[tt] Complexity Digest 2008.32 (text version -2)

Wed Aug 20 09:38:30 UTC 2008

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Complexity Digest 2008.32 10-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. Survival Of The Unfittest, The HCM Market Letter
01.01. What's The Big Deal? It's The Little Things, LATimes
02. Quantum Computing: Cloudy Computing, Nature
02.01. How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World, Business Week
03. The Dynamics of Internet Traffic: Self-Similarity, Self-Organization, and
Complex Phenomena, arXiv
03.01. Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer, arXiv
04. Military's Social Science Grants Raise Alarm, Washington Post
04.01. Multiple Gossip Statements And Their Effect On Reputation And
Trustworthiness, Proc. Biol. Sc.
05. Knowledge, Sentience And Receptivity: A Paradigm Of Lifelong Learning,
Euro. J. Edu.
06. Science At The Olympics: Can Ice Vests Provide a Competitive Chill?,
Science
06.01. Science At The Olympics: Can Neuroscience Provide a Mental Edge?,
Science
07. Universal Scaling in the Branching of the Tree of Life, arXiv
07.01. Across the Curious Parallel of Language and Species Evolution, PLoS Biol
08. Dopamine Could Help The Sleep-Deprived Still Learn, Science News
09. Cancer: Ins And Outs Of Tumour Control, Nature
09.01. Thousands Of Proteins Affected By miRNAs, Nature
10. First 'Virophage' Could Take The Fight To Viruses, New Scientist
11. Fish Lie - Males Don't Show Their True Preferences In Front Of Rivals,
Science News
11.01. Life In A Bubble, Innovations-report
11.02. How Some Bacteria May Steal Iron From Their Human Hosts,
Innovations-report
12. Cellular Symmetry: What Cues Tell A Cell To Divide At The Center,
ScienceDaily
13. Solar-Power Breakthrough, Technology Review
14. Researchers Mash Google Earth With Electrical Data To Predict National Grid
Problems, NetWorkWorld
14.01. Energy: Upgrading The Grid, Nature
15. Climate Change: Did You Say "Fast"?, Science
15.01. Hopping Hotspots: Global Shifts in Marine Biodiversity, Science
15.02. Climate Maps Offer Wildlife Hope Of Sanctuary, New Scientist
16. Complex Clock Combines Calendars, Nature
17. Quantum Physics Makes Water Different, Science News
17.01. Nanotechnology: Patterns From Molecular Corrals, Nature
18. Astronomy: The Cosmic Rosetta Stone, Science
18.01. Dark-Matter Simulation Reveals Lumpy Haloes, PhysicsWorld.com
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 
19.01. New Examination Of What Makes A Terrorist, The West Australian
20. Links & Snippets 
20.01. Other Publications 
20.02. Webcast Announcements 
20.03. Conference Announcements 
20.04. Other Announcements 

_________________________________________________________________

01. Survival Of The Unfittest , The HCM Market Letter

Excerpts: By engaging in selective protectionism of a few favored companies
rather than re- imposing the uptick rule and treating all companies equally,
the SEC furthered the appearance of favored treatment for large institutions
that raises serious moral hazard concerns and dampens confidence in U.S.
financial markets. (...) Finally, this desperate measure is yet another example
of the capitalism-for-the poor, socialism-for-the-rich economic model that
American financial authorities have adopted over the past two decades.

* [4] Survival Of The Unfittest, Michael Lewitt, 08/08/01, The HCM Market
Letter

[4] http://www.hegcap.com/Pdfs/8-1-08%20HCM%20NEWSLETTER.pdf

_________________________________________________________________

01.01. What's The Big Deal? It's The Little Things , LATimes

Excerpts: The way small causes yield huge effects is itself only one piece of
the much grander idea of simplexity, a science that is increasingly being
studied at universities and institutes around the world, but nowhere more
intensely than at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. (...) No single unified
rule governs all complex or simple systems, but there are a few big ones.
There's the concept of phase changes: (...) The most powerful of the simplexity
concepts, however, is choke points -- the keyholes in complex systems that can
sometimes shut them down entirely.

