[tt] Complexity Digest 2008.29 text version-2
Eugen Leitl
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Complexity Digest 2008.29 17-July-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. Neuropolicy Center Confronts The Biological Basis Of Collective Decision
Making, Emory University News Release
01.01. Social Diversity Promotes The Emergence Of Cooperation In Public Goods
Games, Nature
01.02. The Luxurious Growth, NYTimes
01.03. Simulating Closed Regimes With Agent Based Models, Complexity
02. Government as the Big Lender, NYTimes
02.01. Why Cap And Trade Could Backfire
02.02. A Social Contract, Nature
03. University Research: Steering Harvard Toward Collaborative Science,
Science
03.01. In Sync To Pierce The Cloud, NYTimes
04. Self-Organization and Complex Networks, arXiv
04.01. Shaping Robust System through Evolution, arXiv
04.02. Synergetics and Its Application to Literature and Architecture, arXiv
05. Archaeology: The Lost World, Nature
06. Self-Assembling Tissues - Living Legos Can Be Directed To Form
Tissue-Like
Structures., Technology Review
07. Passive Learning Imprints On The Brain Just Like Active Learning,
PhysOrg.com
07.01. A Good Night's Sleep Really Does Improve The Brain, Telegraph
08. Psychiatric Genetics: The Brains Of The Family, Nature
08.01. Neuroscience: Rewiring The Brain, Nature
09. Growing Neural Implants, Technology Review
09.01. 'Cross Fire' From The Brain Makes Patients Tremble, PhysOrg.com
10. UCLA Study Identifies Mechanism Behind Mind-Body Connection, EurekAlert
11. Why Migraines Strike, Scientific American
12. Behind The Looking-Glass, Nature
13. Cancer: An Unexpected Addiction, Nature
14. Genetic Determinants of Self Identity and Social Recognition in Bacteria,
Science
15. Adaptive Numerical Competency In A Food-Hoarding Songbird, Proc. Biol.
Sc.
15.01. Superfast Muscles In Songbirds, Innovations-report
16. Facing the Freshwater Crisis, Scientific American
17. Palaeontology: Squint Of The Fossil Flatfish, Nature
18. The Science of Leonardo da Vinci, Doubleday
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. How American Treaty Behavior Threatens National Security, Int.
Security
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference Announcements
20.04. Other Announcements
_________________________________________________________________
01. Neuropolicy Center Confronts The Biological Basis Of Collective Decision
Making , Emory University News Release
Excerpts: Berns points out that we also need to understand how religious and
political ideologies, which are abstract social values, become transformed in
the brain and can subvert basic self-survival value judgments, which occurs
in
war and terrorism. "Collective decision-making is political, but politics are
biological," says Berns. "The human brain evolved to function in soci al
groups. By discovering how our brains are wired to behave in group settings,
we
can begin figuring out solutions to problems of global impact."
* [4] Neuropolicy Center Confronts the Biological Basis of Collective
Decision
Making, 08/07/07, Emory University News Release
[4] http://www.whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm?announcement_id_seq=14824
_________________________________________________________________
01.01. Social Diversity Promotes The Emergence Of Cooperation In Public Goods
Games , Nature
Excerpts: Humans often cooperate in public goods games and situations ranging
from family issues to global warming. However, evolutionary game theory
predicts that the temptation to forgo the public good mostly wins over
collective cooperative action, and this is often also seen in economic
experiments. Here we show how social diversity provides an escape from this
apparent paradox. Up to now, individuals have been treated as equivalent in
all
respects, in sharp contrast with real-life situations, where diversity is
ubiquitous. (...) Our results may help to explain the emergence of
cooperation
in the absence of mechanisms based on individual reputation and punishment.
Combining social diversity with reputation and punishment will provide
instrumental clues on the self-organization of social communities and their
economical implications.
