¸´ÔÓÐÔÎÄÕª NO£º2003.16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Complexity Digest 2003.16 April-20-2003
>
> Archive: http://www.comdig.org,
European Mirror: http://www.comdig.de
>
>Asian Mirror: http://www.phil.pku.edu.cn/resguide/comdig/
(Chinese GB-Code)
>
>"I think the next century will be the century of complexity."
Stephen
>Hawking, 2000
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 1. In Searching the Web, Google Finds Riches,
NYTimes
> 1.1 Plan Would Use
Software, Not Devices, to Fight Piracy,
>
NYTimes
> 1.2. Technology
Update: Artificial Intelligence Scopes Out
>
Spam, Network World
> 2. Planning for the Next Cyberwar, Wired
> 3. Mind-Machine Merger, Technology Review
> 4. International Consortium Completes Human Genome
Project, NHGRI
> 5. Period Doubling Bifurcation During Onset Of
Human Ventricular
> Fibrillation, Int. J.
Bifur. & Chaos
> 6. Neurobiology: Dopamine As Chicken And Egg,
Nature
> 6.1. Subsecond
Dopamine Release Promotes Cocaine Seeking,
>
Nature
> 6.2. White Noise
Delays Auditory Organization in the Brain,
>
HHMI News
> 6.3. Noise In
Eukaryotic Gene Expression, Nature
> 7. Can We Measure Consciousness With EEG
Complexities?, Int. J.
> Bifur. & Chaos
> 8. Researchers Get To Grips With Cause Of Pneumonia
Epidemic,
> Nature
> 9. Adult Stem Cells to Tackle Multiple Sclerosis,
Cordis News
> 9.1. Monkey Cloning
Failures Cast Doubt on Feasibility of
>
Human Reproductive Cloning, Scientific American
> 10. Compensation For Wind Drift In Migrating Raptors Is
Age
> Dependent, Biol. Letters
& Alphagalileo
> 11. The Regressive Ecological Succession By Fractal
Analysis Of
> Plant Spatial
Patterns, Ecol. Modelling
> 12. Deficits Of Working Memory During Mental Calculation
In
> Patients With Parkinson's
Disease, J. Neurol. Sc.
> 12.1. Odors Summon
Emotion And Influence Behavior, ScienceDaily
> 13. Evolution: Chromosomal Speciation in Primates,
Science
> 13.1. Accelerated
Evolution in Rearranged Chromosomes, Science
> 13.2. Widespread
Cannibalism May Have Caused Prehistoric Prion
>
Disease Epidemics, Science Daily
> 14. Superconductivity: Pebbles In The Nodal Pond, Nature
> 15. Regime Change In Meteorology, Nature
> 16. Parallel Universes, Scientific American
> 16.1. Saving The
Universe By Restricting Research, San
>
Francisco Chronicle
> 17. Maths Gets Into Shape, Nature Science update
> 18. Visions of Freedom, Dissolved in Chaos, Washington
Post
> 18.1. When Freedom
Leads to Anarchy, NYTimes
> 18.2. Force Majeure:
What Lies Behind The Military's Victory In
>
Iraq, Slate.msn
> 19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
> 19.1. Fighting
"Terrorism" With Torture, BMJ
> 20. Links & Snippets
> 20.1. Links
>
20.1.1. global networks, a traveling retrospective
>
20.1.2. Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, Centennial
> 20.2. Other
Publications
> 20.3. Webcast
Announcements
> 20.4. Conference
& Call for Papers Announcements
>
20.4.1. Public Conference Calls
> 20.5. ComDig
Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>1. In Searching the Web, Google Finds Riches, NYTimes
>
>Excerpt: Google's newfound power as arbiter of much of the world's digital
>information, meanwhile, is posing concerns about privacy and fairness, not
>only from competitors but also from social policy experts and even
>librarians. Some worry that the company may have become too central in an
>age when so much vital information is available online.
>Google says that it goes to great lengths to maintain the privacy of its
>users and that it refuses to allow advertisers to influence the results of
>its regular searches.
>
>In Searching the Web, Google Finds Riches, John Markoff, G. Pascal
>Zachary, NYTimes, 03/04/13
>
>
>Excerpt: Cryptography Research has begun circulating its proposal, which
>it calls Self-Protecting Digital Content, among entertainment companies.
>It plans to make it available publicly this week, in an effort to break
>the impasse over the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which Congress
>passed in 1998 with strong lobbying support from Hollywood and other
>creators of intellectual property.
>Cryptography Research's proposal would shift the location of
>copy-protection code from the consumer products that play music and movies
>and run software to the content files produced by entertainment companies
>and software developers
>
>Plan Would Use Software, Not Devices, to Fight Piracy, John Markoff,
>NYTimes, 03/04/15
>
>
>Excerpts: In the cat-and-mouse game of the antispam industry, staying one
>step ahead of spammers is difficult because they constantly exploit the
>weaknesses of e-mail keyword filtering. But the newest
>artificial-intelligence filtering technology may adapt faster than the
>spammers can alter their messages. (¡K)
>Natural-language processors serve as powerful artificial intelligence
>tools in the fight against spam. These processors, which actually are an
>array of complex algorithms, scan e-mail messages to discover the content
>of the messages. The algorithms are packaged into mail-filtering software,
>which generally sits outside a firewall (¡K).
