Complexity Digest 2008.20

15-May-2008

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Previous issue 2008.19

Content

  1. Climate Scientists Call For Their Own 'Manhattan Project', New Scientist
    1. Berkeley Lab Researchers Propose a New Breed of Supercomputers, Berkeley Lab Research News
  2. Change We Can Stomach, NY Times
    1. Will High Gasoline Prices Spur Innovation?, Knowledge@Emory
  3. Programmed Death Boosts Business, Innovations-report
  4. Archaeology: Ancient Algae Suggest Sea Route For First Americans, Science
    1. Monte Verde: Seaweed, Food, Medicine, And The Peopling Of South America, Science
    2. Ecology: How The Sahara Became Dry, Science
  5. Two New Ways To Explore The Virtual Universe, In Vivid 3-D, NY Times
    1. Web Start-Up Unveils Semantic Wikipedia Search Tool, Reuters
  6. Your Brain On Ethics, Science Now
    1. Neurobiology: The Roots Of Morality, Science
    2. Justice In The Brain: Equity And Efficiency Are Encoded Differently, ScienceDaily
    3. How The Brain Detects The Emotions Of Others, New Scientist
  7. Science & Music: Facing The Music, Nature
  8. Bountiful Noise, Nature
    1. Earth Science: Harnessing The Hum, Nature
    2. Cell Biology: The Cellular Hullabaloo, Nature
  9. Spatial Regulators For Bacterial Cell Division Self-Organize Into Surface Waves In Vitro, Science
    1. Biochemistry: Tinkering With Acellular Division, Science
  10. Smart Microbes - Bacteria Anticipate Changing Environments, Science News
    1. Bacteria 'Can Learn', News@Nature
  11. Giant Bacterium Carries Thousands of Genomes, News@Nature
  12. Cuckoo-Hawk Mimicry? An Experimental Test, Proc. Biol. Sc.
  13. Genomics: Genome Speaks To Transitional Nature Of Monotremes, Science
  14. The Dynamics Of Developmental System Drift In The Gene Network Underlying Wing Polyphenism In Ants: A Mathematical Model, Evol. & Dev.
  15. Flies' Eyes Could Enhance Robot Vision, PhysOrg.com
  16. Scaling Theory For Information Networks, Interface
  17. Concept and Definition of Complexity, arXiv
  18. Quantum Information: Stopping The Rot, Nature
  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
    1. Terrorism Report Highlights Continuing Global Challenge, News Blaze
    2. Country Reports on Terrorism 2007, U.S. Department of State
  20. Links & Snippets
    1. Other Publications
    2. Webcast Announcements
    3. Conference Announcements
    4. Other Announcements
  1. Climate Scientists Call For Their Own 'Manhattan Project', New Scientist Next Article

    Excerpts: The modellers say they need a centre with computing power of 100 petaflops - two thousand times greater they have access to today.(...)

    Most governments now regard climate change as inevitable and want detailed local forecasts to help them prepare and adapt. Economist Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, New York, who dropped by on Tuesday after meeting Gordon Brown, said there would be "a lot of interest among politicians in investing the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary, if scientists can promise answers to key questions on water supply, droughts, health and - the current hot topic - future food supply."

    1. Berkeley Lab Researchers Propose a New Breed of Supercomputers, Berkeley Lab Research News Next Article

      Excerpts:
      Berkeley Lab has signed a collaboration agreement with Tensilica?, Inc. to explore the use of Tensilica's Xtensa processor cores as the basic building blocks in a massively parallel system design. Tensilica's Xtensa processor is about 400 times more efficient in floating point operations per watt than the conventional server processor chip shown here.
      Three researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have proposed an innovative way to improve global climate change predictions by using a supercomputer with low-power embedded microprocessors, an approach that would overcome limitations posed by today's conventional supercomputers. (...)

      Using the embedded microprocessor technology used in cell phones, iPods, toaster ovens and most other modern day electronic conveniences, they propose designing a cost-effective machine for running these models and improving climate predictions.


