[tt] Complexity Digest 2008.23 (text version -2)
Eugen Leitl
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Tue Aug 19 12:03:35 UTC 2008
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Subject: Complexity Digest 2008.23 (text version -2)
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Complexity Digest 2008.23 5-June-2008
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
www.comdig.de/GMLetter.html
_________________________________________________________________
01. How We See Ourselves and How We See Others, Science
01.01. The Diplomat's Dilemma: Maximal Power for Minimal Effort in Social
Networks, arXiv
02. Groundbreaking UCSD Research Study To Measure "How Much Information?" Is In
The World, UCSD News Release
03. Microbiology: The Inside Story, Nature
03.01. Replaying Evolution - Scientists Show That Happenstance Mutations
Matter, Science News
03.02. Abundance And Diversity Of Microbial Life In Ocean Crust, Nature
04. Log Or Linear? Distinct Intuitions Of The Number Scale In Western And
Amazonian Indigene Cultures, Science
04.01. Why We Should Love Logarithms, News at Nature
05. Science & Music: The Neural Roots Of Music, Nature
06. Predicting Human Brain Activity Associated with the Meanings of Nouns,
Science
07. Measuring Research Output with Science & Technology Indicators, Scirus.com
08. The Church Versus The Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased
Secular Competition?, Quart. J. Econ.
09. The Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And Minerals,
PhysOrg.com
09.01. Agent In Red Wine Found To Keep Hearts Young, U Wisconsin-Madison News
Release
10. Human Stem Cells Used To Cure Brain Disorder, Nature News
10.01. Brain Cells Help Neighboring Nerves Regenerate, ScienceDaily
11. Clues to Controlling Seizures, Technology Review
12. Cancer: Whispering Sweet Somethings, Nature
12.01. Self-assembled Viruses Efficiently Carry Genes And Drug Molecules Into
Tumor Cells, ScienceDaily
13. Bad Synergy, Science News
14. Did Walking On Two Feet Begin With A Shuffle?, ScienceDaily
15. Ancestral Monogamy Shows Kin Selection Is Key To The Evolution Of
Eusociality, Science
15.01. Zombie Babysitters - Not-Quite-Dead Caterpillar Victims Do Child Care
For Their Killers, Science News
16. Life Before Proteins, Science News
16.01. What Makes Life Go At The Tropics?, Innovations-report
16.02. Sperm Sociality: Cooperation, Altruism, and Spite, PLoS Biol
17. Antarctica: Freeze-Dried Findings Support a Tale of Two Ancient Climates,
Science
17.01. Atmospheric Science: Whither Geoengineering?, Science
17.02. Entomogenic Climate Change, arXiv
18. Microrobots Dance On Something Smaller Than A Pin's Head, Physorg.com
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. Perpetuating The Al-Qaeda-Iraq Myth, Time
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference Announcements
20.04. Other Announcements
_________________________________________________________________
01. How We See Ourselves and How We See Others , Science
Excerpts: People see themselves differently from how they see others. They are
immersed in their own sensations, emotions, and cognitions at the same time
that their experience of others is dominated by what can be observed
externally. This basic asymmetry has broad consequences. It leads people to
judge themselves and their own behavior differently from how they judge others
and those others' behavior. Often, those differences produce disagreement and
conflict. Understanding the psychological basis of those differences may help
mitigate some of their negative effects.
* [4] How We See Ourselves and How We See Others, Emily Pronin, 08/05/30,
Science : 1177-1180.
[4] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1177
_________________________________________________________________
01.01. The Diplomat's Dilemma: Maximal Power for Minimal Effort in Social
Networks , arXiv
Excerpt: Closeness is a global measure of centrality in networks, and a proxy
for how influential actors are in social networks. In most network models, and
many empirical networks, closeness is strongly correlated with degree. However,
in social networks there is a cost of maintaining social ties. This leads to a
situation (that can occur in the professional social networks of executives,
lobbyists, diplomats and so on) where agents have the conflicting objectives of
aiming for centrality while simultaneously keeping the degree low.
* [5] The Diplomat's Dilemma: Maximal Power for Minimal Effort in Social
Networks, Petter Holme, Gourab Ghoshal, 2008/05/26, DOI: 0805.3909, arXiv
* Contributed by [6] Carlos Gershenson
[5] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0805.3909
[6] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
02. Groundbreaking UCSD Research Study To Measure "How Much Information?" Is In
The World , UCSD News Release
Excerpts: "Experts say that we live in an information economy, but how much
information is there, and do countries count and value information comparably?
The previous generation of studies have reported information as countable bits
and bytes, and documented large growth numbers" said IR/PS Dean Peter F.