* [5] Social Diversity Promotes The Emergence Of Cooperation In Public Goods
Games, Francisco C. Santos , Marta D. Santos , Jorge M. Pacheco, 08/07/10,
DOI: doi:10.1038/nature06940, Nature
[5] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7201/full/nature06940.html
_________________________________________________________________
01.02. The Luxurious Growth , NYTimes
Excerpts: Our lives are not determined by uniform processes. Instead, human
behavior is complex, nonlinear and unpredictable. The Brave New World is far
away. Novels and history can still produce insights into human behavior that
science can't match. Just as important is the implication for politics.
Starting in the late 19th century, eugenicists used primitive ideas about
genetics to try to re-engineer the human race. In the 20th century,
communists
used primitive ideas about "scientific materialism" to try to re-engineer a
New
Soviet Man.
* [6] The Luxurious Growth, DAVID BROOKS, 08/07/15, NYTimes
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/opinion/15brooks.html
_________________________________________________________________
01.03. Simulating Closed Regimes With Agent Based Models , Complexity
Excerpts: ABSTRACT This article describes efforts to develop an exploratory
agent-based model as a tool for studying decision making in political regimes
such as Iraq, North Korea, and Syria. Our hybrid of the landscape metaphor
and
the rule-based system approach captures the trade-offs leaders face in
balancing components of a utility function, plus risk profiles that allow
departures from conventional utility maximization. Two simple experiments
concerning succession demonstrate the surprising compromises both leaders and
elites are willing to make, as well as the instability of these bargains.
* [7] Simulating Closed Regimes With Agent Based Models, R. Bhavnani , D.
Backer, R. Riolo, 08/07/14, Complexity
[7] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120751105/abstract
_________________________________________________________________
02. Government as the Big Lender , NYTimes
Excerpts: A similar trend is playing out in the realm of student loans. As
commercial banks concluded that the business of lending to college students
was
no longer quite so profitable, the Bush administration promised in May to buy
their federally guaranteed student loans, giving the banks capital to
continue
lending. In short, in a nation that holds itself up as a citadel of free
enterprise, the government has transformed from a reliable guarantor into
effectively the only lender for millions of Americans engaged in the largest
transactions of their lives.
* [8] Government as the Big Lender, Peter S. Goodman, 08/07/14, NYTimes
[8]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/washington/14guarantee.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
_________________________________________________________________
02.01. Why Cap And Trade Could Backfire
Excerpts: Credits remove stigma - and may increase pollution.
Environmentalists
claim that capping greenhouse-gas emissions and creating a market for
emissions
trading - a policy prescription called "cap-and-trade" - would reduce carbon
dioxide output and with it the risk of global warming. But it could achieve
the
opposite. Here's how: By turning carbon emissions into commodities that can
be
bought and sold, cap-and-trade policies could remove the stigma from
producing
such emissions.
* [9] Why Cap And Trade Could Backfire, Justin Danhof
[9] http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0716/p09s02-coop.html
_________________________________________________________________
02.02. A Social Contract , Nature
Excerpts: Efforts to inform US military policy with insights from the social
sciences could be a win-win approach. (...) The recent NSF deal aims to shape
the Pentagon's long-term strategic thinking by funding academic research in
areas such as religious fundamentalism, terrorism and cultural change. Gates
also hopes that such research could foster entirely new intellectual tools,
in
much the same way that work during the cold war fostered game theory.
* [10] A Social Contract, 08/07/10, DOI: doi:10.1038/454138a, Nature
[10] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7201/full/454138a.html
_________________________________________________________________
03. University Research: Steering Harvard Toward Collaborative Science ,
Science
Excerpts: He wants to turn the oldest and most prestigious university in the
United States into the locus of work to eliminate diseases, understand how
the
brain functions, and expand the possibilities of medical genomics. To
succeed,
he must attract new talent and persuade Harvard's famously independent
fiefdoms
to work in concert. The vehicle for that transformation is the
multibillion-dollar campus in Allston, a working-class suburb across the
Charles River from Harvard Yard, that for the first time will concentrate a
host of science and engineering disciplines under a single roof. "We're
trying
a very different way in answer to our critics, who have seen us as
irretrievably Balkanized," says Hyman.