>
>Technology Update: Artificial Intelligence Scopes Out Spam, Dave
>Strickler, Network World, 04/14/03
>
>
>2. Planning for the Next Cyberwar, Wired
>
>Excerpt: Department of Defense futurists call it network-centric warfare.
>Other military strategists simply refer to it as the digital war. The
>first Gulf War was analog, they say. This one was digital.
>Digital it may have been -- using real-time video images to target
>missiles in flight, wireless PDAs to connect with stateside medical
>records from the battlefield, and virtual-reality simulations to provide
>just-in-time delivery of material to front-line troops. But the nascent
>version of network-centric warfare waged in Iraq was but a pixilated,
>low-res harbinger of computer combat to come.
>
>Planning for the Next Cyberwar, Wired, 03/04/18
>
>
>3. Mind-Machine Merger, Technology Review
>
>Excerpt: (¡K) boosting the brain's ability to control external
devices,
>others in the DARPA initiative are aiming to manipulate the brain's inner
>workings-specifically those that send, receive, and process sights and
>sounds. By tapping into the visual and auditory regions of the mind,
>researchers are testing whether such information can be transmitted
>between brains and computers (¡K). If successful, the projects could
lead
>to astounding new interfaces that enhance humans' ability to recognize
>faces, objects, and speech and to make decisions. They might even enable
>brain-to-brain wireless communication (¡K).
>Mind-Machine Merger, Gregory T. Huang, Technology Review, May 2003
>
>
>4. International Consortium Completes Human Genome Project, NHGRI
>
>Excerpts: The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium [...] today
>announced the successful completion of the Human Genome Project more than
>two years ahead of schedule.
>Also today, NHGRI unveiled its bold new vision for the future of genome
>research, officially ushering in the era of the genome.[...]
>
>The international effort to sequence the 3 billion DNA letters in the
>human genome is considered by many to be one of the most ambitious
>scientific undertakings of all time, even compared to splitting the atom
>or going to the moon.
>"The Human Genome Project has been an amazing adventure into ourselves,
to
>understand our own DNA instruction book, the shared inheritance of all
>humankind," said NHGRI Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., leader
of
>the Human Genome Project since 1993. "All of the project's goals have
been
>completed successfully - well in advance of the original deadline and for
>a cost substantially less than the original estimates."
>
>Contributing Editor's Note: The total funding of the Human Genome Project
>(1991-2003) has been US-$3.45 billion. This is roughly equivalent to the
>cost of only the missiles, bombs, and ammunition used so far by the US in
>Irak in less than a month; or the actual cost of three months of the
>ongoing operation in Afghanistan; or one tenth of the total cost of the
>1991 Gulf war.
>
>International Consortium Completes Human Genome Project, 2003-04-14, NHGRI
>News release
>Contributed by Carlos Gershenson
>
>
>5. Period Doubling Bifurcation During Onset Of Human Ventricular
>Fibrillation, Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos
>
>Abstract: We find evidence of a period doubling bifurcation and transition
>from pseudo-periodic chaos to a stable limit cycle during onset of
>ventricular fibrillation (VF) in humans. Novel radial basis modeling
>techniques are applied to time series of spontaneous VF to estimate time
>dependent changes in the dynamics. Furthermore, we show that the spectral
>power content may be used as a surrogate for the underlying bifurcation
>parameter. With this spectral power measure we demonstrate a
>characteristic transition from pseudo-periodic chaos to a second
>pseudo-periodic chaotic regime. The methods described in this paper are
>generic and applicable to any time series data.
>Period Doubling Bifurcation During Onset Of Human Ventricular
>Fibrillation, M. Smalls, D. Yu & R. G. Harrison, Int. J. Bifur.
& Chaos,
>Vol. 13, No. 3, pp:743-754, Mar. 2003, doi:10.1142/S0218127403006911
>Contributed by Atin Das
>
>
>6. Neurobiology: Dopamine As Chicken And Egg, Nature
>
>Excerpts: (...) animal trainers to get their animals to perform tricks:
>follow each successful performance with a tasty snack. This type of
>learning illustrates the phenomenon of reinforcement, whereby new
>behavioral responses increase in frequency when they are linked to
>rewards. At the molecular level, the neurotransmitter dopamine is
>important in reinforcement; it is released from brain cells in response to
>natural rewards, including food and during sexual arousal, and most drugs
>of abuse increase brain dopamine levels. (...) dopamine elicits
>reward-seeking behavior, as well as signaling when a reward is received.
