[tt] Complexity Digest 2008.38 (text version -2)
Eugen Leitl
<eugen at leitl.org> on
Sat Sep 20 17:12:58 CEST 2008
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Subject: Complexity Digest 2008.38 (text version -2)
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Complexity Digest 2008.38 18-Sept-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. Science Unveils Hidden Drivers Of Stock Bubbles And Crashes, PhysOrg.com
01.01. Neuroeconomics: Subliminal Choices, Nature
02. Traffic Jams - Queuing Conundrums - Strange As It Might Seem, Closing Roads
Can Cut Delays, The Economist
03. Computers Figuring Out What Words Mean, PhysOrg.com
03.01. Warning Sounded On Web's Future, BBC News
03.02. Berners-Lee Opens New Web Foundation, vnunet.com
04. New Ant Species Found, Science News
05. Paleoanthropology: Brainy Babies And Risky Births For Neandertals, Science
05.01. Evolution: Dynamics Of Body Size Evolution, Science
06. The Evolution Of Superstitious And Superstition-Like Behaviour, Proc. Biol.
Sc.
06.01. Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior,
ScienceDaily
07. Giant Honeybees Do The Wave - Attackers Shy Away From Rippling Bee Masses,
Science News
08. A Bigger Picture - Beneath Cancer's Daunting Complexity Lies A Simplicity
That Gives Grounds For Hope., Nature
08.01. Cancer Complexity Slows Quest For Cure, Nature
09. Schizophrenia: Incriminating Genomic Evidence, Nature
10. Understanding The Limits To Generalizability Of Experimental Evolutionary
Models, Nature
11. Neural Correlates, Computation And Behavioural Impact Of Decision
Confidence, Nature
11.01. Remote Brainwaves Predict Future 'Eureka' Moment, ScienceDaily
11.02. Unsupervised Natural Experience Rapidly Alters Invariant Object
Representation in Visual Cortex, Science
11.03. Chaotic Synchronization In General Network Topology For Scene
Segmentation, Neurocomputing
12. Niche Partitioning Increases Resource Exploitation by Diverse Communities,
Science
12.01. The Dangers Of Ignoring Stock Complexity In Fishery Management: The Case
Of The North Sea cod, Biol. Lett.
13. Understanding Soil Time, Science
13.01. An Uncertain Future for Soil Carbon, Science
14. Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes,
Science
14.01. White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming, PhysOrg.com
15. Detecting Pollution With Living Biosensors - Color-Coded Bacteria Light The
Way To Oil Spills At Sea., Technology Review
16. Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with
Thermoelectric Systems, Science
16.01. Nanoflowers Improve Ultracapacitors - A Novel Design Could Boost Energy
Storage., Technology Review
17. Quantum Flashlight Pierces The Darkness With A Few Percent As Many Photons,
Science
17.01. Enhanced Sensitivity of Photodetection via Quantum Illumination, Science
17.02. Quantum Mechanics: Entangled Families, Nature
18. Space 'Firefly' Resembles No Known Object, NewScientist
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. Al-Qaeda 'Able To Reinvent Itself', news.com.au
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference Announcements
20.04. Other Announcements
_________________________________________________________________
01. Science Unveils Hidden Drivers Of Stock Bubbles And Crashes , PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: Many economists believe that investors make decisions rationally,
weighing up corporate data and other pricing signals to evaluate gain or risk
before buying or selling stocks. But this keystone belief in how markets
function is now under mounting attack after this month's global stocks crash,
the latest in a string of financial shocks over the past two decades.
Proponents of rival concepts say that primitive emotions, herd mentality and
raging hormones are among the invisible motors that help inflate an asset
bubble and then prick it.
* [4] Science Unveils Hidden Drivers Of Stock Bubbles And Crashes, 08/09/19,
PhysOrg.com
[4] http://www.physorg.com/news141015420.html
_________________________________________________________________
01.01. Neuroeconomics: Subliminal Choices , Nature
Excerpts: Humans can learn to assess risks on the basis of visual hints they
are not aware of seeing. (...) The subjects won more than they lost, indicating
that their brains recognized the unperceived symbols and learned to associate
them with reward or punishment. Functional neuroimaging showed that the
mechanism involves the ventral striatum, a brain area associated with assessing
reward value (...).