* [11] University Research: Steering Harvard Toward Collaborative Science,
Andrew Lawler, 08/07/11, Science
[11] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5886/190
_________________________________________________________________
03.01. In Sync To Pierce The Cloud , NYTimes
Excerpts: "Cloud computing" is a white-hot buzzword these days. It basically
means working with files and programs that reside on the Internet, beyond
your
company's walls - out there in the "cloud." Everyday consumers are doing
cloud
computing, too, maybe without even realizing it. When you use an
Internet-based
backup service, or Google's online word processor or spreadsheet, or a Gmail
or
Yahoo mail account, you're working with data on a secure Internet server
somewhere - not on your hard drive. Apple is the latest company to find a
silver lining in the cloud. Its new MobileMe service ($100 a year) is an
overhaul of a suite of Internet features that used to be called .Mac.
* [12] In Sync To Pierce The Cloud, David Pogue, 08/07/17, NYTimes
[12] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/technology/personaltech/17pogue.html
_________________________________________________________________
04. Self-Organization and Complex Networks , arXiv
Excerpt: In this chapter we discuss how the results developed within the
theory
of fractals and Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) can be fruitfully exploited
as
ingredients of adaptive network models. In order to maintain the presentation
self-contained, we first review the basic ideas behind fractal theory and
SOC.
We then briefly review some results in the field of complex networks, and
some
of the models that have been proposed. Finally, we present a self-organized
model recently proposed by Garlaschelli et al. (...)
* [13] Self-Organization and Complex Networks, Guido Caldarelli, Diego
Garlaschelli, 2008/06/10, DOI: 0806.1655, arXiv
* Contributed by [14] Carlos Gershenson
[13] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0806.1655
[14] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
04.01. Shaping Robust System through Evolution , arXiv
Excerpts: Biological functions are generated as a result of developmental
dynamics that form phenotypes governed by genotypes. The dynamical system for
development is shaped through genetic evolution following natural selection
based on the fitness of the phenotype. Here we study how this dynamical
system
is robust to noise during development and to genetic change by mutation.
(...)
we show that a certain level of noise in gene expression is required for the
network to acquire both types of robustness.
* [15] Shaping Robust System through Evolution, Kunihiko Kaneko, 2008/07/09,
DOI: 0807.1367, arXiv [Chaos (2008)18, 026112]
* Contributed by [16] Carlos Gershenson
[15] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0807.1367
[16] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
04.02. Synergetics and Its Application to Literature and Architecture , arXiv
Abstract: A series of phenomena pertaining to economics, quantum physics,
language, literary criticism, and especially architecture is studied from the
standpoint of synergetics (the study of self-organizing complex systems). It
turns out that a whole series of concrete formulas describing these phenomena
is identical in these different situations. This is the case of formulas
relating to the Bose-Einstein distribution of particles and the distribution
of
words from a frequency dictionary. This also allows to apply a "quantized"
from
of the Zipf law to the problem of the authorship of 'Quiet Flows the Don' and
to the"blending in" of new architectural structures in an existing
environment.
* [17] Synergetics and Its Application to Literature and Architecture, V. P.
Maslov, T. V. Maslova, 2008/06/25, DOI: 0806.4164, arXiv
* Contributed by [18] Carlos Gershenson
[17] http://uk.arXiv.org/abs/0806.4164
[18] http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~cgershen/
_________________________________________________________________
05. Archaeology: The Lost World , Nature
Excerpts: Armed with a map depicting a 10,000-year-old landscape submerged
beneath the North Sea and fresh evidence from nearby sites, archaeologists
are
realizing that early humans were more territorial than was previously
thought.
(...) In just a few thousand years, Doggerland was transformed from a harsh
tundra into a fertile paradise, and eventually into the northern European
landscape that we know today. "It put human adaptability to the test," says
Gaffney.
