[tt] Complexity Digest 2007.38 (text version -2)
Eugen Leitl
<eugen at leitl.org> on
Sun Oct 7 12:10:55 UTC 2007
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Subject: Complexity Digest 2007.38 (text version -2)
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Complexity Digest 2007.38 5-Oct-2007
Archive: [1]http://www.comdig.org, European Mirror: [2]http://www.comdig.de
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"I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Stephen
Hawking, 2000
_________________________________________________________________
PDF files of our annual editions are available at
www.comdig.de/AnnualEditions.html
A letter from Gottfried Mayer to our readers and friends is at
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_________________________________________________________________
01. Google Testing "My World" For Launch Later This Year, ars technica
01.01. Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped, Foreign Policy
01.02. Fire And Flood Management Of Coastal Swamp Enabled First Rice Paddy
Cultivation In East China, Nature
02. Storytelling, Time, and Evolution: The Role of Strategic Leadership in
Complex Adaptive Systems, The Leadership Quarterly
02.01. Human Cooperation In Social Dilemmas: Comparing The Snowdrift Game With
The Prisoner's Dilemma, Proc. Biol. Sc.
02.02. The Social Network Of Contemporary Popular Musicians, Int. J. Bifur. &
Chaos
02.03. Using Graph Concepts To Understand The Organization Of Complex Systems,
Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos
03. Cockroaches Are Morons In The Morning, Geniuses In The Evening,
ScienceDaily
04. Genomics: Deep Questions In The Tree Of Life, Science
05. Late Archean Biospheric Oxygenation and Atmospheric Evolution, Science
05.01. A Whiff of Oxygen Before the Great Oxidation Event?, Science
06. From Bit to It: How a Complex Metabolic Network Transforms Information into
Living Matter, SFI Working Papers
07. Non-linear Dynamics and Leadership Emergence, The Leadership Quarterly
08. Correlated Evolution and Dietary Change in Fossil Stickleback, Science
09. Clever Plants 'Chat' Over Their Own Network, ScienceDaily
09.01. Bacteria May Be Wiring Up The Soil, Nature
10. Neuroscience: Uncovering The Magic In Magnetic Brain Stimulation, Science
10.01. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Elicits Coupled Neural and Hemodynamic
Consequences, Science
10.02. The Fractionation Of Spoken Language Understanding By Measuring
Electrical And Magnetic Brain Signals, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
11. Immunology: Changed Destiny, Nature
11.01. Taking Dendritic Cells Into Medicine, Nature
12. Ocean Pipes Could Help The Earth To Cure Itself, Nature
13. Electron Superhighway - Can Graphene Overtake Silicon As The Essential
Ingredient Of Computer Chips?, Science
14. Fluid Theory Confirmed By Foton, ESA
15. Physicists Tackle Knotty Puzzle, PhysOrg.com
16. Quantum Physics: Qubits Ride The Photon Bus, Nature
16.01. Physics: Quantum Weirdness in the Lab, Science
16.02. Probing Quantum Commutation Rules by Addition and Subtraction of Single
Photons to/from a Light Field, Science
16.03. Physics: Does Our Universe Allow for Robust Quantum Computation?,
Science
17. Cosmology: A Singular Conundrum: How Odd Is Our Universe?, Science
18. Symmetrized Characterization of Noisy Quantum Processes, Science
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. Staged Cyber Attack Reveals Vulnerability In Power Grid, CNN
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference Announcements
20.04. Other Announcements
_________________________________________________________________
01. Google Testing "My World" For Launch Later This Year , ars technica
Excerpts: Google Earth CTO Michael Jones insisted (first comment after the
post) in January that Google Earth would always remain true to the real world
and not dive into the type of fantasy world that Second Life has become.
Therefore, Google's implementation would be more like "First Life," but in
virtual form. If "My World" turns out to be a virtual representation of real
life, however, it seems natural to question the purpose of launching such a
service. We could, after all, just step outside and see these things from the
vantage point of a real human, not a virtual one.
* [4] Google Testing "My World" For Launch Later This Year, Jacqui Cheng,
07/09/24, ars technica
[4]
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070924-google-testing-my-world-for-launc
h-later-this-year.html
_________________________________________________________________
01.01. Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped , Foreign Policy
Excerpts: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images Plan B: Saving the world's
most fragile places may require a new approach. Developed countries, which
have produced most of the human-origin carbon dioxide in the air, will be in
the best position to cope with climate change and developing countries will
want them to bear a disproportionate financial burden for its consequences.
Still, we do have some of the tools we will need already. International lenders
like the World Bank have only begun to invest in projects that reduce greenhous
e
gas emissions; they need to give greater emphasis to projects that limit
developing countries' vulnerabilities to climate change.
