Complexity Digest 2009.11

2009/05/22

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Editor-in-Chief: Carlos Gershenson
Founding Editor: Gottfried Mayer

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Previous issue 2009.10

Content

  1. Wolfram|Alpha Released, Wolfram|Alpha
  2. Has the Response to Swine Flu Been Too Feverish?, Knowledge@Wharton
    1. Epidemic Science in Real Time, Science
    2. Flu Researchers Train Sights On Novel Tricks of Novel H1N1, Science
    3. Pandemics: good hygiene is not enough, Nature
    4. Pandemics: avoiding the mistakes of 1918, Nature
  3. Computation: The edge of reductionism, Nature
    1. More really is different, Physica D
  4. Innovation and Self-Organization in a Multi-Agent Model, Advances in Complex Systems
  5. Modeling Statistical Properties of Written Text, PLoS ONE
  6. Reassessment of the Potential Sea-Level Rise from a Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Science
    1. Critical Turning Point Can Trigger Abrupt Climate Change, ScienceDaily & Paleoceanography
  7. Snowdrift game dynamics and facultative cheating in yeast, Nature
    1. Critical behavior in an evolutionary Ultimatum Game with social structure, Advances in Complex Systems
  8. Bubbles and crashes: Gradient dynamics in financial markets, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
    1. Waiting Times in Simulated Stock Markets, Advances in Complex Systems
  9. Social Norms: Does It Matter Whether Agents Are Rational Or Boundedly Rational?, J. Socio-Econ.
  10. Interpretations of the Web of Data, arXiv
    1. Feedback loops of attention in peer production, arXiv
    2. Identifying the Large-Scale Structure of the Blogosphere, Advances in Complex Systems
  11. Driving on Biomass, Science
  12. The Diffusion Of Development, Quar. J. Econ.
  13. 'Junk' DNA Has Important Role, Researchers Find, ScienceDaily & Science Magazine
  14. Food Webs: A Ladder For Picking Strawberries Or A Practical Tool For Practical Problems?, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
    1. Food-Web Assembly And Collapse: Mathematical Models And Implications For Conservation, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc.
  15. Global and Local Information in Traffic Congestion, arXiv
  16. Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows, PNAS
  17. Of Body And Mind, And Deep Meditation, ScienceDaily
  18. Critical Role Of Evolutionary Processes In Species Coexistence And Diversity Revealed, ScienceDaily & Ecology Letters
  19. Monkeys Found To Wonder What Might Have Been, ScienceDaily & Science Magazine
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Conference Announcements
    3. Book Announcements
    4. Webcast Announcements
    5. Other Announcements

  1. Wolfram|Alpha Released, Wolfram|Alpha Next Article

    Today's Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone. You enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer.
    See Also: http://www.wolframalpha.com/

  2. Has the Response to Swine Flu Been Too Feverish?, Knowledge@Wharton Next Article

    Summary: The answer is no, according to experts at Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania. Despite an estimated $2.2 billion loss in Mexico due to business interruptions and the curtailing of global travel and tourism, they say the highly publicized health warnings may have helped to slow the spread of the H1N1 virus. A more casual approach to the initial reports could have proved deadly if the strain had, in fact, been more severe -- a scenario that would have serious implications for the economy.

    1. Epidemic Science in Real Time, Science Next Article

      Excerpt: Few situations more dramatically illustrate the salience of science to policy than an epidemic. The relevant science takes place rapidly and continually, in the laboratory, clinic, and community. In facing the current swine flu (H1N1 influenza) outbreak, the world has benefited from research investment over many years, as well as from preparedness exercises and planning in many countries. (...) Researchers and other experts are now able to make vital contributions in real time. By conducting the right science and communicating expert judgment, scientists can enable policies to be adjusted appropriately as an epidemic scenario unfolds.
      • Source: Epidemic Science in Real Time, Harvey V. Fineberg and Mary Elizabeth Wilson, DOI: 10.1126/science.1176297, Science Vol. 324. no. 5930, p. 987, 2009/05/22