* [5] Neuroeconomics: Subliminal Choices, Nature 455, 140, 08/09/11, DOI:
10.1038/455140a
[5] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/455140a.html
_________________________________________________________________
02. Traffic Jams - Queuing Conundrums - Strange As It Might Seem, Closing Roads
Can Cut Delays , The Economist
Excerpts: They analysed 246 different links in the road network that could be
used for the journey and calculated traffic flows at different volumes to
produce what they call a "price of anarchy" (POA). This is the ratio of the
total cost of the Nash equilibrium to the total cost of an optimal traffic flow
directed by an omniscient traffic controller. In Boston they found that at high
traffic levels drivers face a POA which results in journey times 30% longer
than if motorists were co-ordinated into an optimal traffic flow.
* [6] Traffic Jams - Queuing Conundrums - Strange As It Might Seem, Closing
Roads Can Cut Delays, 08/09/11, The Economist
[6] http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12202559
_________________________________________________________________
03. Computers Figuring Out What Words Mean , PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: The Internet got smarter this week with the release of a semantic map
that teaches computers the meanings behind words -- and gives the machines a
vocabulary far larger than that of a typical US college graduate. Cognition
Technologies began licensing the map Tuesday to software creators interested in
having programs "understand" words based on tenses and sentence context -- in
much the same way as the human brain does.
* [7] Computers Figuring Out What Words Mean, 08/09/18, PhysOrg.com
[7] http://www.physorg.com/news140929129.html
_________________________________________________________________
03.01. Warning Sounded On Web's Future , BBC News
Excerpts: The internet needs a way to help people separate rumour from real
science, says the creator of the World Wide Web. Talking to BBC News Sir Tim
Berners-Lee said he was increasingly worried about the way the web has been
used to spread disinformation. Sir Tim spoke prior to the unveiling of a
Foundation he has co-created that aims to make the web truly worldwide. It will
also look at ways to help people decide if sites are trustworthy and reliable
sources of information.
* [8] Warning Sounded On Web's Future, Pallab Ghosh, 08/09/15, BBC News
[8] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7613201.stm
_________________________________________________________________
03.02. Berners-Lee Opens New Web Foundation , vnunet.com
Excerpts: Web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee has announced the formation of the World
Wide Web Foundation, a new group awarded a $5m seed grant to advance the web
and increase its openness. "The mission of the Foundation is to advance a web
that is free and open, to expand the web's capability and robustness and to
extend the web's capabilities to all people on the planet," Berners-Lee said
(...). (...) To address the people issue, the Foundation will look at the use,
and potential use, of technology in undeveloped countries and the poorest
regions of the world. (...)
* [9] Berners-Lee Opens New Web Foundation: Web Pioneer Unveils $5m World Wide
Web Foundation To Aid Availability Across The Globe, D. Neal, 2008/09/15,
vnunet.com
* Contributed by [10] Atin Das
[9] http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2226085/berners-lee-opens-web
[10] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
04. New Ant Species Found , Science News
Excerpts: This newly discovered ant species, with mouthparts like forceps
and no eyes, may come from the most ancient known lineage of living ants.
Credit: Rabeling and M. Verhaagh One weird ant suggests lost world of
ancient ants living underground. (...) Its DNA may be even more interesting.
Genetic analysis puts the new ant so far from other species that it deserves
its own subfamily, Martialinae, (...).
* [11] New Ant Species Found, Susan Milius, 08/09/16, ScienceNews
[11]
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/36462/title/New_ant_species_found
_________________________________________________________________
05. Paleoanthropology: Brainy Babies And Risky Births For Neandertals , Science
Excerpts: As adults, the extinct Neandertals had brains and bodies larger than
those of living people. But little has been known about their early brain
development because few fossils have been found of Neandertal newborns or
female pelves. A 1990 study of 10 Neandertal fossils between the ages of 2 and
10 found that their brain volumes were as large as those of modern humans. But
the new study uses "amazing specimens" to provide the first data on infants,
(...).
* [12] Paleoanthropology: Brainy Babies And Risky Births For Neandertals, Ann
Gibbons, 08/09/12, DOI: 10.1126/science.321.5895.1429, Science : Vol. 321. no.