* [5] Why Climate Change Can't Be Stopped, Paul J. Saunders, Vaughan Turekian,
07/09, Foreign Policy
[5] http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3980
_________________________________________________________________
01.02. Fire And Flood Management Of Coastal Swamp Enabled First Rice Paddy
Cultivation In East China , Nature
Excerpts: The adoption of cereal cultivation was one of the most important
cultural processes in history, marking the transition from hunting and
gathering by Mesolithic foragers to the food-producing economy of Neolithic
farmers. In the Lower Yangtze region of China, a centre of rice domestication,
the timing and system of initial rice cultivation remain unclear. Here we
report detailed evidence from Kuahuqiao that reveals the precise cultural and
environmental context of rice cultivation at this earliest known Neolithic site
in eastern China, 7,700 calibrated years before present (cal. yr bp).
* [6] Fire And Flood Management Of Coastal Swamp Enabled First Rice Paddy
Cultivation In East China, Y. Zong, Z. Chen, J. B. Innes, C. Chen, Z. Wang,
H. Wang, 07/09/27, DOI: 10.1038/nature06135, Nature 449, 459-462
[6] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/nature06135.html
_________________________________________________________________
02. Storytelling, Time, and Evolution: The Role of Strategic Leadership in
Complex Adaptive Systems , The Leadership Quarterly
Abstract: Organizations are increasingly being described as complex adaptive
systems (CAS). In this view, the behavior and structure of an organization
emerges out of the interaction of a collection of organizational agents.
Seemingly, there is no role for strategic leadership because the system
self-organizes. We argue that strategic leaders play a crucial role in moving
organizations to the "edge of chaos" and aid in organizational learning and
adaptation by influencing the tags that produce the structure of interactions
among organizational agents. Through dialogue and storytelling, strategic
leaders shape the evolution of agent interactions and construct the shared
meanings that provide the rationale by which the past, the present, and the
future of the organization coalesce.
* [7] Storytelling, Time, and Evolution: The Role of Strategic Leadership in
Complex Adaptive Systems, Kimberly B. Boal and Patrick L. Schultz, 2007/08,
DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.04.008, The Leadership Quarterly 18(4):411-428
* Contributed by [8] Carlos Gershenson
[7] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.04.008
[8] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
02.01. Human Cooperation In Social Dilemmas: Comparing The Snowdrift Game With
The Prisoner's Dilemma , Proc. Biol. Sc.
Excerpts: Explaining the evolution of cooperation among non-relatives is one of
the major challenges for evolutionary biology. In this study, we experimentally
examined human cooperation in the iterated Snowdrift game (ISD), which has
received little attention so far, and compared it with human cooperation in the
iterated Prisoner's Dilemma (IPD), which has become the paradigm for the
evolution of cooperation. We show that iteration in the ISD leads to
consistently higher levels of cooperation than in the IPD. (...) Altogether,
our study shows that the ISD can potentially explain high levels of cooperation
among non-relatives in humans. (...)
* [9] Human Cooperation In Social Dilemmas: Comparing The Snowdrift Game With
The Prisoner's Dilemma, R. Kümmerli , C. Colliard , N. Fiechter , B.
Petitpierre , F. Russier , L. Keller, 2007/09/25, DOI:
10.1098/rspb.2007.0793, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences
* Contributed by [10] Atin Das
[9]
http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/k12643123r6p0517/?p=94a0e449216a4bda
932871df26b2f74f&pi=3
[10] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
02.02. The Social Network Of Contemporary Popular Musicians , Int. J. Bifur. &
Chaos
Excerpt: In this paper, we analyze two social network datasets of contemporary
musicians constructed from allmusic.com (AMG), a music and artists' information
database: one is the collaboration network in which two musicians are connected
if they have performed or produced an album together, and the other is the
similarity network in which they are connected if they were musically similar
according to the music experts. We find that, while both networks exhibit
typical features of social networks such as high transitivity (clustering), we
find that they differ significantly in some key network features such as the
degree and the betweenness distributions. (...)
* [11] The Social Network Of Contemporary Popular Musicians, J. Park , O.
Celma , M. Koppenberger , P. Cano , J. M. Buld? Jul. 2007, DOI:
10.1142/S0218127407018385, International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos
* Contributed by [12] Pritha Das
[11]
http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/details.cgi?id=pii:S0218127407018385&type=ht
ml
[12] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________________
02.03. Using Graph Concepts To Understand The Organization Of Complex Systems ,
Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos
Abstract: Complex networks are universal, arising in fields as disparate as
sociology, physics and biology. In the past decade, extensive research into the
properties and behaviors of complex systems has uncovered surprising
commonalities among the topologies of different systems. Attempts to explain
these similarities have led to the ongoing development and refinement of
network models and graph-theoretical analysis techniques with which to
characterize and understand complexity. In this tutorial, we demonstrate
through illustrative examples, how network measures and models have contributed
to the elucidation of the organization of complex systems.