* [19] Archaeology: The Lost World, Laura Spinney, 08/07/10, DOI:
doi:10.1038/454151a, Nature
[19] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080709/full/454151a.html
_________________________________________________________________
06. Self-Assembling Tissues - Living Legos Can Be Directed To Form
Tissue-Like
Structures. , Technology Review
Excerpts: Living Legos: Polymer building blocks studded with cells
self-assemble into structures whose complexity mimics that of human tissues.
The cross-shaped gel contains cells stained green; the rod-shaped gels, which
are about 200 micrometers across, contain cells stained red. Credit: Ali
Khademhosseini Likewise, a diabetic could, with grafts of lab-made
pancreatic tissue, be given the ability to make insulin again. But tissue
engineering has stalled in part because bioengineers haven't been able to
replicate the structural complexity of human tissues. Now researchers have
taken an important first step toward building complex tissues from the bottom
up by creating what they call living Legos. These building blocks,
biofriendly
gels of various shapes studded with cells, can self-assemble into complex
structures resembling those found in tissues.
* [20] Self-Assembling Tissues - Living Legos Can Be Directed To Form
Tissue-Like Structures., Katherine Bourzac, 08/07/15, Technology Review
[20] http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/21080/?a=f
_________________________________________________________________
07. Passive Learning Imprints On The Brain Just Like Active Learning ,
PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: A view of the left hemisphere of the brain (with the left part
of the image being the forward part of the brain) illustrating the Action
Observance Network regions. (image courtesy Emily Cross) It's
conventional
wisdom that practice makes perfect. But if practicing only consists of
watching, rather than doing, does that advance proficiency? Yes, according
to a
study by Dartmouth researchers. (...) "It's been established in previous
research that there are correlations in behavioral performance between active
and passive learning, but in this study we were surprised by the remarkable
similarity in brain activation when our research participants observed dance
sequences that were actively or passively experienced," (...).
* [21] Passive Learning Imprints On The Brain Just Like Active Learning,
08/07/14, PhysOrg.com
[21] http://www.physorg.com/news135253078.html
_________________________________________________________________
07.01. A Good Night's Sleep Really Does Improve The Brain , Telegraph
Excerpts: Dr Sophie Schwartz, from the University of Geneva, who led the
study,
said: "Our results revealed that a period of sleep following a new experience
can consolidate and improve subsequent effects of learning from the
experience.
"This improvement comes from changes in brain activity in specific regions
that
code for relevant features of the learned material." Sleep helped the brain
consolidate learned experiences and transform weak memories that might fade
in
time into more permanent fixtures, she said.
* [22] A Good Night's Sleep Really Does Improve The Brain, 08/07/14,
Telegraph
[22]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/14/easleep114.xml
_________________________________________________________________
08. Psychiatric Genetics: The Brains Of The Family , Nature
Excerpts: Does the difficulty in finding the genes responsible for mental
illness reflect the complexity of the genetics or the poor definitions of
psychiatric disorders? (...) One boy carried a major 'translocation', in
which
a chunk of chromosome 11 had been switched with part of chromosome 1. The
translocation and the boy's bad behaviour were more than just coincidence.
Years later, when Edinburgh researchers traced the family, they found that
the
same chromosomal abnormality spanned four generations, with remarkably varied
effects. Of those who carried it, five had depression, six had schizophrenia
or
related disorders, three had adolescent conduct disorder and two had anxiety
disorder. One had attempted suicide and died in a mental hospital.
* [23] Psychiatric Genetics: The Brains Of The Family, Alison Abbott,
08/07/10,
DOI: doi:10.1038/454154a, Nature
[23] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080709/full/454154a.html
_________________________________________________________________
08.01. Neuroscience: Rewiring The Brain , Nature
Excerpts: In the first month - when paralysis is usually at its worst - they
found that some neurons ditched their speciality for one particular limb and
began processing information from multiple limbs. During the following month,
as the affected brain region reorganized itself more permanently, those
neurons
re-specialized to a new single limb.