    2. Flu Researchers Train Sights On Novel Tricks of Novel H1N1, Science Next Article

      Excerpt: Inevitably, the new virus will reassort with existing ones and pick up new bad habits, such as increased drug resistance. Ghedin, who previously worked at JCVI, showed that at least 3% of humans who develop symptomatic seasonal flu are coinfected by two different influenza viruses. Right now, the swine-origin H1N1 is susceptible to the anti-influenza drugs oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), but the seasonal H1N1 has mutations in its neuraminidase gene that render the drugs worthless. If a person becomes coinfected with both, the genes could swap, and then, JCVI's Spiro warns, "out the window goes the drug treatment regimen we have."

    3. Pandemics: good hygiene is not enough, Nature Next Article

      Excerpt:
      R. LARSEN/THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS/AP
      Hygiene is useful, but getting ready for a pandemic also requires stocking up on key supplies.
      By the time you read this, the outbreak of H1N1 'swine flu' may no longer seem to be a worldwide threat and the disease may have receded from the headlines. As the initial fuss dies down, public-health experts will remain on high alert, but the media and public will move on to something else, muttering about fear-mongering. And whatever the situation is like now, it won't be the end of the story. A mutated virus (more virulent or transmissible or resistant to drugs) could appear a few months later.

    4. Pandemics: avoiding the mistakes of 1918, Nature Next Article

      Excerpt: In the next influenza pandemic, be it now or in the future, be the virus mild or virulent, the single most important weapon against the disease will be a vaccine. The second most important will be communication. History has shown that to cut vaccine production time, minimize economic and social disruption, deliver health care and even food, governments need to communicate well â€" both between themselves and with the public.

  3. Computation: The edge of reductionism, Nature Next Article

    Excerpts: In his 1972 paper "More is different", Philip Anderson claimed that multi-component physical systems can exhibit macroscopic behaviour that cannot be understood from the laws that govern their microscopic parts â€" a feature known as emergent or complex behaviour. Anderson's position is at odds with that of Stephen Hawking, who once suggested that, as soon as all fundamental laws of the Universe are understood, we will in principle be able to explain all macroscopic phenomena. (...)
    And this is where the notion of 'different' (or complex) systems can be made more precise â€" those with undecidable global properties despite having well-understood local (microscopic) governing laws.

    1. More really is different, Physica D Next Article

      Abstract: In 1972, P.W. Anderson suggested that ‘More is Different’, meaning that complex physical systems may exhibit behavior that cannot be understood only in terms of the laws governing their microscopic constituents. We strengthen this claim by proving that many macroscopic observable properties of a simple class of physical systems (the infinite periodic Ising lattice) cannot in general be derived from a microscopic description. This provides evidence that emergent behavior occurs in such systems, and indicates that even if a ‘theory of everything’ governing all microscopic interactions were discovered, the understanding of macroscopic order is likely to require additional insights.
      • Source: More really is different, Mile Gu, Christian Weedbrook, Ãlvaro Perales, Michael A. Nielsen, DOI: 10.1038/10.1016/j.physd.2008.12.016, Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena Volume 238, Issues 9-10, Pages 835-839, 2009/05/15

  4. Innovation and Self-Organization in a Multi-Agent Model, Advances in Complex Systems Next Article

    A model is developed to study the effectiveness of innovation and its impact on structure creation on agent-based societies. The abstract model that is developed is easily adapted to any particular field. In an interacting environment, the agents receive something from the environment (the other agents) in exchange for their effort and pay the environment a certain amount of value for the fulfilling of their needs or for the very price of existence in that environment. This is coded by two bit strings and the dynamics of the exchange is based on the matching of these strings to those of the other agents. Innovation is related to the adaptation by the agents of their bit strings to improve some utility function.