>Neurobiology: Dopamine As Chicken And Egg, David Self, Nature 422, 573 -
>574 (2003); doi:10.1038/422573a
>
>
>Excerpts: The dopamine-containing projection (¡K) is critically
involved
>in mediating the reinforcing properties of cocaine. (...) Rapid changes in
>extracellular dopamine concentration were observed at key aspects of
>drug-taking behaviour in rats. Before lever presses for cocaine, there was
>an increase in dopamine that coincided with the initiation of drug-seeking
>behaviours. Notably, these behaviours could be reproduced by electrically
>evoking dopamine release on this timescale. After lever presses, there
>were further increases in dopamine concentration at the concurrent
>presentation of cocaine-related cues.
>Subsecond Dopamine Release Promotes Cocaine Seeking, Paul E. M. Phillips,
>Garret D. Stuber, Michael L. A. V. Heien, R. Mark Wightman & Regina M.
>Carelli, Nature 422, 614 (2003), doi:10.1038/nature01476
>
>
>Excerpts: Exposure to continuous white noise sabotages the development of
>the auditory region of the brain, which may ultimately impair hearing and
>language acquisition, according to researchers from the University of
>California, San Francisco. According to the scientists, the young rats
>used in their study were exposed to constant white noise that is relevant
>to the increasing, random noise encountered by humans in today's
>environment. They theorize that their findings could aid in explaining the
>increase in language-impairment developmental disorders over the last few
>decades.
>White Noise Delays Auditory Organization in the Brain, 2003-04-18, HHMI News
>Contributed by Nadia Gershenson
>
>
>Excerpts: Transcription in eukaryotic cells has been described as quantal,
>with pulses of messenger RNA produced in a probabilistic manner. This
>description reflects the inherently stochastic nature of gene expression,
>(...). Here we show in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that stochasticity (noise)
>arising from transcription contributes significantly to the level of
>heterogeneity within a eukaryotic clonal population,(...). Furthermore, we
>explore the propagation of noise in a gene cascade network (...) This
>result has implications for the role of noise in phenotypic variation and
>cellular differentiation.
>Noise In Eukaryotic Gene Expression, William J. Blake, Mads Karn, Charles
>R. Cantor & J. J. Collins, Nature 422, 633 - 637 (2003);
>doi:10.1038/nature01546
>
>
>7. Can We Measure Consciousness With EEG Complexities?, Int. J. Bifur. &
Chaos
>
>Abstract: Several complexity measures (¡K) of EEGs were calculated to
>distinguish different consciousness levels for different brain functional
>states. All of the measures decreased with the following order of brain
>states: rest with eyes open, eyes closed, light sleep and deep sleep. On
>the contrary, the averaged mutual information between different channels
>increased significantly during the epileptic seizure; there is no
>significant difference among the averaged mutual information for the
>subject resting with eyes open, closed, being in light sleep and in deep
>sleep. Thus, the former indexes seem to be promising candidates to
>characterize different consciousness levels, while the latter seems not.
>Can We Measure Consciousness With Eeg Complexities?, F. Gu, X. Meng, E.
>Shen & Z. Cai, Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp:733-742,
Mar.
>2003, doi:10.1142/S0218127403006893
>Contributed by Atin Das
>
>
>8. Researchers Get To Grips With Cause Of Pneumonia Epidemic, Nature
>
>Excerpts: (¡K) uncertainty surrounding the contributions of the two
>viruses could be resolved with the aid of direct tests for their presence
>in patients, to replace the indirect tests for antibodies to the new
>coronavirus that have been used so far. CDC officials say that they hope
>to have such a test for the coronavirus ready to send to US state health
>departments this week.
>If the coronavirus is shown through animal experiments to be the cause of
>SARS, a direct test could prove critical to stopping its spread, (¡K).
>
>Researchers Get To Grips With Cause Of Pneumonia Epidemic, Jonathan
>Knight, Nature 422, 547 - 548 (2003); doi:10.1038/422547a
>
>
>9. Adult Stem Cells to Tackle Multiple Sclerosis, Cordis News
>
>Excerpts: Researchers at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan have used
>injections of stem cells from adult mice to cure mice suffering from the
>paralysis associated with one form of multiple sclerosis (MS). (...) One
>million cells were injected into the bloodstreams of 15 paralysed. After
>10 days the mice became increasingly active, and four went on to recover
>full and normal movement. The remaining 11 retained only minor tail
>paralysis. 'It's a great recovery,' said researcher Angelo Vescovi from
>San Raffaele's stem cell research institute. The team discovered that the
>cells had migrated to and repaired damaged nerves and areas of the brain.
>In particular, they believe that the stem cells were able to replace the
>fatty myelin coating of brain cells, which are stripped as a result of the
>disease. More than a million people worldwide suffer from multiple
>sclerosis, and currently the disease is incurable. See also: ComDig 2003.05
>Adult Stem Cells to Tackle Multiple Sclerosis, 2003-04-17, Cordis News
>Contributed by Nadia Gershenson
>
>
>Excerpts: Human cloning could face obstacles greater than governmental
>regulations. [...] reproductive cloning in rhesus monkeys is hindered by
>the absence of key proteins that control cell division and the splitting
>of chromosomes. The findings indicate that reproductive cloning of
>primates, including humans, is unachievable using current techniques.