Cowhey. "The next generation of studies will count more precisely the impacts
and implications of information growth, and do this internationally," continued
Cowhey.
* [7] Groundbreaking UCSD Research Study To Measure "How Much Information?" Is
In The World, Barry Jagoda, 08/06/03, UCSD News Release
[7] http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/international/06-08InfoInTheWorld.asp
_________________________________________________________________
03. Microbiology: The Inside Story , Nature
Excerpts: Any story about a human's microbes tends to invoke impressive
numbers. Take the 10 trillion or so microbial cells living in the gut, which
exceed the number of human cells by 10 to 1. Between them, they harbour
millions of genes, compared with the paltry 20,000 estimated in the human
genome. To say that you are outnumbered is a massive understatement. (...)
There is strength in numbers; so much so, in fact, that some biologists regard
a human as a 'superorganism' - a community that adds up to more than the sum of
its parts. The body itself is merely one, albeit encompassing, component.
* [8] Microbiology: The Inside Story, Asher Mullard, 08, DOI: 10.1038/453578a,
Nature 453, 578-580
[8] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080528/full/453578a.html
_________________________________________________________________
03.01. Replaying Evolution - Scientists Show That Happenstance Mutations Matter
, Science News
Excerpts: In experiments on bacteria grown in the lab, scientists found that
evolving a new trait sometimes depended on previous, happenstance mutations.
Without those earlier random mutations, the window of opportunity for the novel
trait would never have opened. History might have been different. (...) Lenski'
s
team watched 12 colonies of identical E. coli bacteria evolve under carefully
controlled lab conditions for 20 years, which equates to more than 40,000
generations of bacteria. After every 500 generations, the researchers froze
samples of bacteria. Those bacteria could later be thawed out to "replay" the
evolutionary clock from that point in time.
* [9] Replaying Evolution - Scientists Show That Happenstance Mutations Matter,
Patrick Barry, 08/06/04, Science News
[9] http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32801/title/Replaying_evolution_
_________________________________________________________________
03.02. Abundance And Diversity Of Microbial Life In Ocean Crust , Nature
Excerpts: Oceanic lithosphere exposed at the sea floor undergoes seawater-rock
alteration reactions involving the oxidation and hydration of glassy basalt.
Basalt alteration reactions are theoretically capable of supplying sufficient
energy for chemolithoautotrophic growth. Such reactions have been shown to
generate microbial biomass in the laboratory, but field-based support for the
existence of microbes that are supported by basalt alteration is lacking. Here,
using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization and
microscopy, we demonstrate that prokaryotic cell abundances on seafloor-exposed
basalts are 3-4 orders of magnitude greater than in overlying deep sea
water.(...).
* [10] Abundance And Diversity Of Microbial Life In Ocean Crust, Cara M.
Santelli, Beth N. Orcutt, Erin Banning, Wolfgang Bach, Craig L. Moyer,
Mitchell L. Sogin, Hubert Staudigel, Katrina J. Edwards, 08/05/29, DOI:
10.1038/nature06899, Nature 453, 653-656
[10] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7195/full/nature06899.html
_________________________________________________________________
04. Log Or Linear? Distinct Intuitions Of The Number Scale In Western And
Amazonian Indigene Cultures , Science
Excerpts: The mapping of numbers onto space is fundamental to measurement and
to mathematics. Is this mapping a cultural invention or a universal intuition
shared by all humans regardless of culture and education? We probed
number-space mappings in the Mundurucu, an Amazonian indigene group with a
reduced numerical lexicon and little or no formal education. At all ages, the
Mundurucu mapped symbolic and nonsymbolic numbers onto a logarithmic scale,
whereas Western adults used linear mapping with small or symbolic numbers and
logarithmic mapping when numbers were presented nonsymbolically under
conditions that discouraged counting. This indicates that the mapping of
numbers onto space is a universal intuition and that this initial intuition of
number is logarithmic. The concept of a linear number line appears to be a
cultural invention that fails to develop in the absence of formal education.
* [11] Log Or Linear? Distinct Intuitions Of The Number Scale In Western And
Amazonian Indigene Cultures, Stanislas Dehaene, Veronique Izard, Elizabeth
Spelke, Pierre Pica, 08/05/30, Science : 1217-1220.
[11] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1217
_________________________________________________________________
04.01. Why We Should Love Logarithms , News at Nature
Excerpts: Do kids instinctively think logarithmically - and is this the
smartest way to look at numbers after all?
Punchstock (...) logarithmic scaling is the natural system for magnitudes
of quantities in the sciences.