  5. Modeling Statistical Properties of Written Text, PLoS ONE Next Article

    Excerpt: Written text is one of the fundamental manifestations of human language, and the study of its universal regularities can give clues about how our brains process information and how we, as a society, organize and share it. Among these regularities, only Zipf's law has been explored in depth. Other basic properties, such as the existence of bursts of rare words in specific documents, have only been studied independently of each other and mainly by descriptive models. As a consequence, there is a lack of understanding of linguistic processes as complex emergent phenomena. Beyond Zipf's law for word frequencies, here we focus on burstiness (...)

  6. Reassessment of the Potential Sea-Level Rise from a Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Science Next Article

    Abstract: Theory has suggested that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be inherently unstable. Recent observations lend weight to this hypothesis. We reassess the potential contribution to eustatic and regional sea level from a rapid collapse of the ice sheet and find that previous assessments have substantially overestimated its likely primary contribution. We obtain a value for the global, eustatic sea-level rise contribution of about 3.3 meters, with important regional variations. The maximum increase is concentrated along the Pacific and Atlantic seaboard of the United States, where the value is about 25% greater than the global mean, even for the case of a partial collapse.

    1. Critical Turning Point Can Trigger Abrupt Climate Change, ScienceDaily & Paleoceanography Next Article

      Ice ages are the greatest natural climate changes in recent geological times. Their rise and fall are caused by slight changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun due to the influence of the other planets. But we do not know the exact relationship between the changes in the Earth's orbit and the changes in climate.

  7. Snowdrift game dynamics and facultative cheating in yeast, Nature Next Article

    Summary: Yeast secrete invertase to break down sucrose into monosaccharides that they can metabolize. However, 99% of the monosaccharides diffuse away where they can be used by other yeast cells, making this a cooperative behaviour that is susceptible to cheating by cells that do not secrete invertase. Here this is shown to be a snowdrift game, in which cheating can be profitable, but is not necessarily the best strategy if others are cheating too.

    1. Critical behavior in an evolutionary Ultimatum Game with social structure, Advances in Complex Systems Next Article

      Experimental studies have shown the ubiquity of altruistic behavior in human societies. The social structure is a fundamental ingredient to understand the degree of altruism displayed by the members of a society, in contrast to individual-based features, like for example age or gender, which have been shown not to be relevant to determine the level of altruistic behavior. We explore an evolutionary model aiming to delve how altruistic behavior is affected by social structure. We investigate the dynamics of interacting individuals playing the Ultimatum Game with their neighbors given by a social network of interaction. We show that a population self-organizes in a critical state where the degree of altruism depends on the topology characterizing the social structure. In general, individuals offering large shares but in turn accepting large shares, are removed from the population. In heterogeneous social networks, individuals offering intermediate shares are strongly selected in contrast to random homogeneous networks where a broad range of offers, below a critical one, is similarly present in the population.

  8. Bubbles and crashes: Gradient dynamics in financial markets, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control Next Article

    Fund managers respond to the payoff gradient by continuously adjusting leverage in our analytic and simulation models. The base model has a stable equilibrium with classic properties. However, bubbles and crashes occur in extended models incorporating an endogenous market risk premium based on investors' historical losses and constant-gain learning. When losses have been small for a long time, asset prices inflate as fund managers increase leverage. Then slight losses can trigger a crash, as a widening risk premium accelerates deleveraging and asset price declines.

    1. Waiting Times in Simulated Stock Markets, Advances in Complex Systems Next Article

      Exploiting a precise reproduction of a stock exchange, the robustness of the continuous double auction (CDA) mechanism, evaluated by means of the waiting time distributions, has been proved versus 36 different setups made by varying both the operators' behavior and the market micro structure. The obtained results demonstrate that the CDA remains able to clear strongly different order flows, although the Milan stock exchange seemed to be a little more efficient than the NYSE under the allocative point of view, evidencing the intrinsic complexity of the stock market. The simulation has been built as an agent-based model in order to obtain a plausible order flow. The decisions of single agents and their interaction through the market book are realistic and reproduce some empirical analysis results. The mentioned results have been obtained either by the analysis of the complete pending time series or the same computation of the asks and bids series alone.
      • Source: Waiting Times in Simulated Stock Markets, Alessandro N. Cappellini, Gianluigi Ferraris, DOI: 10.1142/S021952590900212X, Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), vol. 12, issue 02, pages 195-206, 2009/05/01
      • Contributed by Anton Joha - antonjohaagmail.com