* [13] Using Graph Concepts To Understand The Organization Of Complex Systems,
[14] C. Christensen, [15] R. Albert, Jul. 2007, DOI: 10.1142/S021812740701835X,
International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos
* Contributed by [16] Pritha Das
[13]
http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/details.cgi?id=pii:S021812740701835X&type=ht
ml
[14] mailto:cpc146 at phys.psu.edu
[15] mailto:rza1 at psu.edu
[16] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________________
03. Cockroaches Are Morons In The Morning, Geniuses In The Evening ,
ScienceDaily
Excerpts: In its ability to learn, the cockroach is a moron in the morning and
a genius in the evening. "This is the first example of an insect whose ability
to learn is controlled by its biological clock," says (...). The few studies
that have been done with mammals suggest their ability to learn also varies
with the time of day. For example, a recent experiment with humans found that
people's ability to acquire new information is reduced when their biological
clocks are disrupted, particularly at certain times of day. (...) have found
that these processes are modulated by their circadian clocks. (...)
* [17] Cockroaches Are Morons In The Morning, Geniuses In The Evening,
2007/09/28, ScienceDaily & Vanderbilt University
* Contributed by [18] Atin Das
[17] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070927132543.htm
[18] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
04. Genomics: Deep Questions In The Tree Of Life , Science
Excerpts: A genome sequence might provide answers to major questions about the
biology and evolutionary history of an organism. Alternatively, it might reveal
more problems than solutions, and its true value then lies in identifying what
questions to ask. Perhaps the most interesting genomes do both: They are a
panacea and a Pandora's box. On page [19] 1921in this issue, Morrison et al. (
[20] 1) describe such a genome from the diplomonad protist Giardia lamblia, a
human intestinal parasite.
* [21] Genomics: Deep Questions In The Tree Of Life, Patrick J. Keeling,
07/09/28, Science : 1875-1876.
[19] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1921
[20] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1875#ref1
[21] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1875
_________________________________________________________________
05. Late Archean Biospheric Oxygenation and Atmospheric Evolution , Science
Excerpts: High-resolution geochemical analyses of organic-rich shale and
carbonate through the 2500 million-year-old Mount McRae Shale in the Hamersley
Basin of northwestern Australia record changes in both the oxidation state of
the surface ocean and the atmospheric composition. The Mount McRae record of
sulfur isotopes captures the widespread and possibly permanent activation of
the oxidative sulfur cycle for perhaps the first time in Earth's history. The
correlation of the time-series sulfur isotope signals in northwestern Australia
with equivalent strata from South Africa suggests that changes in the exogenic
sulfur cycle recorded in marine sediments were global in scope and were linked
to atmospheric evolution.
* [22] Late Archean Biospheric Oxygenation and Atmospheric Evolution, Alan J.
Kaufman, David T. Johnston, James Farquhar, Andrew L. Masterson, Timothy W.
Lyons, Steve Bates, Ariel D. Anbar, Gail L. Arnold, Jessica Garvin, Roger
Buick, 07/09/28, DOI: 10.1126/science.1138700, Science : Vol. 317. no. 5846,
pp. 1900 - 1903
[22] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1900
_________________________________________________________________
05.01. A Whiff of Oxygen Before the Great Oxidation Event? , Science
Excerpts: High-resolution chemostratigraphy reveals an episode of enrichment of
the redox-sensitive transition metals molybdenum and rhenium in the late Archea
n
Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia. Correlations with organic carbon
indicate that these metals were derived from contemporaneous seawater.
Rhenium/osmium geochronology demonstrates that the enrichment is a primary
sedimentary feature dating to 2501 +- 8 million years ago (Ma). Molybdenum and
rhenium were probably supplied to Archean oceans by oxidative weathering of
crustal sulfide minerals.
* [23] A Whiff of Oxygen Before the Great Oxidation Event?, Ariel D. Anbar,
Yun Duan, Timothy W. Lyons, Gail L. Arnold, Brian Kendall, Robert A.
Creaser, Alan J. Kaufman, Gwyneth W. Gordon, Clinton Scott, Jessica Garvin,
Roger Buick, 07/09/28, DOI: 10.1126/science.1140325, Science : Vol. 317. no.
5846, pp. 1903 - 1906
[23] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1903
_________________________________________________________________
06. From Bit to It: How a Complex Metabolic Network Transforms Information into
Living Matter , SFI Working Papers
Excerpt: Organisms live and die by the amount of information they acquire about
their environment. The systems analysis of complex metabolic networks allows us
to ask how such information translates into fitness. A metabolic network
transforms nutrients into biomass. The better it uses information on available
nutrient availability, the faster it will allow a cell to divide.(...) The
analysis of metabolic networks opens a door to understanding cellular biology
from a quantitative, informationtheoretic perspective.