  2. Change We Can Stomach, NY Times Next Article

    Excerpts:
    Andrea Deszo
    With the price of oil at more than $120 a barrel (up from less than $30 for most of the last 50 years), small and midsize nonpolluting farms, the ones growing the healthiest and best-tasting food, are gaining a competitive advantage. They aren't as reliant on oil, because they use fewer large machines and less pesticide and fertilizer.

    In fact, small farms are the most productive on earth. A four-acre farm in the United States nets, on average, $1,400 per acre; a 1,364-acre farm nets $39 an acre. Big farms have long compensated for the disequilibrium with sheer quantity.

    1. Will High Gasoline Prices Spur Innovation?, Knowledge@Emory Next Article

      Excerpts: When oil hit $40 a barrel in 1980-81, the Iranians were chiefly responsible, which irritated the Saudis. They warned Iran that the West would develop sources of alternative energy that would put them all out of business a lot sooner than they wanted. This is a notion economists call limit pricing. Indeed, the price of oil dropped after that. The Saudis have always believed that oil prices should vary within a certain range. They recognize that high prices encourage the development of fuel cell technology or something else, which once developed, won't go away, undercutting the value of oil.
  3. Programmed Death Boosts Business, Innovations-report Next Article

    Excerpts: As credits crunch, recession bites, and business struggle to stay primed, researchers in Spain suggest that a more surgical approach to management and business practice is needed if a company is to survive. (...) the team explains how businesses could take a cue from nature to them restructure. (...) demonstrate how a process analogous to apoptosis, or programmed cell death, could help companies, and organisations, such as hospitals, removed malfunctioning or ineffective parts of their business and operations and so prevent the spread of commercial decay that could spread throughout an organisation and lead ultimately to its demise. (...)
  4. Archaeology: Ancient Algae Suggest Sea Route For First Americans, Science Next Article

    Excerpts: Evidence is rapidly accumulating that the first Americans came from Asia and spread throughout the New World by at least 14,000 years ago (Science, 4 April, p. 37). But did they come by land or by sea? A paper on page 784 of this issue provides some support for the hypothesis that they took the coastal route rather than traveling inland. At the least, the report provides strong evidence that the earliest Americans used algae and other marine resources for food and medicine, and it seems to clinch early dates for one of archaeology's most controversial sites.


    1. Monte Verde: Seaweed, Food, Medicine, And The Peopling Of South America, Science Next Article

      Excerpts: Carbon-14 dates on seaweed brought to Monte Verde, Chile, show that the site was used 14,000 years ago and that the earliest New World people consumed marine resources. (...)

      The identification of human artifacts at the early archaeological site of Monte Verde in southern Chile has raised questions of when and how people reached the tip of South America without leaving much other evidence in the New World. Remains of nine species of marine algae were recovered from hearths and other features at Monte Verde II, an upper occupational layer, and were directly dated between 14,220 and 13,980 calendar years before the present (12,310 and 12,290 carbon-14 years ago).

    2. Ecology: How The Sahara Became Dry, Science Next Article

      Excerpts: A continuous lake record elucidates how Saharan climate changed gradually from humid to today's desert conditions. (...)

      Moreover, there is disagreement about the abruptness of mid-Holocene aridification. Several simulations indicate an abrupt collapse in both vegetation and precipitation between ~6000 and ~4000 years ago that is consistent with the marine dust-flux record (7). However, various simulations suggest that precipitation changed more gradually, accompanied by vegetation collapse in some models but steadier decline in others (8).

  5. Two New Ways To Explore The Virtual Universe, In Vivid 3-D, NY Times Next Article

    Excerpts: There are many online astronomy sites, but astronomers say the Microsoft entry sets a new standard in three-dimensional representation of vast amounts data plucked from space telescopes, the ease of navigation, the visual experience and features like guided tours narrated by experts.

    ¡§Exploring the virtual universe is incredibly smooth and seamless like a top-of-the-line computer game, but also the science is correct,¡¨ (...).

    So it is scarcely surprising that the other major company with an ambitious astronomy service online is Google. The Internet search giant first layered astronomical data and images onto Google Earth last August.