  9. Social Norms: Does It Matter Whether Agents Are Rational Or Boundedly Rational?, J. Socio-Econ. Next Article

    Excerpt: The motivation for this paper is to consider whether changes in conformity over time are likely to depend critically on agent behavior. To get some insight on this we use the framework of Chamley (...) and compare the dynamic of conformity in a setting where agents are rational to one where they are adaptive (or backward looking). This is followed by a more general discussion on the issue.

  10. Interpretations of the Web of Data, arXiv Next Article

    Abstract: The emerging Web of Data utilizes the web infrastructure to represent and interrelate data. The foundational standards of the Web of Data include the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and the Resource Description Framework (RDF). URIs are used to identify resources and RDF is used to relate resources. While RDF has been posited as a logic language designed specifically for knowledge representation and reasoning, it is more generally useful if it can conveniently support other models of computing. In order to realize the Web of Data as a general-purpose medium for storing and processing the world's data, it is necessary to separate RDF from its logic language legacy and frame it simply as a data model. Moreover, there is significant advantage in seeing the Semantic Web as a particular interpretation of the Web of Data that is focused specifically on knowledge representation and reasoning. By doing so, other interpretations of the Web of Data are exposed that realize RDF in different capacities and in support of different computing models.

    1. Feedback loops of attention in peer production, arXiv Next Article

      Abstract: A significant percentage of online content is now published and consumed via the mechanism of crowdsourcing. While any user can contribute to these forums, a disproportionately large percentage of the content is submitted by very active and devoted users, whose con- tinuing participation is key to the sites' success. As we show, people's propensity to keep participating increases the more they contribute, suggesting motivating factors which increase over time. This paper demonstrates that submitters who stop receiving attention tend to stop contributing, while prolific contributors attract an ever increasing number of followers and their attention in a feedback loop. We demonstrate that this mechanism leads to the observed power law in the number of contributions per user and support our assertions by an analysis of hundreds of millions of contributions to top content sharing websites Digg.com and Youtube.com.

    2. Identifying the Large-Scale Structure of the Blogosphere, Advances in Complex Systems Next Article

      We analyze a topological structure of networks formed according to the entries and trackbacks in the blogosphere, which is a collection of weblog articles. The analysis is performed based on community extraction, network visualization and keyword analysis. It is shown that the large-scale structure of the blogosphere has a globally sparse, but locally dense structure. The entries in a community yield a dense structure while the trackbacks that interconnect communities are sparse. The visualized results show sparkling-firework-like patterns. We then attempt to characterize the communities using a tf-idf technique. It is found that specific topics are discussed in each community. These results will help us to identify the communities in which certain specific topics discussed and to detect trends in the blogosphere.
      • Source: Identifying the Large-Scale Structure of the Blogosphere, Makoto Uchida Naoki Shibata Yuya Kajikawa Yoshiyuki Takeda Susumu Shirayama Katsumori Matsushima, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525909002167, Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) vol. 12, issue 02, pages 207-219, 2009/05/01
      • Contributed by Anton Joha - antonjohaagmail.com

  11. Driving on Biomass, Science Next Article

    Excerpt: The development of the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle dramatically influenced American society during the 20th century by providing affordable, reliable transportation. However, the ICE vehicle is an inherently inefficient converter of chemical energy to mechanical power; less than 20% of the energy in gasoline is transformed into mechanical work, and the remainder is lost as heat.(...) two major factors make it likely that electric vehicles, rather than the ICE, will be the power source of choice for passenger vehicles in the 21st century. First, heightened world petroleum demand coupled with more expensive oil recovery will continue to increase gasoline costs. Second, concerns over the environmental impact of CO2 production are leading toward carbon taxes, cap-and-trade limits, and other strategies that will impact the ICE.
    • Source: Driving on Biomass, John Ohlrogge, Doug Allen, Bill Berguson, Dean DellaPenna, Yair Shachar-Hill, and Sten Stymne, DOI: 10.1126/science.1171740, Science Vol. 324. no. 5930, pp. 1019 - 1020, 2009/05/22