* [5] What's The Big Deal? It's The Little Things, Jeffrey Kluger, 08/08/03,
LATimes

[5]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-oe-kluger3-2008aug03,
0,2056015.story

_________________________________________________________________

02. Quantum Computing: Cloudy Computing , Nature

Excerpts: Quantum computing is in its infancy, in part because creating a large
number of quantum bits, or 'qubits', is impossible without better control over
quantum states. Side-stepping this snag, Klaus Molmer (...) propose encoding
lots of qubits in clouds of polar molecules. Their theoretical set-up would use
a laser to 'write' qubits as a pattern across an entire molecular cloud - an
easier task than controlling individual molecules.

* [6] Quantum Computing: Cloudy Computing, 08/07/31, DOI: 10.1038/454554f,
Nature 454, 554-555

[6] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7204/full/454554f.html

_________________________________________________________________

02.01. How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World , Business Week

Excerpts:     GETTY IMAGES     A major shift in the way companies obtain
software and computing capacity is under way as more companies tap into
Web-based applications. (...) The term "cloud computing" encompasses many areas
of tech, including software as a service, a software distribution method
pioneered by Salesforce.com about a decade ago. It also includes newer avenues
such as hardware as a service, a way to order storage and server capacity on
demand from Amazon and others. What all these cloud computing services have in
common, though, is that they're all delivered over the Internet, on demand,
from massive data centers.(...)

* [7] How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World, Rachael King, 08/08/04,
Business Week

[7] http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc2008082_445669.htm

_________________________________________________________________

03. The Dynamics of Internet Traffic: Self-Similarity, Self-Organization, and
Complex Phenomena , arXiv

Excerpts: A new review article comprehensively covering the complex dynamics of
Internet traffic from both the physics and engineering perspectives, this
article discusses famous topics in Internet traffic such as
self-similar/multifractal traffic patterns, phase transition and critical
phenomena in network congestion on simulated packet forwarding models, Internet
traffic oscillations & periodicities, and other large-scale Internet phenomena
such as BGP storms.

* [8] The Dynamics of Internet Traffic: Self-Similarity, Self-Organization, and
Complex Phenomena, Reginald D. Smith, arXiv:0807.3374v2

[8] http://arxiv.org/abs/0807.3374

_________________________________________________________________

03.01. Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer , arXiv

Abstract: An thorough introduction is given at an introductory level to the
field of quantitative complex system science, with special emphasis on
emergence in dynamical systems based on network topologies. Subjects treated
include graph theory and small-world networks, a generic introduction to the
concepts of dynamical system theory, random Boolean networks, cellular automata
and self-organized criticality, the statistical modeling of Darwinian evolution
,
synchronization phenomena and an introduction to the theory of cognitive
systems.

* [9] Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer, C. Gros, 2008/07/30,
DOI: 0807.4838, arXiv
* Contributed by [10] Carlos Gershenson

[9] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0807.4838
[10] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

04. Military's Social Science Grants Raise Alarm , Washington Post

Excerpts: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is calling on "eggheads" to help
the military unravel questions about the recruitment of terrorists, the
resurgence of the Taliban and messages delivered in militant Muslim religious
schools. Many eggheads are wary. The Pentagon's $50 million Minerva Research
Initiative, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom and warriors, will fund
social science research deemed crucial to national security.