(...) Stanislas Dehaene of the Federative Institute of Research in
Gif-sur-Yvette, France, and his co-workers report in Science 1 that both adults
and children of an Amazonian tribe called the Mundurucu, who have had almost no
exposure to the linear counting scale of the industrialized world, judge
magnitudes on a logarithmic basis.
* [12] Why We Should Love Logarithms, Philip Ball, 2008/05/29, DOI:
10.1038/news.2008.866, News at Nature
* Contributed by [13] Carlos Gershenson
[12] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080529/full/news.2008.866.html
[13] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
05. Science & Music: The Neural Roots Of Music , Nature
Excerpts: Certain sounds elicit specific, powerful emotions in people,
presumably a testament to the evolutionary heritage of our auditory systems.
Low, loud, dissonant sounds evoke fear; rapid, higher, consonant sounds evoke
friendliness or joy. Mothers around the world talk and sing to infants using a
cooing tone of voice and higher pitch than when interacting with adults.
Infants prefer these higher-pitched vocalizations and mothers sing in different
styles to help prelinguistic infants regulate their emotional state. Across
cultures, songs sung while playing with babies are fast, high and contain
exaggerated rhythmic accents; lullabies are lower, slower and softer.
* [14] Science & Music: The Neural Roots Of Music, Laurel Trainor, 08/05/29,
DOI: 10.1038/453598a, Nature 453, 598-599
[14] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7195/full/453598a.html
_________________________________________________________________
06. Predicting Human Brain Activity Associated with the Meanings of Nouns ,
Science
Excerpts: The question of how the human brain represents conceptual knowledge
has been debated in many scientific fields. Brain imaging studies have shown
that different spatial patterns of neural activation are associated with
thinking about different semantic categories of pictures and words (for
example, tools, buildings, and animals). We present a computational model that
predicts the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neural activation
associated with words for which fMRI data are not yet available. This model is
trained with a combination of data from a trillion-word text corpus and
observed fMRI data associated with viewing several dozen concrete nouns.
* [15] Predicting Human Brain Activity Associated with the Meanings of Nouns,
Tom M. Mitchell, Svetlana V. Shinkareva, Andrew Carlson, Kai-Min Chang,
Vicente L. Malave, Robert A. Mason, Marcel Adam Just, 08/05/30, Science :
1191-1195.
[15] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1191
_________________________________________________________________
07. Measuring Research Output with Science & Technology Indicators , Scirus.com
Excerpts: The measurement of research output and the ranking of universities
has become an industry in itself. Ranking, however, is based on reducing the
complexity to a single number. The weighting of different dimensions remains a
problem. Research output measurements are based on indicators such as impact
factors. These indicators have been clearly defined, but for other purposes
(Garfield, 1979). For example, impact factors can vary by an order of magnitude
between mathematics and the life-sciences. Would a university be well advised t
o
close its mathematics department in order to improve its ranking?
* [16] Measuring Research Output with Science & Technology Indicators, Loet
Leydesdorff, 08/06/04, Scirus.com
[16]
http://topics.scirus.com/Measuring_Research_Output_with_Science_Technology_Indi
cators.html
_________________________________________________________________
08. The Church Versus The Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased
Secular Competition? , Quart. J. Econ.
Excerpts: Recently economists have begun to consider the causes and
consequences of religious participation. An unanswered question in this
literature is the effect upon individuals of changes in the opportunity cost of
religious participation. In this paper we identify a policy-driven change in th
e
opportunity cost of religious participation based on state laws that prohibit
retail activity on Sunday (...). Many states have repealed these laws in recent
years, raising the opportunity cost of religious participation. We use a variet
y
of data sets to show that when a state repeals its blue laws religious
attendance falls and that church donations and spending fall as well. (...)
* [17] The Church Versus The Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased
Secular Competition?, J. Gruber , D M. Hungerman, May 2008, Online 2008/04/10,
DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.2.831, Quarterly Journal of Economics
* Contributed by [18] Pritha Das
[17] http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/qjec.2008.123.2.831
[18] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________________
09. The Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And Minerals ,
PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: As the cost of sequencing a single human genome drops rapidly, with
one company predicting a price of $100 per person in five years, soon the only
reason not to look at your "personal genome" will be fear of what bad news lies
in your genes.(...) (...) there are many genetic differences that make people's
enzymes less efficient than normal, and that simple supplementation with
vitamins can often restore some of these deficient enzymes to full working
order. (...)