  12. The Diffusion Of Development, Quar. J. Econ. Next Article

    Abstract: We find that genetic distance, a measure associated with the time elapsed since two populations' last common ancestors, has a statistically and economically significant effect on income differences across countries, even controlling for measures of geographical distance, climatic differences, transportation costs, and measures of historical, religious, and linguistic distance. We provide an economic interpretation of these findings in terms of barriers to the diffusion of development from the world technological frontier, implying that income differences should be a function of relative genetic distance from the frontier. The empirical evidence strongly supports this barriers interpretation.
    • Source: The Diffusion Of Development, E. Spolaore, R. Wacziarg, DOI: 10.1016/j.nonrwa.2009.03.020, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2009, Online 2009/05/19
    • Contributed by Pritha Das - prithadas01ayahoo.com

  13. 'Junk' DNA Has Important Role, Researchers Find, ScienceDaily & Science Magazine Next Article

    Scientists have called it "junk DNA." They have long been perplexed by these extensive strands of genetic material that dominate the genome but seem to lack specific functions. Why would nature force the genome to carry so much excess baggage? Now researchers from Princeton University and Indiana University who have been studying the genome of a pond organism have found that junk DNA may not be so junky after all. They have discovered that DNA sequences from regions of what had been viewed as the "dispensable genome" are actually performing functions that are central for the organism. They have concluded that the genes spur an almost acrobatic rearrangement of the entire genome that is necessary for the organism to grow.
    • Source: 'Junk' DNA Has Important Role, Researchers Find, Mariusz Nowacki Brian P. Higgins Genevieve M. Maquilan Estienne C. Swart Thomas G. Doak Laura F. Landweber, ScienceDaily & Science Magazine, 2009/05/21
    • Contributed by Anton Joha - antonjohaagmail.com

  14. Food Webs: A Ladder For Picking Strawberries Or A Practical Tool For Practical Problems?, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc. Next Article

    Excerpt: While food webs have provided a rich vein of research material over the last 50 years, they have largely been the subject matter of the pure ecologist working in natural habitats. While there are some notable exceptions to this trend, there are, as I explain in this paper, many applied questions that could be answered using a food web approach. The paper is divided into two halves. The first half provides a brief review of six areas where food webs have begun to be used as an applied tool: restoration ecology, alien species, biological control, conservation ecology, habitat management and global warming. The second half outlines five areas (...).

    1. Food-Web Assembly And Collapse: Mathematical Models And Implications For Conservation, Phil. Tran. Biol. Sc. Next Article

      Excerpts: For thirty years I have read publications about this spate of invasions; and many of them preserve the atmosphere of first-hand reporting by people who have actually seen them happening, and give a feeling of urgency and scale that is absent from the drier summaries of text-books. We must make no mistake: we are seeing one of the great historical convulsions in the world's fauna and flora. We might say, (...) ‘We have been privileged to be present at one of the typical decisive battles of history-the battles which have determined the fate of the world'. But how will it be decisive? (...)

  15. Global and Local Information in Traffic Congestion, arXiv Next Article

    Abstract: A generic network flow model of transport (of relevance to information transport as well as physical transport) is studied under two different control protocols. The first involves information concerning the global state of the network, the second only information about nodes' nearest neighbors. The global protocol allows for a larger external drive before jamming sets in, at the price of significant larger flow fluctuations. By triggering jams in neighboring nodes, the jamming perturbation grows as a pulsating core. This feature explains the different results for the two information protocols.