* [11] Military's Social Science Grants Raise Alarm, Maria Glod, 08/08/03,
Washington Post

[11]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/02/AR2008080201544
.html

_________________________________________________________________

04.01. Multiple Gossip Statements And Their Effect On Reputation And
Trustworthiness , Proc. Biol. Sc.

Excerpt: Empirical and theoretical evidence from various disciplines indicates
that reputation, reputation building and trust are important for human
cooperation, social behaviour and economic progress. Recently, it has been
shown that reputation gained in games of indirect reciprocity can be
transmitted by gossip. But it has also been shown that gossiping has a strong
manipulative potential. We propose that this manipulative potential is
alleviated by the abundance of gossip. Multiple gossip statements give a better
picture of the actual behaviour of a person, and thus inaccurate or fake gossip
has little power as long as it is in the minority. (...)

* [12] Multiple Gossip Statements And Their Effect On Reputation And
Trustworthiness, R. D. Sommerfeld ,  H.-J. Krambeck ,  M. Milinski, 2008/07/29,
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0762, Proceedings B: Biological Sciences
* Contributed by [13] Atin Das

[12]
http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/w825860164224797/?p=e2f51810e85e46fb81
d9def02a277e2d&pi=1
[13] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

05. Knowledge, Sentience And Receptivity: A Paradigm Of Lifelong Learning ,
Euro. J. Edu.

Excerpts: This article aims to develop a paradigm of lifelong learning
situations. The starting point is the EU-Commission policy document where three
kinds of learning situations are identified: formal, non-formal and informal.
The article tries to deepen this categorisation by searching for the underlying
ontological and epistemological dimensions. (...) Formal knowledge is a knowing
you can formulate, basically as concepts in thoughts possible to formulate in
words. Non-formal knowledge consists of the learner's ability to see and sense
what an actual event shows and (literally) make sense-ible. It is a
circumstantial knowledge. (...)

* [14] Knowledge, Sentience And Receptivity: A Paradigm Of Lifelong Learning,
B. Eneroth, Jun. 2008, Online 2008/05/13, DOI:
10.1111/j.1465-3435.2008.00342.x, European Journal of Education
* Contributed by [15] Pritha Das

[14] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120088058/abstract
[15] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com

_________________________________________________________________

06. Science At The Olympics: Can Ice Vests Provide a Competitive Chill? ,
Science

Excerpts: Does lowering body temperature prior to an athletic event improve
performance? It depends on the event, experts say--but it still won't make an
athlete unbeatable.(...) Since the 1970s, numerous studies have shown that
precooling can dramatically affect some measures of athletic output. A 1995
study of 14 male runners found that if they were first chilled for 30 minutes
in a chamber at 5¢XC, they could run on a treadmill at a certain level of
exertion for an average of 26.4 minutes, a whopping 3.8 minutes longer than
they averaged otherwise.

* [16] Science At The Olympics: Can Ice Vests Provide a Competitive Chill?,
Adrian Cho, 08/08/01, Science : 625.

[16] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5889/625a

_________________________________________________________________

06.01. Science At The Olympics: Can Neuroscience Provide a Mental Edge? ,
Science

Excerpts: The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to
monitor brain activity in 11 swimmers who'd failed to make the 2004 Canadian
Olympic team and three who made the team but performed poorly. The researchers
compared brain activity elicited by two video clips: one of the swimmer's own
failed race and a control clip featuring a different swimmer. Watching their
own poor performance sparked activity in emotional centers in the brain similar
to that seen in some studies of depression,(...). Perhaps more tellingly, the
researchers found reduced activity in regions of the cerebral cortex essential
for planning movements.

* [17] Science At The Olympics: Can Neuroscience Provide a Mental Edge?, Greg
Miller, 08/08/01, DOI: 10.1126/science.321.5889.626b, Science 321 (5889), 626b

[17] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;321/5889/626b

_________________________________________________________________

07. Universal Scaling in the Branching of the Tree of Life , arXiv

Abstract: Understanding the patterns and processes of diversification of life
in the planet is a key challenge of science. The Tree of Life represents such
diversification processes through the evolutionary relationships among the
different taxa, and can be extended down to intra-specific relationships. Here
we examine the topological properties of a large set of interspecific and
intraspecific phylogenies and show that the branching patterns follow
allometric rules conserved across the different levels in the Tree of Life, all
significantly departing from those expected from the standard null models. The
finding of non-random universal patterns of phylogenetic differentiation
suggests that similar evolutionary forces drive diversification across the
broad range of scales, from macro-evolutionary to micro-evolutionary processes,
shaping the diversity of life on the planet.