* [19] The Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And
Minerals, 08/06/02, PhysOrg.com
[19] http://physorg.com/news131645933.html
_________________________________________________________________
09.01. Agent In Red Wine Found To Keep Hearts Young , U Wisconsin-Madison News
Release
Excerpts: How, scientists wonder, do the French get away with a clean bill of
heart health despite a diet loaded with saturated fats? The answer to the
so-called "French paradox" may be found in red wine. More specifically, it may
reside in small doses of resveratrol, a natural constituent of grapes,
pomegranates, red wine and other foods, (...). (...) low doses of resveratrol
in the diet of middle-aged mice has a widespread influence on the genetic
levers of aging and may confer special protection on the heart.
* [20] Agent In Red Wine Found To Keep Hearts Young, 08/06/03, U
Wisconsin-Madison News Release
[20] http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uow-air060208.php
_________________________________________________________________
10. Human Stem Cells Used To Cure Brain Disorder , Nature News
Excerpts: The treatment uses human glial progenitor cells ?cells that can
differentiate into the glial cells that, among other things, make up myelin.
Myelin, a protein that insulates the long 'arms' of nerve cells, called axons,
helps the conduction of neural signals throughout the nervous system.
(...), took the progenitor cells from white matter in the fetal human brain and
injected them into the spinal cords of mutant shiverer mice shortly after their
birth.
The mice, (...), have severe neurological defects caused by a genetic mutation
that stops them producing myelin. Without myelin, neural signals get stuck,
causing potentially fatal disease.
* [21] Human Stem Cells Used To Cure Brain Disorder, Katharine Sanderson ,
08/06/04, DOI: 10.1038/news.2008.875, Nature News
[21] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080604/full/news.2008.875.html
_________________________________________________________________
10.01. Brain Cells Help Neighboring Nerves Regenerate , ScienceDaily
Excerpts: Researchers have uncovered a completely unexpected way that the brain
repairs nerve damage, wherein cells known as astrocytes deliver a protective
protein to nearby neurons. Astrocytes are a type of support cell in the brain
that serve many functions; one of their roles is to chew up damaged nerves
during brain injury and then form scar tissue in the damaged area. (...) During
injury, astrocytes overproduce a protein called metallothionein (MT) and secret
e
it to surrounding nerves; MT is a scavenging protein that grabs free radicals
and metal ions and prevents them from damaging a cell, and thus is a potent
protecting agent. (...)
* [22] Brain Cells Help Neighboring Nerves Regenerate, 2008/05/29, ScienceDaily
& American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
* Contributed by [23] Atin Das
[22] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527170516.htm
[23] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
11. Clues to Controlling Seizures , Technology Review
Excerpts: Modeling seizures: By building models that mimic the neural
activity characteristic of seizures, scientists hope to improve
electrical-stimulation therapies for epilepsy patients. Neural activity
recorded from a slice of rat cortex is shown in the top box. (Neurons in a
dissected piece of brain can stay active for hours if treated properly.)
Results of three versions of a computational model calculated from real neural
activity are shown below, each capturing a different aspect of the actual
neural activity. The colors represent changes in voltage in the real or
simulated neural tissue. Credit: Steven Schiff (Pennsylvania State University),
Xiaoying Huang and Jian-Young Wu (Georgetown University Medical Center) New
approaches to modeling the brain could improve electrical-stimulation
therapies. The same type of modeling used by meteorologists to forecast the
weather could help scientists design better electrical-stimulation therapies
for the brain. These therapies, which involve sending small jolts of
electricity to specific neural targets, are currently in use for both
Parkinson's and epilepsy, two neurological diseases in which drugs have had
limited success. As neurosurgical technologies improve and medical devices
become smaller and more precise, interest in stimulation therapies has
blossomed (...).
* [24] Clues to Controlling Seizures, Emily Singer, 08/06/04, Technology Review
[24] http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20856/
_________________________________________________________________
12. Cancer: Whispering Sweet Somethings , Nature
Excerpts: That genetic mutations contribute to cancer is undisputed. What now
emerges is that a cancer cell's microenvironment has a much stronger hand in
the course a cancer takes than previously thought. The goal of personalized
medicine is to tailor a treatment to a specific cellular target at the
appropriate stage of a disease, thus 'defusing' the disease process. Cancer is
an example of the way in which multifaceted approaches to attaining this goal
are emerging. We have come to appreciate that a tumour is a collection of
diverse cells - cells carrying cancer-causing mutations and the cells of its
immediate microenvironment - that act in concert towards disease progression.