* [24] Neuroscience: Rewiring The Brain, 08/07/10, DOI: doi:10.1038/454140b,
Nature
[24] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7201/full/454140b.html
_________________________________________________________________
09. Growing Neural Implants , Technology Review
Excerpts: Implanted network: Scientists are developing new ways to coax
electrodes to integrate with brain tissue. One approach is to grow PEDOT, an
electrically conductive polymer, onto an electrode after it is surgically
implanted into the body. Shown here is a slice of cortical tissue from a
mouse
in which the polymer (shown in blue) was deposited after insertion of the
metal
electrode. The polymer surrounds the cells, forming a diffuse, conductive
network that follows the white-matter tracts of the cortex.
Credit: Sarah Richardson-Burns New approaches could more seamlessly
integrate medical devices into the body. (...) Devices that record and
translate neural activity are also under development for people with severe
paralysis. But as use of neural implants grows, so does concern over the
damage
that those devices can impose on neural tissue. Insertion of the rigid metal
electrode into soft tissue triggers a cascade of inflammatory signals,
damaging
or killing neurons and triggering a scar to form around the metal. "We hope
to
come up with a way to communicate across the scar layer and send information
to
and from the device in a way that is as friendly as possible," (...).
* [25] Growing Neural Implants, Emily Singer, 08/07/16, Technology Review
[25] http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21087/?a=f
_________________________________________________________________
09.01. 'Cross Fire' From The Brain Makes Patients Tremble , PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: A typical symptom of Parkinson's disease is tremor in patients. A
group of scientists, including Professor Peter Tass from Forschungszentrum
Julich have succeeded in demonstrating the mechanisms which cause the
so-called
tremor: neuron clusters in the depths of the brain drive the tremor. (...)
This
device influences the disturbed neurons in the core region of the brain and
effectively removes their compulsion to "fire" at the same time. Tass' new
development disturbs this compulsory diseased mode by using very mild,
targeted
and desynchronized stimuli in different places. In this way, the rhythm
becomes
irregular and breaks down.
* [26] 'Cross Fire' From The Brain Makes Patients Tremble, 08/07/11,
PhysOrg.com
[26] http://www.physorg.com/news134987390.html
_________________________________________________________________
10. UCLA Study Identifies Mechanism Behind Mind-Body Connection , EurekAlert
Excerpts: Immune cells (stained blue) end in protective caps called
telomeres (stained yellow) that are shorter in the elderly -- and in persons
suffering chronic stress. A new UCLA study suggests cortisol is the culprit
behind premature aging of the immune system in stressed-out people.
Credit: UCLA/Effros lab Explains how chronic emotional stress ages the
immune system. Every cell contains a tiny clock called a telomere, which
shortens each time the cell divides. Short telomeres are linked to a range of
human diseases, including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging.
Previous
studies show that an enzyme within the cell, called telomerase, keeps immune
cells young by preserving their telomere length and ability to continue
dividing. UCLA scientists found that the stress hormone cortisol suppresses
immune cells' ability to activate their telomerase. This may explain why the
cells of persons under chronic stress have shorter telomeres.
* [27] UCLA Study Identifies Mechanism Behind Mind-Body Connection, 08/07/15,
EurekAlert
[27] http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/uoc--usi071508.php
_________________________________________________________________
11. Why Migraines Strike , Scientific American
Excerpts: Biologists finally are unraveling the medical mysteries of
migraine,
from aura to pain. What first activates the trigeminal nerves in migraine,
however, is under debate. (...) Some researchers contend that cortical
spreading depression directly stimulates the trigeminal nerves. As the wave
of
hyperexcitability travels across the cortex, it brings about the release of
neurotransmitters, such as glutamate and nitric oxide, as well as of ions.