>[...] despite the fact that [the embryos] appeared to be progressing
>normally on the surface, none of [them] resulted in a successful
>pregnancy. On closer inspection, the researchers determined that the
>cloned monkey embryos were far from normal. Says Simerly: "When cells
>divide, there are very basic things that are supposed to happen, and they
>just didn't happen."
>
>Monkey Cloning Failures Cast Doubt on Feasibility of Human Reproductive
>Cloning, 2003-04-11, Scientific American
>Contributed by Carlos Gershenson
>
>
>10. Compensation For Wind Drift In Migrating Raptors Is Age Dependent,
>Biol. Letters & Alphagalileo
>
>Abstract: Despite huge interest much remains unknown about how wild bird
>migrants find their wintering areas. Birds of prey seemingly acquire a
>more sophisticated orientation system through experience. This enables
>them to detect and compensate for wind drift during later migrations.
>However, because of this young birds face a risk of failing to reach
>proper wintering areas in case of rapid climatic wind change. These
>conclusions are based on the behaviour of birds of prey followed by
>satellite tracking during migration from NorthEurope to Africa.
>Compensation For Wind Drift In Migrating Raptors Is Age Dependent, K.
>Thorup, T. Alerstam, M. Hake & N. Kjellen, Biol. Letters &
Alphagalileo,
>2003/04/14
>Contributed by Atin Das
>
>
>11. The Regressive Ecological Succession By Fractal Analysis Of Plant
>Spatial Patterns, Ecol. Modelling
>
>Abstract: We studied the effect of grazing on the degree of regression of
>successional vegetation dynamic in a semi-arid Mediterranean matorral. We
>quantified the spatial distribution patterns of the vegetation by fractal
>analyses, using the fractal information dimension and spatial
>autocorrelation measured by detrended fluctuation analyses (DFA). Plant
>spatial patterns were compared over a long-term grazing gradient (low,
>medium and heavy grazing pressure) and on ungrazed sites for two different
>plant communities (¡K). These comparisons provide a quantitative
>characterization of the successional dynamic of plant spatial patterns in
>response to grazing perturbation gradient.
>The Regressive Ecological Succession By Fractal Analysis Of Plant Spatial
>Patterns, C. L. Alados, Y. Pueyo, M. L. Giner, T. Navarro, J. Escosa,
F.
>Barroso, B. Cabezudo & J. M. Emlen, Ecol. Modelling, Vol. 163, Issues
1-2
>, pp: 1-17, 2003/05/01, doi:10.1016/S0304-3800(02)00294-6
>Contributed by Pritha Das
>
>
>12. Deficits Of Working Memory During Mental Calculation In Patients With
>Parkinson's Disease, J. Neurol. Sc.
>
>Abstract: The aim of this study is to establish whether the WM problems in
>PD are due to reduced attentional set-shifting resources rather than
>depletion of attention resources. The task design attempts to eliminate
>confounding of the deficits in dealing with novel material, a problem
>documented in PD, by concentrating on WM tasks of mental calculation that
>are familiar to subjects in daily living. (¡K) the results suggested
that
>the central executive dysfunction in PD during mental calculations was due
>to reduced attentional set-shifting resources for rapidly alternating
>operations, rather than the depletion of attentional resources.
>Deficits Of Working Memory During Mental Calculation In Patients With
>Parkinson's Disease, I. Tamur, S. Kikuchi, M. Otsuki, M. Kitagawa & K.
>Tashiro, J. Neurol. Sc., Vol. 209, Issues 1-2, pp:19-23, 2003/05/15,
>doi:10.1016/S0022-510X(02)00457-4
>Contributed by Pritha Das
>
>
>Excerpts: College students frustrated by playing a rigged computer game in
>a scented room later exhibited that frustration when they inhaled the same
>smell (¡K). The study provides further evidence for a growing body of
>research that indicates emotions can become conditioned to odors and
>subsequently influence behavior (¡K).
>
>Overall, those participants who took the tests in the room with the
>computer-game room scent demonstrated less persistence ¡V spending
less
>time on each of the problems they could not solve ¡V than the people
who
>had taken the word tests in the rooms with a different odor or no odor at
all.
>
>Odors Summon Emotion And Influence Behavior, New Study Says, ScienceDaily
>& Brown Univ., 2003/04/14
>Contributed by Atin Das
>
>
>13. Evolution: Chromosomal Speciation in Primates, Science
>
>Excerpts: The divergence of humans from the great apes highlights two of
>the most debated issues in speciation theory. First, modern humans and
>their closest relative, the chimpanzee, differ in both gene sequence and
>chromosome structure, and it is not clear which kind of change was the
>initial cause of reproductive isolation. (...) chromosomal rearrangements
>"triggered" speciation by allowing differences under selection to
>accumulate in genes linked to the rearrangements, despite continued
>interbreeding between the two lineages for up to 3 million years after
>their initial divergence (...).
