Complexity Digest 2008.52

28-Dec-2008

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Content

  1. Waiting for the Death of the Chicago and Keynesian Schools, Seeking Alpha
  2. Being Human: Migration: An Engine For Social Change, Nature
  3. The Chaos Inside a Cancer Cell, NY Times
  4. Transcription: Gene Expression--Where to Start?, Science
  5. Blind Man 'Sees' His Way Past Obstacles, New Scientist
    1. Brain Works Better With Neurological Disease, New Scientist
  6. A Mysterious Link Between Sleeplessness and Heart Disease, NY Times
  7. Science's Breakthrough Of The Year: Cellular Reprogramming, Science Daily
    1. Nuclear Reprogramming in Cells, Science
  8. Representation of Geometric Borders in the Entorhinal Cortex, Science
  9. Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering At Home, Yahoo News
  10. The Year In Biomedicine - Brain Trauma Among Soldiers, A $5,000 Genome, Cellular Switches, And Insight Into The Brain's Beauty., Technology Review
    1. Malaria: Signs of Drug Resistance Rattle Experts, Trigger Bold Plan, Science
  11. The Year Online - The Business Of Social Networking, Cloud Computing, And A Flaw In The Fabric Of The Internet., Technology Review
    1. Mobile Phones To Be Primary Internet Device By 2020, Experts Predict, Network World
  12. Supersonic Fighters Could Snuff Out Hurricanes - Russians Patent Shockwave Storm-Squelch Scheme, Environment
  13. A Year In The Quantum World, New Scientist
    1. Diamond 'Wires' - Quantum Computing's Best Friend, New Scientist
  14. Evolution: Who's Your Daddy?, Science
    1. Avian Paternal Care Had Dinosaur Origin, Science
  15. Group Decisions In Humans And Animals: A Survey, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
  16. Reciprocity, Culture And Human Cooperation: Previous Insights And A New Cross-Cultural Experiment, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
  17. Leadership, Consensus Decision Making And Collective Behaviour In Humans, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
  18. Complexity-Entropy Diagrams And The Diversity Of Natural Information Processing, Chaos
    1. Condensed-Matter Physics: The Eternal Triangle, Nature
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. U.S. Homeland Security Seeks To Arm Commercial Airliners With Antimissile Lasers, Sci.Am
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference Announcements
    4. Other Announcements

  1. Waiting for the Death of the Chicago and Keynesian Schools, Seeking Alpha Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Bloomberg wrote a piece over the puzzlement that many in the Chicago School of Economics feel at the present time with all of the distress in the markets. After all, don't markets self-correct? Sadly, no, not all the time, or, at least not with high speed during credit crunches. (All of the econometric studies I have done note a weak tendency to mean reversion in financial markets, even excluding periods where there are credit difficulties.)

  2. Being Human: Migration: An Engine For Social Change, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The movement of people into societies that offer a better way of life is a more powerful driver of cultural evolution than conflict and conquest, (...).

    The government envisioned by Confucius, and implemented by Han Dynasty emperors centuries after his death, was the engine of assimilation for the peoples of south China. US revolutionaries and British Commonwealth reformers built societies that have proven highly attractive to incomers.

    As long as they vote with their feet and hearts, immigrants are a more powerful engine for social change than armies.

  3. The Chaos Inside a Cancer Cell, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
    The graphic summarizes their results. Round the outer ring are shown the 23 chromosomes of the human genome. The lines in blue, in the third ring, show internal rearrangements, in which a stretch of DNA has been moved from one site to another within the same chromosome. The red lines, in the bull's eye, designate switches of DNA from one chromosome to another.

    One of the rearrangements disrupts a gene called RAD51C which is involved in mending serious chromosome breaks, those in which both strands in the DNA are disrupted. The impairment of double strand break repair could be a major cause of all the other rearrangements, the researchers suggest.