* [24] From Bit to It: How a Complex Metabolic Network Transforms Information
into Living Matter, Andreas Wagner, DOI: SFI-WP 07-09-035, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by [25] Carlos Gershenson
[24] http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/wpabstract/200709035
[25] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
07. Non-linear Dynamics and Leadership Emergence , The Leadership Quarterly
Abstract: The process by which leaders emerge from leaderless groups is
well-documented, but not nearly as well understood. This article describes how
non-linear dynamical systems concepts of attractors, bifurcations, and
self-organization culminate in a swallowtail catastrophe model for the
leadership emergence process, and presents the experimental results that the
model has produced thus far for creative problem solving, production, and
coordination-intensive groups. Several control variables have been identified
that vary in their function depending on what type of group is involved, e.g.
creative problem solving, production, and coordination-intensive groups. The
exposition includes the relevant statistical strategies that are based on
non-linear regression along with some directions for new research questions
that can be explored through this non-linear model.
* [26] Non-linear Dynamics and Leadership Emergence, Stephen J. Guastello,
2007/08, DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.04.005, The Leadership Quarterly
18(4):357-369
* Contributed by [27] Carlos Gershenson
[26] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.04.005
[27] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
08. Correlated Evolution and Dietary Change in Fossil Stickleback , Science
Excerpts: The importance of trophic ecology in adaptation and evolution is well
known, yet direct evidence that feeding controls microevolution over extended
evolutionary time scales, available only from the fossil record, is
conspicuously lacking. Through quantitative analysis of tooth microwear, we
show that rapid evolutionary change in Miocene stickleback was associated with
shifts in feeding, providing direct evidence from the fossil record for changes
in trophic niche and resource exploitation driving directional,
microevolutionary change over thousands of years.
* [28] Correlated Evolution and Dietary Change in Fossil Stickleback, Mark A.
Purnell, Michael A. Bell, David C. Baines, Paul J. B. Hart, Matthew P.
Travis, 07/09/28, Science : 1887.
[28] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1887
_________________________________________________________________
09. Clever Plants 'Chat' Over Their Own Network , ScienceDaily
Excerpts: Recent research (...) reveals that plants have their own chat systems
that they can use to warn each other. (...) Therefore plants cannot be
considered boring and passive organisms that just stand there waiting to be cut
off or eaten up. Many plants form internal communications networks and are able
to exchange information efficiently. Chat network: Many herbal plants such as
strawberry, clover, reed and ground elder naturally form networks. Individual
plants remain connected with each other for a certain period of time by means
of runners. These connections enable the plants to share information with each
other via internal channels. (...)
* [29] Clever Plants 'Chat' Over Their Own Network, 2007/09/27, ScienceDaily &
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
* Contributed by [30] Atin Das
[29] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070925095313.htm
[30] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
09.01. Bacteria May Be Wiring Up The Soil , Nature
Excerpts: Bacteria can sprout webs of electrical wiring that transform the soil
into a geological battery, a team of researchers claims. Some soil bacteria for
m
networks of tiny wires linking individual bacterial cells into a web-like
electrical circuit, they report (D. Ntarlagiannis et al. Geophys. Res. Lett.
34, L17305; 2007). The wires allow the bacteria to get rid of electrons
generated during metabolism, transporting them to distant 'electron dumps'.
* [31] Bacteria May Be Wiring Up The Soil, Philip Ball, 07/09/27, DOI:
10.1038/449388a, Nature 449, 388
[31] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/449388a.html
_________________________________________________________________
10. Neuroscience: Uncovering The Magic In Magnetic Brain Stimulation , Science
Excerpts: For depression therapy, for example, "we may need people to become
sad in the chair while stimulating [them]," George says. "Alternatively, we
might have them engage in formal cognitive therapy, thinking positive
thoughts." Such considerations are important, he adds, as the Food and Drug
Administration is considering approval for daily TMS of the prefrontal cortex
to treat depression. The new findings also suggest why the effects of TMS often
vary, (...).
* [32] Neuroscience: Uncovering The Magic In Magnetic Brain Stimulation, Greg
Miller, 07/09/28, DOI: 10.1126/science.317.5846.1846a, Science: Vol. 317. no.