* [25] Cancer: Whispering Sweet Somethings, Thea Tlsty, 08/05/29, DOI:
10.1038/453604, Nature 453, 604-605
[25] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v453/n7195/full/453604a.html
_________________________________________________________________
12.01. Self-assembled Viruses Efficiently Carry Genes And Drug Molecules Into
Tumor Cells , ScienceDaily
Excerpts: Viruses are true experts at importing genetic material into the cells
of an infected organism. This trait is now being exploited for gene therapy, in
which genes are brought into the cells of a patient to treat genetic diseases
or genetic defects. Korean researchers have now made an artificial virus. (...)
they have been able to use it to transport both genes and drugs into the
interior of cancer cells. Natural viruses are extremely effective at
transporting genes into cells for gene therapy; their disadvantage is that they
can initiate an immune response or cause cancer. Artificial viruses do not have
these side effects, (...).
* [26] Self-assembled Viruses Efficiently Carry Genes And Drug Molecules Into
Tumor Cells, 2008/06/02, ScienceDaily & Wiley-Blackwell
* Contributed by [27] Atin Das
[26] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080530102627.htm
[27] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
13. Bad Synergy , Science News
Excerpts: Simultaneous parasite infections act in concert to raise risk of
anemia in children (...) These data suggest that moderate-to-severe parasite
infestations with hookworms and blood flukes seem to triple the risk of anemia
when compared with that would be calculated by simply adding the risks of these
worms together, says study author Amara Ezeamama, an epidemiologist at the
Health Effects Institute in Boston.
* [28] Bad Synergy, Nathan Seppa, 08/06/04, Science News
[28] http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32852/title/Bad_synergy
_________________________________________________________________
14. Did Walking On Two Feet Begin With A Shuffle? , ScienceDaily
Excerpts: Somewhere in the murky past, between four and seven million years
ago, a hungry common ancestor of today's primates, including humans, did
something novel. While temporarily standing on its rear feet to reach a piece
of fruit, this protohominid spotted another juicy morsel in a nearby shrub and
began shuffling toward it instead of dropping on all fours, crawling to the
shrub and standing again. A number of reasons have been proposed for the
development of bipedal behavior, (...) and now researchers (...) have developed
a mathematical model that suggests shuffling emerged as a precursor to walking
as a way of saving metabolic energy. (...)
* [29] Did Walking On Two Feet Begin With A Shuffle?, 2008/05/30, ScienceDaily
& University of Washington
* Contributed by [30] Atin Das
[29] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529140042.htm
[30] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
15. Ancestral Monogamy Shows Kin Selection Is Key To The Evolution Of
Eusociality , Science
Excerpts: Close relatedness has long been considered crucial to the evolution
of eusociality. However, it has recently been suggested that close relatedness
may be a consequence, rather than a cause, of eusociality. We tested this idea
with a comparative analysis of female mating frequencies in 267 species of
eusocial bees, wasps, and ants. We found that mating with a single male, which
maximizes relatedness, is ancestral for all eight independent eusocial lineages
that we investigated. Mating with multiple males is always derived.
* [31] Ancestral Monogamy Shows Kin Selection Is Key To The Evolution Of
Eusociality, William O. H. Hughes, Benjamin P. Oldroyd, Madeleine Beekman,
Francis L. W. Ratnieks, 08/05/30, Science : 1213-1216.
[31] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1213
_________________________________________________________________
15.01. Zombie Babysitters - Not-Quite-Dead Caterpillar Victims Do Child Care
For Their Killers , Science News
Excerpts: A caterpillar doomed by wasp attack looms over the cocoons of its
attackers - but ends up protecting them from predators. The caterpillar, th
e
young of the moth Thyrinteinta leucocerae, stops feeding and stays on the spot,
too. Healthy caterpillars don't react much to approaching insects, but the ones
the wasp larvae have been using as baby food develop a fighting streak. When a
predatory insect or even an entomologist's hand swoops near, the caterpillar
"will start violently swinging its head from side to side," (...). The
headbutting typically chases away the predator.
* [32] Zombie Babysitters - Not-Quite-Dead Caterpillar Victims Do Child Care
For Their Killers, Susan Milius, 08/06/03, Science News
[32] http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32839/title/Zombie_babysitters
_________________________________________________________________
16. Life Before Proteins , Science News
Excerpts: The first cells to arise on the primordial Earth needed nutrients
from their surroundings in order to grow and reproduce long enough to evolve
complex proteins. Yet the membranes that encapsulate modern cells need complex
proteins to act as pores that let these nutrients pass into the cells.
Presumably, primitive cells wouldn't have had these sophisticated pore
proteins, so scientists have wondered how the first living cells managed to get
nutrients from their environment.