5895, p. 1429
[12] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1429
_________________________________________________________________
05.01. Evolution: Dynamics Of Body Size Evolution , Science
Excerpts: Is bigger better? Does climate affect size? The processes controlling
body size evolution remain unclear. Body size is one of the simplest organismic
traits one can measure, yet it correlates with almost every aspect of the
biology of a species, from physiology and life history to ecology. So, not
surprisingly, biologists have long been interested in understanding how body
size evolves. Two things are obvious when one looks at the distribution of body
sizes of species within large groups: The sizes span multiple orders of
magnitude, and species are not distributed uniformly within this range.
* [13] Evolution: Dynamics Of Body Size Evolution, Kaustuv Roy, 08/09/12,
Science: 1451-1452.
[13] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1451
_________________________________________________________________
06. The Evolution Of Superstitious And Superstition-Like Behaviour , Proc.
Biol. Sc.
Excerpts: Superstitious behaviours, which arise through the incorrect
assignment of cause and effect, receive considerable attention in psychology
and popular culture. Perhaps owing to their seeming irrationality, however,
they receive little attention in evolutionary biology. Here we develop a simple
model to define the condition under which natural selection will favour
assigning causality between two events. This leads to an intuitive inequality
(...) that shows that natural selection can favour strategies that lead to
frequent errors in assessment (...). (...) We conclude that behaviours which
are, or appear, superstitious are an inevitable feature of adaptive behaviour
in all organisms, including ourselves.
* [14] The Evolution Of Superstitious And Superstition-Like Behaviour, K. R.
Foster , H. Kokko, 2008/09/09, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0981, Proceedings B:
Biological Sciences
* Contributed by [15] Atin Das
[14]
http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/v61648mh87863528/?p=4b9f83bfcc794f98bd
ccd55f2aae6760&pi=7
[15] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
06.01. Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior ,
ScienceDaily
Excerpts: Without a way to measure religious beliefs, anthropologists have had
difficulty studying religion. Now, two anthropologists from the University of
Missouri and Arizona State University have developed a new approach to study
religion by focusing on verbal communication, an identifiable behavior, instead
of speculating about alleged beliefs in the supernatural that cannot actually b
e
identified. (...) "We noticed that communicating acceptance of a supernatural
claim tends to promote cooperative social relationships. This communication
demonstrates a willingness to accept, without skepticism, the influence of the
speaker in a way similar to a child's acceptance of the influence of a parent."
(...)
* [16] Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior,
2008/09/10, ScienceDaily & University of Missouri-Columbia
* Contributed by [17] Atin Das
[16] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080909122749.htm
[17] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
07. Giant Honeybees Do The Wave - Attackers Shy Away From Rippling Bee Masses ,
Science News
Excerpts: Colonies of giant honeybees dangle from a water tower.
Credit: Kastberger Smaller waves of a few bees break out as nest mates
arrive and take off. When bee-hunting hornets buzz in, however, bees wave big.
Seventy bees can flip into action in 600 milliseconds and hundreds of bees join
in as the pattern swirls over the nest. (...) Ripples of bee rears, though,
change the hornet's direction. At closer than 52 centimeters, the hunter veers
away as the audience waves. The bees' sudden motion may startle the predator,
but whatever the mechanism, it works, Kastberger says. Waving maintains a rough
no-hornet zone around the colony.
Editor's note: These waves look very similar to those from a variety of
excitable systems such as chemicals, neurons, slime mold etc.
* [18] Giant Honeybees Do The Wave - Attackers Shy Away From Rippling Bee
Masses, Susan Milius, 08/09/09, ScienceNews
* VIDEO - [19] Video
[18]
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/36296/title/Giant_honeybees_do_the_w
ave
[19] http://vimeo.com/1700311
_________________________________________________________________
08. A Bigger Picture - Beneath Cancer's Daunting Complexity Lies A Simplicity
That Gives Grounds For Hope. , Nature
Excerpts: The richness of the data becoming available in these and other
studies allows researchers to cut through the complexity. Genes work together
in pathways of reactions to accomplish a particular biological function, such
as cell division - and many or most of the mutated genes picked up by these
cancer studies are involved in a comparatively small number of pathways. The
Johns Hopkins team found that most of the mutations in their pancreatic tumours
affected just 12 pathways. The Genome Atlas team found that most of its
glioblastomas showed mutations in a set of three pathways.