  16. Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows, PNAS Next Article

    Excerpt: Group living offers well-known benefits to animals, such as better predator avoidance and increased foraging success. An important additional, but so far neglected, advantage is that groups may cope more effectively with unfamiliar situations through faster innovations of new solutions by some group members. We tested this hypothesis experimentally by presenting a new foraging task of opening a familiar feeder in an unfamiliar way to house sparrows in small and large groups (2 versus 6 birds). Group size had strong effects on problem solving (...)

  17. Of Body And Mind, And Deep Meditation, ScienceDaily Next Article

    Excerpts: Chinese researchers have unlocked the mechanism of an emerging mind-body technique that produces measurable changes in attention and stress reduction in just five days of practice. The practice -- integrative body-mind training (IBMT) -- was adapted from traditional Chinese medicine in the 1990s in China, where it is practiced by thousands of people. (...) doing IBMT prior to a mental math test led to low levels of the stress hormone cortisol among Chinese students. The experimental group also showed lower levels of anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue than students in a relaxation control group. (...)

  18. Critical Role Of Evolutionary Processes In Species Coexistence And Diversity Revealed, ScienceDaily & Ecology Letters Next Article

    A team of researchers, addressing long-standing conflicts in ecology and evolutionary science, has provided key directions for the future of community ecology. The team comprehensively synthesized emerging work that applies knowledge of evolutionary relationships among different species-phylogenetics-to understanding species interactions, ecosystems and biodiversity.

  19. Monkeys Found To Wonder What Might Have Been, ScienceDaily & Science Magazine Next Article

    Monkeys playing a game similar to "Let's Make A Deal" have revealed that their brains register missed opportunities and learn from their mistakes. "This is the first evidence that monkeys, like people, have 'would-have, could-have, should-have' thoughts," said Ben Hayden, a researcher at the Duke University Medical Center. The researchers watched individual neurons in a region of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that monitors the consequences of actions and mediates resulting changes in behavior. The monkeys were making choices that resulted in different amounts of juice as a reward.

  20. Links & Snippets Next Article

    1. Other Publications Next Article

      1. Modelling Good and Bad Volatility, Matteo Maria Pelagatti, 2009/03/01, Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, vol. 13, issue 1, pages 1595-1595
      2. Euler Equation Errors, Martin Lettau Sydney Ludvigson, 2009/04/30, Review of Economic Dynamics, Volume 12, Issue 2, April 2009, Pages 255-283, DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2008.11.004
      3. Maximizing Influence Propagation in Networks with Community Structure, Aram Galstyan, Vahe Musoyan, and Paul Cohen, 2009/05/07, arXiv:0905.1108
      4. Complex Networks on a Rock Joint, H.O.Ghaffari, M.Sharifzadeh, M. Fall, E. Evgin, 2009/05/08, arXiv:0905.1372
      5. The Topological Pressure of Linear Cellular Automata, Jung-Chao Ban Chih-Hung Chang, 2009/05/11, Entropy 2009, 11(2), 271-284, DOI: 10.3390/e11020271
      6. A Recommender System to Support the Scholarly Communication Process, Marko A. Rodriguez, David W. Allen, Joshua Shinavier, Gary Ebersole, 2009/05/11, arXiv:0905.1594
      7. Brain's Organization Switches As Children Become Adults, 2009/05/17, ScienceDaily & Washington University School of Medicine
      8. Preferential attachment renders an evolving network of populations robust against crashes, Areejit Samal and Hildegard Meyer-Ortmanns, 2009/05/17, arXiv:0905.2711
      9. 'Singing Brain' Offers Epilepsy And Schizophrenia Clues, 2009/05/19, ScienceDaily & Cardiff University
      10. Some People Really 'Never Forget A Face:' Understanding Extraordinary Face Recognition Ability, 2009/05/20, ScienceDaily & Harvard University
      11. How A Company Is Born: Solitude Is The Entrepreneur's Worst Enemy. And The Business Plan Is Hardly Used Daily But Gets Dusted Off Once In A While., 2009/05/20, Innovations-report
      12. Scientists Discover Area Of Brain That Makes A 'People Person': Same Region Linked To Processing Of Pleasures Such As Sweet Tastes And Sexual Stimuli, 2009/05/20, Innovations-report
      13. Neurons That 'Mirror' The Attention Of Others Discovered, 2009/05/20, ScienceDaily & Duke University Medical Center
      14. The J2 Status of "Chaos" in Period Macroeconomic Models, Peter Flaschel Christian R. Proaño, 2009/06/01, Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, vol. 13, issue 2
      15. State Complexity Of Basic Operations On Suffix-Free Regular Languages, Yo-S. Han, K. Saloma, 2009/06/28, online 2009/01/08, Theoretical Computer Science, DOI: 10.1016/j.tcs.2008.12.054
      16. Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory Of Protestant Economic History, S. O. Becker, May 2009, Online 2009/05/19, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, DOI: 10.1016/j.nonrwa.2009.03.020