  4. Transcription: Gene Expression--Where to Start?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: To convert the encoded genetic information from eukaryotic DNA into proteins, base sequences of genes are first transcribed into RNA by RNA polymerase II. To produce functional RNA molecules, dozens of accessory factors are needed to define the proper locations for RNA polymerase II to begin and end transcription. Although we have some basic knowledge about how these factors work, it is still not possible to take a eukaryotic genome sequence and accurately predict what RNA species it will produce.

  5. Blind Man 'Sees' His Way Past Obstacles, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Although this ability had previously been observed in blind monkeys with a damaged visual cortex, it has never before been seen in humans, the researchers claim in the journal Current Biology.

    TN's ability is a rare form of "blindsight" - a condition where brain-damaged individuals who don't have a mental image of their surroundings still subconsciously react to visual information.

    1. Brain Works Better With Neurological Disease, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Huntington's worsens ability at most cognitive tests, but in this one the people with Huntington's performed better: they had an average reaction time of 0.5 seconds, compared with 0.64 seconds for the controls. They also made fewer errors (The Journal of Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2659-08.2008).

      Beste has an idea why this is so. How Huntington's damages the brain is a mystery, but one explanation is that neurons become abnormally sensitive to the neurotransmitter glutamate, and eventually die off as a result.

  6. A Mysterious Link Between Sleeplessness and Heart Disease, NY Times Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: People who don't get much sleep are more likely than those who do to develop calcium deposits in their coronary arteries, possibly raising their risk for heart disease, a new study has found.

    The 495 participants in the study filled out sleep questionnaires and kept a log of their hours in bed. At night they also wore motion-sensing devices around their wrists that estimate the number of hours of actual sleep. At the beginning, none of the participants, who were ages 35 to 47, had evidence of coronary artery calcification.

  7. Science's Breakthrough Of The Year: Cellular Reprogramming, Science Daily Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: In its annual list of the year's top ten scientific breakthroughs, the journal Science has given top honors to research that produced "made-to-order" cell lines by reprogramming cells from ill patients. These cell lines, and the techniques for producing them, offer long-sought tools for understanding -- and hopefully someday curing -- difficult-to-study diseases such as Parkinson's disease and type 1 diabetes.

    1. Nuclear Reprogramming in Cells, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Nuclear reprogramming describes a switch in gene expression of one kind of cell to that of another unrelated cell type. Early studies in frog cloning provided some of the first experimental evidence for reprogramming. Subsequent procedures included mammalian somatic cell nuclear transfer, cell fusion, induction of pluripotency by ectopic gene expression, and direct reprogramming. Through these methods it becomes possible to derive one kind of specialized cell (such as a brain cell) from another, more accessible, tissue (such as skin) in the same individual.

  8. Representation of Geometric Borders in the Entorhinal Cortex, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A previously unknown cell type in the brain's cortex encodes geometric boundaries of the nearby environment, perhaps providing a frame of reference.

    We report the existence of an entorhinal cell type that fires when an animal is close to the borders of the proximal environment. The orientation-specific edge-apposing activity of these "border cells" is maintained when the environment is stretched and during testing in enclosures of different size and shape in different rooms.

  9. Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering At Home, Yahoo News Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: So far, no major gene-splicing discoveries have come out anybody's kitchen or garage.

    But critics of the movement worry that these amateurs could one day unleash an environmental or medical disaster. Defenders say the future Bill Gates of biotech could be developing a cure for cancer in the garage. Many of these amateurs may have studied biology in college but have no advanced degrees and are not earning a living in the biotechnology field. Some proudly call themselves "biohackers" - innovators who push technological boundaries and put the spread of knowledge before profits.

  10. The Year In Biomedicine - Brain Trauma Among Soldiers, A $5,000 Genome, Cellular Switches, And Insight Into The Brain's Beauty., Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts:
    Hidden wounds: Scientists have developed new methods to measure subtle brain injuries not visible on traditional brain scans. Here, a version of MRI known as magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging is used to measure the levels of two chemicals--NAA and choline--in the brains of brain-injury patients and healthy controls. In the images above, the redder the color, the higher the ratio of choline to NAA. Brain-injury patients (bottom three rows) have a higher ratio of choline to NAA than do healthy people (top row). Credit: Andrew Maudsley
    In July, scientists unveiled the first detailed map of the network of connections in the human cortex. The feat required a combination of network analysis and a specialized version of magnetic resonance imaging that can measure the long thin wires that connect brain cells. The map revealed a highly interconnected central hub in the back of the brain.