* [20] A Bigger Picture - Beneath Cancer's Daunting Complexity Lies A
Simplicity That Gives Grounds For Hope., 08/09/11, DOI: 10.1038/455138a, Nature
455, 138
[20] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/455138a.html
_________________________________________________________________
08.01. Cancer Complexity Slows Quest For Cure , Nature
Excerpts: Genomic analysis reveals multiple mutations in tumours. (...) He and
others say that the focus should shift from hunting for individual genes that
cause certain cancers, to disrupting the broader biological pathways that
support cancer growth. (...) The studies find that individual cancer patients
each carry dozens of genetic mutations - an average of 63 alterations in
pancreatic cancer and 47 DNA mutations in one type of brain cancer. Similar
results have been found in previous studies of other cancers.
* [21] Cancer Complexity Slows Quest For Cure, Erika Check Hayden, 08/09/04,
DOI: 10.1038/455148a, Nature, 455, 148
[21] http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080910/full/455148a.html
_________________________________________________________________
09. Schizophrenia: Incriminating Genomic Evidence , Nature
Excerpts: The genetic factors that contribute to schizophrenia can vary, making
it difficult to pinpoint which DNA changes are the main culprits. Large
genome-wide studies provide the most reliable clues yet. (...) This lack of
progress in understanding the genetic aspects of schizophrenia - which perhaps
partially reflects challenges in diagnosis - is mainly due to the genetic
heterogeneity among patients; many different genes might be involved in the
disorder, but in a given family perhaps just one or a few of these genes
mediate schizophrenia.
* [22] Schizophrenia: Incriminating Genomic Evidence, James R. Lupski,
08/09/11, DOI: 10.1038/455178a, Nature 455, 178-179
[22] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/455178a.html
_________________________________________________________________
10. Understanding The Limits To Generalizability Of Experimental Evolutionary
Models , Nature
Excerpts: Given the difficulty of testing evolutionary and ecological theory in
situ, in vitro model systems are attractive alternatives; however, can we
appraise whether an experimental result is particular to the in vitro model,
and, if so, characterize the systems likely to behave differently and
understand why? (...) A combination of in vitro systems and appropriately
configured mathematical models is an effective means to isolate results
particular to the in vitro system, to characterize systems likely to behave
differently and to understand the biology underpinning those alternatives.
* [23] Understanding The Limits To Generalizability Of Experimental
Evolutionary Models, Samantha E. Forde, Robert E. Beardmore, Ivana Gudelj,
Sinan S. Arkin, John N. Thompson , Laurence D. Hurst, 08/09/11, DOI:
10.1038/nature07152, Nature 455, 220-223
[23] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/nature07152.html
_________________________________________________________________
11. Neural Correlates, Computation And Behavioural Impact Of Decision
Confidence , Nature
Excerpts: Moreover, when tested using a delayed reward version of the task, we
found that rats' willingness to wait for rewards increased with confidence, as
predicted by the theoretical model. These results indicate that confidence
estimates, previously suggested to require 'metacognition' and conscious
awareness are available even in the rodent brain, can be computed with
relatively simple operations, and can drive adaptive behaviour. We suggest that
confidence estimation may be a fundamental and ubiquitous component of
decision-making.
* [24] Neural Correlates, Computation And Behavioural Impact Of Decision
Confidence, Adam Kepecs, Naoshige Uchida, Hatim A. Zariwala , Zachary F.
Mainen,, 08/09/11, DOI: 10.1038/nature07200, Nature 455, 227-231
[24]
http://www.nature.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full
/nature07200.html
_________________________________________________________________
11.01. Remote Brainwaves Predict Future 'Eureka' Moment , ScienceDaily
Excerpts: Real-world problems come in two broad flavors: those requiring
sequential reasoning and those requiring transformative reasoning: a break from
past thinking and restructuring followed by an insight (also known as Eureka or
Aha!?, which is a process by which a problem solver abruptly, through a
quantum leap of understanding with no conscious forewarning, moves from a state
of not knowing how to solve a problem to a state of knowing how to solve it.
