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Complexity Digest 2003.26 June-29-2003

  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



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     1. Network Armies, Chief Executive
          1.1 A Higher Plane of Problem-Solving, Business 2.0
          1.2 Unleashing Killer Architecture: The Shape of Things to
               Come, CIO
     2. More Companies Pay Heed to Their 'Word of Mouse' Reputation,
         NYTimes
          2.1 Digital Divide And Purchase Intention: Why Demographic
                Psychology Matters, J. Economic Psychology
          2.2 Modeling Users' Preferences In Systems For Information
               Access, Int. J. Intelligent Systems
     3. Mind Share, BLOG SPACE: Public Storage For Wisdom, Ignorance,
         and Everything in Between, Wired
          3.1 Online Archives for Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications,
               CogPrints
          3.2 Self-Archive Unto Others as Ye Would Have Them
               Self-Archive Unto You, CogPrints
     4. Statistical Mechanics: A Possible Model for Market-Based
         Electric Power Control, arXiv
     5. Emerging Out Of Nature Into History: The Plurality Of The
         Sciences, Phil. Tran. A
          5.1 Information, Knowledge And The Future Of Machines, Phil.
                Tran. A
          5.2 Parallel Universes, The Matrix, And Superintelligence,
                KurzweilAI.net
     6. Neuroengineering: Remote Control, Nature
     7. Savant for a Day, NYTimes
          7.1 Inhibited and Uninhibited Infants "Grown Up": Adult
               Amygdalar Response to Novelty, Science
     8. Somatosensory Basis Of Speech Production, Nature
          8.1 The Influence Of Visual Motion On Fast Reaching
             Movements, Nature
     9. What The Cerebellum Computes, Trends in Neurosc.
          9.1 Putting Smell On The Map, Trends in Neurosc.
    10. Molecular "Piggyback Ride" Carries Alzheimer's Protein Into
          Brain, URMC News
    11. Gene Tells Time for Bed, Nature Science Update
    12. New Law May Leave Many Rural Teachers Behind, NYTimes
    13. Desperately Seeking Similarity, Science
          13.1 Kin Selection in Cooperative Alliances of Carrion Crows,
                 Science
          13.2 Morphs, Dispersal Behavior, Genetic Similarity, and the
                 Evolution of Cooperation, Science
    14. Echolocation: Volume Control, Nature
          14.1 Study Shows How Dolphins Land Lunch, AFP/Animal Planet
          14.2 Automatic Gain Control In The Echolocation System Of
                 Dolphins, Nature
    15. The Warped Side of Dark Matter, Science
          15.1 Dark Energy Tiptoes Toward the Spotlight, Science
          15.2 The Dark Age of the Universe, Science
          15.3 New Light on Dark Matter, Science
          15.4 Throwing Light on Dark Energy, Science
    16. Making Clouds Darker Sharpens Cloudy Climate Models, Science
    17. Senescence In A Bacterium With Asymmetric Division, Science
    18. A Tree of Fireflies, a Flock of Boson Clouds, Science Book
         Report
    19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
          19.1 Iranian Terror Group Planned Attacks, French Report Says,
                 NYTimes
          19.2 By Fusing Images, Lehigh Professor Detects Concealed
                 Weapons, ScienceDaily
    20. Links & Snippets
          20.1 Other Publications
          20.2 Webcast Announcements
          20.3 Conference & Call for Papers Announcements
          20.4 ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test

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1. Network Armies, Chief Executive

Excerpts: (...) these forces are products of the Internet Age, united not
by geography but by common cause and technology that lets them communicate
freely and instantly. There's no leader, no command and control structure,
just a potent ability to mobilize. (...) these organic groups, or
'accountability networks,' surround every company and can easily go
undetected until an event-whether a mistaken order cancellation or a news
report-kicks them into action. ...Though their specific issues may vary,
these corporate critics are generally after what they would describe as
socially responsible behavior...In an era when corporate brands and
reputations can be shattered in a matter of days, staying on top of issues
and potential land mines is crucial.
Network Armies, Amy Cortese, Chief Executive, June 2003


Excerpts: Altshuller's fundamental assertion is that innovation follows a
finite set of patterns. Know those patterns and you can not only solve
seemingly unsolvable problems but also predict the challenges you'll face
next. Engineers love TRIZ because it treats creativity as a discipline to
be mastered, not as right-brain hocus-pocus(¡K)

(¡K) creative ideas reside in people's minds -- thanks to good genes, good
luck, or both -- but are trapped by fear of rejection. Create a
judgment-free environment, he reasoned, and you'll unleash a torrent. [That
process is called "brainstorming", Ed.]

A Higher Plane of Problem-Solving, Andy Raskin, Business 2.0, June 2003 Issue


Excerpts: Whereas PCs made it possible to distribute both applications and
data closer to their users, the next-generation architecture will
distribute even smaller units of software over the Internet, not just to
distant users but to destinations such as equipment on the factory floor
and packages on store shelves. That capability will create a new class of
information products and services that will interact with each other across
organizational boundaries using sophisticated messaging and security
protocols. Data processing will become even more tightly connected to
business processes, designed to scale up or down quickly as conditions
require, supported by new kinds of outsourcing relationships with hardware,
software and communications vendors.

Unleashing Killer Architecture: The Shape of Things to Come, Larry Downes,
CIO, June 15, 2003


2. More Companies Pay Heed to Their 'Word of Mouse' Reputation, NYTimes

Excerpts: The potential financial implications of online reputations are
substantial. "The more consumers come to trust the opinions posted on
online forums, the less effective traditional advertising will become in
influencing consumer behavior," Mr. Dellarocas said.
Amazon.com, for example, has eliminated its entire budget for television
and general-purpose print advertising, (¡K).