>Evolution: Chromosomal Speciation in Primates, Rieseberg, Loren H.,
>Livingstone, Kevin, Science 2003 300: 267-268
>
>
>Excerpts: Humans and their closest evolutionary relatives, the
>chimpanzees, differ in ~1.24% of their genomic DNA sequences. (¡K) We
>analyzed human and chimpanzee sequence data to search for the patterns of
>divergence and polymorphism predicted by a theoretical model of
>speciation. (¡K) Protein evolution was more than 2.2 times faster in
>chromosomes that had undergone structural rearrangements compared with
>colinear chromosomes. (¡K) These patterns of divergence and
polymorphism
>may be, at least in part, the molecular footprint of speciation events in
>the human and chimpanzee lineages.
>
>Accelerated Evolution in Rearranged Chromosomes, Arcadi Navarro and Nick
>H. Barton, Science Apr 11 2003: 321-324
>
>
>Excerpts: Human flesh may have been a fairly regular menu item for our
>prehistoric ancestors, according to researchers. They say it's the most
>likely explanation for their discovery that genes protecting against prion
>diseases -- which can be spread by eating contaminated flesh -- have long
>been widespread throughout the world.
>The genes, which are mutant versions of the prion protein gene, show key
>signs of having spread through populations as the result of natural
>selection [...]. Such mutations, or "polymorphisms," could have
provided
>prehistoric humans a better chance of surviving epidemics of prion
>diseases, similar to modern day diseases such as Creutzfeld Jacob disease,
>or kuru.
>
>Widespread Cannibalism May Have Caused Prehistoric Prion Disease
>Epidemics, Science Study Suggests, 2003-04-11, Science Daily
>Contributed by Carlos Gershenson
>
>
>14. Superconductivity: Pebbles In The Nodal Pond, Nature
>
>Excerpt: Although the nodal waves might seem (¡K) to be quite
>conventional, there is evidence suggesting that they are much more fragile
>than the electron waves in normal metals. It appears that they behave like
>quantum waves only when the system as a whole is in a macroscopic quantum
>state - that is, when it is superconducting.
>(...) when the electron energy approaches that of the superconducting gap
>(associated with the short timescale on which the physics giving rise to
>superconductivity originates), the STM patterns change in a sudden and
>dramatic way.
>
>Superconductivity: Pebbles In The Nodal Pond, Jan Zaanen, Nature 422, 569
>- 570 (2003); doi:10.1038/422569a
>
>
>15. Regime Change In Meteorology, Nature
>
>Excerpt: Sudden transitions between large-scale atmospheric circulation
>patterns - kinds of 'punctuated equilibria' - have a deterministic
>component that can be exploited to identify preferred dynamic cycles.
>Weather is notoriously unpredictable. But there are many kinds of
>prediction, and it is possible to make scientific predictions about
>weather without predicting the weather. A case in point is the common
>occurrence of 'blocked' patterns of weather, in which the atmosphere
>remains in much the same state for a week or more, before suddenly
>switching to another long-lived pattern.
>
>Regime Change In Meteorology, Ian Stewart, Nature 422, 571 - 573 (2003);
>doi:10.1038/422571a
>
>
>16. Parallel Universes, Scientific American
>
>Excerpt: The parallel universes of your alter egos constitute the Level I
>multiverse. It is the least controversial type. We all accept the
>existence of things that we cannot see but could see if we moved to a
>different vantage point or merely waited, like people watching for ships
>to come over the horizon. Objects beyond the cosmic horizon have a similar
>status. The observable universe grows by a light-year every year as light
>from farther away has time to reach us. An infinity lies out there,
>waiting to be seen.
>Parallel Universes, Scientific American, May 2003
>
>
>Excerpt: History's worst technological catastrophes could kill millions or
>billions of people in this century, and to prevent them, society may need
>to consider restricting specific types of scientific research, says Sir
>Martin Rees, Britain's astronomer royal, in the book, "Our Final
Hour."
>
>His concerns include gray goo (nanobots out of control) and experiments
>that could create a black hole. "I think the odds are no better than
50-50
>that our present civilization on Earth will survive to the end of the
>present century," Rees says.
>
>Saving The Universe By Restricting Research, San Francisco Chronicle,
>April 14, 2003
>
>
>17. Maths Gets Into Shape, Nature Science update
>
>Excerpts: The Superformula is a modified version of the equation for a
>circle. Changing one term in the formula varies the proportions of the
>shape - moving from a round circle to a long and skinny ellipse. Changing
>another varies the axes of symmetry - shifting from a circle to triangle,
>square, pentagon and so on.
>Varying both proportion and symmetry together produces shapes with any
>number of sides, (¡K). It can also produce three-dimensional
structures,
>and non-biological shapes such as snowflakes and crystals. "It's a new
way
>of describing nature,"(¡K).