    1. Web Start-Up Unveils Semantic Wikipedia Search Tool, Reuters Next Article

      Excerpts: While still a far cry from letting users search the World Wide Web, Powerset is using Wikipedia as a trial showcase for how its technology can be used to search a vast number of other websites using natural language phrases or questions.

      Over time, it aims to partner with other high-quality data sites where information can be organized in a question and answer form that lends itself to Powerset search techniques. Examples might include financial or patent filings, the CIA Factbook or Wikipedia-inspired clones, company officials said.

  6. Your Brain On Ethics, Science Now Next Article

    Excerpts:
    Be fair. When people try to equitably distribute charitable donations, activity in the putamen (left) may reflect what's best for the greater good, whereas the insula (right) tracks inequities between individuals. CREDIT: M. HSU, C. ANEN, AND S. R. QUARTZ, SCIENCE EXPRESS, 8 MAY 2008
    "The main strength of the paper is that they're able to isolate two different moral motivations" and investigate how they are represented in the brain, says Jorge Moll, (...). Moll points out that subjects struck various balances between avoiding inequity and maximizing the common good, and he wonders whether the balance might differ across different cultures as well, with some valuing equity among individuals over the common good, or vice versa. Hsu says he's now testing that hypothesis in experiments with Asian, European, and American volunteers.
    1. Neurobiology: The Roots Of Morality, Science Next Article

      Excerpts: Neurobiologists, philosophers, psychologists, and legal scholars are probing the nature of human morality using a variety of experimental techniques, including one reported online this week in Science, and moral challenges. (...)

      This automaticity has led some researchers to suggest that the human brain has built-in moral instincts. Cognitive neuroscientists are already hunting for the underlying neural mechanisms. At the same time, psychologists and anthropologists are searching for evidence of universal moral principles shared by all people. Others are interested in how morality differs from culture to culture.

    2. Justice In The Brain: Equity And Efficiency Are Encoded Differently, ScienceDaily Next Article

      Excerpts: Which is better, giving more food to a few hungry people or letting some food go to waste so that everyone gets a share" A study appearing in Science finds that most people choose the latter, and that the brain responds in unique ways to inefficiency and inequity. The study, (...) used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of people making a series of tough decisions about how to allocate donations to children in a Ugandan orphanage. (...). "Morality is a question of broad interest," Hsu said. "What makes us moral, and how do we make tradeoffs in difficult situations?" (...)
    3. How The Brain Detects The Emotions Of Others, New Scientist Next Article

      Excerpts: In a separate task, volunteers watched video clips of thumb movement, a hand grasping a pen and a hand while writing, while the activity in the primary motor cortex of the brain, which contains mirror neurons, was recorded.

      Now the team had a measure of the "motor potential" in the thumb muscles - for example, how much the thumb was primed to move just by watching another thumb moving. This measure is a proxy for mirror neuron activity, say the researchers.


  7. Science & Music: Facing The Music, Nature Next Article

    Excerpts: At the heart of any scientific explanation of music is an understanding of how and why it affects us. In the first of a nine-part essay series, Philip Ball explores just how far we can hope to achieve a full scientific theory of music. (...)

    This 'scientification' of music is part of a very old tradition. In antiquity and the Middle Ages music was not an art in the modern sense; it was one of the four sciences of the syllabus called the liberal arts, alongside geometry, arithmetic and astronomy. Scholars studied music to learn about the natural harmony of the world, and performed music was often dismissed as frippery.

  8. Bountiful Noise, Nature Next Article

    Excerpts: Whether in music or in nature, noise can be full of riches. The trick is to recognize the treasures. (...)

    Drawing on musicology, statistics, cognitive and evolutionary biology and acoustics, the series will help us understand why most of Schoenberg's music is more challenging than that of his contemporary and champion, Gustav Mahler ¡X let alone the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. But it will also remind us that none of these disciplines has yet been able to answer the fundamental question: why does music have such power over us? Nor can they explain how avant garde composers in the 1950s were able to take noise itself and make something new and true with it.