    2. Conference Announcements Next Article

      1. 2nd Chaotic Modeling and Simulation International Conference (CHAOS2009), Chania, Crete, Greece, 09/06/01-05
      2. International Workshop on Coping with Crises in Complex Socio-Economic Systems, Zurich, Switzerland, 09/06/8-13
      3. NECSI Summer School, Cambridge, MA, USA, 09/06/08-26
      4. 20th Intl Conf on Noise and Fluctuations, Pisa, Italy, 09/06/14-19
      5. First International Workshop on Morphogenetic Engineering, Paris, France, 09/06/19
      6. 17th Intl Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics of Electronic Systems (NDES 2009), Rapperswil, Switzerland, 09/06/21-24
      7. First Latin American Conference on Computing and Philosophy, Mexico City, Mexico, June 22-23, 2009
      8. Emergence in Chemical Systems, , Anchorage, Alaska, 09/06/22-26
      9. From Systemic Thinking to Systems Design and Systems Practice, Xanthi, Greece, 09/06/24-27
      10. International Conference on Computational Aspects of Social Networks - CASoN 2009, Fontainebleau, France, 09/06/24-27
      11. CCSA 2009 The 3rd International Conference on Complex Systems and Applications, University of Le Havre, France. 09/06/29-07/02
      12. ICALP 2009: 36th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming , Rhodes, Greece, 09/07/05-12
      13. 7th Intl Conf on Computing, Communications and Control Technologies: CCCT 2009, Orlando, Florida, USA. 09/07/10-13
      14. Complex Systems and Social Simulations, Budapest, Hungary, 09/07/13-24
      15. Second International Workshop on Nonlinear Dynamics and Synchronization (INDS'09), Klagenfurt, Austria, 09/07/20-21
      16. Third Annual French Complex Systems Summer School, Lyon and Paris, France, 09/07/20-08/14.
      17. The 19th Annual Intl Conf Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences , Milwaukee, WI USA, 09/07/23-25
      18. 2009 Intl Conf of the System Dynamics Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 09/07/26-30
      19. Swarm Cognition Workshop, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 09/07/29
      20. 5th Intl Conf on Fractals and Dynamic Systems in Geoscience, Townsville, Australia, 09/08/13-14
      21. EULAKS Summer School, Mexico City, Mexico, 09/08/17-30
      22. 2nd International Workshop on Guided Self-Organisation (GSO-2009), Leipzig, Germany, 09/08/18-20
      23. Darwin Meets von Neumann: European Conference on Artificial Life 2009, Budapest, Hungary, 09/09/13-16
      24. IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems , San Francisco, California, 09/09/14-18
      25. 6th Conference of the European Social Simulation Association, Guilford, UK, 09/09/14-18
      26. European Conference on Complex Systems 2009 (ECCS'09), University of Warwick, UK, 09/09/21-25
      27. International Workshop on Natural Computing, Himeji, Japan, 09/09/23-25
      28. The 2009 International Conference on Adaptive & Intelligent Systems (ICAIS'09), Klagenfurt, Austria, 09/09/24-26
      29. Complexity Theories of Cities have come of Age, Delft Netherlands, 09/09/24-27
      30. IC3K 2009 - Int'l Joint Conf. on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management, Madeira, Portugal, 09/10/6-8
      31. Natural and Biomimetic Mechanosensing, Dresden, Germany, 09/10/26-28
      32. The 11th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems (SSS 2009) , Lyon, France, 09/11/03-06
      33. CAS in the Natural and Social Sciences, AAAI Fall Symposium Arlington, VA, USA, 09/11/5-7
      34. Ninth International Conference on Epigenetic Robotics: Modeling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems, Venice, Italy, 09/11/12-14
      35. 1st Global Peter F. Drucker Forum, ‘Managing the Future’, Vienna, Austria, 09/11/19-20
      36. 9th International Conference on Intelligent Systems Design and Applications, Pisa, Italy, 09/11/30-12/02
      37. World Congress on Nature & Biologically Inspired Computing (NaBIC 2009), Coimbatore, India, 09/12/9-11
      38. 5th Biennial Convention about the philosophical, epistemological, and methodological implications of the Theory of Complexity, Havana, Cuba, 10/01/6-8