Despite its widespread reports, the brain mechanism underlying eureka is poorly
understood. (...) In a new study (...) detected an array of specific patterns i
n
characteristic brainwaves (...).
* [25] Remote Brainwaves Predict Future 'Eureka' Moment, 2008/09/12,
ScienceDaily & University of Goldsmiths London
* Contributed by [26] Atin Das
[25] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080909095108.htm
[26] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
11.02. Unsupervised Natural Experience Rapidly Alters Invariant Object
Representation in Visual Cortex , Science
Excerpts: Neurons in the most complex area of the brain's visual cortex can
respond to a particular object in any orientation by rapidly learning to
associate multiple views of that object. (...) Responses of neurons from the
inferior temporal cortex (IT) are selective to different objects, yet tolerant
("invariant") to changes in object position, scale, and pose. How does the
brain construct this neuronal tolerance? We report a form of neuronal learning
that suggests the underlying solution. Targeted alteration of the natural
temporal contiguity of visual experience caused specific changes in IT position
tolerance.
* [27] Unsupervised Natural Experience Rapidly Alters Invariant Object
Representation in Visual Cortex, Nuo Li , James J. DiCarlo, 08/09/12, Science
: 1502-1507.
[27] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1502
_________________________________________________________________
11.03. Chaotic Synchronization In General Network Topology For Scene
Segmentation , Neurocomputing
Excerpt: Chaotic synchronization has been discovered to be an important
property of neural activities, which in turn has encouraged many researchers to
develop chaotic neural networks for scene and data analysis. In this paper, we
study the synchronization role of coupled chaotic oscillators in networks of
general topology. Specifically, a rigorous proof is presented to show that a
large number of oscillators with arbitrary geometrical connections can be
synchronized by providing a sufficiently strong coupling strength. Moreover,
the results presented in this paper not only are valid to a wide class of
chaotic oscillators, but also cover the parameter mismatch case. (...)
* [28] Chaotic Synchronization In General Network Topology For Scene
Segmentation, [29] L. Zhao, T. H. Cupertino , J. R. Bertini Jr., 2008/07/16
Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01 at yahoo.com, DOI:
10.1016/j.neucom.2008.02.024, Neurocomputing
[28]
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V10-4T0MMGB-2&_user=
10&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2008&_rdoc=38&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23
toc%235660%232008%23999289983%23697682%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=5660&_sor
t=d&_docanchor=&_ct=79&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5
=2d21fd3afc6ac545f2ad3e228a71c112
[29] mailto:zhao at icmc.usp.br
_________________________________________________________________
12. Niche Partitioning Increases Resource Exploitation by Diverse Communities ,
Science
Excerpts: In an ecosystem comprising a parasite, an aphid, and a radish, the
use of different resources by each species, not species diversity per se,
increases overall consumption. (...) Within an aphid-parasitoid-radish
community, we created a fully factorial manipulation of consumer resource-use
breadth (specialist versus generalist) and species diversity (one versus three
species) and found that resource exploitation improved with greater specialist,
but not generalist, diversity. Therefore, resource partitioning, and not
diversity per se, fostered greater overall resource consumption in our
multispecies consumer communities.
* [30] Niche Partitioning Increases Resource Exploitation by Diverse
Communities, Deborah L. Finke , William E. Snyder, 08/09/12, Science :
1488-1490.
[30] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1488
_________________________________________________________________
12.01. The Dangers Of Ignoring Stock Complexity In Fishery Management: The Case
Of The North Sea cod , Biol. Lett.
Excerpts: The plight of the marine fisheries is attracting increasing attention
as unsustainably high exploitation levels, exacerbated by more extreme climatic
conditions, are driving stocks to the point of collapse. The North Atlantic cod
(Gadus morhua), a species which until recently formed a major component of the
demersal fisheries, has undergone significant declines across its range. The
North Sea stock is typical of many, with a spawning stock biomass that has
remained below the safe biological limit since 2000 and recruitment levels near
the lowest on record. (...) The possible implications of ignoring
sub-structuring within management units for biocomplexity, local adaptation and
ecosystem stability are considered.