These chemicals serve as messengers that induce the trigeminal nerves to
transmit pain signals. Researchers have observed in animals that cortical
spreading depression does indeed activate the trigeminal nerves in this way.
* [28] Why Migraines Strike, David W. Dodick , J. Jay Gargus, 08/08,
Scientific American
[28]
http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=08D732D6-3048-8A5E-1037CF79668E2C67
_________________________________________________________________
12. Behind The Looking-Glass , Nature
Excerpts: To understand how mirror neurons help to interpret actions, we must
delve into the networks in which these cells sit, (...). Unravelling how
mirror
neurons work requires knowledge of the complex architecture in which
these cells
are embedded. A model of neural architecture proposed by one of us
(A.D.) nearly
20 years ago may help with that. Impressive findings from
mirror-neuron research
at the single-cell level have added persuasive empirical support for this
early
model.
* [29] Behind The Looking-Glass, Antonio Damasio , Kaspar Meyer, 08/07/10,
DOI: doi:10.1038/454167a, Nature
[29] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7201/full/454167a.html
_________________________________________________________________
13. Cancer: An Unexpected Addiction , Nature
Excerpts: Both oncogenes and normal genes can mediate the development and
progress of cancer. What used to separate their effects was cancer's
dependence
on, or 'addiction' to, oncogenes but not normal genes. Not any more. (...)
Cancer's 'addiction' to oncogenes is sometimes so strong that even brief
inactivation of a single oncogene can cause remission in model systems,
implying that oncogenes are the 'Achilles' heel' of cancers.
* [30] Cancer: An Unexpected Addiction, John D. Shaughnessy, 08/07/10, DOI:
doi:10.1038/454172a, Nature
[30] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7201/full/454172a.html
_________________________________________________________________
14. Genetic Determinants of Self Identity and Social Recognition in Bacteria
,
Science
Excerpts: Abstract: The bacterium Proteus mirabilis is capable of movement on
solid surfaces by a type of motility called swarming. Boundaries form between
swarming colonies of different P. mirabilis strains but not between colonies
of
a single strain. A fundamental requirement for boundary formation is
the ability
to discriminate between self and nonself. We have isolated mutants that form
boundaries with their parent. The mutations map within a six-gene locus that
we
term ids for identification of self. Five of the genes in the ids locus are
required for recognition of the parent strain as self. Three of the ids genes
are interchangeable between strains, and two encode specific molecular
identifiers.
* [31] Genetic Determinants of Self Identity and Social Recognition in
Bacteria, Karine A. Gibbs , Mark L. Urbanowski , E. Peter Greenberg,
08/07/11, Science
[31] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5886/256
_________________________________________________________________
15. Adaptive Numerical Competency In A Food-Hoarding Songbird , Proc. Biol.
Sc.
Excerpts: Most animals can distinguish between small quantities (less than
four) innately. Many animals can also distinguish between larger quantities
after extensive training. However, the adaptive significance of numerical
discriminations in wild animals is almost completely unknown. We conducted a
series of experiments to test whether a food-hoarding songbird, (...) uses
numerical judgements when retrieving and pilfering cached food. Different
numbers of mealworms were presented sequentially to wild birds in a pair of
artificial cache sites, which were then obscured from view. Robins frequently
chose the site containing more prey, (...). Overall results indicate that New
Zealand robins use a sophisticated numerical sense (...).
* [32] Adaptive Numerical Competency In A Food-Hoarding Songbird, S. Hunt ,
J.
Low , K. C. Burns, 2008/07/08, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0702, Proceedings B:
Biological Sciences
* Contributed by [33] Atin Das
[32]
http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/g438t40613044h3l/?p=c1def95e531041609671222e6b1fcc6a&pi=0
[33] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
15.01. Superfast Muscles In Songbirds , Innovations-report
Excerpts: Certain songbirds can contract their vocal muscles 100 times faster
than humans can blink an eye placing the birds with a handful of animals
that
have evolved superfast muscles, University of Utah researchers found. e
discovered that the European starling (found throughout Eurasia and
North-America) and the zebrafinch (found in Australia and Indonesia) control
their songs with the fastest-contracting muscle type yet described, says
(...). (...) ongbirds use complex song to communicate with one another,
Elemans says. any species are able to change the volume and-or frequency of
their song faster than ordinary vertebrate muscles are able to contract.