In hopes of obtaining positive word of mouse, some companies send free
products to prominent reviewers on such sites as Epinions.com, even if
those reviewers have no official credentials

More Companies Pay Heed To Their 'Word Of Mouse' Reputation, Nicholas
Thompson, NYTimes, 03/06/23


Abstract: The author examines the issue of digital divide from a
demographic perspective. The influence of gender, age, education, and
income on the likelihood to purchase over the Internet is empirically
examined. Hypotheses are framed in the context of psychological correlates
of the demographic variables. Findings show that these variables
significantly influence the likelihood to purchase over the Internet and
can be used to profile, segment, and target markets and develop public
policies to bridge the digital divide.

Digital Divide And Purchase Intention: Why Demographic Psychology Matters,
S. H. Akhter, J. Economic Psychology, Vol. 24, Issue 3, pp: 321-327, Jun.
2003, doi:10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00171-X
Contributed by Pritha Das


Abstract: In this article, the idea of user preference playing a role in
systems for information access is analyzed. In particular, two main
categories of systems that provide access to information were considered:
systems for the retrieval of stored information items and systems that
offer a support to product brokering for online shopping in e-commerce. One
of the common characteristics of such systems is that they constitute for a
user a decision aid for identifying the preferred information items within
a huge collection. In this study, the synergy between decision theory and
some techniques for information access is outlined (¡K).

Modeling Users' Preferences In Systems For Information Access, G. Pasi,
Int. J. Intelligent Systems, Vol. 18, Issue 7, pp:793-808, 2003/06/18.
Contributed by Pritha Das


3. Mind Share, BLOG SPACE: Public Storage For Wisdom, Ignorance, and
Everything in Between, Wired

Excerpts: What happens when you start seeing the Web as a matrix of minds,
not documents? Networks based on trust become an essential tool. You start
evaluating the relevance of data based not on search query results but on
personal testimonies. (¡K) You can research ideas or breaking news by
querying the 10 people whose opinions on the topic you most value - what
Cory Doctorow calls an "outboard brain." (¡K) Technorati lets you take any
URL and automatically generate a list of bloggers who have commented on it.
Mind Share, BLOG SPACE: Public Storage For Wisdom, Ignorance, and
Everything in Between, Steven Johnson, Wired, Issue 11.06, 03/06


Abstract: Peer-reviewed journals used to perform two functions for research
and researchers -- (1) peer review and (2) distribution -- and research
libraries used to perform two more -- (3) archiving and (4) access
provision. In the online age, journals will need only to provide the
peer-review service. Authors will self-archive their papers, both before
and after peer review, in their institutional Eprint Archives, which will
all be interoperable with one another, providing open access to all
peer-reviewed research output as if it were all in one global archive.

Online Archives for Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications, Harnad, Stevan,
2003-06-19, DOI: 3020, CogPrints
Contributed by Carlos Gershenson


Abstract: Scholars and scientists do research to create new knowledge so
that other scholars and scientists can use it to create still more new
knowledge and to apply it to improving people's lives. They are paid to do
research, but not to report their research: That they do for free, because
it is not royalty-revenue from their research papers but their "research
impact" that pays their salaries, funds their further research, earns them
prestige and prizes, etc. "Research impact" means how much of a
contribution your research makes to further research: Do other researchers
read, use, cite, and apply your findings? The more they do, the higher your
research impact. One way to measure this is by counting how many
researchers use and cite your work in their own research papers. To
self-archive research is to deposit it in the researcher's own university
"Eprint Archive".

Self-Archive Unto Others as Ye Would Have Them Self-Archive Unto You,
Harnad, Stevan, 2003-06-19, DOI: 3022, CogPrints
Contributed by Carlos Gershenson


4. Statistical Mechanics: A Possible Model for Market-based Electric Power
Control, arXiv

Abstract: Statistical mechanics provides a useful analog for understanding
the behavior of complex adaptive systems, including power markets and the
power systems they intend to govern. Market-based control is founded on the
conjecture that the regulation of complex systems based on price-mediated
strategies (e.g., auctions, markets) results in an optimal allocation of
resources and emergent optimal system control. This paper discusses the
derivation and some illustrative applications of a first-principles model
of market-based system dynamics based on strict analogies to statistical
mechanics.
Statistical Mechanics: A Possible Model for Market-based Electric Power
Control, David P. Chassin, 2003-06-24, DOI: nlin.AO/0306046, arXiv
Contributed by Carlos Gershenson


5. Emerging Out Of Nature Into History: The Plurality Of The Sciences,
Phil. Tran. A

Abstract: The idea of a 'theory of everything' is inconsistent with a
natural feature of biological evolution: the spontaneous emergence of
composite entities with completely new properties. At successively higher
levels of complexity, from elementary particles and chemical molecules,
through unicellular and multicellular organisms, to self-aware human beings
and their cultural institutions, we find systems obeying entirely novel
principles. Furthermore, science nowadays usually arises in localized
social contexts, where the 'logic of the situation' is continually being
transformed by the emergence of cultural novelties such as unpredictable
technological innovations.
Emerging Out Of Nature Into History: The Plurality Of The Sciences, J.
Ziman, Phil. Tran. A: Math., Phys. & Eng. Sc., 2003/06/18, DOI:
10.1098/rsta.2003.1233
Contributed by Atin Das


Abstract: This wide-ranging survey considers the future of machines in
terms of information, complexity and the growth of knowledge shared amongst
agents. Mechanical and human agents are compared and contrasted, and it is
argued that, for the foreseeable future, their roles will be complementary.
The future development of machines is examined in terms of unions of human
and machine agency evolving as part of economic activity. Limits to, and
threats posed by, the continuing evolution of such a society of agency are
considered.