    A photo essay and interactive movies published online in November show brain images generated with this approach, called diffusion spectrum imaging.

    1. Malaria: Signs of Drug Resistance Rattle Experts, Trigger Bold Plan, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: According to several worrisome studies presented here last week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, resistance against artemisinin-based combination therapies, the gold standard in fighting malaria, seems to be developing in western Cambodia, along the Thai border.

  11. The Year Online - The Business Of Social Networking, Cloud Computing, And A Flaw In The Fabric Of The Internet., Technology Review Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Our collective obsession with social-networking sites continued in 2008, as did their search for a viable business model. (See "Social Networking Is Not a Business.") Although economic conditions have been grim for the industry in the past few months (see "Are Social Networks Sinking?"), enthusiasm for the sites continues to run high. Twitter, a popular but non-money-making poster child for the whole Web 2.0 industry, spawned an ecosystem of competitors, knockoffs, plug-ins, and add-ons (see "A Brief History of Microblogging"), some of which struggled to stay afloat as the site strained under the ever-increasing amount of data produced and requested by its users.

    1. Mobile Phones To Be Primary Internet Device By 2020, Experts Predict, Network World Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: 55% of experts say people will routinely interact in artificial spaces through virtual worlds and other types of "augmented reality." "Most well-equipped Internet users will spend some part of their waking hours - at work and at play - at least partially linked to augmentations of the real world or alternate worlds," Pew states. "This lifestyle involves seamless transitions between artificial reality, virtual reality, and the status formerly known as 'real life.' "

      Voice-activation and touch will be common technology interfaces by 2020, according to nearly two-thirds of experts.

  12. Supersonic Fighters Could Snuff Out Hurricanes - Russians Patent Shockwave Storm-Squelch Scheme, Environment Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: A Russian professor at an Ohio university has applied to patent a method for snuffing out hurricanes by flying jet fighters around the eye of the storm at supersonic speeds.

    Professor Arkadii Leonov and his collaborator Atanas Gagov, both of Akron Uni, actually filed their patent application "Hurricane Suppression by Supersonic Boom" last year. It was unearthed by the New Scientist patents column this week.

  13. A Year In The Quantum World, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: If successful scientific theories can be thought of as cures for stubborn problems, quantum physics was the wonder drug of the 20th century. It successfully explained phenomena such as radioactivity and antimatter, and no other theory can match its description of how light and particles behave on small scales.

    The quantum world is now one of the most closely scrutinised areas of science, and throughout 2008 new discoveries have poured in.

    1. Diamond 'Wires' - Quantum Computing's Best Friend, New Scientist Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: Quantum computers hold "qubits" of information stored in the quantum properties of a system, for example, a single photon or a cloud of gas atoms in a gas. Diamond can be used to generate single photons and create qubits by writing information into their quantum states.

      What's more, diamond can shield the photons from external influences, preventing unwanted modification of the stored data. And unlike other qubit techologies, which require supercooling, diamond operates fine at room temperature.

  14. Evolution: Who's Your Daddy?, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: The recognition that birds are theropod dinosaurs has redefined the science of ornithology as extant dinosaur biology (1). The placement of birds in a detailed evolutionary context has led to exciting discoveries about the commonalities birds share with their dinosaur ancestors, including feathers (2) and possibly flight (3). Insights have been gained into both the origins of avian biology and the natural history of some of the most charismatic dinosaurs--the meat-eating, bipedal theropods.

    1. Avian Paternal Care Had Dinosaur Origin, Science Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The large egg clutches of troodontid and oviraptor dinosaurs and evidence that fossils of brooding dinosaurs were males shows that paternal care was ancestral to birds.

      The repeated discovery of adult dinosaurs in close association with egg clutches leads to speculation over the type and extent of care exhibited by these extinct animals for their eggs and young. To assess parental care in Cretaceous troodontid and oviraptorid dinosaurs, we examined clutch volume and the bone histology of brooding adults.