* [18] Universal Scaling in the Branching of the Tree of Life, E. Alejandro
Herrada,  Claudio J. Tessone,  Konstantin Klemm,  Victor M. Eguiluz,  Emilio
Hernandez-Garcia,  Carlos M. Duarte, 2008/07/25, DOI: 0807.4042, arXiv
* Contributed by [19] Carlos Gershenson

[18] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0807.4042
[19] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

07.01. Across the Curious Parallel of Language and Species Evolution , PLoS
Biol

Excerpt: In February 1837 - even before he sailed on the Beagle - Charles
Darwin wrote to his sister Caroline, discussing the linguist Sir John
Herschel's idea that modern languages were descended from a common ancestor. If
this were really the case, it cast doubt on the Biblical chronology of the
world: "[E]veryone has yet thought that the six thousand odd years has been the
right period but Sir J. thinks that a far greater number must have passed since
the Chinese [and] the Caucasian languages separated from one stock".?
* [20] Across the Curious Parallel of Language and Species Evolution, John
Whitfield, 2008/07/22, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060186, PLoS Biol 6(7): e186
* Contributed by [21] Carlos Gershenson

[20] http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060186
[21] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/

_________________________________________________________________

08. Dopamine Could Help The Sleep-Deprived Still Learn , Science News

Excerpts: Study is the first to reveal molecular processes that connect
learning and sleep. (...) The new study raises the possibility that learning is
impaired not because sleep sneaks up on us when we're supposed to be paying
attention, but because staying awake too long erodes some biological process in
the brain critical for learning and forming memories, (...).

* [22] Dopamine Could Help The Sleep-Deprived Still Learn, Tina Hesman Saey,
08/07/31, Science News

[22]
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34667/title/Dopamine_could_help_the_
sleep-deprived_still_learn

_________________________________________________________________

09. Cancer: Ins And Outs Of Tumour Control , Nature

Excerpts: When a potentially dangerous cell can't be repaired, it must be
either stopped or killed. Premature senescence of cancerous cells is one such
'stop' mechanism, in which immune mediators play an unexpected part. (...) This
pro-apoptotic activity of secreted proteins was demonstrated by forced
expression of IGFBP7 in melanoma cells. Understanding how to interfere with the
cytokine secretome to efficiently kill advanced tumours, without activating
compensatory mechanisms, is a challenge that will undoubtedly lead us to other
unexpected loops and kinks in cancer cells and their microenvironment.

* [23] Cancer: Ins And Outs Of Tumour Control, Maria S. Soengas, 08/07/31, DOI:
10.1038/454586a, Nature 454, 586-587

[23] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7204/full/454586a.html

_________________________________________________________________

09.01. Thousands Of Proteins Affected By miRNAs , Nature

Excerpts: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) subtly influence a vast number of proteins
involved in most key biological processes, according to the first large-scale
analyses of how these small pieces of noncoding RNA affect proteins. (...)
These analyses showed that a single miRNA can indeed dampen levels of hundreds
of proteins by impeding their translation ¡X not just by breaking down their
messenger RNAs. (...)  But the most intriguing finding from the studies is that
the effects of miRNAs on proteins are usually quite modest, changing their
expression levels by less than twofold.