Information, Knowledge And The Future Of Machines, A. G. J. MacFarlane,
Phil. Tran. A: Math., Phys. & Eng. Sc., 2003/06/19, DOI:
10.1098/rsta.2003.1226
Contributed by Atin Das


Excerpts: Physicists are converging on a "theory of everything," probing
the 11th dimension, developing computers for the next generation of robots,
and speculating about civilizations millions of years ahead of ours, says
Dr. Michio Kaku, author of the best-sellers Hyperspace and Visions and
co-founder of String Field Theory, in this interview by KurzweilAI.net
Editor Amara D. Angelica.

Parallel Universes, The Matrix, And Superintelligence, Michio Kaku,
interviewed by Amara D. Angelica, KurzweilAI.net, 03/06/26


6. Neuroengineering: Remote Control, Nature

Excerpts: Finally, neuroscientists (¡K) teamed up to tackle the
hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in the storage of memories. They
aim to test whether silicon can replace parts of our brain. Their focus is
a three-stage chain of regions within the hippocampus that signals are
passed through during memory storage. The researchers want to see if they
can build a microchip that can take signals from the first region and relay
them to the final stage, bypassing the middle part of the chain.
Neuroengineering: Remote Control, Hannah Hoag, Nature 423, 796 - 798 (19
June 2003); doi:10.1038/423796a


7. Savant for a Day, NYTimes

Excerpts: (¡K)turned to TMS, in an attempt, as he says, ''to enhance the
brain by shutting off certain parts of it.''
''In a way, savants are the great enigma of today's neurology,'' says Prof.
Joy Hirsch, director of the Functional M.R.I. Research Center at Columbia
University. ''They exist in all cultures and are a distinct type. Why? How?
We don't know. Yet understanding the savant will help provide insight into
the whole neurophysiological underpinning of human behavior. (¡K) he's
asking a really fundamental question, which no one has yet answered.''

Savant for a Day, Lawrence Osborne, NYTimes, 03/06/22


Excerpts: Infants with an inhibited temperament tend to develop into
children who avoid people, objects, and situations that are novel or
unfamiliar, whereas uninhibited children spontaneously approach novel
persons, objects, and situations. Behavioral and physiological features of
these two temperamental categories are moderately stable from infancy into
early adolescence and have been hypothesized to be due, in part, to
variation in amygdalar responses to novelty. We found that adults who had
been categorized in the second year of life as inhibited, compared with
those previously categorized as uninhibited, showed greater functional MRI
signal response within the amygdala to novel versus familiar faces.

Inhibited and Uninhibited Infants "Grown Up": Adult Amygdalar Response to
Novelty, Carl E. Schwartz, Christopher I. Wright, Lisa M. Shin, Jerome
Kagan, and Scott L. Rauch, Science Jun 20 2003: 1952-1953


8. Somatosensory Basis Of Speech Production, Nature

Excerpts: The hypothesis that speech goals are defined acoustically and
maintained by auditory feedback is a central idea in speech production
research. An alternative proposal is that speech production is organized in
terms of control signals that subserve movements and associated vocal-tract
configurations. Indeed, the capacity for intelligible speech by deaf
speakers suggests that somatosensory inputs related to movement play a role
in speech production-(¡K). Here we show that somatosensory information on
its own is fundamental to the achievement of speech movements.
Somatosensory Basis Of Speech Production, Stephanie Tremblay, Douglas M.
Shiller, David J. Ostry, Nature 423, 866 - 869 (19 June 2003);
doi:10.1038/nature01710


Excerpts: One of the most important functions of vision is to direct
actions to objects. However, every time that vision is used to guide an
action, retinal motion signals are produced by the movement of the eye and
head as the person looks at the object or by the motion of other objects in
the scene. To reach for the object accurately, the visuomotor system must
separate information about the position of the stationary target from
background retinal motion signals (¡K) visuomotor system does not
distinguish between these two information sources (¡K)

The Influence Of Visual Motion On Fast Reaching Movements To A Stationary
Object, David Whitney, David A. Westwood, Melvyn A. Goodale, Nature 423,
869 - 873 (19 June 2003); doi:10.1038/nature01693


9.  What The Cerebellum Computes, Trends in Neurosc.

Abstract: Thus, our understanding of the cerebellum is ultimately best
expressed in terms of the information processing (¡K). We review evidence
that indicates how Pavlovian eyelid conditioning reveals cerebellar
processing to be an example of feedforward control. Eyelid conditioning
demonstrates a capacity for learning in the cerebellum that is error
driven, associative and temporally specific ¡V as is required for
feedforward control. This computation-centered view is consistent with a
variety of proposed functions of the cerebellum, including sensory¡Vmotor
integration, motor coordination, motor learning and timing. Moreover,
feedforward processing could be the common link between motor and non-motor
functions of the cerebellum.
What The Cerebellum Computes, T. Ohyama, W. L. Nores, M. Murphy & M. D.
Mauk, Trends in Neurosc., Vol. 26, Issue 4, pp: 222-227, Apr. 2003,
doi:10.1016/S0166-2236(03)00054-7
Contributed by Pritha Das


Abstract: The vertebrate olfactory system must cope with a staggering
developmental problem: how to connect millions of olfactory neurons
expressing different odorant receptors to appropriate targets in the brain.
Recent studies demonstrate remarkable plasticity in integrating novel
olfactory sensory neurons into this circuitry.