  15. Group Decisions In Humans And Animals: A Survey, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Humans routinely make many decisions collectively, whether they choose a restaurant with friends, elect political leaders or decide actions to tackle international problems, such as climate change, that affect the future of the whole planet. We might be less aware of it, but group decisions are just as important to social animals as they are for us. Animal groups have to collectively decide about communal movements, activities, nesting sites and enterprises, such as cooperative breeding or hunting, that crucially affect their survival and reproduction. (...) The purpose of the present issue is to integrate and combine approaches in the social and natural sciences (...).

  16. Reciprocity, Culture And Human Cooperation: Previous Insights And A New Cross-Cultural Experiment, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: Understanding the proximate and ultimate sources of human cooperation is a fundamental issue in all behavioural sciences. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on how people solve cooperation problems. Existing studies show without doubt that direct and indirect reciprocity are important determinants of successful cooperation. We also discuss the insights from a large literature on the role of peer punishment in sustaining cooperation. The experiments demonstrate that many people are ‘strong reciprocators' who are willing to cooperate and punish others even if there are no gains from future cooperation or any other reputational gains. We document this in new one-shot experiments, (...).

  17. Leadership, Consensus Decision Making And Collective Behaviour In Humans, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc. Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpt: This paper reviews the literature on leadership in vertebrate groups, including recent work on human groups, before presenting the results of three new experiments looking at leadership and decision making in small and large human groups. In experiment 1, we find that both group size and the presence of uninformed individuals can affect the speed with which small human groups (eight people) decide between two opposing directional preferences and the likelihood of the group splitting. In experiment 2, we show that the spatial positioning of informed individuals within small human groups (10 people) can affect the speed and accuracy of group motion. (...)

  18. Complexity-Entropy Diagrams And The Diversity Of Natural Information Processing, Chaos Next Article Bookmark and Share

    Excerpts: Intrinsic computation refers to how dynamical systems store, structure, and transform historical and spatial information. By graphing a measure of structural complexity against a measure of randomness, complexity-entropy diagrams display the different kinds of intrinsic computation across an entire class of systems. Here, we use complexity-entropy diagrams to analyze intrinsic computation in a broad array of deterministic nonlinear and linear stochastic processes, including maps of the interval, cellular automata, (...). Since complexity-entropy diagrams are a function only of observed configurations, they can be used to compare systems without reference to system coordinates or parameters. (...)

    1. Condensed-Matter Physics: The Eternal Triangle, Nature Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts: The frustration that atomic interactions can undergo is not unlike that occurring when human aims are thwarted. An elegant study offers a way of visualizing the hitherto mysterious dynamics of 'frustrated' systems. (...)

      The properties of 'frustrated' systems offer a classic example of the end result being greater than the sum of the parts - the geometry of the atomic lattice in such systems prevents the simultaneous minimization of the interaction energies between the neighbouring atoms, precluding the existence of a unique ground state - and explain why they have long been at the forefront of research in the physical sciences.

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

    1. U.S. Homeland Security Seeks To Arm Commercial Airliners With Antimissile Lasers, Sci.Am Next Article Bookmark and Share

      Excerpts:
      The test is part of Homeland Security's work to fend off potential "Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems" (MANPADS) attacks, primarily shoulder-launched antiaircraft missiles, reports Defense Update, a U.K. bi-monthly defense magazine published online. BAE Systems already makes infrared defense systems for use on military aircraft.

      Travelers would prefer to believe that it's impossible for a terrorist with a shoulder-mounted antiaircraft missile launcher to gain access to a runway. But it's not. In 2002 attackers fired two missiles at an Arkia Airlines charter flight taking Israeli tourists from Mombasa, Kenya, to Tel Aviv (the missiles narrowly missed). Homeland Security is taking steps to prevent a replay in this country.