* [31] The Dangers Of Ignoring Stock Complexity In Fishery Management: The Case
Of The North Sea cod, W. F. Hutchinson, 2008/09/09, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0443
,
Biological Letters
* Contributed by [32] Atin Das
[31]
http://journals.royalsociety.org/content/5mt38818q592r38g/?p=7da4ad8e799344a4b4
33d58141b4da4d&pi=0
[32] mailto:dasatin at yahoo.co.in
_________________________________________________________________
13. Understanding Soil Time , Science
Excerpts: Soils constitute the topmost layer of the regolith, the blanket of
loose rock material that covers Earth's surface. An open system such as soil or
regolith is sustainable, or in steady state, only when components such as rock
particles are removed at the same rate they are replenished. However, soils are
defined not only by rock particles but also by minerals, nutrients, organic
matter, biota, and water. These entities--each characterized by lifetimes in
regolith that vary from hundreds of millions of years to minutes--are often
studied by scientists from different disciplines. If soils are to be maintained
in a sustainable manner, scientists must develop models that cross these time
scales to predict the effects of human impact.
* [33] Understanding Soil Time, Susan L. Brantley, 08/09/12, Science :
1454-1455.
[33] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1454
_________________________________________________________________
13.01. An Uncertain Future for Soil Carbon , Science
Excerpts: Predictions of how rapidly the large amounts of carbon stored as soil
organic matter will respond to warming are highly uncertain. Organic matter
plays a key role in determining the physical and chemical properties of soils
and is a major reservoir for plant nutrients. Understanding how fast organic
matter in soils can be built up and lost is thus critical not just for its net
effect on the atmospheric CO2 concentration but for sustaining other soil
functions, such as soil fertility, on which societies and ecosystems rely.
* [34] An Uncertain Future for Soil Carbon, Susan E. Trumbore , Claudia I.
Czimczik, 08/09/12, Science : 1455-1456.
[34] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1455
_________________________________________________________________
14. Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes ,
Science
Excerpts: Climate models suggest that extreme precipitation events will become
more common in an anthropogenically warmed climate. However, observational
limitations have hindered a direct evaluation of model-projected changes in
extreme precipitation. We used satellite observations and model simulations to
examine the response of tropical precipitation events to naturally driven
changes in surface temperature and atmospheric moisture content. These
observations reveal a distinct link between rainfall extremes and temperature,
with heavy rain events increasing during warm periods and decreasing during
cold periods.
* [35] Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes,
Richard P. Allan , Brian J. Soden, 08/09/12, Science : 1481-1484.
[35] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1481
_________________________________________________________________
14.01. White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming , PhysOrg.com
Excerpts: The idea of painting our roofs and roads white to offset global
warming is not new, but a recent study has calculated just how significantly
white surfaces could impact greenhouse gas emissions. (...) If the 100 largest
cities in the world replaced their dark roofs with white shingles and their
asphalt-based roads with concrete or other light-colored material, it could
offset 44 metric gigatons (billion tons) of greenhouse gases, the study shows.
That amounts to more greenhouse gas than the entire human population emits in
one year, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.
* [36] White Roofs, Streets Could Curb Global Warming, Lisa Zyga, 08/09/17,
PhysOrg.com
[36] http://www.physorg.com/news140875649.html
_________________________________________________________________
15. Detecting Pollution With Living Biosensors - Color-Coded Bacteria Light The
Way To Oil Spills At Sea. , Technology Review
Excerpts: A bright idea: Bacteria that are genetically engineered to glow a
specific color in response to a particular chemical help researchers spot
contaminants more quickly and cheaply than traditional tests do. In this image,
magnified 1,000 times, bacteria that normally glow pink glow green when
polyaromatic hydrocarbons are present.
Credit: Olivier Binggeli and Robin Tecon, University of Lausanne They
began with different strains of bacteria that naturally feast upon these
chemicals, each releasing specialized enzymes when they come in contact with
their chemical of choice. By hooking up the gene for a fluorescent or
bioluminescent protein to the cellular machinery that makes those enzymes, the
scientists effectively created a living light switch: whenever the chemical was
present, the bacteria would glow. For each class of toxic chemical, Van der
Meer used a different color protein, so that he could easily determine which
chemicals were present based on the wavelength of emitted light.