Putting Smell On The Map, L. B. Vosshall, Trends in Neurosc., Vol. 26,
Issue 4, pp: 169-170, Apr. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0166-2236(03)00037-7
Contributed by Pritha Das


10. Molecular "Piggyback Ride" Carries Alzheimer's Protein Into Brain, URMC
News

Excerpts: The new findings center on amyloid beta, a tiny protein molecule
that accumulates over time to form tell-tale plaques in the brain tissue of
Alzheimer's patients. While various cells within the brain itself produce
amyloid beta, that amount may be just the tip of the iceberg. Mounting
evidence suggests that the bulk of amyloid beta is produced in cells
throughout the body and gets circulated in the blood. The new study reveals
for the first time how the protein gets from the blood into the brain,
thwarting the brain's elaborate filtration mechanism that normally keeps
away toxins. (...) "For more than a decade we've known that this protein
wreaks havoc in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, but we haven't known
how it gets there or how to prevent it from getting there. (...) Rather,
they get through by riding piggyback on a much larger molecule, called
RAGE, which is nontoxic and moves unfettered across the blood-brain
barrier. Normally, RAGE is produced in small amounts by the cells that form
the blood-brain barrier. But in mice that were genetically engineered to
develop Alzheimer's disease, Zlokovic found that RAGE was produced in huge
amounts ¡V eight times normal ¡V and ferried an avalanche of amyloid beta
into the brain.
See also: ComDig 2000.50
Molecular "Piggyback Ride" Carries Alzheimer's Protein Into Brain,
2003-06-24, URMC News
Contributed by Nadia Gershenson


11. Gene Tells Time for Bed, Nature Science Update

Excerpts: Whether you are a morning or an evening person could depend on a
single gene, a study of extreme sleeping habits has revealed. Understanding
the body clock's genetic basis may help people to make the most of their
day.(...) Night owls and early birds tend to carry different versions of a
gene called Per3, says Simon Archer of the University of Surrey in
Guildford, UK. This difference may make their preferred sleep cycles longer
or shorter than 24 hours.(...) Early risers generally have a longer version
of Per3 than late sleepers, who tend to carry a truncated version, the
researchers found. The gene is turned on in the brain's time-keeping
centre, the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Its precise function is not known.
Gene Tells Time for Bed, Michael Hopkin, 2003-06-20, Nature.com
Contributed by Nadia Gershenson


12. New Law May Leave Many Rural Teachers Behind, NYTimes

  Excerpts: But a new federal law challenges his credentials, saying all
teachers must have a separate college degree in the field of each major
course they teach, or prove through an exam that they are "highly
qualified" in that area of study. (...)
The full impact of the law, known as No Child Left Behind, will depend on
the flexibility given to rural states in applying its provisions, and so
far the Bush administration has sent mixed signals. (¡K)

"You can't teach what you don't know."

Editor's Note: In the age of the Internet are teachers to be expected to be
experts and resource of information in specific fields or rather
facilitators and motivators of authentic learning? One can expect the
answer to the last question to be affirmative if the teacher has learned
how to learn. Good teachers should also be able to learn by teaching. What
really counts is the outcome for the students.

New Law May Leave Many Rural Teachers Behind, Sam Dillon, NYTimes, 03/06/23


13. Desperately Seeking Similarity, Science

Excerpts: After removing all spatial surrogates for kinship, male
side-blotched lizards still actively chose to cooperate with phenotypically
and genetically similar males. The unique twist of the study is that
Sinervo and Clobert used complete genealogies to reject the hypothesis that
associating individuals were kin, raising the possibility that similarity,
in the absence of kinship, can favor cooperation.
Male side-blotched lizards are polymorphic, occurring in three distinct
color types (¡K). Genes correlated with throat color determine the method
by which each type attempts to court and mate with females

Desperately Seeking Similarity, Janis L. Dickinson and Walter D. Koenig,
Science Jun 20 2003: 1887-1889.


Excerpts: In most cooperative vertebrates, delayed natal dispersal is the
mechanism that leads to the formation of kin societies. Under this
condition, the possibility that kin-based cooperative breeding is an
unselected consequence of dispersal patterns can never be ruled out because
helpers can only help their relatives. Here we show that a population of
carrion crows (Corvus corone corone) fully fits the central prediction of
kin selection theory that cooperative breeding should arise among
relatives. (¡K) indicating that crows actively choose to breed
cooperatively with their relatives.

Kin Selection in Cooperative Alliances of Carrion Crows, Vittorio Baglione,
Daniela Canestrari, Jose M. Marcos, Jan Ekman, Science Jun 20 2003: 1947-1949.


Abstract: Genetic similarity owing to kin relationship is often invoked to
explain the evolution of social cooperation. In this study, male color
morphs of side-blotched lizards settle nonrandomly with respect to genetic
similarity. Blue morphs tend to settle in close proximity to other blue
morphs with high genetic similarity. Blue neighbors have three times the
average fitness of blue males lacking such neighbors. Conversely,
genetically similar males depress fitness of the orange morph. Moreover,
orange males are hyperdispersed with respect to genetic similarity.
Pedigree and dispersal data show that genetically similar blue neighbors
are not kin. Instead, conditions for the evolution of dispersal and
cooperation are promoted by an emergent property of the morph locus that
increases genetic similarity within morphs: genome-wide correlational
selection links many traits to the morph locus, including settlement behavior.