    1. Earth Science: Harnessing The Hum, Nature Next Article

      Excerpts: A new way to analyse seismic vibrations is bringing order out of noise to help predict volcanic eruptions or create detailed images of Earth's interior. (...)

      This persistent hum doesn't have a single source, but instead comes from a combination of minor tremors, the long drawn-out echoes of major earthquakes and the crashing of ocean waves. These faint vibrations come from all directions and bounce around multiple times in Earth's interior. On a seismograph, they show up as a seemingly meaningless series of spikes and troughs. Yet over the past few years, seismologists have transformed the hum from a nuisance to a powerful tool to image Earth's crust and upper mantle.

    2. Cell Biology: The Cellular Hullabaloo, Nature Next Article

      Excerpts: Now researchers are trying to understand whether this variation or 'noise' actually matters. How hard do cells work to suppress it, what mechanisms do they have for tolerating it? A study from 2006 suggests that the workings of cells get noisier and noisier as they get older, and that this might contribute to the ageing body's decline. (...)

      It is not just that the turning on and off of genes is noisy; the systems that regulate that turning on and off are themselves ineradicably noisy too. "Every chemical process is a constant battle between randomness and correction,"

  9. Spatial Regulators For Bacterial Cell Division Self-Organize Into Surface Waves In Vitro, Science Next Article

    Excerpts: Two proteins that define the plane of cell division self-organize into waves and spirals on a flat membrane, suggesting that these patterns underlie their function in vivo. (...)

    In the bacterium Escherichia coli, the Min proteins oscillate between the cell poles to select the cell center as division site. This dynamic pattern has been proposed to arise by self-organization of these proteins, and several models have suggested a reaction-diffusion type mechanism. Here, we found that the Min proteins spontaneously formed planar surface waves on a flat membrane in vitro.

    1. Biochemistry: Tinkering With Acellular Division, Science Next Article

      Excerpts: Self organization of proteins involved in bacterial cell division is demonstrated in vitro. (...)

      One way to understand a complex biological process is to reconstitute it from purified components. Among many notable successes are the initiation of bacterial DNA replication, protein secretion in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and assembly of the mitotic spindle that segregates chromosomes during eukaryotic cell division. For many other complex processes, reconstitution seems feasible, but for cytokinesis--the last stage of cell division in which the cytoplasm is divided to produce two daughter cells--this seems a formidable task.

  10. Smart Microbes - Bacteria Anticipate Changing Environments, Science News Next Article

    Excerpts: It doesn't take brains to have some smarts. New research shows that even bacteria can evolve to predict upcoming events based on clues, like a dog salivating at the sound of the dinner bell.

    ¡§It's really the first evidence that single-celled organisms ¡X bacteria ¡X also have this ability for associative learning,¡¨ says Saeed Tavazoie, a molecular biologist at Princeton University who led the research on E. coli bacteria.

    The discovery reveals a kind of predictive intelligence in how microbes interpret sensory cues from their environments.

    1. Bacteria 'Can Learn', News@Nature Next Article

      Excerpts: E. coli colonies, for example, can develop the ability to associate higher temperatures (as found in a human mouth, for example) with a lack of oxygen (as found inside the human gut). When exposed to higher temperatures, they alter their metabolism in anticipation of lowering oxygen levels. (...)
      The response is similar to Pavlovian conditioning, where after dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell with food, they would salivate on hearing the bell.
  11. Giant Bacterium Carries Thousands of Genomes, News@Nature Next Article

    Excerpt:
    More genomes than any predator would want to swallow
    Esther Angert
    It seems like a peculiar case of genomic overkill: a single-celled bacterium has been found that keeps tens of thousands of copies of its genome. The finding sets a record for most genomes per cell, but also poses an obvious question: what could be the advantage of stashing away as much as 200,000 copies of your genome?
  12. Cuckoo-Hawk Mimicry? An Experimental Test, Proc. Biol. Sc. Next Article

    Excerpt: The similarity between many Old World parasitic cuckoos (Cuculinae) and Accipiter hawks, in size, shape and plumage, has been noted since ancient times. In particular, hawk-like underpart barring is more prevalent in parasitic than in non-parasitic cuckoos. Cuckoo-hawk resemblance may reflect convergent evolution of cryptic plumage that reduces detection by hosts and prey, or evolved mimicry of hawks by parasitic cuckoos, either for protection against hawk attacks or to facilitate brood parasitism by influencing host behaviour. Here, we provide the first evidence that some small birds respond to common cuckoos Cuculus canorus as if they were sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus. (...)
  13. Genomics: Genome Speaks To Transitional Nature Of Monotremes, Science Next Article

    Excerpts: An analysis of the platypus genome reveals how its DNA is an amalgam of mammalian and reptilian features. (...)