* [37] Detecting Pollution With Living Biosensors - Color-Coded Bacteria Light
The Way To Oil Spills At Sea., Jocelyn Rice, 08/09/17, Technology Review
[37] http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21383/
_________________________________________________________________
16. Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with
Thermoelectric Systems , Science
Excerpts: Broad societal needs have focused attention on technologies that can
reduce ozone depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and fossil fuel usage.
Thermoelectric (TE) devices, which are semiconductor systems that can directly
convert electricity into thermal energy for cooling or heating or recover waste
heat and convert it into electrical power, are increasingly being seen as havin
g
the potential to make important contributions to reducing CO2 and greenhouse ga
s
emissions and providing cleaner forms of energy.
* [38] Cooling, Heating, Generating Power, and Recovering Waste Heat with
Thermoelectric Systems, Lon E. Bell
, 08/09/12, DOI: 10.1126/science.1158899, Science :
Vol. 321. no. 5895, pp. 1457 - 1461
[38] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1457
_________________________________________________________________
16.01. Nanoflowers Improve Ultracapacitors - A Novel Design Could Boost Energy
Storage. , Technology Review
Excerpts: Nanoflower power: A transmission electron microscope image shows
a flowerlike manganese oxide nanoparticle deposited at the junction of crossed
carbon nanotubes. Used as an electrode material, this nanotube-manganese-oxide
composite could improve the energy-storage ability of ultracapacitors, which
show promise as powerful, long-lasting replacements for batteries. Credit:
American Chemical Society Imagine a cell-phone battery that recharges in a
few seconds and that you would never have to replace. That's the promise of
energy-storage devices known as ultracapacitors, but at present, they can store
only about 5 percent as much energy as lithium-ion batteries. (...) So far,
ultracapacitors have been limited to niche applications that require high power
and quick, repetitive recharging. For example, the devices provide quick bursts
of power to buses, trucks, and light-rail trains over short stretches, and
braking replenishes them. If they could store more energy, however, they could
be a powerful, long-lasting replacement for batteries in hybrid-electric
vehicles and portable electronics.
* [39] Nanoflowers Improve Ultracapacitors - A Novel Design Could Boost Energy
Storage., Prachi Patel-Predd, 08/09/16, Technology Review
[39] http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21375/
_________________________________________________________________
17. Quantum Flashlight Pierces The Darkness With A Few Percent As Many Photons
, Science
Excerpts: A theoretical analysis on page 1463 of this week's issue of Science
shows how to detect objects using strangely interconnected particles of light,
or photons, greatly reducing the number of photons needed. (...) A photon
arriving from the chosen direction is then compared with the ancilla. If the
arriving photon started out in the beam, its frequency and the ancilla's will
add to the correct sum.
* [40] Quantum Flashlight Pierces The Darkness With A Few Percent As Many
Photons, Adrian Cho, 08/09/12, Science : 1433-1443.
[40] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5895/1433a
_________________________________________________________________
17.01. Enhanced Sensitivity of Photodetection via Quantum Illumination ,
Science
Excerpts: The use of quantum-mechanically entangled light to illuminate objects
can provide substantial enhancements over unentangled light for detecting and
imaging those objects in the presence of high levels of noise and loss. Each
signal sent out is entangled with an ancilla, which is retained. Detection
takes place via an entangling measurement on the returning signal together with
the ancilla. This paper shows that for photodetection, quantum illumination wit
h
m bits of entanglement can in principle increase the effective signal-to-noise
ratio by a factor of 2m, an exponential improvement over unentangled
illumination.
* [41] Enhanced Sensitivity of Photodetection via Quantum Illumination, Seth
Lloyd, 08/09/12, DOI: 10.1126/science.1160627, Science 321 (5895), 1463
[41] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;321/5895/1463
_________________________________________________________________
17.02. Quantum Mechanics: Entangled Families , Nature
Excerpts: Quantum entanglement comes in a rich variety of types and families if
more than two particles are involved. Experiments with photons are opening up
fresh ways to systematically study multi-particle entanglement. (...) The
increased diversity of experimentally 'tamed' entangled particles brings
theoretical challenges. The number of parameters needed to describe a state
increases exponentially with the number of particles in the state, but this
increased complexity also increases the potential utility of multipartite
entangled states.