Morphs, Dispersal Behavior, Genetic Similarity, and the Evolution of
Cooperation, Barry Sinervo, Jean Clobert, Science Jun 20 2003: 1949-1951


14. Echolocation: Volume Control, Nature

Excerpt: They found that, as the dolphins homed in on the hydrophone array,
the amplitude of the sonar they emitted decreased by 6 decibels every time
the distance was halved. That would ensure that the echoes do not increase
in strength as the animals get closer to their target.
There's more than one way to solve this problem: bats keep the amplitude of
their sonar signals constant, but decrease the sensitivity of their hearing
once they have emitted the signals, allowing the sensitivity to increase
gradually with time.

Echolocation: Volume Control, Amanda Tromans, Nature 423, 815 (19 June
2003); doi:10.1038/423815a


Excerpt: Operating in the dark, bats, submarines and dolphins have to rely
on sound rather than vision, sending out high-frequency pings or "clicks"
to locate their targets.

But they all face a similar problem: as they get closer to the target, the
echo comes back faster but also becomes progressively louder.

This is because more energy is reflected back than before, rather than gets
lost in the surrounding water or air. And if the echo gets too loud, it
could become deafening.

Study Shows How Dolphins Land Lunch, AFP/Animal Planet, 03/06/19


Excerpt: Accurate measurements of echolocation signals used by free-ranging
dolphins in the wild can be difficult to obtain, because the echolocation
beam pattern is relatively narrow. (¡K) It is also extremely difficult to
determine the distance of a moving dolphin from the recording hydrophone in
order to determine the source level (sound pressure level 1 m from the
dolphin) of the signals. We have successfully overcome these problems by
using a short-base-line array of four hydrophones arranged as a symmetrical
star.

Automatic Gain Control In The Echolocation System Of Dolphins, Whitlow W.
L. Au And Kelly J. Benoit-Bird, Nature 423, 861 - 863 (19 June 2003);
doi:10.1038/nature01727


15. The Warped Side of Dark Matter, Science

Excerpt: Weak gravitational lensing, a subtle distortion of all distant
galaxies, promises the most direct way of mapping the universe we can't see
Imagine flying over a mountain range on a moonless night. You know that
peaks loom below, but you can't see them. Suddenly, specks of light pop
into view: isolated country homes, dotting the hilly slopes. The lights
outline part of the massive edifice, but your mind grasps that the darkness
hides something far larger.

Astronomers face a similar situation

The Warped Side of Dark Matter, Robert Irion, Science Jun 20 2003: 1894-1896


Excerpt: Discovered less than a decade ago, a mysterious antigravity force
suffuses the universe. (¡K) the blackest mystery in the shadiest realms of
cosmology

It's the biggest question in physics: What is the invisible stuff blowing
the universe apart? A decade ago, the idea of "dark energy" was a
historical footnote, something Einstein concocted to balance his equations
and later regretted. (¡K) They now know that this mysterious "antigravity"
force exists, yet nobody has a good explanation for what it might be or how
it works.

Dark Energy Tiptoes Toward the Spotlight, Charles Seife, Science Jun 20
2003: 1896-1897


Excerpt: The Dark Age is the period between the time when the cosmic
microwave background was emitted and the time when the evolution of
structure in the universe led to the gravitational collapse of objects, in
which the first stars were formed. The period of reionization started with
the ionizing light from the first stars, and it ended when all the atoms in
the intergalactic medium had been reionized. (¡K) The Cold Dark Matter
theory for structure formation predicts that the first sources formed much
earlier.

The Dark Age of the Universe, Jordi Miralda-Escude, Science Jun 20 2003:
1904-1909


Excerpt: Dark matter, proposed decades ago as a speculative component of
the universe, is now known to be the vital ingredient in the cosmos: six
times more abundant than ordinary matter, (¡K), and the component that has
controlled the growth of structure in the universe. Its nature remains a
mystery, but assuming that it is composed of weakly interacting subatomic
particles, is consistent with large-scale cosmic structure (¡K). We discuss
how studies of the density, demography, history, and environment of
smaller-scale structures may distinguish among these possibilities (¡K).

New Light on Dark Matter, Jeremiah P. Ostriker and Paul Steinhardt, Science
Jun 20 2003: 1909-1913.


Excerpt: Supernova observations show that the expansion of the universe has
been speeding up. This unexpected acceleration is ascribed to a dark energy
that pervades space. Supernova data, combined with other observations,
indicate that the universe is about 14 billion years old and is composed of
about 30%matter and 70%dark energy. (¡K) whether the dark energy is a
modern version of Einstein's cosmological constant or another form of dark
energy that changes with time. Either conclusion is an enigma that points
to gaps in our fundamental understanding of gravity.

Throwing Light on Dark Energy, Robert P. Kirshner, Science Jun 20 2003:
1914-1918.


16. Making Clouds Darker Sharpens Cloudy Climate Models, Science

  Excerpt: Clouds are the great uncertainty of climate prediction. If
researchers could get them more or less right in their models, they could
be more definite about how warm it could get this century. Plenty remains
wrong with model clouds, but researchers are now fixing a crucial shortcoming.
Measurements published in 1995 cast a shadow over climate models: They
indicated that clouds absorb 40% more incoming solar energy, and let less
pass through to warm the surface, than the models predicted.