5846, p. 1846
[32] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1846a
_________________________________________________________________
10.01. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Elicits Coupled Neural and Hemodynamic
Consequences , Science
Excerpts: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an increasingly common
technique used to selectively modify neural processing. However, application of
TMS is limited by uncertainty concerning its physiological effects. We applied
TMS to the cat visual cortex and evaluated the neural and hemodynamic
consequences. Short TMS pulse trains elicited initial activation (1 minute) and
prolonged suppression (5 to 10 minutes) of neural responses. Furthermore, TMS
disrupted the temporal structure of activity by altering phase relationships
between neural signals.
* [33] Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Elicits Coupled Neural and Hemodynamic
Consequences, Elena A. Allen, Brian N. Pasley, Thang Duon, Ralph D. Freeman,
07/09/28, DOI: 10.1126/science.1146426, Science 317 (5846), 1918
[33] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;317/5846/1918
_________________________________________________________________
10.02. The Fractionation Of Spoken Language Understanding By Measuring
Electrical And Magnetic Brain Signals , Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
Excerpt: This paper focuses on what electrical and magnetic recordings of human
brain activity reveal about spoken language understanding. Based on the high
temporal resolution of these recordings, a fine-grained temporal profile of
different aspects of spoken language comprehension can be obtained. Crucial
aspects of speech comprehension are lexical access, selection and semantic
integration. Results show that for words spoken in context, there is no 'magic
moment' when lexical selection ends and semantic integration begins.
Irrespective of whether words have early or late recognition points, semantic
integration processing is initiated before words can be identified on the basis
of the acoustic information alone. (...)
* [34] The Fractionation Of Spoken Language Understanding By Measuring
Electrical And Magnetic Brain Signals, P. Hagoort, 2007/09/21, DOI:
10.1098/rstb.2007.2159, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences
* Contributed by [35] Atin Das
[34]
http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/av4n36025x525582/?p=d99955220b664df2
864f6ffe8137a60d&pi=2
[35] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
11. Immunology: Changed Destiny , Nature
Excerpts: For practical and ethical reasons, researchers are on the lookout for
ways to reprogramme one mature cell type into another. In one case, this might
be as easy as switching off a single gene.
* [36] Immunology: Changed Destiny, Huafeng Xie, Stuart H. Orkin, 07/09/27,
DOI: 10.1038/449410a, Nature 449, 410-411
[36] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/449410a.html
_________________________________________________________________
11.01. Taking Dendritic Cells Into Medicine , Nature
Excerpts: Dendritic cells (DCs) orchestrate a repertoire of immune responses
that bring about resistance to infection and silencing or tolerance to self. In
the settings of infection and cancer, microbes and tumours can exploit DCs to
evade immunity, but DCs also can generate resistance, a capacity that is
readily enhanced with DC-targeted vaccines. During allergy, autoimmunity and
transplant rejection, DCs instigate unwanted responses that cause disease, but,
again, DCs can be harnessed to silence these conditions with novel therapies.
Here we present some medical implications of DC biology that account for
illness and provide opportunities for prevention and therapy.
* [37] Taking Dendritic Cells Into Medicine, Ralph M. Steinman, Jacques
Banchereau, 07/09/27, DOI: 10.1038/nature06175, Nature 449, 419-426
[37] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/nature06175.html
_________________________________________________________________
12. Ocean Pipes Could Help The Earth To Cure Itself , Nature
Excerpts: We propose a way to stimulate the Earth's capacity to cure itself, as
an emergency treatment for the pathology of global warming. (...)
One approach would be to use free-floating or tethered vertical pipes to
increase the mixing of nutrient-rich waters below the thermocline with the
relatively barren waters at the ocean surface. (...) Water pumped up pipes -
say, 100 to 200 metres long, 10 metres in diameter and with a one-way flap
valve at the lower end for pumping by wave movement - would fertilize algae in
the surface waters and encourage them to bloom.
* [38] Ocean Pipes Could Help The Earth To Cure Itself, James E. Lovelock,
Chris G. Rapley, 07/09/27, DOI: 10.1038/449403a, Nature 449, 403
[38] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/449403a.html
_________________________________________________________________
13. Electron Superhighway - Can Graphene Overtake Silicon As The Essential
Ingredient Of Computer Chips? , Science
Excerpts: GATEKEEPER. Engineers may one day be able to carve devices such
as this transistor out of a single layer of carbon atoms. The voltage at an
electrode (red) controls whether or not the link connecting two other
electrodes (blue) conducts electricity, switching the transistor on or off. E.
Plotkin/Physics Today Because electrons in graphene move at high speeds,
graphene-based transistors could in principle switch currents on and off faster
than semiconductor-based transistors do. Like carbon nanotubes, graphene is an
excellent conductor of heat, so graphene chips could stay cooler than silicon
chips. But the feature that makes graphene most appealing to scientists is its
toughness. "The graphitic bond - the carbon-to-carbon bond - is the strongest
in nature," even stronger than the bonds between carbon atoms in diamond, says
de Heer.
