[tt] Complexity Digest 2008.31 (text version -2)

Tue Aug 19 17:06:05 UTC 2008

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Complexity Digest 2008.31 03-Aug-2008

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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. Toward A Type 1 Civilization - Along With Energy Policy, Political And
Economic Systems Must Also Evolve., Los Angeles Times
01.01. Cooperative Homo economicus, SFI Working Papers
01.02. Is Altruism Bad for Cooperation?, SFI Working Papers
02. Common Learning, Econometrica
03. Life, Logic And Information, Nature
03.01. Molecular Computing: A Layer Of Logic, Nature
04. High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius,
ScientificAmerican.com
05. Gray Matters: Brain's Sleep-Time Memory Storage Gets Muddled with Age,
Scientific American
05.01. A Hormone That Enhances Ones Memory Of Happy Faces, Innovations-report
05.02. Emotional Robots: Software Empowers Robots To Learn When A Person Is
Sad, Happy Or Angry, ScienceDaily
06. Glia Guide Brain Development In Worms, ScienceDaily
07. Scientists Hope To Gain Insight Into Fossil Record By Studying Current Size
Ranges, The New Mexican
07.01. The Evolution and Distribution of Species Body Size, Science
08. China's Challenges, Nature
08.01. China: The End Of The Science Superpowers, Nature
08.02. China: Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, Nature
09. Sociology: Survey Finds Citations Growing Narrower as Journals Move Online,
Science
10. Inflammation, Nature
10.01. Origin And Physiological Roles Of Inflammation, Nature
10.02. Cancer-Related Inflammation, Nature
11. The Bacteria Fight Back, Science
12. Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Natural Environments,
Science
13. Ultrasound Uses in Medicine Heat Up, Science
14. Protein Robustness Promotes Evolutionary Innovations on Large Evolutionary
Time Scales, SFI Working Papers
15. Genetics: Simple Sleepers, Science
16. How The Snake Got Its Fangs, Science News
17. Ecosystem Energetic Implications Of Parasite And Free-Living Biomass In
Three Estuaries, Nature
18. Complex Food Webs Prevent Competitive Exclusion Among Producer Species,
Proc. Biol. Sc.
18.01. Ecology: Assisted Colonization And Rapid Climate Change, Science
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 
19.01. War on Terror Out; Counterterrorism In, Wired
20. Links & Snippets 
20.01. Other Publications 
20.02. Webcast Announcements 
20.03. Conference Announcements 
20.04. Other Announcements 

_________________________________________________________________

01. Toward A Type 1 Civilization - Along With Energy Policy, Political And
Economic Systems Must Also Evolve. , Los Angeles Times

Excerpts: In a 1964 article on searching for extraterrestrial civilizations,
the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev suggested using radio telescopes to
detect energy signals from other solar systems in which there might be
civilizations of three levels of advancement: Type 1 can harness all of the
energy of its home planet; Type 2 can harvest all of the power of its sun; and
Type 3 can master the energy from its entire galaxy. 

* [4] Toward A Type 1 Civilization - Along With Energy Policy, Political And
Economic Systems Must Also Evolve., Michael Shermer, 08/07/22, Los Angeles
Times

[4]
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-shermer22-2008jul22,0,5301
697.story

_________________________________________________________________

01.01. Cooperative Homo economicus , SFI Working Papers

Excerpt: Economists and biologists have both provided explanations of
decentralized cooperation among self-regarding individuals as a result of
repeated interactions. Repeated interactions do provide opportunities for
cooperative individuals to discipline defectors, and may be effective in groups
of two individuals. However, we will show that none of these models is adequate
for groups of reasonable size and for plausible assumptions about the
information available to each individual. Moreover, even presupposing
extraordinary cognitive capacities and levels of patience among the cooperating
individuals, it is unlikely that a group of more than two individuals would eve
r
discover the cooperative equilibria that the models have identified (...)