Making Clouds Darker Sharpens Cloudy Climate Models, Richard A. Kerr,
Science Jun 20 2003: 1859-1860


17. Senescence In A Bacterium With Asymmetric Division, Science

Excerpts: Senescence (or aging) is a deterioration of function with age
manifested as a drop in survival and reproduction (1). A fundamental
question about senescence has not been settled: Which organisms should be
senescent, and which should be potentially immortal? We present evidence
for senescence in a bacterium with asymmetric division, supporting the
notion that asymmetry is the key condition for senescence to evolve (2).
The molecular processes underlying senescence are genetically determined.
Why then is senescence-which imposes a cost on the individual-not
eliminated by natural selection? For most organisms, selection against
senescence is weak.

Senescence In A Bacterium With Asymmetric Division, Martin Ackermann,
Stephen C. Stearns, Urs Jenal, Science Jun 20 2003: 1920


18. A Tree of Fireflies, a Flock of Boson Clouds, Science Book Report

Excerpts: Applied mathematician Steven Strogatz now gives us a compulsively
readable guided tour of many such phenomena: some from the inanimate world
(lasers, chemical pattern formation, and electrical systems), others from
biology (including "brain waves" and circadian sleep-wake cycles).
Strogatz's stories concern collections of things--neurons, bosons,
fireflies, chemical reactants--that display periodic oscillations and whose
elements have predictable phase relations, often synchrony in the strict
sense (i.e., zero phase lags among components). Strogatz stresses the
similarities among the behavior of these systems, as revealed by their
mathematical descriptions.

A Tree of Fireflies, a Flock of Boson Clouds, Nancy Kopell, Science Jun 20
2003: 1878-1879
Sync The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order, Steven Strogatz, Theia
(Hyperion), New York, 2003.
See also Edge.org video with Steven Strogat


19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks

  Excerpts: The organization, whose aim is to overthrow Tehran's Islamic
Republic by force, has operated in France for more than two decades and has
its headquarters and military wing in Iraq. It pays for its operations
through complex fund-raising that may be legal. Its main financier used to
be Iraq, which over time gave the group several hundreds of millions of
dollars, the report said. It added that since the fall of the government of
Saddam Hussein, militants of both its political and military wing "have
fled the country (¡K).
Iranian Terror Group Planned Attacks, French Report Says, Elaine Sciolino,
NYTimes, 03/06/24
See also: American Forces Reach Cease-Fire With Terror Group [Complexity
Digest 2003.18]


Excerpts: (¡K) hopes to equip these soldiers and security guards with a
device that can save them a few potentially life-saving seconds in the
search for concealed weapons. (¡K) devised a system that combines a photo
taken by an optical camera with a photo of the same subject taken by a
millimeter-wave camera (MMW). The result is a composite photo that exposes
much more than either photo reveals by itself. (¡K) have fused two photos
of the same setting so that an alarm clock in the foreground and a man
seated in the background are both in focus.

By Fusing Images, Lehigh Professor Detects Concealed Weapons, ScienceDaily
& Lehigh Univ., 2003/06/25
"image fusion" with a striking set of three photos
Contributed by Atin Das