    The new genome sequence confirms the ancient split between monotremes and other mammals. "It's a missing part of the big evolutionary genetics puzzle," O'Brien adds. The clearest traces of the journey from reptile to mammal come from tracking the yolk and milk genes. Chickens have three vitellogenin egg yolk genes; the platypus has just one left. But the casein milk protein genes that mammals have but reptiles don't are all there. And just as in other mammals, in platypus, they are clustered next to the tooth enamel genes from which they are thought to have evolved, the researchers report.

  14. The Dynamics Of Developmental System Drift In The Gene Network Underlying Wing Polyphenism In Ants: A Mathematical Model, Evol. & Dev. Next Article

    Excerpt: Understanding the complex interaction between genotype and phenotype is a major challenge of Evolutionary Developmental Biology. One important facet of this complex interaction has been called "Developmental System Drift" (DSD). DSD occurs when a similar phenotype, which is homologous across a group of related species, is produced by different genes or gene expression patterns in each of these related species. We constructed a mathematical model to explore the developmental and evolutionary dynamics of DSD in the gene network underlying wing polyphenism in ants. Wing polyphenism in ants is the ability of an embryo to develop into a winged queen or a wingless worker (...).
  15. Flies' Eyes Could Enhance Robot Vision, PhysOrg.com Next Article

    Excerpts:
    Researchers have designed a sensor inspired by flies' compound eyes, which is capable of quickly locating the edges of objects. Image credit: D. Fischer.
    Unlike conventional image processing systems which are often digital, the fly's processing system is analog. Digital systems receive data pixel by pixel, and generally require time-consuming, computationally expensive processing. The analog system helps the fly extract edge information much more quickly, and also enables parallel processing. Both these features contribute to the fly's highly accurate, high-speed vision system.

    The researchers designed their sensor to mimic the fly's overlapping photoreceptors and analog, parallel processing system.

  16. Scaling Theory For Information Networks, Interface Next Article

    Excerpt: Networks distribute energy, materials and information to the components of a variety of natural and human-engineered systems, including organisms, brains, the Internet and microprocessors. Distribution networks enable the integrated and coordinated functioning of these systems, and they also constrain their design. The similar hierarchical branching networks observed in organisms (...). Metabolic scaling theory (MST) shows that the rate at which networks deliver energy to an organism is proportional to its mass raised to the 3/4 power. We show that computational systems are also characterized by nonlinear network scaling and use MST principles to characterize how information networks scale, (...).
    • Source: Scaling Theory For Information Networks, M. E. Moses, S. Forrest, A. L. Davis, M. A. Lodder, J. H. Brown, DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2008.0091, Interface, 2008/05/09
    • Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinayahoo.co.in
  17. Concept and Definition of Complexity, arXiv Next Article

    Abstract: The term complexity is used informally both as a quality and as a quantity. As a quality, complexity has something to do with our ability to understand a system or object -- we understand simple systems, but not complex ones. On another level, complexity is used as a quantity, when we talk about something being more complicated than another.
    In this chapter, we explore the formalisation of both meanings of complexity, which happened during the latter half of the twentieth century.
  18. Quantum Information: Stopping The Rot, Nature Next Article

    Excerpts: Uncontrollable outside influences undermine the whole enterprise of quantum computing. Nailing down the sources of this 'decoherence' in a solid-state system is a step towards solving the problem. (...)