* [5] Cooperative Homo economicus, Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, DOI:
SFI-WP 08-07-030, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by [6] Carlos Gershenson

[5] http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/wpabstract/200807030
[6] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

01.02. Is Altruism Bad for Cooperation? , SFI Working Papers

Excerpt: (...) Using a utility function embodying both spite and altruism we
show that unconditional altruism towards other members attenuates the
punishment motive and thus may reduce the level of punishment inflicted on
defectors, resulting in lower rather than higher levels of contributions.
Increases in altruism may also reduce the level of benefits from the public
project net of contribution costs and punishment costs. The negative effect of
altruism on cooperation and material payoffs is greater the stronger is the
reciprocity motive among the members.

* [7] Is Altruism Bad for Cooperation?, Sung-Ha Hwang and Samuel Bowles, DOI:
SFI-WP 08-07-029, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by [8] Carlos Gershenson

[7] http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/wpabstract/200807029
[8] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

02. Common Learning , Econometrica

Excerpt: Consider two agents who learn the value of an unknown parameter by
observing a sequence of private signals. The signals are independent and
identically distributed across time but not necessarily across agents. We show
that when each agent's signal space is finite, the agents will commonly learn
the value of the parameter, that is, that the true value of the parameter will
become approximate common knowledge. The essential step in this argument is to
express the expectation of one agent's signals, conditional on those of the
other agent, (...).

* [9] Common Learning, M. W. Cripps , [10] J. C. Ely, [11] G. J. Mailath, [12]
L. Samuelson, Jul. 2008, Online 2008/06/28, DOI:
10.1111/j.1468-0262.2008.00862.x, Econometrica
* Contributed by [13] Pritha Das

[9] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120081607/abstract
[10] mailto:jeffely at northwestern.edu 
[11] mailto:gmailath at econ.upenn.edu 
[12] mailto:Larry.Samuelson at yale.edu
[13] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com

_________________________________________________________________

03. Life, Logic And Information , Nature

Excerpts: Focusing on information flow will help us to understand better how
cells and organisms work. (...) But comprehensive understanding of many
higher-level biological phenomena remains elusive. Even at the level of the
cell, phenomena such as general cellular homeostasis and the maintenance of
cell integrity, the generation of spatial and temporal order, inter- and
intracellular signalling, cell 'memory' and reproduction are not fully
understood. This is also true for the levels of organization seen in tissues,
organs and organisms, which feature more complex phenomena such as embryonic
development and operation of the immune and nervous systems.

* [14] Life, Logic And Information, Paul Nurse, 08/07/24, DOI: 10.1038/454424a,
Nature 454, 424-426

[14] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/454424a.html

_________________________________________________________________

03.01. Molecular Computing: A Layer Of Logic , Nature

Excerpts: Silicon chips have thousands of electronic logic gates etched on
them. But there are other ways to decorate monolithic surfaces with logic
gates, as a system using metal complexes secured to glass slides shows.

* [15] Molecular Computing: A Layer Of Logic, A. Prasanna de Silva, 08/07/24,
DOI: 10.1038/454417a, Nature 454, 417-418

[15] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/454417a.html

_________________________________________________________________

04. High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius ,
ScientificAmerican.com

Excerpts: Smarter brains tend to be bigger - at least in certain locations.
Researchers have fingered parts of the parietal and frontal lobes as well as a
structure called the anterior cingulate as important for superior cognition.
Some studies suggest that the brains of brighter people use less energy to
solve certain problems than those of people with lower aptitudes do. But under
certain circumstances, scientists have also observed higher neuronal power
consumption in individuals with superior mental capacities. People often
overestimate the importance of intellectual ability. Practice and perseverance
contribute more to accomplishment than being smart does.

* [16] High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius, Christian Hoppe, 
Jelena Stojanovic, 08/09, ScientificAmerican.com

[16] http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=high-aptitude-minds&sc=MND_20080731

_________________________________________________________________

05. Gray Matters: Brain's Sleep-Time Memory Storage Gets Muddled with Age ,
Scientific American

Excerpts: University of Arizona in Tucson researchers report in The Journal of
Neuroscience that forgetfulness may, at least in part, stem from a breakdown in
the brain's ability to store or consolidate memories, a process that involves
"replaying" and filing away events while we snooze.  In a study of rats, the
scientists found that when the animals were at rest there were repeating
patterns of neuronal (nerve cell) activity believed to be involved in moving
information from short-term to long-term memory vaults in the brain. The
process, however, was disrupted in the older rats.