* [39] Electron Superhighway - Can Graphene Overtake Silicon As The Essential
Ingredient Of Computer Chips?, Davide Castelvecchi, 07/09/29, ScienceNews
[39] http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070929/bob8.asp
_________________________________________________________________
14. Fluid Theory Confirmed By Foton , ESA
Excerpts: False colour images showing concentration fluctuations for the
Mixture fluid sample on Earth (left) and aboard Foton-M3 (right). Credits: ESA
All liquids experience minute fluctuations in temperature or concentration a
s
a result of the different velocities of individual molecules. These fluctuation
s
are usually so small that they are extremely difficult to observe. In the
1990s, scientists discovered that these tiny fluctuations in fluids and gases
can increase in size, and even be made visible to the naked eye, if a strong
gradient is introduced. One way to achieve this is to increase the temperature
at the bottom of a thin liquid layer, though not quite enough to cause
convection. (...)
* [40] Fluid Theory Confirmed By Foton, 07/09/24, ESA PR 29-2007
[40] http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM585C1S6F_Life_0.html
_________________________________________________________________
15. Physicists Tackle Knotty Puzzle , PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: Digital photos of knots with computer-generated drawings based on
mathematical calculations. Image credit: Dorian Raymer, UCSD The study,
(...), investigated the likelihood of knot formation and the types of knots
formed in a tumbled string. The researchers say they were interested in the
problem because it has many applications, including to the biophysics research
questions their group usually studies. "Knot formation is important in many
fields" said Douglas Smith, an assistant professor of physics who was the
senior author on the paper. "For example, knots often form in DNA, which is a
long string-like molecule."
* [41] Physicists Tackle Knotty Puzzle, 07/10/01, PhysOrg.com
[41] http://www.physorg.com/news110479348.html
_________________________________________________________________
16. Quantum Physics: Qubits Ride The Photon Bus , Nature
Excerpts: Quantum mechanics using whole electrical circuits might seem a
far-fetched idea. But make the circuits superconducting, and they can be used
to send and collect single photons, rather like atoms do - only better.
* [42] Quantum Physics: Qubits Ride The Photon Bus, Antti O. Niskanen,
Yasunobu Nakamura, 07/09/27, DOI: 10.1038/449415a, Nature 449, 415-417
[42] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/449415a.html
_________________________________________________________________
16.01. Physics: Quantum Weirdness in the Lab , Science
Excerpts: Parigi et al. measure the quantum mechanical state of a thermal light
field after performing these two operations on it, and they show that the final
state depends on the order in which the operations are performed. This result
is a striking confirmation of the lack of commutativity of quantum mechanical
operators. Moreover, the authors present the strongly counterintuitive result
that, under certain conditions, the removal of a photon from a light field can
lead to an increase in the mean number of photons in that light field, as
predicted earlier.
* [43] Physics: Quantum Weirdness in the Lab, Robert W. Boyd, Kam Wai Clifford
Chan, Malcolm N. O'Sullivan, 07/09/28, Science : 1874-1875.
[43] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1874
_________________________________________________________________
16.02. Probing Quantum Commutation Rules by Addition and Subtraction of Single
Photons to/from a Light Field , Science
Excerpts: The possibility of arbitrarily "adding" and "subtracting" single
photons to and from a light field may give access to a complete engineering of
quantum states and to fundamental quantum phenomena. We experimentally
implemented simple alternated sequences of photon creation and annihilation on
a thermal field and used quantum tomography to verify the peculiar character of
the resulting light states. In particular, as the final states depend on the
order in which the two actions are performed, we directly observed the
noncommutativity of the creation and annihilation operators,(...)
* [44] Probing Quantum Commutation Rules by Addition and Subtraction of Single
Photons to/from a Light Field, Valentina Parigi, Alessandro Zavatta,
Myungshik Kim, Marco Bellini, 07/09/28, DOI: 10.1126/science.1146204, Science
317 (5846), 1890
[44] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1890
_________________________________________________________________
16.03. Physics: Does Our Universe Allow for Robust Quantum Computation? ,
Science
Excerpts: [45] Computers operating purely according to the laws of quantum
theory might break modern cryptographic codes ( [46] 1), revolutionize quantum
chemical calculations ( [47] 2), and overturn the most basic limits to
computing ( [48] 3). Standing in the way of creating these dream machines is
the fact that quantum computers do not like to maintain their quantum nature,
but instead have a propensity to decay into machines obeying the classical laws
of physics.
* [49] Physics: Does Our Universe Allow for Robust Quantum Computation?, Dave
Bacon, 07/09/28, Science : 1876-1877.