    3. Book Announcements Next Article

      1. Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science . Editor-in-chief: Meyers, Robert A. Springer, 2009.
      2. Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell. Oxford University Press, 2009.

    4. Webcast Announcements Next Article

      1. Memorial Service for Dr Gottfried Mayer, Founding Editor Complexity Digest, Taipei, Taiwan (1954-2009). Video [RM], 09/02/13

      2. Making Connections: In Memory and Celebration of the Life of Dr. Gottfried Mayer (1954-2009). Video [RM] [MPG], 09/02/13

      3. Eulogy for Gottfried Mayer by Dean LeBaron [WMV, 25 Mb], [RM, 10 Mb], 09/02/10

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

      5. Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007
      6. World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 08/01/22-27
      7. TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006
      8. Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03
      9. Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments, and the Media 2006, Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/03-05
      10. 6th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30
      11. Artificial Life X, 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington, IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07
      12. 6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18
      13. Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
      14. An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
      15. Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
      16. Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
      17. Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
      18. ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
      19. T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, The Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), Podcast
      20. 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
      21. Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19
      22. 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
      23. 1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
      24. From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
      25. Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
      26. International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
      27. Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994
      28. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      29. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
      30. Edge Videos

    5. Other Announcements

      • Postdoc positions: The New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) has openings for postdoctoral appointments in the study of complex systems. In addition to general projects, there will be openings in research fields such as: Social and global systems, biological systems, cognitive systems, evolution, non-equilibrium dynamics, agent based modeling, multiscale analysis, complex systems engineering, management/organization science, and education of complex systems concepts.
        Postdocs should have experience with modeling techniques and computer simulation, data analysis, and/or analytic skills. The ideal candidate will also have strong writing abilities and a desire to work in diverse fields. A commitment to larger social concerns is highly desirable, as NECSI research informs policy in areas such as the national and global economy, health care, the environment and ecology.
        NECSI Postdoctoral fellows may also receive joint appointments at MIT, Harvard, or other Boston-area academic institutions.
        For more information and directions on submitting applications, please visit:
        http://necsi.edu/education/postdoc.html
      • Postdoc positions: The C3 - Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, a new interdisciplinary, inter-institutional research center based at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) plans to have several openings for postdoctoral candidates in the coming months. The center currently has affiliated to it more than 50 researchers and 40 students from all the major scientific disciplines. The main research topics at the moment are: Genetic networks and Systems Biology, Ecological Complexity, Social Complexity and Computational Intelligence. Salary will be in the region of 20-25,000 pesos per month.
        Interested candidates are asked to send a CV, a statement of research interests and the names of at least three potential referees to:
        Dr. Chris Stephens (Ecological Complexity and Computational Intelligence) stephens@nucleares.unam.mx
        Dra. Elena Alvarez-Buylla (Systems Biology) eabuylla@gmail.com
        Dr. Gustavo Martinez-Mekler (Social Complexity and other areas) mekler@ce.fis.unam.mx


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