* [42] Quantum Mechanics: Entangled Families, Markus Aspelmeyer, Jens Eisert,
08/09/11, DOI: 10.1038/455180a, Nature 455, 180-181
[42] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/455180a.html
_________________________________________________________________
18. Space 'Firefly' Resembles No Known Object , NewScientist
Excerpts: The object responsible for the mysterious brightening (right,
from observations made in May 2006) is ordinarily too dim to detect (left)
(Image: Barbary et al.) Stars are known to brighten dramatically when they
explode as supernovae. But supernovae reach their maximum brightness after abou
t
20 days, and this object took a leisurely 100 days to hit its peak. The
object's spectrum is also bizarre. It does not match that of anything seen in
the mammoth Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has mapped more than a quarter of
the sky. The spectrum shows a handful of spectral lines, but when astronomers
try to trace any one of them to an element - such as magnesium, the other lines
fail to match up with known elements.
* [43] Space 'Firefly' Resembles No Known Object, Maggie McKee, 08/09/16,
NewScientist
[43]
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14738-space-firefly-resembles-no-known-
object.html?DCMP=ILC-tabViewArt&nsref=dn14738
_________________________________________________________________
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
_________________________________________________________________
19.01. Al-Qaeda 'Able To Reinvent Itself' , news.com.au
Excerpts: AL-QAEDA remains firmly committed to mass terrorist attacks and has
been able to adapt, rebuild and reinvent itself, according to ASIO's
[Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Ed.] latest assessment. ASIO
says violent jihadism remains the principal terrorist threat faced by
Australia, with Islamic extremist networks around the world continuing to
attract a new generation of followers,(...) "Given the fluid and decentralised
nature of the global jihad, we remain as concerned by the dynamic formation and
splintering going on within extremist networks and cells, as by the activities
of al-Qaeda," ASIO says.
* [44] Al-Qaeda 'Able To Reinvent Itself', Patrick Walters, 08/09/17,
news.com.au
[44] http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24357878-401,00.html
_________________________________________________________________
20. Links & Snippets
_________________________________________________________________
20.01. Other Publications
- Immaturity Of The Brain May Cause Schizophrenia, 2008/09/11, ScienceDaily &
BioMed Central Limited
- On Evolution Under Symmetric And Asymmetric Competitions, 2008/06/12, Journal
of Theoretical Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2008.06.001
- Nonlinear Buckling Of Blood Vessels: A Theoretical Study, 2008/08/28, online
2008/07/23, Journal of Biomechanics, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2008.06.012
- Network Properties Of A Model For Conscious And Unconscious Mental Processes,
Oct. 2008, online 2008/07/15, Neurocomputing, DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2008.02.023
- Giant Honeybees Use Shimmering 'Mexican Waves' To Repel Predatory Wasps,
2008/09/15, ScienceDaily & Public Library of Science
- Autumn Leaves Seen Through Herbivore Eyes, 2008/09/09, Proceedings B:
Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0858
- Pattern Formation On The Combs Of Honeybees: Increasing Fitness By Coupling
Self-Organization With Templates, 2008/09/09, Proceedings B: Biological
Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0793
- School Transition: Discrimination Against Children Of Less-Educated, Lower
Income Parents, 2008/09/12, Innovations-report
- How Do Plants See Light?, 2008/09/12, Innovations-report
- Making Snack Food Choices: Are Bad Intentions?Stronger Than Good
Intentions?? 2008/09/12, Innovations-report
_________________________________________________________________
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
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
Spatial Evolutionary Dynamics Workshop, Paris, France, 08/10/17
OD Network Conference 2008 - Advancing The Theory And Practice Of OD, Austin,
Texas, 08/10/19-22
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
2nd Conf on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-09.org), Arlington, Virginia,
09/03/06-09
2009 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, Nashville, Tennessee,
USA,09/03/30-04/02
2009 IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life
IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and
Computational Biology (CIBCB 2009)
IEEE Workshop on Evolving and Self-Developing Intelligent Systems (ESDID 2009)
IEEE Symposium on Intelligent Agents (IA 2009)
IEEE Workshop on Organic Computing (OC 2009)
IEEE Swarm Intelligence Symposium (SIS 2009)
IEEE Workshop on Evolvable and Adaptive Hardware (WEAH 2009)
_________________________________________________________________
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
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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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