>
>Maths Gets Into Shape, Is It A Starfish? Is It An Orchid? No, It's
>Superformula, John Whitfield, Nature Science update, 03/04/02
>
>
>18. Visions of Freedom, Dissolved in Chaos, Washington Post
>
>Excerpts: In three days this week, it seemed as if three years of recent
>history had been neatly telescoped into a visual allegory.
>On Wednesday, it was 1989 all over again, a statue coming down, a regime
>collapsing, wild celebration on the streets; the instant (and premature)
>analogy was to the end of the Cold War. On Thursday and Friday, the images
>and the news were snapshots of chaos in its manifold variety: looting,
>ethnic strife, confrontation between crowds and soldiers, and destruction
>everywhere. (¡K) It might have been 1992.
>
>Visions of Freedom, Dissolved in Chaos, Philip Kennicott, Washington Post,
>03/04/12
>
>
>Excerpt: The Bush administration, ill prepared to curb the lawlessness
>that has swept Iraq, is reinforcing one of the world's most powerful
>antidemocratic forces: the fear of chaos. Even as looting subsides,
>vigilantism flourishes. (¡K)
>
>Unless the United States moves quickly to counter its mistakes, Iraqis are
>unlikely to trust their security to an open, pluralistic form of
>government. Public anxiety about disorder has been used to rationalize
>practically every police state, from left to right, from Moscow to Buenos
>Aires.
>
>When Freedom Leads to Anarchy, David K. Shipler, NYTimes, 03/04/18
>
>
>Excerpt: (...) promulgated doctrines, field manuals, and war games that
>envisioned all the services fighting wars together, under command
>structures that were unified or at least "interoperable." One such
>document, called "Joint Vision 2020," issued in June 2000,
emphasized a
>strategy of "full-spectrum dominance," involving the conduct of
"prompt,
>sustained and synchronized operations with combinations of forces ...
>space, sea, land, air and information"-a "synergy of the core
competencies
>of the individual services, integrated into the joint team ... a whole
>greater than the sum of its parts."
>
>Force Majeure: What Lies Behind The Military's Victory In Iraq, Fred
>Kaplan, Slate.msn, 03/04/10
>
>
>19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
>
>Abstract: Since 11 September 2001 public advocacy of torture no longer
>seems taboo. (...) techniques applied to Abu Zubaydah and other Al Qaeda
>suspects in US custody. This involved ventilation by nasal mask of a
>paralysed subject, with the ventilator turned off to provide transient
>suffocation whenever the interrogator was dissatisfied. These included
>deprivation of food, water, sleep, and light; covering subjects' heads
>with black hoods for hours at a time; (¡K) hooking them up to sensors
>during serial interrogations; and denial of medical attention. At Bagram
>"disorientation is a tool of interrogation and therefore a way of
life."
>Fighting "Terrorism" With Torture, D. Summerfield, BMJ (British
Medical
>Journal);326, pp:773-774, 2003/04/12
>Contributed by Atin Das
>
>
>20. Links & Snippets
>
>20.1 Links
>
>global networks, a traveling retrospective of 25 works by mark lombardi
>organized by independent curators international, new york, curated by
>robert hobbs, jan 2003 - oct 2004
>Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, The Legacy of Andrei Nikolaevich
>Kolmogorov, April 25, 1903 - October 20, 1987.
>20.2 Other Publications
>
>In the Skies Over Iraq, Silent Observers Become Futuristic Weapons, Eric
>Schmitt, NYTimes, 03/04/18, Remotely piloted aircraft like the
>stripped-down, remotely piloted RQ-1 Predator drone have played a crucial
>role in the Iraq war.
>"No Easy Victory",opinion by Philip Gordon and Michael O'Hanlon;
The
>Washington Post (4/12/03)
>"Just How Good Was Our Strategy?", opinion by Michael O'Hanlon;
Los
>Angeles Times (4/10/03)
>"After the Fall of Baghdad", opinion by Daniel Byman; San Diego
>Union-Tribune (4/10/03)
>"Pentagon Gamble Pays Off - So Far", opinion by Stephen Hess; The
>Baltimore Sun (4/7/03)
>"Was the Strategy Brilliant?" , Michael O'Hanlon (4/9/03)
>"Finding Chemical Weapons Won't Dispel Opposition to the War",
James
>Lindsay (4/8/03)
>"Internationalize Post-war Iraq", Ivo Daalder (4/7/03)
>Holographic Data Storage: The Light Fantastic, Mark Haw, Nature 422, 556 -
>558 (2003); doi:10.1038/422556a
>Developmental biology: How Neurons Avoid Derailment, Paul A. Garrity,
>Nature 422, 570 - 571 (2003); doi:10.1038/422570a, During development,
>neurons extend thin protrusions that must choose between alternative
>routes. A study of this process in fruitflies unites two previously
>disparate protein families.
>Business: Tax Inquiries Fall as Cheating Increases, NYT, David Cay
>Johnston, April 14, 2003, Investigations and prosecutions of suspected tax
>criminals have fallen by half over the last decade, even as cheating has
>grown.