[45] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1876/F1
[46] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;317/5846/1876#ref1
[47] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;317/5846/1876#ref2
[48] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;317/5846/1876#ref3
[49] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;317/5846/1876
_________________________________________________________________
17. Cosmology: A Singular Conundrum: How Odd Is Our Universe? , Science
Excerpts: Subtleties in the big bang afterglow could hint that the universe is
arranged around an "axis of evil." Or they may be the products of random
chance. With only one universe to study researchers may be hard pressed to say
one way or the other. Researchers charted the slight variations in the
temperature of the radiation, known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB),
to produce a sky map resembling a dimply lime.
* [50] Cosmology: A Singular Conundrum: How Odd Is Our Universe?, Adrian Cho,
07/09/28, Science : 1848-1850.
[50] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5846/1848
_________________________________________________________________
18. Symmetrized Characterization of Noisy Quantum Processes , Science
Excerpts: A major goal of developing high-precision control of many-body
quantum systems is to realize their potential as quantum computers. A
substantial obstacle to this is the extreme fragility of quantum systems to
"decoherence" from environmental noise and other control limitations. Although
quantum computation is possible if the noise affecting the quantum system
satisfies certain conditions, existing methods for noise characterization are
intractable for present multibody systems. We introduce a technique based on
symmetrization that enables direct experimental measurement of some key
properties of the decoherence affecting a quantum system.
* [51] Symmetrized Characterization of Noisy Quantum Processes, Joseph Emerson,
Marcus Silva, Osama Moussa, Colm Ryan, Martin Laforest, Jonathan Baugh,
David G. Cory, Raymond Laflamme, 07/09/28, DOI: 10.1126/science.1145699,
Science 317 (5846), 1893
[51] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;317/5846/1893
_________________________________________________________________
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
_________________________________________________________________
19.01. Staged Cyber Attack Reveals Vulnerability In Power Grid , CNN
Excerpts: Researchers who launched an experimental cyber attack caused a
generator to self-destruct, alarming the federal government and electrical
industry about what might happen if such an attack were carried out on a larger
scale, CNN has learned. Sources familiar with the experiment said the same
attack scenario could be used against huge generators that produce the
country's electric power. Some experts fear bigger, coordinated attacks could
cause widespread damage to electric infrastructure that could take months to
fix.
* [52] Staged Cyber Attack Reveals Vulnerability In Power Grid, Jeanne Meserve,
07/09/26, CNN
[52] http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/26/power.at.risk/index.html
_________________________________________________________________
20. Links & Snippets
_________________________________________________________________
20.01. Other Publications
- Transition from Small to Large World in Growing Networks, 2007/09/19, arXiv,
DOI: 0709.3094
- Innovation Diffusion in Heterogeneous Populations: Contagion, Social
Influence, and Social Learning, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 07-09-038
- Burma Cuts Internet Access: Junta Tries Desperately To Block Footage Of
Crackdown, 2007/09/28, vnunet.com
- 'Dead Time' Limits Quantum Cryptography Speeds, 2007/10/01,
Innovations-report
- High School Footballers Wearing Special Helmets To Monitor Brain Injuries,
2007/10/01, Innovations-report
- Digital Cable Goes Quantum, 2007/09/27, Innovations-report
- Language Processing In The Natural World, 2007/09/25, Philosophical
Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2007.2162
- 'Hot' Ice Could Lead To Medical Device, 2007/09/28, ScienceDaily & Harvard
University
- Music Training Linked To Enhanced Verbal Skills, 2007/09/27, ScienceDaily &
Northwestern University
- Do Migratory Birds 'See' The Magnetic Field?, 2007/10/01, ScienceDaily &
Public Library Of Science
- Brain Drain In Developing Countries, 2007, 21:2, online 2007/06/13, The World
Bank Economic Review, DOI: 10.1093/wber/lhm008
- The Motor System Shows Adaptive Changes In Complex Regional Pain Syndrome,
Oct. 2007, online 2007/06/15., Brain, DOI: 10.1093/brain/awm131
- Double Trouble: Tumors Have Two-Pronged Defense, 07/09/29, ScienceNews, By
depleting an essential amino acid and releasing a toxin, cancer cells can ward
off attack by the immune system.
- Honeybee Mobs Smother Big Hornets, 07/09/29, ScienceNews, Honeybees gang up
on an attacking hornet, killing it by blocking its breathing.
- Tea Compound Aids Dying Brain Cells, 07/09/29, ScienceNews, A constituent of
green tea rescues brain cells damaged in a way that mimics the effect of
Parkinson's disease.
- Distracted? Tea Might Help Your Focus, 07/09/29, ScienceNews, An amino acid
in tea combines with the brew's caffeine to enliven brain cells that aid
concentration.