* [17] Gray Matters: Brain's Sleep-Time Memory Storage Gets Muddled with Age,
Nikhil Swaminathan, 08/07/29, Scientific American

[17]
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=brains-sleep-memory-storage-muddled-age

_________________________________________________________________

05.01. A Hormone That Enhances Ones Memory Of Happy Faces , Innovations-report

Excerpts: (...) shows that one way oxytocin promotes social affiliation in
humans is by enhancing the encoding of positive social memories. (...) sought
to evaluate the effects of oxytocin on the encoding and recognition of faces in
humans. They recruited healthy male volunteers and in a double-blind, randomize
d
design, administered either oxytocin or a placebo. They then presented a series
of happy, angry and neutral human faces (...). The results revealed that those
who received oxytocin were more likely to remember the happy faces they had
seen previously, more so than the angry and neutral faces. (...)

* [18] A Hormone That Enhances Ones Memory Of Happy Faces, 2008/07/28,
Innovations-report
* Contributed by [19] Atin Das

[18] http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-115045.html
[19] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

05.02. Emotional Robots: Software Empowers Robots To Learn When A Person Is
Sad, Happy Or Angry , ScienceDaily

Excerpts: A robot with empathy sounds like the stuff of sci-fi movies, but with
the aid of neural networks European researchers are developing robots in tune
with our emotions. Feelix Growing is developing software empowering robots that
can learn when a person is sad, happy or angry. The learning part is achieved
through the use of artificial neural networks, which are well suited to the
varied and changing inputs (...). Using cameras and sensors, the very simple
robots being built by the researchers ?using mostly off-the-shelf parts ?can
detect different parameters, such as a person's facial expressions, voice, and
proximity to determine emotional state. (...)

* [20] Emotional Robots: Software Empowers Robots To Learn When A Person Is
Sad, Happy Or Angry, 2008/07/28, ScienceDaily & ICT Results
* Contributed by [21] Atin Das

[20] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717225057.htm
[21] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

06. Glia Guide Brain Development In Worms , ScienceDaily

Excerpts: Again and again, experiments confirmed it. Without glia, neurons die.
So scientists who wanted to study in living animals what glia ?the most
abundant brain cells ?do for neurons besides keep them alive were out of luck.
But now, a breakthrough. A system unveiled (...) shows that in the
Caenorhabditis elegans worm, neurons live on despite the absence of glia, a
landmark discovery that paves the way for scientists to explore the dialogue
between these team players in their natural environment. (...) most brain
tumors and many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers Disease, may
arise from these cells, (...).

* [22] Glia Guide Brain Development In Worms, 2008/07/24, ScienceDaily &
Rockefeller University
* Contributed by [23] Atin Das

[22] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080720214453.htm
[23] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

07. Scientists Hope To Gain Insight Into Fossil Record By Studying Current Size
Ranges , The New Mexican

Excerpts: That more recent fossil record, they think, can help scientists
better understand the size differences between animals in a group - like
mammals or lizards or dinosaurs - from times much further back than 50 million
years, such as the time of the dinosaurs, which ended 65 million years ago,
Clauset said. "This model may give us a way of estimating what we're missing in
the fossil record," Clauset said. That could be useful because fossils from the
time of the dinosaurs, for instance, can be very deceptive.

* [24] Scientists Hope To Gain Insight Into Fossil Record By Studying Current
Size Ranges, Sue Vorenberg, 08/07/31, The New Mexican

[24]
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/HealthandScience/Modern-species-diversity-may-
offer-window-to-past

_________________________________________________________________

07.01. The Evolution and Distribution of Species Body Size , Science

Excerpts: The distribution of species body size within taxonomic groups
exhibits a heavy right tail extending over many orders of magnitude, where most
species are much larger than the smallest species. We provide a simple model of
cladogenetic diffusion over evolutionary time that omits explicit mechanisms
for interspecific competition and other microevolutionary processes, yet fully
explains the shape of this distribution. We estimate the model's parameters
from fossil data and find that it robustly reproduces the distribution of 4002
mammal species from the late Quaternary.