* [24] Thousands Of Proteins Affected By miRNAs, Erika Check Hayden, 08/07/31,
DOI: 10.1038/454562b, Nature 454, 562

[24] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/full/454562b.html

_________________________________________________________________

10. First 'Virophage' Could Take The Fight To Viruses , New Scientist

Excerpts: A newly discovered type of virus that spreads at the expense of other
viruses, could be used to combat viral infections, say researchers. (...) the
virus, called Sputnik, spreads by hijacking the replication machinery of the
mamavirus - itself a new strain of the giant mimivirus. The team says Sputnik
is the first member of a new class they call "virophages" because of
similarities with bacteriophages or phages - viruses that infect bacteria - and
is the first time a virus has been seen to propagate at the expense of a viral
host.

* [25] First 'Virophage' Could Take The Fight To Viruses, Nic Fleming,
08/08/06, NewScientist.com

[25]
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn14480-first-virophage-could-take-t
he-fight-to-viruses.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

_________________________________________________________________

11. Fish Lie - Males Don't Show Their True Preferences In Front Of Rivals ,
Science News

Excerpts: When a male molly pursues a female, other males tend to chase her,
too, Plath says. Thus he and his colleagues propose that switching preferences
in front of a rival could deflect the competition's interest to a less
desirable female. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that social
environment affects mating preferences, Plath says, adding another layer of
complexity to the study of sexual choices and evolution.

* [26] Fish Lie - Males Don't Show Their True Preferences In Front Of Rivals,
Susan Milius, 08/07/31, Science News

[26] http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34673/title/Fish_lie

_________________________________________________________________

11.01. Life In A Bubble , Innovations-report

Excerpt: Hundreds of insect species spend much of their time underwater, where
food may be more plentiful. MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how
those insects breathe underwater. By virtue of their rough, water-repellent
coat, when submerged these insects trap a thin layer of air on their bodies.
These bubbles not only serve as a finite oxygen store, but also allow the
insects to absorb oxygen from the surrounding water. "Some insects have adapted
to life underwater by using this bubble as an external lung," said (...).

* [27] Life In A Bubble: Research Shows How Insects Use Trapped Oxygen To
Breathe Underwater, 2008/08/01, Innovations-report
* Contributed by [28] Atin Das

[27]
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-115361.html
[28] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

11.02. How Some Bacteria May Steal Iron From Their Human Hosts ,
Innovations-report

Excerpts: Like their human hosts, bacteria need iron to survive and they must
obtain that iron from the environment. While humans obtain iron primarily
through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms
to allow them access to iron. (...) discovered that some bacteria are equipped
with a gene that enables them to harvest iron from their environment or human
host in a unique and energy efficient manner. (...) "Iron is the single most
important micronutrient bacteria need to survive," Doyle says. "Understanding
how these bacteria thrive within us is a critical element of learning how to
defeat them." (...)

* [29] Syracuse University Scientists Discover How Some Bacteria May Steal Iron
>From Their Human Hosts: Discovery Could Lead To New Ways To Fight Tuberculosis
,
2008/08/04, Innovations-report
* Contributed by [30] Atin Das

[29]
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/syracuse_universit
y_scientists_discover_bacteria_115448.html
[30] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

12. Cellular Symmetry: What Cues Tell A Cell To Divide At The Center ,
ScienceDaily

Excerpts: Cells are intrinsically artistic. When the right signals tell a cell
to divide, it usually splits down the middle, resulting in two identical
daughter cells. (Stem cells are the exception to the rule.) This natural
symmetry is visible on the macroscopic scale as well. All living creatures, be
they mushrooms or humans, are visibly symmetric, a product of our cells?prefere
nce for equilibrium. Scientists (...) are curious to know what cues tell
a cell to divide at the center. (...) are placing sea urchin eggs in snug,
microscopic chambers shaped like triangles, squares, rectangles, stars, and ice
cream cones to see (...).