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article Bookmark and Share

    1. Other Publications Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Behavioural Social Choice: A Status Report, M. Regenwetter, B. Grofman, A. Popova, W. Messner, C. P. D.-Stober, D. R. Cavagnaro, 2008/12/12, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0259
      2. Conflicts Of Interest And The Evolution Of Decision Sharing, L. Conradt, T. J. Roper, 2008/12/12, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0257
      3. New Font Uses Holes To Cut Ink Use: Free Ecofont Claims To Reduce Ink Costs By 20 Per Cent, I. Williams, 2008/12/17, vnunet.com
      4. How Mirror Neurons Allow Us To Learn And Socialise By Going Through The Motions In The Head, 2008/12/19, Innovations-report
      5. Why Don't We Read So Well On A Screen?, 2008/12/19, Innovations-report
      6. God Or Science? A Belief In One Weakens Positive Feelings For The Other, 2008/12/19, ScienceDaily & University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
      7. Cry Me A River: The Psychology Of Crying, 2008/12/19, ScienceDaily & Association for Psychological Science
      8. Pain Hurts More If Person Hurting You Means It, 2008/12/20, ScienceDaily & Harvard University
      9. Say It In Song: Researcher Deciphers Meaning Within Bird Communication, 2008/12/21, ScienceDaily & Cornell University
      10. Can Possible Evolutionary Outcomes Be Determined Directly From The Population Dynamics?, A. Hoyle - a.hoyleamaths.stir.ac.uk, R. G. Bowers, Dec. 2008, online 2008/09/23, Theoretical Population Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2008.09.002
      11. Synchronization-Based Scalability Of Complex Clustered Networks, X. Ma, L. Huang, Y.-C. Lai, Y. Wang, Z. Zheng, Dec. 2008, online 2008/11/06, Chaos, DOI: 10.1063/1.3005782
      12. On The Bifurcation Of Species, M. A. Bees, P. H. Coullet, E. A. Spiegel, Dec. 2008, online 2008/11/14, Chaos, DOI: 10.1063/1.3009196

    2. Webcast Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. Can Ants Solve Traffic Jams?, Danielle Parsons, Slatev.com, 08/07/22

        As roads and highways become ever more clogged, Danielle Parsons tells us how researchers are studying ways to learn from nature's own traffic-flow experts: ants.

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

    3. Conference Announcements Next Article Bookmark and Share

      1. NECSI Winter School, Cambridge, MA, 09/01/05-23
      2. Winter School - Chemical Discrimination and Localization using Biologically Based Olfactory Processing, San Diego, CA, 09/01/12-13
      3. COMPLEX'2009, First Intl Conf on Complex Systems: Theory and Applications, Shanghai, China, 09/02/23-25
      4. 3rd Biennial International Transdisciplinary Seminar on the Complexity Approach, Camaguey, Cuba. 09/02/23-27
      5. Models and Simulations 3 Conference, Charlottesville, USA 09/03/05-07
      6. 2nd Conf on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-09.org), Arlington, Virginia, 09/03/06-09
      7. 2009 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, Nashville, Tennessee, USA,09/03/30-04/02
      8. 7th Annual Bio-IT World Conference & Expo, 09/04/27-29, Boston, MA
      9. 2nd Chaotic Modeling and Simulation International Conference (CHAOS2009), Chania, Crete, Greece, 09/06/01-05
      10. 20th Intl Conf on Noise and Fluctuations, Pisa, Italy, 09/06/14-19
      11. 17th Intl Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics of Electronic Systems (NDES 2009), Rapperswil, Switzerland, 09/06/21-24
      12. 7th Intl Conf on Computing, Communications and Control Technologies: CCCT 2009, Orlando, Florida, USA., 09/07/10-13
      13. The 19th Annual Intl Conf Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences , Milwaukee, WI USA, 09/07/23-25
      14. 2009 Intl Conf of the System Dynamics Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 09/07/26-30
      15. 5th Intl Conf on Fractals and Dynamic Systems in Geoscience, Townsville, Australia, 09/08/13-14

    4. Other Announcements Bookmark and Share

      1. 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
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        (on the back of the check, please write: "For Deposit Only: Account # 983 338 3814")

        If your contribution is made by wire:
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