* [33] Life Before Proteins, Patrick Barry, 08/06/04, Science News
[33]
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32876/title/Life_before_proteins
_________________________________________________________________
16.01. What Makes Life Go At The Tropics? , Innovations-report
Excerpts: What causes tropical life to thrive: temperature, or sunlight? The
answer is not necessarily both.?According to a study (...), the explosion of
species at the tropics has much more to do with warmth than with light. The
diversity was unrelated to productivity (from photosynthesis), but it was
strongly related to temperature,?said (...). Fuhrmans group found far greater
diversity in samples taken near the equator. In particular, samples from
low-productivity waters still contained many bacterial species, suggesting that
photosynthesis has little influence on diversity. (...)
* [34] What Makes Life Go At The Tropics? PNAS Study Points To Heat, Not Light,
As Engine Driving Biodiversity, 2008/05/29, Innovations-report
* Contributed by [35] Atin Das
[34]
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/environment_sciences/report-1111
40.html
[35] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
16.02. Sperm Sociality: Cooperation, Altruism, and Spite , PLoS Biol
Excerpt: A swimming sperm cell appears to perfectly capture the individualist
Darwinian struggle, as it frantically races onwards towards a waiting egg.
Consistent with this imagery, sperm morphology and behaviour in many organisms
appears exquisitely designed to maximise the chances of fertilisation of each
individual sperm cell [1]. However, there are numerous less obliging cases
where sperm seem poorly suited to the task, even to the extent that the
majority of sperm in an ejaculate may be infertile [2,3]. Why would such sperm
evolve?
* [36] Sperm Sociality: Cooperation, Altruism, and Spite, Tommaso Pizzari,
Kevin R. Foster, 2008/05/27, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060130, PLoS Biol 6(5):
e130
* Contributed by [37] Carlos Gershenson
[36] http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060130
[37] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
17. Antarctica: Freeze-Dried Findings Support a Tale of Two Ancient Climates ,
Science
Excerpts: A surprising cache of ancient plant material adds evidence for
divergent climate histories of the East and West Antarctic ice sheets over the
past 14 million years. (...) Juxtaposed against these findings are results from
two recent cores drilled into the seabed of McMurdo Sound, 120 kilometers from
the Olympus Range. The analysis of the ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing)
cores, taken in the fall of 2006 and 2007, indicate huge fluctuations in
temperature over the same period in that general region.
* [38] Antarctica: Freeze-Dried Findings Support a Tale of Two Ancient
Climates, Douglas Fox, 08/05/30, Science : 1152-1154.
[38] http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl
_________________________________________________________________
17.01. Atmospheric Science: Whither Geoengineering? , Science
Excerpts: Costs, benefits, and harms associated with geoengineering must be
assessed before it is used to mitigate climate change. (...) On page 1201 of
this issue, Tilmes et al. (5) quantify the effects of one geoengineering
approach--the introduction of additional aerosols into Earth's stratosphere,
akin to a volcanic eruption--on high-latitude stratospheric ozone
concentrations. Geoengineering involves trying to reduce the amount of sunlight
reaching Earth's surface to compensate for the additional long-wave infrared
radiation from greenhouse gases, thereby reducing or reversing global warming
(6).
* [39] Atmospheric Science: Whither Geoengineering?, Alan Robock, 08/05/30,
Science : 1166-1167.
[39] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5880/1166
_________________________________________________________________
17.02. Entomogenic Climate Change , arXiv
Excerpt: Rapidly expanding insect populations, deforestation, and global
climate change threaten to destabilize key planetary carbon pools, especially
the Earth's forests which link the micro-ecology of insect infestation to
climate. To the extent mean temperature increases, insect populations
accelerate deforestation. This alters climate via the loss of active carbon
sequestration by live trees and increased carbon release from decomposing dead
trees. A positive feedback loop can emerge that is self-sustaining--no longer
requiring independent climate-change drivers.
* [40] Entomogenic Climate Change, David Dunn and James P. Crutchfield,
2008/05/25, DOI: 0805.3851, arXiv
* Contributed by [41] Carlos Gershenson
[40] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0805.3851
[41] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
18. Microrobots Dance On Something Smaller Than A Pin's Head , Physorg.com
Excerpts: Microscopic robots crafted to maneuver separately without any obvious
guidance are now assembling into self-organized structures (...). Each
microrobot is shaped something like a spatula but with dimensions measuring
just microns, or millionths of a meter. They are almost 100 times smaller than
any previous robotic designs of their kind and weigh even less,(...).
Propelling themselves across such surfaces in an inchworm-like fashion impelled
by a "scratch-drive" motion actuator, the microrobots advance in steps only 10
to 20 billionths of a meter each, but repeated as often as 20,000 times a
second.