* [25] The Evolution and Distribution of Species Body Size, Aaron Clauset, 
Douglas H. Erwin, 08/07/18, Science : 399-401.

[25] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/399

_________________________________________________________________

08. China's Challenges , Nature

Excerpts: By almost every measure, China's growth is extraordinary. But behind
the astonishing statistics is a more complex reality. Discussions of China's
emergence as a superpower often focus on matters of scale. This is
understandable. China's borders encompass more than 1.3 billion people - one in
every five humans on the planet - and stunningly diverse terrain, from the
Yellow River plain in the east to the Himalayan plateau in the west. In science
and technology, China now generates more publications than any other country ba
r
the United States, and ranks third in the number of doctoral degrees it awards.

* [26] China's Challenges, 08/07/24, DOI: 10.1038/454367a, Nature 454, 367-368

[26] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/454367a.html

_________________________________________________________________

08.01. China: The End Of The Science Superpowers , Nature

Excerpts: From around 1735 until 1840 France led the world of science. (...)
But ultimately, the centralized system led to rigidity and decline in the
quality of science.

Next the nexus shifted to Germany, from the middle of the nineteenth century
until the 1920s. This period saw the birth of a new type of research-oriented
university, (...).

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the hub shifted to Britain. Over the
next half century, scientific funding from government and industry rose, the
university system was vigorous, (...).
The United States emerged from the Second World War as the world's economic
superpower, facilitating the dominance of its system of science. (...)

Yet history suggests that the United States has no cause for complacency.

* [27] China: The End Of The Science Superpowers, J. Rogers Hollingsworth, 
Karl H. Mueller,  Ellen Jane Hollingsworth, 08/07/24, DOI: 10.1038/454412a,
Nature 454, 412-413

[27] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/454412a.html

_________________________________________________________________

08.02. China: Where Have All The Flowers Gone? , Nature

Excerpts: At least 117 boys were being born for every 100 girls at the
beginning of this century in China. (...) In 1982 the average male-to-female
ratio at birth in China was 1.07 (as opposed to the normal level of 1.03-1.06);
by 2000, various estimates put it at 1.17-1.21. And according to even official
figures, the female-to-male infant mortality ratio rose during this period from
around 0.95 to 1.46. The timing seems to imply a direct link to the one-child
policy, although Guilmoto points out that the sex ratio has also increased in
recent times in countries where no such restrictions apply, such as India and
South Korea.

* [28] China: Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, Philip Ball, 08/07/23, DOI:
10.1038/454374a, Nature 454, 374-375

[28] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080723/full/454374a.html

_________________________________________________________________

09. Sociology: Survey Finds Citations Growing Narrower as Journals Move Online
, Science

Excerpts: A sociologist argues on page 395 of this week's issue of Science that
making scholarly articles available online has narrowed citations to more recen
t
and less diverse articles than before--the opposite of what most people
expected. (...) Oddly, "our studies show the opposite," says Carol
Tenopir,(...). She (...), have surveyed thousands of scientists over the years
for their scholarly reading habits. They found that scientists are reading
older articles and reading more broadly--at least one article a year from 23
different journals, compared with 13 journals in the late 1970s.

* [29] Sociology: Survey Finds Citations Growing Narrower as Journals Move
Online, Jennifer Couzin, 08/07/18, Science : 329.

[29] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/329a

_________________________________________________________________

10. Inflammation , Nature

Excerpts: Inflammation is the body's immediate response to damage to its
tissues and cells by pathogens, noxious stimuli such as chemicals, or physical
injury. Acute inflammation is a short-term response that usually results in
healing: leukocytes infiltrate the damaged region, removing the stimulus and
repairing the tissue. Chronic inflammation, by contrast, is a prolonged,
dysregulated and maladaptive response that involves active inflammation, tissue
destruction and attempts at tissue repair. Such persistent inflammation is
associated with many chronic human conditions and diseases, including allergy,
atherosclerosis, cancer, arthritis and autoimmune diseases.