(...)
* [34] Superfast Muscles In Songbirds, 2008/07/10, Innovations-report
* Contributed by [35] Atin Das
[34]
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-114057.html
[35] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
16. Facing the Freshwater Crisis , Scientific American
Excerpts: As demand for freshwater soars, planetary supplies are becoming
unpredictable. Existing technologies could avert a global water crisis, but
they must be implemented soon. (...) Scientists expect water scarcity to
become
more common in large part because the world's population is rising and many
people are getting richer (thus expanding demand) and because global climate
change is exacerbating aridity and reducing supply in many regions. What is
more, many water sources are threatened by faulty waste disposal, releases of
industrial pollutants, fertilizer runoff and coastal influxes of saltwater
into
aquifers as groundwater is depleted. Because lack of access to water
can lead to
starvation, disease, political instability and even armed conflict, failure
to
take action can have broad and grave consequences.
* [36] Facing the Freshwater Crisis, Peter Rogers, 08/08, Scientific American
[36]
http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=08D3BFE6-3048-8A5E-109548D287CF71E2
_________________________________________________________________
17. Palaeontology: Squint Of The Fossil Flatfish , Nature
Excerpts: Evolutionary biologists have floundered when trying to explain how
the asymmetrical head of flatfishes came about. 'Gradually' is the answer
arising from exquisite studies of 45-million-year-old fossil specimens. (...)
The asymmetry of adult flatfishes is remarkable because the young are
perfectly
symmetrical. The entire head structure is rapidly remodelled during
metamorphosis, involving the migration of one eye to the opposite side, close
to the other eye. (...) Only in the most primitive living flatfish, the
'spiny
turbot' (Psettodes), is one eye (...) situated close to the dorsal margin of
the head, although it is still on the same side as the other eye.
* [37] Palaeontology: Squint Of The Fossil Flatfish, Philippe Janvier,
08/07/10, DOI: doi:10.1038/454169a, Nature
[37] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7201/full/454169a.html
_________________________________________________________________
18. The Science of Leonardo da Vinci , Doubleday
Book report: Capra's earlier works included popular introductions to
complexity
theory, ecology, and general systems theory. In them, he occasionally
referred
to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) as the first modern scientist. While viewing
an exhibition of his drawings in the mid 1990s, Capra decided to make a
detailed study of his writings. As a scientist having acquired Italian
language
in childhood, he was able to study the recently transcribed and dated
Notebooks
of Leonardo, paying special attention to their scientific content. The
Science
of Leonardo is the outcome of that process. Here, Capra gives us a portrait
of
Leonardo as a systems thinker, the first modern scientist, and pioneer of the
experimental method -- a century before Galileo and Bacon.
* [38] The Science of Leonardo da Vinci, Fritjof Capra, reviewed by Ralph
Abraham
, 2007, Doubleday
[38] http://www.ralph-abraham.org/reviews/capra-rvw.pdf
_________________________________________________________________
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
_________________________________________________________________
19.01. How American Treaty Behavior Threatens National Security , Int.
Security
Excerpts: In recent years, American treaty behavior has produced growing
concern among both allies and less friendly nations. On such fundamental
issues
as nuclear proliferation, terrorism, human rights, civil liberties,
environmental disasters, and commerce, the United States has generated
confusion and anger abroad. Such a climate is not conducive to needed
cooperation in the conduct of foreign and security policy. Among U.S. actions
that have caused concern are the failure to ratify several treaties; the
attachment of reservations, understandings, and declarations before
ratification; the failure to support a treaty regime once ratified; and
treaty
withdrawal. (...)