* [42] Microrobots Dance On Something Smaller Than A Pin's Head, 08/06/02,
Physorg.com
[42] http://physorg.com/news131633365.html
_________________________________________________________________
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
_________________________________________________________________
19.01. Perpetuating The Al-Qaeda-Iraq Myth , Time
Excerpts: They "stand up" al-Qaeda as the enemy in Iraq, he said, even behind
closed doors. In the teeth of the facts, they ignore that the enemy we're
fighting in Iraq is a half a dozen homegrown insurgencies, an incipient civil
war, and criminal gangs. They ignore the fact that although a handful of Osama
bin Laden's followers showed up in Iraq after the invasion, in a futile attempt
to hijack the Sunni resistance, al-Qaeda is not the main enemy in that country.
* [43] Perpetuating The Al-Qaeda-Iraq Myth, Robert Baer, 08/06/02, Time
[43] http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811318,00.html
_________________________________________________________________
20. Links & Snippets
_________________________________________________________________
20.01. Other Publications
- Evolution and Creationism in America's Classrooms: A National Portrait,
2008/05/20, PLoS Biol 6(5): e124, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060124
- Public Discourse in the Web Does Not Exhibit Group Polarization, 2008/05/22,
arXiv, DOI: 0805.3537
- Fluctuation-Driven Capacity Distribution in Complex Networks, 2008/05/23,
arXiv [New J. Phys. 10, 053022 (2008)], DOI: 0805.3725
- Boffins Find 'New Class Of Superconductor': Material Based On Iron And
Arsenic, 2008/05/29, vnunet.com
- Do People From Different Countries Behave Differently In A Crisis?
Life-Saving Research About Emergency Evacuations Begins At University Of
Greenwich, 2008/05/29, Innovations-report
- Life, But Not As We Know It?, 2008/05/29, Innovations-report
- Boolean Network Models Of Cellular Regulation: Prospects And Limitations,
2008/05/28, Interface, DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2008.0132.focus
- Temporal Trends In The Discovery Of Human Viruses, 2008/05/27, Proceedings B:
Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0294
- Fission And Fusion Of Darwin's Finches Populations, 2008/05/28, Philosophical
Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0051
- Olfactory Receptor Neurons Select Which Odor Receptors To Express,
2008/05/31, ScienceDaily & Public Library of Science
- Wireless Vision Implant: Implantable Prosthesis Lets Patients Perceive Visual
Images, 2008/06/02, ScienceDaily & Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
- Characterizing The Structural Quality Of General Complex Software Networks,
Feb. 2008, International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, DOI:
10.1142/S0218127408020537
- Time Scaling Of Chaotic Systems: Application To Secure Communications, Feb.
2008, International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, DOI:
10.1142/S0218127408020483
- Dopamine, Reward Prediction Error, And Economics, May 2008, Online
2008/04/10, Quarterly Journal of Economics, DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.2.663
- Diversity: Culture, Gender, And Math, 08/05/30, Science: 1164-1165. Analysis
of PISA results suggests that the gender gap in math scores disappears in
countries with a more gender-equal culture.
- Materials Science: Graphene-Based Materials, 08/05/30, Science : 1170-1171.
Advances in synthesizing graphene offer opportunities for making novel
materials for nanoelectronics and many other applications.
- Planetary Science: Is Mars Geodynamically Dead?, 08/05/30, Science:
1171-1172. The observation that Mars' northern polar cap barely deforms its
crust implies that its planetary interior is colder than expected.
- Water Activity and the Challenge for Life on Early Mars, 08/05/30, Science :
1204-1207. Calculations imply that the high salinity required to form
widespread sulfates found on Mars reduces the effective concentration of water
below the limits for life on Earth.