* [30] Inflammation, Ursula Weiss, 08/07/24, DOI: 10.1038/454427a, Nature 454,
427

[30] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/454427a.html

_________________________________________________________________

10.01. Origin And Physiological Roles Of Inflammation , Nature

Excerpts: Inflammation underlies a wide variety of physiological and
pathological processes. Although the pathological aspects of many types of
inflammation are well appreciated, their physiological functions are mostly
unknown. The classic instigators of inflammation - infection and tissue injury
- are at one end of a large range of adverse conditions that induce
inflammation, and they trigger the recruitment of leukocytes and plasma
proteins to the affected tissue site. Tissue stress or malfunction similarly
induces an adaptive response, which is referred to here as para-inflammation.

* [31] Origin And Physiological Roles Of Inflammation, Ruslan Medzhitov,
08/07/24, DOI: 10.1038/nature07201, Nature 454, 428-435

[31] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/nature07201.html

_________________________________________________________________

10.02. Cancer-Related Inflammation , Nature

Excerpts: The mediators and cellular effectors of inflammation are important
constituents of the local environment of tumours. In some types of cancer,
inflammatory conditions are present before a malignant change occurs.
Conversely, in other types of cancer, an oncogenic change induces an
inflammatory microenvironment that promotes the development of tumours.
Regardless of its origin, 'smouldering' inflammation in the tumour
microenvironment has many tumour-promoting effects. It aids in the
proliferation and survival of malignant cells, promotes angiogenesis and
metastasis, subverts adaptive immune responses, and alters responses to
hormones and chemotherapeutic agents.

* [32] Cancer-Related Inflammation, Alberto Mantovani,  Paola Allavena, 
Antonio Sica ,  Frances Balkwill, 08/07/24, DOI: 10.1038/nature07205, Nature
454, 436-444

[32] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/nature07205.html

_________________________________________________________________

11. The Bacteria Fight Back , Science

Excerpts: In their ongoing war against antibiotics, the bacteria seem to be
winning, and the drug pipeline is verging on empty. (...) One of the many
misconceptions about bacterial infections is that the bugs involved are not
native to the human body or are particularly pernicious to begin with.
Virtually all bacteria are capable of causing serious infections, at least in
immunocompromised patients, although most do not. In hospitalized patients,
many infections arise from the patient's own bacterial flora, flourishing where
they're not supposed to be.

* [33] The Bacteria Fight Back, Gary Taubes, 08/07/18, DOI:
10.1126/science.321.5887.356, Science : Vol. 321. no. 5887, pp. 356 - 361

[33] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/356

_________________________________________________________________

12. Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Natural Environments ,
Science

Excerpts: The large majority of antibiotics currently used for treating
infections and the antibiotic resistance genes acquired by human pathogens each
have an environmental origin. Recent work indicates that the function of these
elements in their environmental reservoirs may be very distinct from the
"weapon-shield" role they play in clinical settings. Changes in natural
ecosystems, including the release of large amounts of antimicrobials, might
alter the population dynamics of microorganisms, including selection of
resistance, with consequences for human health that are difficult to predict.

* [34] Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Natural Environments,
Jose L. Martinez, 08/07/18, Science: 365-367.

[34] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/365

_________________________________________________________________

13. Ultrasound Uses in Medicine Heat Up , Science

Excerpts: New ultrasound-based technologies, described at the Acoustics '08
meeting, are poised to probe the inner structure of bones and treat otherwise
incurable cancers. (...) Cancer researchers discussed high-intensity focused
ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, which focuses ultrasound beams on a single spot
inside the body, such as the center of a tumor. (...). HIFU is already used to
treat cancer in easily accessible tissue such as in the prostate and uterus,
but the brain has so far been off-limits because the skull makes focusing the
beams nearly impossible.

* [35] Ultrasound Uses in Medicine Heat Up, John Bohannon, 08/07/18, Science:
338-339.