>Week In Review: What Victory in Iraq Means for U.S. Foreign Policy, NYT,
>David E. Sanger, April 13, 2003, There are plenty of reasons to suspect
>that a strategic pause is next, even if President Bush remains determined
>to use American might to reorder the world on his terms.
>Proceedings Artificial Life VIII: The 8th International Conference on the
>Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, University of New South Wales,
>Sydney, NSW, Australia, 9th-13th December, 2002, Russell K. Standish, Mark
>A. Bedau and Hussein A. Abbass (Eds.), MIT Press (2002). (sse also webcasts)
>Heteroclinic Contours in Neural Ensembles and the Winnerless Competition
>Principle, Valentin S. Afraimovich, Mikhail I. Rabinovich, Pablo Varona,
>2003-04-10, arXiv
>Dynamic Associative Memory Based On Neural Network With Chaotic Control,
>H. Chen, Z. Cao & J. Jin, Int. J. Bifur. & Chaos, Vol. 13, No. 3,
>pp:671-676, Mar. 2003, doi:10.1142/S0218127403006819
>Access To Government Information In Japan: A Long Way Toward Electronic
>Government?, T. Koga, Gov. Info. Qtrly, Vol. 20, Issue 1, 2003, pp: 47-62,
>doi:10.1016/S0740-624X(02)00134-X
>Have Medical Journals Helped To Justify War?, E. Dickinson, Alphagalileo,
>2003/04/10
>Smart Mathematical Model Prevents The Spread Of Swine Fever, N. Moerlie,
>Alphagalileo, 2003/04/11
>Nestling Discrimination Without Recognition: A Possible Defence Mechanism
>For Hosts Towards Cuckoo Parasitism?, T. Grim, O. Kleven & O. Mikulica,
>Biol. Letters & Alphagalileo, 2003/04/14
>Influence Of Male Relatedness On Lethal Combat In Fig Wasps: A Theoretical
>Analysis, K. Reinhold, Proc. B & Alphagalileo, 2003/04/14
>Brainy Robot Breaks New Ground In Parkinson¡¦s Research, L.
Branton,
>Alphagalileo, 2003/04/16
>Fake Voice Recordings Easy To Make, Hard To Detect, ScienceDaily &
Oregon
>Health & Sc. Univ., 2003/04/11
>Cloned Gene May Help Crops And Livestock Meet Future Needs, ScienceDaily
&
>Purdue Univ., 2003/04/14
>Tufts University Biologists Unveil More Mysteries Of Fireflies' Flash;
>Length Of Male's Flash Predicts Quality Of 'Nuptial Gift', ScienceDaily
&
>Tufts Univ., 2003/04/15
>Cloned Pigs Differ From Originals In Looks And Behavior, ScienceDaily &
>North Carolina State Univ., 2003/04/16 (See also ComDig 2003.02.10)
>Evolutionary Dynamics Of Species Diversity In An Interaction Web System,
>K. Yoshida, Ecol. Modelling, Vol. 163, Issues 1-2 , pp:131-143,
>2003/05/01, doi:10.1016/S0304-3800(02)00417-9
>Animal Colour Vision ¡V Behavioural Tests And Physiological Concepts,
A.
>Kelber, M. Vorobyev & D. Osorio, Biol. Rev. Camb. Phil. Soc., Vol. 78,
>Issue 01, pp:81-118, Feb. 2003, DOI 10.1017/S1464793102005985
>Eat And Run? The Hunger/Satiation Hypothesis In Vertical Migration:
>History, Evidence And Consequences, S. Pearre Jr., Biol. Rev. Camb. Phil.