- Coordination of Early Protective Immunity to Viral Infection by Regulatory T
Cells, 08/05/30, Science : 1220-1224. In mice infected with herpes virus, a
usually immunosuppressive T cell is necessary for rapid arrival of immune cells
and elevated cytokine levels at the site of infection., DOI:
10.1126/science.1155209
_________________________________________________________________
20.02. Webcast Announcements
7th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 07/10/28-11/02
[44]
Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007
[45] World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 08/01/22-27
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
[46] An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
[47]
Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
[48]
Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming
Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
[49]
Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
[50]
ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life,
Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
[51]
T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, [52] The Washington Center
for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), [53]
Podcast
[54] 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
[55] Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and
Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC,
05/05/16-19
[56] 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
[57]
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
[44] http://webcast.in2p3.fr/RNSC/ target=new
[45]
http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2008/Targe
t=new
[46] http://www.complexsys.org/news.htm target=new
[47] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05ISF/index.html target=new
[48] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ONCECS05/ target=new
[49] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/CSS05/ target=new
[50] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECAL2005/ target=new
[51] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders0508.mov target=new
[52] http://www.complexsys.org/ target=new
[53] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders.mp3
[54] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05NASPSA/ target=new
[55] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05UCS/ target=new
[56] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Nicolis05/Target=new
[57] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECCS04/Target=new
_________________________________________________________________
20.03. Conference Announcements
[58] International Conference on Chaos, Complexity & Conflict, Omaha, NE,
08/06/05-07
[59]
4th Organization Studies Summer Workshop: Embracing Complexity: Advancing
Ecological Understanding in Organization Studies? Pissouri, Cyprus,
08/06/05-07
Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Tenth Annual... Applying Systems Biology, San
Francisco, CA, 08/06/09-11
AUTOMATA 2008, EPSRC Workshop Cellular Automata Theory and Applications,
Bristol, UK, 08/06/12-14
Intl Summer School on
"Modelling and Optimization in Micro- and Nano- Electronics" - MOMINE 2008,
Ragusa, Sicily, Italy, 08/06/14-28
NECSI Summer School, Cambridge, MA, 08/06/16-07/04,
[60]
9th Intl Mathematica Symposium, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 08/06/20-24
[61]
The 14th Intl Conf on Auditory Display (ICAD), Paris, France, 08/06/24-27
8th Intl Conf of Sociocybernetics - Complex Social Systems, Interdisciplinarity
And World Futures, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico, 08/06/24-28
"Is complexity the new framework for management and public policy in the 21st
century?"
Complexity Society Workshop, Manchester, UK, 08/06/26
The 3rd Intl Symp on Knowledge Communication and Peer Reviewing: KCPR 2008,
Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02
The 3rd Intl Symp on Knowledge Communication and Conferences: KCC 2008,
Orlando, Florida, USA, 08/06/29-07/02
[62]
7th Intl Summer School and Conf "Let's Face Chaos through Nonlinear Dynamics",
Maribor, Slovenia, 08/06/29-07/13
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
[63]
Complex Systems and Social Simulations, CEU Summer University, Budapest,
Hungary, 08/07/07-18
2008 Gordon Research Conf on Oscillations & Dynamic Instabilities
in Chemical Systems, Waterville, ME, 08/07/13-18
Nonlinear Fracture Mechanics Models, Udine, Italy, 08/07/14-18
[64]
1st Intl Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics and Synchronization
(INDS?8), Klagenfurt, Austria, 08/07/18-19
[65]
Scratch at MIT,Cambridge, MA, 08/07/24-26
[66]
8th Intl Conf on Epigenetic Robotics:
Modeling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems, Brighton, UK,
08/07/31-08/02
On the Edge: Healthcare in the Age of Complexity,
Kansas City, MO, 08/08/03-05
Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences
18th Annl Intl Conf, Richmond, Virginia, USA, 08/08/08-10
Stochastic Resonance 2008, Perugia, Italy, 08/08/17-21
4th Intl Conf on Natural Computation (ICNC'08) - 5th Intl Conf on Fuzzy Systems
and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD'08),
Jinan, China, 08/08/25-27
Intl Conf DEscribing COmplex Systems (DECOS), Zadar,
Croatia, 08/09/03-07
BICS Conference - Emergence in Complex Systems,
Bath, UK, 08/09/09-11
5th European
Conference on Complex Systems, Jerusalem, Israel, 08/09/14-19
EPOS 2008, III Edition of Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation, Lisbon,
Portugal, 08/10/02-03
International Congress on Complex Thought, Hermosillo , Sonora , Mexico,
08/10/21-24
2nd Intl Congress of Complex Systems in Sport (2nd ICCSS) and 10th European
Workshop of Ecological Psychology. (10th EWEP), Funchal, in Madeira Island,
Portugal, 08/11/05-08
COMPLEX'2009, First Intl Conf on Complex Systems: Theory and Applications,
Shanghai, China, 09/02/23-25
[58] http://law.creighton.edu/wernerInstitute/complexityconference/ TARGET=new
[59] http://www.egosnet.org/journal/os_summer_workshop_2008.shtml TARGET=new
[60] http://www.ims08.org/ TARGET=new
[61] http://http://icad08.ircam.fr TARGET=new
[62] http://www.camtp.uni-mb.si/chaos/2008/ TARGET=new
[63] http://www.sun.ceu.hu/complex-systems/ TARGET=new
[64] http://inds08.uni-klu.ac.at/ TARGET=new
[65] http://scratch.mit.edu/conference/ TARGET=new
[66] http://www.epigenetic-robotics.org TARGET=new
_________________________________________________________________
20.04. Other Announcements
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:
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Ref. Gottfried Mayer
_________________________________________________________________
[67]Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to
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