[35] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/338b

_________________________________________________________________

14. Protein Robustness Promotes Evolutionary Innovations on Large Evolutionary
Time Scales , SFI Working Papers

Abstract: Recent laboratory experiments suggest that a molecule's ability to
evolve neutrally is important for its ability to generate evolutionary
innovations. In contrast to laboratory experiments, life unfolds on time scales
of billions of years. Here, we ask whether a molecule's ability to evolve
neutrally - a measure of its robustness - facilitates evolutionary innovation
also on these large time scales. To this end, we use protein designability, the
number of sequences that can adopt a given protein structure, as an estimate of
the structure's ability to evolve neutrally. Based on two complementary
measures of functional diversity - catalytic diversity and molecular function
diversity in gene ontology - we show that more robust proteins have a greater
capacity to produce functional innovations. Significant associations among
structural designability, folding rate, and intrinsic disorder also exist,
underlining the complex relationship of the structural factors that affect
protein evolution.

* [36] Protein Robustness Promotes Evolutionary Innovations on Large
Evolutionary Time Scales, Evandro Ferrada ,  Andreas Wagner, DOI: SFI-WP
08-06-026, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by [37] Carlos Gershenson

[36] http://www.santafe.edu/research/publications/wpabstract/200806026
[37] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

15. Genetics: Simple Sleepers , Science

Excerpts: Classic genetic model organisms--fruit flies, zebrafish, and
roundworms--are popular newcomers in sleep research laboratories, although
debate continues about how much their dozing relates to human slumber.(...)
When birds and mammals sleep, their brains generate characteristic electrical
patterns that denote deep sleep and dreaming. Since discovering this phenomenon
in 1953 using electroencephalogram recordings of human brains, scientists have
incorporated EEG patterns into the definition of sleep. But the simpler brains
of flies, worms, and even reptiles don't produce those patterns, and no one was
certain these animals even sleep.

* [38] Genetics: Simple Sleepers, Elsa Youngsteadt, 08/07/18, Science :
334-337.

[38] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/334

_________________________________________________________________

16. How The Snake Got Its Fangs , Science News

Excerpts:     By observing gene activity in snake embryos, a team revealed
that, on the evolutionary tree, fangs sprang from one source. Pictured is the
18-day-old embryo of an African night adder. (...)
 Credit: F. Vonk and M. Richardson     It likely all started when the back of
the mouth left the front. (...) Dagger-sharp frontal fangs allow cobras and
vipers to prey on feisty mammals such as the large desert rat. Garter snakes,
corn snakes and others that hunt less volatile creatures do just fine with
fangs in the back of their mouth. What confused biologists, however, was
learning that the front-fanged snakes don't fall into a neat group. In the
snake tree of life, rear-fanged snakes are scattered on evolutionary branches
in between the cobras and the more recently evolved vipers, which indicates
that fangs evolved at least a couple of times on separate branches leading to
front-fanged snakes.

* [39] How The Snake Got Its Fangs, Amy Maxmen, 08/07/31, Science News

[39]
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34604/title/How_the_snake_got_its_fa
ngs

_________________________________________________________________

17. Ecosystem Energetic Implications Of Parasite And Free-Living Biomass In
Three Estuaries , Nature

Excerpts: Parasites can have strong impacts but are thought to contribute
little biomass to ecosystems. We quantified the biomass of free-living and
parasitic species in three estuaries (...). Here we show that parasites have
substantial biomass in these ecosystems. We found that parasite biomass
exceeded that of top predators. The biomass of trematodes was particularly
high, being comparable to that of the abundant birds, fishes, burrowing shrimps
and polychaetes. Trophically transmitted parasites and parasitic castrators
subsumed more biomass than did other parasitic functional groups.

* [40] Ecosystem Energetic Implications Of Parasite And Free-Living Biomass In
Three Estuaries, Armand M. Kuris,  Ryan F. Hechinger,  Jenny C. Shaw,  Kathleen
L. Whitney,  Leopoldina Aguirre-Macedo,  Charlie A. Boch,  Andrew P. Dobson, 
Eleca J. Dunham,  Brian L. Fredensborg,  Todd C. Huspeni,  Julio Lorda, 
Luzviminda Mababa,  Frank T. Mancini,  Adrienne B. Mora,  Maria Pickering, 
Nadia L. Talhouk,  Mark E. Torchin ,  Kevin D. Lafferty, 08/07/24, DOI:
10.1038/nature06970, Nature 454, 515-518

[40] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7203/full/nature06970.html