* [31] Cellular Symmetry: What Cues Tell A Cell To Divide At The Center,
2008/08/04, ScienceDaily & Marine Biological Laboratory
* Contributed by [32] Atin Das

[31] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728221402.htm
[32] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in

_________________________________________________________________

13. Solar-Power Breakthrough , Technology Review

Excerpts: Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry at MIT, has developed a
catalyst that can generate oxygen from a glass of water by splitting water
molecules. The reaction frees hydrogen ions to make hydrogen gas. The catalyst,
which is easy and cheap to make, could be used to generate vast amounts of
hydrogen using sunlight to power the reactions. The hydrogen can then be burned
or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity whenever it's needed,
including when the sun isn't shining.

* [33] Solar-Power Breakthrough, Kevin Bullis, 08/07/31, Technology Review

[33] http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21155/

_________________________________________________________________

14. Researchers Mash Google Earth With Electrical Data To Predict National Grid
Problems , NetWorkWorld

Excerpts: What do you get when you combine images from Google Earth and the
brainpower from researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs? Well in this case you
get a tool that enables real-time status of the national electric grid that
federal state and local agencies can use to coordinate and respond to major
problems such as wide-area power outages, natural disasters and other
catastrophic events.  The Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth
(VERDE) system, announced this week, mashes together images and stats of
everything from real-time status of the electric grid and weather information
to power grid behavior modeling and simulation.

* [34] Researchers Mash Google Earth With Electrical Data To Predict National
Grid Problems, 08/08/06, NetWorkWorld

[34] http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/30792

_________________________________________________________________

14.01. Energy: Upgrading The Grid , Nature

Excerpts: Electricity grids must cope with rising demand and complexity in a
changing world. Emma Marris explores the intricacies involved in controlling
the power supply. (...) New tools include sensors and other 'smart-grid'
technologies that will make the grid better able to manage itself. They include
energy-smart appliances, (...) that will help consumers control how much power
they draw from the grid. And, of course, they include measures to get both
approaches - smart grids and demand management - working together. After all,
the more that sources of power generation diversify, and the more information
that clever appliances send back up the wires, the smarter the grid will have
to be to cope with the complexity.

* [35] Energy: Upgrading The Grid, Emma Marris, 08/07/31, DOI: 10.1038/454570a,
Nature 454, 570-573

[35] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/full/454570a.html

_________________________________________________________________

15. Climate Change: Did You Say "Fast"? , Science

Excerpts: Greenland ice-core data show that large climatic shifts can occur
within just 1 to 3 years.(...) The surprising result is that the deuterium
excess shifts within 1 to 3 years. The authors interpret the deuterium excess
data as a reorganization of the atmospheric circulation in mid to high northern
latitudes, leading to a spatial shift in the source region and, therefore, the
source temperature of the precipitation. The deuterium excess shift happens
very early, whereas the other records continue to change gradually over the
subsequent 50 to 150 years.

* [36] Climate Change: Did You Say "Fast"?, Jacqueline Flueckiger, 08/08/01,
Science : 650-651.

[36] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5889/650

_________________________________________________________________

15.01. Hopping Hotspots: Global Shifts in Marine Biodiversity , Science

Excerpts: Hotspots of high species diversity are a prominent feature of modern
global biodiversity patterns. Fossil and molecular evidence is starting to
reveal the history of these hotspots. There have been at least three marine
biodiversity hotspots during the past 50 million years. They have moved across
almost half the globe, with their timing and locations coinciding with major
tectonic events. The birth and death of successive hotspots highlights the link
between environmental change and biodiversity patterns. The antiquity of the
taxa in the modern Indo-Australian Archipelago hotspot emphasizes the role of
pre-Pleistocene events in shaping modern diversity patterns.

* [37] Hopping Hotspots: Global Shifts in Marine Biodiversity, W. Renema,  D.
R. Bellwood,  J. C. Braga,  K. Bromfield,  R. Hall,  K. G. Johnson,  P. Lunt, 
C. P. Meyer,  L. B. McMonagle,  R. J. Morley,  A. O'Dea,  J. A. Todd,  F. P.
Wesselingh,  M. E. J. Wilson,  J. M. Pandolfi, 08/08/01, Science : 654-657.