20. Links & Snippets

20.1 Other Publications

SFI Working Papers
Universality in Syntactic Dependency Networks, Ramon Ferrer, Ricard V.
Sole, and Reinhard Kohler, DOI: SFI-WP 03-06-042
Molecular Phylogeny of Coronaviruses Including Human SARS-CoV, Lei Gao, Ji
Qi, Haibin Wei, Yigang Sun, and Bailin Hao, DOI: SFI-WP 03-06-041
Dominance Style, Social Power, and Conflict Management in Macaque
Societies: A Conceptual Framework, Jessica C. Flack and Frans B. M. de
Waal, DOI: SFI-WP 03-06-040
Risk Management in Biological Evolution, Andreas Wagner, DOI: SFI-WP 03-06-039
Lessons from a Genetic Network about the Causes of Dominance, Andreas
Wagner, DOI: SFI-WP 03-06-038
Asymmetric Sequence Divergence of Duplicate Genes, G. C. Conant and Andreas
Wagner, DOI: SFI-WP 03-06-037
Strategic Freedom, Constraint, and Symmetry in One-Period Markets with Cash
and Credit Payment, D. Eric Smith and Martin Shubik, DOI: SFI-WP 03-05-036
Structure, Clearinghouses and Symmetry, Martin Shubik and D. Eric Smith,
DOI: SFI-WP 03-05-035
BOA: Framework for Automated Builds, Natalia M. Ratnikova, 2003-06-14, DOI:
cs.SE/0306080, arXiv
The Best Trail Algorithm for Assisted Navigation of Web Sites, Richard
Wheeldon, Mark Levene, 2003-06-22, DOI: cs.DS/0306122, arXiv
Contextual Random Boolean Networks, Carlos Gershenson, Jan Broekaert,
Diederik Aerts, 2003-06-11, arXiv
Argument Maps Improve Critical Thinking, Twardy, Charles R., 2003-06-13,
CogPrints
Making Refactoring Decisions in Large-scale Java Systems: an Empirical
Stance, Richard Wheeldon, Steve Counsell, 2003-06-16, arXiv
Punctuated Equilibria and 1/f Noise in a Biological Coevolution Model with
Individual-based Dynamics, Per Arne Rikvold, R.K.P. Zia, 2003-06-15, arXiv
Swarming Dynamics of a Model for Biological Groups in Two Dimensions, C.M.
Topaz, A.L. Bertozzi, 2003-06-17, arXiv
A Method for Solving Distributed Service Allocation Problems, Jose M Vidal,
2003-06-20, arXiv
Global Platform for Rich Media Conferencing and Collaboration, Harvey B.
Newman, Philippe Galvez, Gregory Denis, David Collados, Kun Wei, David
Adamczyk, 2003-06, arXiv
Cooperation and Self-Regulation in a Model of Agents Playing Different
Games, H. Fort, 2003-06-24, arXiv
Self-organization of Hierarchical Structures in Non-locally Coupled
Replicator Models, Hidetsugu Sakaguchi, 2003-06-30, Physics Letters A
313(3):188-191
Quantum Communications And Beyond, J. G. Rarity, Phil. Tran. A: Math.,
Phys. & Eng. Sc., 2003/06/05, DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2003.1217
Static And Dynamic Properties Of Small-World Connection Topologies Based On
Transit-Stub Networks, C. Aguirre, F. Corbacho & R. Huerta, Complex Sys.,
Vol. 14, Issue 1, 2003
Using Statistical Learning Theory To Rationalize System Model
Identification And Validation Part I: Mathematical Foundations, A. A.
Guergachi & G. G. Patry, Complex Sys., Vol. 14, Issue 1, 2003
A Real-World Rational Agent: Unifying Old And New AI, P. F. M. J. Verschure
& P. Althaus, Cognitive Sc., Vol. 27, Issue 4, pp:561-590, 2003/06/07,
doi:10.1016/S0364-0213(03)00034-X
The Transfer Of Abstract Principles Governing Complex Adaptive Systems, R.
L. Goldstone & Y. Sakamoto, Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 46, Issue 4, pp:
414-466, Jun. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0010-0285(02)00519-4
Heart Rate Variability During Sleep As A Function Of The Sleep Cycle, F.
Versace, M. Mozzato, G. De Min Ton, C. Cavallero &  L.  Stegagno, Biol.
Psychology,Vol. 63, Issue 2, pp:149-162, May 2003,
doi:10.1016/S0301-0511(03)00052-8
How Might Individual Honeybees Measure Massive Volumes?, N. R. Franks & A.
Dornhaus, Alphagalileo & Biol. Lett., 2003/06/23
Rapid Movements Of Living Biomolecules Visualised, N. Moerlie,
Alphagalileo, 2003/06/24
Trouble Is Brewing, D. Stilwell, Alphagalileo, 2003/06/24
Berkeley Lab Physicist Challenges Speed Of Gravity Claim, ScienceDaily &
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., 2003/06/19
New Way To Make Realistic Shadows For Computer Images, Animation,
ScienceDaily & Ohio State Univ., 2003/06/23
Researchers Discover Birds Protect Trees In Neotropics By Eating Insects,
ScienceDaily & Univ.  Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, 2003/06/24
UCI Researcher Pinpoints Cause Of Inherited Auditory Neuropathy,
ScienceDaily & Univ. Of California - Irvine, 2003/06/26
A Multiphase Model Describing Vascular Tumour Growth, C. J. W. Breward, H.
M. Byrne & C. E. Lewis, Bull. Math. Biol., Vol. 65, Issue 4, pp: 609-640,
Jul. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0092-8240(03)00027-2
Attitudes Towards The Euro By National Identity And Relative National
Status, K. M. Pesti & E. Kirchler, J. Economic Psychology, Vol. 24, Issue
3, pp: 293-299, Jun. 2003, doi:10.1016/S0167-4870(02)00195-2
Iraqi Saboteurs' Goal: Disrupt the Occupation, Michael R. Gordon, NYTimes,
03/06/28
Pentagon Delays Releasing 5 Syrians Hurt in U.S. Raid, Douglas Jehl, Eric
Schmitt, NYTimes, 03/06/28
Pitting Fuel Economy Against Safety, Danny Hakim, NYTimes, 03/06/28
Calculating the Irrational in Economics, Stephen J. Dubner, NYTimes,
03/06/28, The field of behavior economics blends psychology, economics and
neuroscience to argue that emotion plays a huge role in how people make
economic decisions.
"Saddam's Bombs? We'll Find Them", opinion by Kenneth Pollack; The New York
Times (6/20/03)
"Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Future of the U.S. Military, ", Brookings
Iraq Memo #17, Michael O'Hanlon (6/19/03)
"Building the New Iraq: The Role of Intervening Forces", Daniel Byman;
Survival (Summer 2003)
"Democracy in Iraq?", Daniel Byman and Kenneth Pollack; The Washington
Quarterly (Summer 2003)
"'Road Map' Flaws Exposed", opinion by Shibley Telhami; Los Angeles Times
(6/15/03)
"Give Iran an Alternative to Nukes", opinion by Flynt Leverett; Los Angeles
Times (6/15/03)
Modeling the SARS Epidemic, Chris Dye and Nigel Gay, Science Jun 20 2003:
1884-1885
Transmission Dynamics and Control of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome,
Marc Lipsitch, Ted Cohen, Ben Cooper, James M. Robins, Stefan Ma, Lyn
James, Gowri Gopalakrishna, Suok Kai Chew, Chorh Chuan Tan, Matthew H.
Samore, David Fisman, and Megan Murray, Science Jun 20 2003: 1966-1970.
Psychiatric Drugs: Excited by Glutamate, Constance Holden, Science Jun 20
2003: 1866-1868.
Solid Hints of a Strange State, Robert F. Service, Science Jun 20 2003: 1871
Cosmology: Beyond The Inflationary Border, Steven Gratton And Paul
Steinhardt, Nature 423, 817 - 818 (19 June 2003); doi:10.1038/423817a
Cell Cycle: Degradation Ensures Integrity, Anatoliy Li And J. Julian Blow,
Nature 423, 818 - 819 (19 June 2003); doi:10.1038/423818b
Regulation Of Flowering Time By Light Quality, Pablo D. Cerdan And Joanne
Chory, Nature 423, 881 - 885 (19 June 2003); doi:10.1038/nature01636