* [39] How American Treaty Behavior Threatens National Security, A. Chayes,
Summer 2008, online 2008/06/26, DOI: 10.1162/isec.2008.33.1.45, International
Security
* Contributed by [40] Pritha Das
[39] http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/isec.2008.33.1.45
[40] mailto:prithadas01 at yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________________
20. Links & Snippets
_________________________________________________________________
20.01. Other Publications
- Water Found In Moon Rock Samples: New Analysis Finds Traces Of Hydrogen,
2008/07/11, vnunet.com
- Ten Simple Rules for Organizing a Scientific Meeting, 2008/06/27, PLoS
Comput
Biol 4(6): e1000080, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000080
- Understanding Individual Human Mobility Patterns, 2008/06/07, arXiv [Nature
453, 479-482 (2008)], DOI: 0806.1256
- MultiKulti Algorithm: Migrating the Most Different Genotypes in an Island
Model, 2008/06/17, arXiv, DOI: 0806.2843
- The Organization of Intrinsic Computation: Complexity-Entropy Diagrams and
the Diversity of Natural Information Processing, 2008/06/17, arXiv, DOI:
0806.4789
- Turing Patterns on Networks, 2008/07/08, arXiv, DOI: 0807.1230
- Evolutionary Game Dynamics in Phenotype Space, 2008/06/16, arXiv, DOI:
0806.2636
- Study Reveals Potential Reasons For School Absenteeism, 2008/07/11,
Innovations-report
- Avatars As Communicators Of Emotions, 2008/07/10, Innovations-report
- Mathematical Models Of Energy Homeostasis, 2008/07/08, Interface, DOI:
10.1098/rsif.2008.0216
- The Colour Of Fossil Feathers, 2008/07/08, Biological Letters, DOI:
10.1098/rsbl.2008.0302
- Can You Hear Me Now? Primitive Single-Celled Microbe Expert In Cellular
Communication Networks, 2008/07/08, ScienceDaily & Salk Institute
- Do We Think That Machines Can Think?, 2008/07/09, ScienceDaily & Public
Library of Science
- Money Makes The Heart Grow Less Fond... But More Hardworking, 2008/07/10,
ScienceDaily & Association for Psychological Science
- Scientists Identify Genetic Basis For The Black Sheep Of The Family,
2008/07/11, ScienceDaily & Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Model For Automated, Wearable Artificial Kidney Designed, 2008/07/12,
ScienceDaily & University of California - Los Angeles
- Generous Or Parsimonious Cognitive Architecture? Cognitive Neuroscience And
Theory Of Mind, Jun. 2008, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science,
DOI: 10.1093/bjps/axm038
- Equilibrium Party Government, Jul. 2008, Online 2008/07/08, American
Journal
of Political Science, DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00334.x
- China Surging Energy Demand: Trigger For Conflict Or Cooperation With
Japan?, Mar. 2008, online 2008/05/08, East Asia, DOI:
10.1007/s12140-008-9044-1
- Enzymes Without Borders: Mobilizing Substrates, Delivering Products,
08/07/11, Science
_________________________________________________________________
20.02. Webcast Announcements
_________________________________________________________________
20.03. Conference Announcements
[41]
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
[42]
1st Intl Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics and Synchronization
(INDS 08), Klagenfurt, Austria, 08/07/18-19
[43]
Scratch at MIT,Cambridge, MA, 08/07/24-26
[44]
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
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
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
[41] http://www.sun.ceu.hu/complex-systems/ TARGET=new
[42] http://inds08.uni-klu.ac.at/ TARGET=new
[43] http://scratch.mit.edu/conference/ TARGET=new
[44] 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 Gottfried 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 ottfried Mayer , to:
Manufacturers & Traders Trust
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If your contribution is made by wire:
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Ref. Gottfried Mayer
_________________________________________________________________
[45]Complexity Digest is an independent publication available to
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