[37] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5889/654

_________________________________________________________________

15.02. Climate Maps Offer Wildlife Hope Of Sanctuary , New Scientist

Excerpts: The ClimateWizard, (...), enables biologists to specify which area
they are interested in, then see how its temperature and precipitation are
likely to change. Users fill in a web query form and receive their answers in
the form of graphs and maps. An interface with Google Maps also allows users to
see animated maps of likely changes in temperature and precipitation - a
function that Girvetz believes will be particularly useful for communicating
the implications of climate change to policy-makers. "When you see the changes
occur, it really means a lot more," he says.

* [38] Climate Maps Offer Wildlife Hope Of Sanctuary, Peter Aldhous, 08/08/06,
New Scientist

[38] http://email.newscientist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/nBZxg0MRKtL0qB10FCwi0Ej

_________________________________________________________________

16. Complex Clock Combines Calendars , Nature

Excerpts: Antikythera Mechanism may have timetabled ancient Olympic Games. The
Antikythera Mechanism, a clockwork device made in Greece around 150-100 BC,
astounded the world two years ago when scientists deduced how this machine was
used to make complex astronomical time-reckonings. Now they say that the
instrument, discovered in 1901 in a Mediterranean shipwreck, did much more than
that.

* [39] Complex Clock Combines Calendars, Philip Ball, 08/07/31, DOI:
10.1038/454561a, Nature 454, 561

[39] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080730/full/454561a.html

_________________________________________________________________

17. Quantum Physics Makes Water Different , Science News

Excerpts:     The distance between oxygen and the heavier deuterium in a D2O
molecule in liquid heavy water is three percent shorter than the distance
between oxygen and hydrogen in an H2O molecule; and the hydrogen bond (dotted)
is four percent longer in heavy water than in light.
 Credit: J. Korenblat/Science News     The length of bonds connecting water
molecules could demonstrate quantum effects and help explain some of water's
weirdness.  Heavy water is not just heavier. Swapping each H in H2O with a D -
hydrogen's isotope deuterium - changes many of water's properties. Heavy water
is poisonous, and its freezing point is 4 deg Celsius, instead of 0deg. Those
differences may reveal that quantum effects rule in ordinary water, researchers
have now found. (...) could shed light on quantum theory's relevance for
ordinary water, which is the medium for most of the action inside living cells.
The work could also help explain some controversial findings on how biological
molecules behave in water.

* [40] Quantum Physics Makes Water Different, Davide Castelvecchi, 08/08/16,
Science News

[40]
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34375/title/Quantum_physics_makes_wa
ter_different

_________________________________________________________________

17.01. Nanotechnology: Patterns From Molecular Corrals , Nature

Excerpts: Many nanotechnology devices will require components that consist of
arrays of molecules positioned on surfaces with nanometre precision. One way to
make these is to let the molecules organize themselves. A major challenge in
nanotechnology is to find a way of positioning molecules and atoms on surfaces
in regular patterns, with nanometre precision yet over large surface areas.
(...) Compared with the self-assembly of macromolecular complexes in solution,
the analogous process on a surface is less well developed. Assemblies of
molecules that form open network structures are of particular interest as
surface templates because they contain cavities that can be filled by 'guest'
molecules.

* [41] Nanotechnology: Patterns From Molecular Corrals, Michael Grunze,
08/07/31, DOI: 10.1038/454585a, Nature 454, 585-586

[41] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7204/full/454585a.html

_________________________________________________________________

18. Astronomy: The Cosmic Rosetta Stone , Science

Excerpts: Numerical simulations of the first stars to appear in the universe
may illuminate the general processes of star formation.  Cosmologists have made
great strides in tracing the entire history of the universe, but there remains
one crucial gap: the first billion years after the Big Bang when the first
stars lit up the universe. Before the formation of the first stars, the
universe was extremely simple, but evolved toward a state of increasing
complexity.