20.2 Coming and Ongoing Webcasts

Edge Videos
Einstein And Poincare, Peter Galison, 03/06/
Genome Changes Everything, Matt Ridley, 03/06/
A United Biology, E.O. Wilson, 03/05/28
In The Matrix, Martin Rees, 03/05/19
Who Cares About Fireflies? Steven Strogatz, 03/05/12
World Economic Forum Extraordinary Annual Meeting, Jordan, 03/06/21-23
SPIE's 1st Intl Symp on Fluctuations and Noise, Santa Fe, NM, 2003/06/01-04
NAS Sackler Colloquium on Mapping Knowledge Domains, Video/Audio Report,
03/05/11
Uncertainty and Surprise: Questions on Working with the Unexpected and
Unknowable, The University of Texas Austin, Texas USA, 2003/04/10-12
New Trends In Industrial Partnership And Innovation Management At European
Research Laboratories, CERN, Geneva, 2003/03/19 (with webcast)
CERN Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and Live Events
Dean LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since February 1998


20.3 Conference Announcements & Call for Papers

  2nd EXYSTENCE Thematic Institute on "Discrete and Computational Aspects
of Complex Systems", Lyon, France, 03/06/15-07/04
Computational and Mathematical Approaches to Homeland Security, Public
Health Policy and Control: Challenges Posed by Emerging and Reemerging
Diseases, Los Alamos, NM, 03/06/30-07/03
5th Intl Conf "Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics", Kiev, Ukraine,
2003/06/23-29, Mirror
NKS 2003 Conference & Minicourse, Boston, MA, 03/06/27-29
Exystence Thematic Institute - Algorithms And Challenges In Hard
Combinatorial Problems - Trieste, Italy, 03/07/01-31, Turin, Italy,
03/10/01-30
UQAM Summer Institute in Cognitive Sciences 2003: Categorization In
Cognitive Sciences, Montreal, 2003/06/30-07/11
9th International Conference on Auditory Display, Boston, MA,
2003/07/07-09, Wkshp on Assistive Technologies for the Blind, 2003/07/07-09
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, 2003/07/07-11
2nd International School Topics In Nonlinear Dynamics, Siena (Italy),
2003/07/09-11
2003 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO-2003), Chicago,
IL,2003/07/12-16
2nd Intl Joint Conf on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
(AAMAS-2003), Melbourne, Australia, 2003/07/14-18
4th Workshop on Multi-Agent Based Simulation, Melbourne, Australia, 2003/07/14
7th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI
2003), Orlando, Florida, 2003/07/27-30
BIFURCATIONS 2003, Southampton, UK, 03/07/28-30
Intl Conf on Socio Political Informatics and Cybernetics: SPIC '03,
Orlando, Fl, USA, 2003/07/31-08/02
13th Annual International Conference, Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life
Sciences,Boston, MA, USA, 2003/08/08-10
Thematic Institute "Networks and Risks", Budapest, Hungary, 03/08/25 - 09/27
Conference on Growing Networks and Graphs in Statistical Physics, Finance,
Biology and Social Systems, Rome, 03/09/01-05
Call for Papers on Dynamical Hierarchies, Special Issue of Artificial Life,
Deadline: 2003/09/05
7th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL-2003), Dortmund, Germany,
2003/09/14-17
A Dual International Conference on Ethics, Complexity & Organisations &
Creativity, London, UK, 2003/09/17-18
1st German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies (MATES'03), Erfurt,
Germany, 2003/09/22-25
Dynamics Days 2003, XXIII Annual Conference, 4 Decades of Chaos 1963-2003,
Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 03/09/24-27
Improving The NHS Through The Lens Of Complexity, U Exeter, UK, 03/09/24-26
Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT, Cambridge, MA, 2003/09/24-25
Intl School Mathematical Aspects of Quantum Chaos II Quantum Chaos on
Hyperbolic Manifolds, Schloss Reisensburg (Gunzburg, Germany), 03/10/04-11
2003 IEEE/WIC Intl Joint Conf. Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent
Technology, Beijing, China, 2003/10/13-17
American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) 2003 Conference (H.v.Foerster),
Vienna, Austria , 2003/11/10-15
Trends And Perspectives In Extensive And Non-Extensive Statistical
Mechanics, In Honour Of The 60th Birthday Of Constantino Tsallis, Angra Dos
Reis, Brazil, 2003/11/19-21
ICDM '03: The Third IEEE International Conference on Data Mining,
Melbourne, Florida, USA, 2003/11/19-22
3rd International Workshop on Meta-Synthesis and Complex System, Guangzhou,
China, 2003/11/29-30
2nd International Workshop on the Mathematics and Algorithms of Social
Insects, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 2003/12/15-17
1st International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Approaches to Advanced
Information Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland, 04/01/29-30
4th Intl ICSC Symposium Engineering Of Intelligent Systems (EIS 2004),
Island of Madeira, Portugal, 04/02/29-03/02
Fractal 2004, "Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl
Multidisciplinary Conf , Vancouver, Canada, 2004/04/04-07
Urban Vulnerability and Network Failure: Constructions and Experiences of
Emergencies, Crises and Collapse, Manchester, UK, 04/04/29-30
Fifth International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004), Boston, MA,
USA, 2004/05/16-21
13th International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious Diseases, Toulon,
France, 04/06/03-05


20.4 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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