- Synchrony Dynamics During Initiation, Failure, and Rescue of the Segmentation
Clock, 07/09/28, Science Vol. 317. no. 5846, pp. 1911 - 1915. A model of the
segmentation clock, coupled genetic oscillators that sequentially generate the
body segments of animals, successfully predicts the results of system
perturbations., DOI: 10.1126/science.1142538
_________________________________________________________________
20.02. Webcast Announcements
[53]
Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007
[54] World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 07/01/24-28
TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006
Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de
Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03
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
Artificial Life X,
10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington,
IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07
6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18
Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
[55] An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
[56]
Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
[57]
Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming
Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
[58]
Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
[59]
ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life,
Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
[60]
T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, [61] The Washington Center
for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), [62]
Podcast
[63] 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
[64] Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and
Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC,
05/05/16-19
[65] 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
[66]
1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
>From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela
(1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium,
04/05/26-28
International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
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
[53] http://webcast.in2p3.fr/RNSC/ target=new
[54]
http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2007/Targe
t=new
[55] http://www.complexsys.org/news.htm target=new
[56] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05ISF/index.html target=new
[57] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ONCECS05/ target=new
[58] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/CSS05/ target=new
[59] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECAL2005/ target=new
[60] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders0508.mov target=new
[61] http://www.complexsys.org/ target=new
[62] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders.mp3
[63] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05NASPSA/ target=new
[64] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05UCS/ target=new
[65] http://www.comdig2.de/Conf/Nicolis05/Target=new
[66] http://www.comdig2.de/Conf/ECCS04/Target=new
_________________________________________________________________
20.03. Conference Announcements
European Conference on Complex Systems 2007 (ECCS'07), Dresden, Germany,
07/10/01-05
Genetic Networks: Models, Simulations and their Application to Biology, ECCS
2007 satellite workshop, Dresden, Germany, 07/10/04-05
Processes Of Emergence Of Systems And Systemic Properties.
Towards A General Theory Of Emergence.
, Castel Ivano (Trento), 07/10/18-20
2nd Annual Conf on The Physics, Chemistry and Biology of Water, West Dover,
Vermont. 07/10/18-21
Smithsonian conference, Creating a Sustainable Future
in a Complex World, Washington, DC, 07/10/27
Intl Conf on Complex Systems 2007, Boston, MA, USA, 07/10/28-11/02
The Huntsville Simulation Conference 2007, Huntsville, Alabama, 07/10/30-11/01
2007 IEEE/WIC/ACM Intl Joint Conf on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent
Technology (WI-IAT'07), Silicon Valley, USA, 07/11/02-05
Theory In Cognitive Neuroscience,
Wildbad Kreuth (Bavaria), Germany, 07/11/04-07
7th Intl Conf on Epigenetic Robotics:
Modeling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems
, Piscataway, NJ, 07/11/05-07
KSS 2007 - 8th Intl Symposium on Knowledge and Systems Sciences, Ishikawa
prefecture, Japan, 07/11/05-07
NetLogo Workshop at Agent 2007 Conference,
Evanston, IL, USA, 07/11/12-14
Australia New Zealand Systems Conference 2007
Systemic development: Local solutions in a global environment? Auckland, New
Zealand, 07/12/02-05
The 3rd Indian Intl Conf on Artificial Intelligence
(IICAI-07), Pune, INDIA, 07/12/17-19
The 1st Conf on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-08), Memphis, Tennessee,
USA, 08/03/01-03
The 3rd International Nonlinear Sciences Conference (INSC), Tokyo, Japan,
08/03/13-15
19th European Meeting On Cybernetics And Systems Research, (EMCSR 2008),
Vienna, Austria, 08/03/25-28
1st Intl Conf on Social Entrepreneurship & Complexity, Garden City, NY, USA,
08/04/10-12
The 12th World Multi-Conf on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI
2008, Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02
>From Animals To Animats 10 - The 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation Of Adaptive
Behavior (SAB'08), Osaka, Japan, 08/07/07-12
Stochastic Resonance 2008, Perugia, Italy, 08/08/17-21
_________________________________________________________________
20.04. Other Announcements
"
Wolfram Research is Now the Official Math Brain
Trust for the Hit CBS Series NUMB3RS. 07/10/05
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 Gottfrieds 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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Account # 983 338 3814
Ref. Gottfried Mayer
Intl Master of Science in Methods For Management Of Complex Systems - Academic
Year 2007-2008, Institute for Advanced Study, Pavia, Italy, 08/01/01
News notes on
Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE)
for July 2007 are now available on-line, 07/08/04
National Humanities Center Launches Humanities/Sciences Website, 07/04, As part
of its ongoing Autonomy, Singularity, Creativity: The Human & The Humanities?pr
oject (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.
_________________________________________________________________
[67]Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to
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[71]Gottfried J. Mayer.
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