* [42] Astronomy: The Cosmic Rosetta Stone, Volker Bromm, 08/08/01, Science:
647-648.

[42] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5889/647

_________________________________________________________________

18.01. Dark-Matter Simulation Reveals Lumpy Haloes , PhysicsWorld.com

Excerpts: Cosmologists in the US and Switzerland have made the most detailed
simulation yet of how gravitational interactions have led to the "haloes" of
dark matter we see near the centres of galaxies today. The feat could help
future experiments grasp the nature of the dark matter, an elusive substance
thought to make up nearly a quarter of the universe. (...) Physicists believe
dark matter particles, such as so-called weakly interacting massive particles
(WIMPs), can collide and annihilate each other while emitting gamma rays.
Editor's Note: Emission of gamma rays could be a mechanism that prevents dark
matter from collapsing into black holes. On the other hand dark matter
particles don't interact with gamma photons.

* [43] Dark-Matter Simulation Reveals Lumpy Haloes, 08/08/06, PhysicsWorld.com

[43] http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/35337

_________________________________________________________________

19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks 

_________________________________________________________________

19.01. New Examination Of What Makes A Terrorist , The West Australian

Excerpts: (...) result of surveys among the populations of Jordan, Morocco,
Pakistan and Turkey taken in early 2004. They were asked if suicide attacks in
Iraq were justified. "The clear finding was that people with a higher level of
education were more likely to say that suicide attacks against Westerners in
Iraq are justified," he wrote. The same conclusion was drawn by Nasara Hassan,
a United Nations worker, based on interviews with 250 Palestinian militants. He
found "none of them were uneducated, desperately poor, simple-minded or
depressed. Many were middle-class and, unless they were fugitives, held paying
jobs. Two were the sons of millionaires."

* [44] New Examination Of What Makes A Terrorist, 08/08/08, The West Australian

[44] http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=9&ContentID=90029

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20. Links & Snippets 

_________________________________________________________________

20.01. Other Publications 

- Mapping the Structural Core of Human Cerebral Cortex, 2008/07/1, PLoS Biol
6(7): e159, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060159
- Welsh Monks Get Broadband Boost: Cistercian Surfers Hit 30Mbps, 2008/08/01,
vnunet.com
- Feds Claim Right To Laptops: Computers Can Be Seized And Held Indefinitely By
DHS, 2008/08/02, vnunet.com
- Flies Depend On Sense Of Smell To Survive Lean Times, 2008/08/01,
Innovations-report
- Automatic Imitation In Budgerigars, 2008/07/29, Proceedings B: Biological
Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0566
- Free Academic Articles Get Read But Don't Generate More Citations,
2008/08/03, ScienceDaily & Cornell University
- Nanoparticles + Light = Dead Tumor Cells, 2008/07/31, ScienceDaily & American
Institute of Physics
- Improved Estrogen Reception May Sharpen Fuzzy Memory, 2008/07/31,
ScienceDaily & University of Florida
- Diamonds May Have Been Life's Best Friend On Primordial Earth, 2008/07/30,
ScienceDaily & American Chemical Society
- Rank One Chaos: Theory And Applications, May 2008, International Journal of
Bifurcation and Chaos, DOI: 10.1142/S0218127408021002
- Just War Theory And The Privatization Of Military Force, Summer 2008, Online
2008/06/28, Ethics & International Affairs, DOI:
10.1111/j.1747-7093.2008.00140.x
- Determinants Of Regime Type In Newly Independent States, Aug. 2008, Online
2008/07/09, European Journal of Political Research, DOI:
10.1111/j.1475-6765.2008.00781.x
- Chemistry: New Catalyst Marks Major Step in the March Toward Hydrogen Fuel,
08/08/01, Science : 620. 

This week, researchers report online in Science a new water-splitting catalyst
that works under environmentally friendly conditions.

_________________________________________________________________

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

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20.03. Conference Announcements 

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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