japan, 08/07/07-12
      16. Stochastic Resonance 2008, Perugia, Italy, 08/08/17-21

    4. Other Announcements Bookmark and Share

      1. " Wolfram Research is Now the Official Math Brain Trust for the Hit CBS Series NUMB3RS. 07/10/05
      2. A short notice from Dean LeBaron

        Dear ComDig Readers,

        Our editor, Dr. Gottfried Mayer, is affectionately esteemed by many of you -- as readers, you know he devotes himself unselfishly to widening our knowledge of complexity science. He was recently diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and given a timetable of a very few years. Knowing Gottfried, you can imagine that, in addition to the customary processes of chemotherapy, he would explore other frontier therapies, especially those arising out of interdisciplinary applications of complexity. These are expensive ... if he can find them.

        Many of you have sent your good wishes and indicated your desire to assist. With Gottfried's permission, I am posting this note with information, below, about how to send contributions to him. Please indicate the source since Gottfried will want to express his warm gratitude.

        I know that Gottfried, the good scientist that he is, will explain from time to time what he is doing and what the results are ... and we will follow his progress with great interest and hope.

        Dean LeBaron
        Publisher, Complexity Digest

        Bank Information:

        If your contribution is made by check:
        Please mail the check, payable to "Gottfried Mayer", to:
        Manufacturers & Traders Trust
        2080 Western Avenue
        20 Mall
        Guilderland, NY 12084 USA
        (on the back of the check, please write: "For Deposit Only: Account # 983 338 3814")

        If your contribution is made by wire:
        Manufacturers & Traders Trust
        2080 Western Avenue
        20 Mall

        Guilderland, NY 12084 USA
        SWIFT Code# MANTUS33
        UID: 209 791
        ABA routing # 022 00 00 46 [for US wire transfers]
        Account # 983 338 3814
        Ref. Gottfried Mayer

      3. Intl Master of Science in Methods For Management Of Complex Systems - Academic Year 2007-2008, Institute for Advanced Study, Pavia, Italy, 08/01/01
      4. News notes on Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE) for July 2007 are now available on-line, 07/08/04
      5. National Humanities Center Launches Humanities/Sciences Website, 07/04, As part of its ongoing "Autonomy, Singularity, Creativity: The Human & The Humanities" project (ASC), the National Humanities Center makes public a new website for the initiative which significantly expands the potential pool of humanists and scientists engaged in the exploration and examination of topics surrounding the question of human being.

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