>Soc., Vol. 78, Issue 01, pp:1-79, Feb. 2003, DOI 10.1017/S146479310200595X
>Role Of The Hippocampal System In Associative Learning Beyond The Spatial
>Domain, P. J. Brasted, T. J. Bussey, E. A. Murray & S. P. Wise, Brain,
>Vol. 126, No. 5, pp:1202-1223, May 2003, doi: 10.1093/brain/awg103
>
>
>20.3 Coming and Ongoing Webcasts
>
>Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected and
>Unknowable, The University of Texas Austin, Texas USA, 03/04/10-12
>Autonomous Agents, Stuart Kauffman, FRIAM Group sponsored Applied
>Complexity Lecture Series at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 03/03/13
>New Trends In Industrial Partnership And Innovation Management At European
>Research Laboratories, CERN, Geneva, 03/03/19 (with webcast)
>CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
>"New Frontiers of Neuroscience" Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan,
03/03/07
>Television & Children's Media Policy: Where Do We Go From Here?,
>Washinghton, DC, 03/02/28, c-span, (clip12657), 1:35
>INSC 2003, International Nonlinear Sciences Conference, Vienna, Austria,
>03/02/07-09
>World Economic Forum Meeting "Building Trust", Davos, Switzerland,
>03/01/23-28
>2002 Financial Management Conference, 02/10/16-19
>Artificial Life Conference (A-Life 8), Sydney, Australia, 02/12/09-13
>Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February
1998
>
>
>20.4 Conference Announcements & Call for Papers
>
>Agent-Based Simulation 4, Montpellier, France, 03/04/28-30
>2003 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Santa Clara, CA, 03/04/22-25
>Managing Complex Organizations in a Complex World, Cambridge, MA,
03/05/01-02
>NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, The Beckman Center,
>Irvine, CA, 03/05/09-11
>Understanding Complex Systems Symposium, UIUC, Urbana-Champaign, Il,
>03/05/19-21
>The Opening of Systems Theory, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, DK,
>03/05/23-25
>Innovating Strategy Processes: Concepts, Experiences And Experiments,
>Storrs, Connecticut U.S.A. 03/05/25-28
>SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/01-04
>The First International Workshop on "Socio-Cognitive Grids: The Net as
a
>Universal Human Resource", Santorini, Greece, 03/06/01-04
>21st ICDE World Conf on Open Learning and Distance Education, Hong Kong,
>03/06/01-05
>The Co-Revolutionary Competition An Alternative War Game Inspired By The
>New Sciences, Newport, RI, 03/06/03-05
>Summer School on Nonlinear Phenomena In Computational Chemical Physics,
>Barcelona, Spain, 03/06/09-14
>17th Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Simulation (PADS 2003), San
>Diego, California, 03/06/10-13
>One-Week Intensive Course: Complex Physical, Biological and Social
>Systems, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 03/06/16-20
>2003 Summer Computer Simulation Conference (SCSC '03), Montreal, Canada,
>03/06/20-24
>5th Intl Conf "Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics", Kiev,
Ukraine,
>03/06/23-29, Mirror
>Workshops of Dynamical Systems with Applications to Biology, Hsinchu,
>Taiwan, 03/06/24-28
>UQAM Summer Institute in Cognitive Sciences 2003: Categorization In
>Cognitive Sciences, Montreal, 03/06/30-07/11
>47th Meeting of the Intl Soc for the System Sciences: Conscious Evolution
>Of Humanity: Using Systems Thinking To Construct Agoras Of The Global
>Village, Iraklion, Crete, Greec, 03/07/07-11
>9th International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA, 03/07/07-09,
>Wkshp on Assistive Technologies for the Blind, 03/07/06
>2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003),
>Chicago, IL,03/07/12-16
>2nd Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
>(AAMAS-2003), Melbourne, Australia, 03/07/14-18
>7th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI
>2003), Orlando, Florida, 03/07/27-30
>Intl Conf on Socio Political Informatics and Cybernetics: SPIC '03,
>Orlando, Fl, USA, 03/07/31-08/02
>13th Annual International Conference, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life
>Sciences,Boston, MA, USA, 03/08/08-10
>Call for Papers on Dynamical Hierarchies, Special Issue of Artificial
>Life, Deadline: 03/09/05
>1st German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies (MATES'03),
>Erfurt, Germany, 03/09/22-25
>7th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2003), Dortmund, Germany,
>03/09/14-17
>2003 IEEE/WIC Intl Joint Conf. Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent
>Technology, Beijing, China, 03/10/13-17
>ICDM '03: The Third IEEE International Conference on Data Mining,
>Melbourne, Florida, USA, 03/11/19-22
>3rd International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex System,
>Guangzhou, China, 03/11/29-30
>2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social
>Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 03/12/15-17
>Fractal 2004, "Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl
>Multidisciplinary Conf , Vancouver, Canada, 04/04/04-07
>Fifth International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004), Boston, MA,
>USA, 04/05/16-21
>
>
>20.4.1 Public Conference Calls
>
>PlexusCalls: "Surprise! Surprise!", McDaniel, Reuben, Audio File
Available
>Now, mp3
>Complexity And Medical Practice, Pat Rush & Bob Lindberg, PlexusCalls,
>03/01/10, Audio File Available Now, mp3
>John Holland in Conversation, PlexusCalls, - Audio File Available Now, mp3
>Are Disease and Aging Information/Complexity Loss Syndromes?, PlexusCalls,
>02/11/08, 1 - 2 pm EST (To learn more about Ary Goldberger¡¦s
work and
>HeartSongs, Music of the Heart.) Audio File Available Now, mp3
>Brenda Zimmerman in Conversation, PlexusCalls, Audio File Available Now, mp3
>The Complexity of Entrepreneurship: A Launchcyte Story, Tom Petzinger,
>PlexusCalls, 02/11/22, Audio File Available Now, mp3
>A Practical and Appreciative Approach to Complex and Chronic Challenges,
>Keith McCandless, PlexusCalls, Jan 2003, Audio File Available Now, mp3
>
>
>20.5 ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test
>
>We are in the process of upgrading the Complexity Digest archives to a
>format with improved search capabilities. Also, we will finally be able to
>adequately publish the valuable feedback and comments from our
>knowledgable readers. You are cordially invited to become a beta tester of
>our new ComDig2 archive.
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>is published by Dean LeBaron <http://www.deanlebaron.com/index.html>
and
>edited by Gottfried J. Mayer
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