_________________________________________________________________

18. Complex Food Webs Prevent Competitive Exclusion Among Producer Species ,
Proc. Biol. Sc.

Excerpts: Herbivorous top-down forces and bottom-up competition for nutrients
determine the coexistence and relative biomass patterns of producer species.
Combining models of predatorprey and producernutrient interactions with a
structural model of complex food webs, I investigated these two aspects in a
dynamic food-web model. While competitive exclusion leads to persistence of
only one producer species in 99.7% of the simulated simple producer communities
without consumers, embedding the same producer communities in complex food webs
generally yields producer coexistence. (...) This negative feedback loop
regulates the coexistence and biomass patterns of the producers by balancing
biomass increases of producers and biomass fluxes to herbivores, (...).

* [41] Complex Food Webs Prevent Competitive Exclusion Among Producer Species,
U. Brose, 2008/07/22, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0718, Proceedings B: Biological
Sciences
* Contributed by [42] Atin Das

[41]
http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/f61tq2w2q816rx4g/?p=362e18341d4246d7af
8c84ebaf7a4530&pi=1
[42] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

18.01. Ecology: Assisted Colonization And Rapid Climate Change , Science

Excerpts: Moving species outside their historic ranges may mitigate loss of
biodiversity in the face of global climate change. (...) Current conservation
practices may not be enough to avert species losses in the face of mid- to
upper-level climate projections (> 3 deg C) , because the extensive clearing
and destruction of natural habitats by humans disrupts processes that underpin
species dispersal and establishment. Therefore, resource managers and
policy-makers must contemplate moving species to sites where they do not
currently occur or have not been known to occur in recent history.

* [43] Ecology: Assisted Colonization And Rapid Climate Change, O.
Hoegh-Guldberg,  L. Hughes,  S. McIntyre,  D. B. Lindenmayer,  C. Parmesan,  H.
P. Possingham,  C. D. Thomas, 08/07/18, Science : 345-346.

[43] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5887/345

_________________________________________________________________

19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 

_________________________________________________________________

19.01. War on Terror Out; Counterterrorism In , Wired

Excerpts:     By analyzing a comprehensive roster of terrorist groups that
existed worldwide between 1968 and 2006, the authors found that most groups
ended because of operations carried out by local police or intelligence
agencies or because they negotiated a settlement with their governments.
Military force was rarely the primary reason a terrorist group ended, and few
groups within this time frame achieved victory.     Many people have said it,
but now a respected think tank has put its imprimatur on it: the "global war on
terror" is a misguided concept. A major new RAND study look at how terrorist
groups have historically ended, concludes that in most cases, political
accommodation and infiltration -- not brute force -- broke up the groups. Of
course, RAND also notes that political accommodation works when the terrorists'
goals are narrow (i.e. RAND is not recommending political accommodation with Al
Qaeda, which has far-reaching goals).

* [44] War on Terror Out; Counterterrorism In, Sharon Weinberger, 08/07/30,
Wired

[44] http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/07/war-on-terroris.html

_________________________________________________________________

20. Links & Snippets 

_________________________________________________________________

20.01. Other Publications 

- The Organization of Intrinsic Computation: Complexity-Entropy Diagrams and
the Diversity of Natural Information Processing, SFI Working Papers, DOI:
SFI-WP 08-07-028
- Market Selection and Asset Pricing, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 08-07-027
- Neutral Network Sizes of Biological RNA Molecules Can Be Computed and Are
Atypically Large, SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 08-06-025
- Shaping Robust System through Evolution, 2008/07/09, arXiv [Chaos (2008)18,
026112], DOI: 0807.1367
- Web Address Total Tops One Trillion: Google Reveals Latest Internet
Milestone, 2008/07/28, vnunet.com
- Effects Of Physical Training On The Heart, 2008/07/28, Innovations-report
- Birdsong Not Just For The Birds: Bio-Acoustic Method Also Hears Natures Cry
For Help, 2008/07/28, Innovations-report
- Meet Robo Habilis, 2008/07/23, Innovations-report
- Behavioural Phenotype Affects Social Interactions In An Animal Network,
2008/07/22, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0744
- The Type And Timing Of Social Information Alters Offspring Production,
2008/07/22, Biological Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0306
- The Kids Most Likely To Go Armed, 2008/07/28, ScienceDaily & BioMed Central
Limited
- Adult Stem Cells Activated In Mammalian Brain, 2008/07/26, ScienceDaily &
University of California - Irvine
- Particle Competition For Complex Network Community Detection, Sep. 2008,
online 2008/07/23, Chaos, DOI: 10.1063/1.2956982
- A Landscape Theory For Food Web Architecture, Aug. 2008, Online 2008/04/28,
Ecology Letters, DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01193.x
- Is It Mine? Hemispheric Asymmetries In Corporeal Self-Recognition, Aug. 2008,
Online 2008/07/16, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, DOI:
10.1162/jocn.2008.20067
- Developmental Biology: Grasping Limb Patterning, 08/07/18, Science : 350-352.