    Bertaina et al.1 were able to spot Rabi oscillations between the low-energy qubit states of their vanadium molecule ¡X (...) and clinching proof that a degree of coherence is present in the system. But the authors were also able to work out what was causing decoherence, as manifested in the decay of the Rabi oscillation.

  19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks Next Article

    1. Terrorism Report Highlights Continuing Global Challenge, News Blaze Next Article

      Excerpts: Improving international cooperation allowed new gains against terrorism in 2007, but shifting terrorist tactics, the role of state sponsors such as Iran and terrorists' pursuit of weapons of mass destruction underline a continuing security challenge, according to an annual State Department report on global terrorism.

      "Working with allies and partners across the world, we have created a less permissive operating environment for terrorists, keeping leaders on the move or in hiding, and degrading their ability to plan and mount attacks," says the 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, released April 30.

    2. Country Reports on Terrorism 2007, U.S. Department of State Next Article

      Excerpts: Al-Qa'ida (AQ) and associated networks remained the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners in 2007. It has reconstituted some of its pre-9/11 operational capabilities through the exploitation of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), replacement of captured or killed operational lieutenants, and the restoration of some central control by its top leadership, in particular Ayman al-Zawahiri. Although Usama bin Ladin remained the group's ideological figurehead, Zawahiri has emerged as AQ's strategic and operational planner.


  20. Links & Snippets Next Article

    1. Other Publications Next Article

      1. A Review Of Effective Interventions For Reducing Aggression And Violence, J. McGuire, 2008/05/08, Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0035
      2. Boffins Map Passage Of Light Through 'Tiny Holes': Use Of Terahertz Radiation Key To Breakthrough, R. Jaques, 2008/05/09, vnunet.com
      3. Iron 'Snow' Helps Maintain Mercury's Magnetic Field, 2008/05/09, Innovations-report
      4. Why Emotional Memories Of Traumatic Life Events Are So Persistent, 2008/05/09, ScienceDaily & ETH Zurich
      5. UK Prepares For Work From Home Day: 'Day Of Action' Scheduled For 15 May, G. Dixon, 2008/05/12, vnunet.com
    2. Webcast Announcements Next Article

      1. 7th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 07/10/28-11/02
      2. Reseau Nationale des Systemes Complexes , (in French), 2007
      3. World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland, 08/01/22-27
      4. TED Talks, TED Conferences LLC , since 2006
      5. Talking Robots: The PodCast on Robotics and AI, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 06/11/03
      6. Potentials of Complexity Science for Business, Governments, and the Media 2006, Budapest, Hungary, 06/08/03-05
      7. 6th Intl Conf on Complex Systems (ICCS), Boston, MA, 06/06/25-30
      8. Artificial Life X, 10th Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, Bloomington, IN, USA. 2006/06/03-07
      9. 6th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Il, 06/05/15-18
      10. Ralph Abraham on Complexity Digest, , Calcutta, India, 05/12/27
      11. An Afternoon with Michael Crichton, Washington, 05/11/06
      12. Illuminating the Shadow of the Future, Ann Arbor, Mi 05/09/23-25
      13. Open Network of Centres of Excellence in Complex Systems - Brainstorming Meeting, Paris, France 05/09/19-23
      14. Complexity, Science & Society Conference 2005, U. Liverpool, UK 2005/09/11-14
      15. ECAL 2005 - VIIIth European Conference on Artificial Life, Canterbury, Kent, UK 2005/09/5-9
      16. T. Irene Sanders, Executive Director and Founder, The Washington Center for Complexity & Public Policy, 05/08/27, QuickTime video (10:38 min), Podcast
      17. 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
      18. Understanding Complex Systems - Computational Complexity and Bioinformatics, Virtual Conference Network, Urbana-Champaign, Il, UIUC, 05/05/16-19
      19. 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
      20. 1st European Conference on Complex Systems, Torino, Italy, 04/12/5-7
      21. From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela (1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20
      22. Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium, 04/05/26-28
      23. International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21
      24. Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H., Internet-First University Press, 1994
      25. CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
      26. Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998
      27. Edge Videos

    3. Conference Announcements Next Article

    4. Other Announcements

      1. 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's 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:
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