Recent studies offer insights into how a molecular signal controls the growth
and patterning of the digits on vertebrate limbs during development.
- Evolutionary Origins for Social Vocalization in a Vertebrate HindbrainSpinal
Compartment, 08/07/18, Science : 417-421. 
The conserved neural circuitry for vocal communication in fish and other
tetrapods suggests that this function may have originated prior to the
evolution of bony vertebrates.

_________________________________________________________________

20.02. Webcast Announcements 

 [45] 
Can Ants Solve Traffic Jams?, Danielle Parsons, Slatev.com, 08/07/22

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

 7th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 07/10/28-11/02

 [46] 
Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007

 [47] 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
 [48] An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
 [49] 
Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25

 [50] 
Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming
Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23

 [51] 
Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14

 [52] 
ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, 
Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9

 [53] 
T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, [54] The Washington Center
for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), [55]
Podcast 

 [56] 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

 [57] Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and
Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC,
05/05/16-19

 [58] 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

 [59] 
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

[45] http://www.slatev.com/player.html?id=1681718043 target=new
[46] http://webcast.in2p3.fr/RNSC/ target=new
[47]
http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2008/Targe
t=new
[48] http://www.complexsys.org/news.htm target=new
[49] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05ISF/index.html target=new
[50] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ONCECS05/ target=new
[51] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/CSS05/ target=new
[52] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECAL2005/ target=new
[53] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders0508.mov target=new
[54] http://www.complexsys.org/ target=new
[55] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Sanders0508/Sanders.mp3
[56] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05NASPSA/ target=new
[57] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/05UCS/ target=new
[58] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/Nicolis05/Target=new
[59] http://complexity.vub.ac.be/~comdig/ECCS04/Target=new

_________________________________________________________________

20.03. Conference Announcements 

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

1st Intl Conf on the Evolution and Development of the Universe, Paris, France,
08/10/08-09

International Congress on Complex Thought, Hermosillo , Sonora , Mexico,
08/10/21-24

What Is Computation? (How) Does Nature Compute? - 2008 Midwest NKS Conference,
Bloomington, IN, 08/10/30-11/02

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

2008 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on 
Web Intelligence (WI-08), Sydney, Australia, 08/12/09-12

COMPLEX'2009, First Intl Conf on Complex Systems: Theory and Applications,
Shanghai, China, 09/02/23-25

Models and Simulations 3 Conference, Charlottesville, USA 09/03/05-07

_________________________________________________________________

20.04. Other Announcements 

[60] PhD Studentship in Unconventional Computing or Cellular Automata,
University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, Deadline: 08/10/01

 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

2080 Western Avenue

20 Mall

Guilderland, NY 12084 USA

(on the back of the check, please write: For Deposit Only: Account # 983 338
3814?

If your contribution is made by wire:

Manufacturers & Traders Trust

2080 Western Avenue

20 Mall

Guilderland, NY 12084 USA

SWIFT Code# MANTUS33

UID: 209 791

ABA routing # 022 00 00 46 [for US wire transfers]

Account # 983 338 3814

Ref. Gottfried Mayer

[60]
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/VB307/PhD_Studentship_in_Unconventional_Computing_or
_Cellular_Automata/
target=new

_________________________________________________________________

[61]Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to
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[65]Gottfried J. Mayer.
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[64] http://www.deanlebaron.com/index.html
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