复杂性文摘 NO：2003.52

Complexity Digest 2003.52 Dec. 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

_________________________________________________________________


Content:

01. Illuminating the Dark Universe, Science
02. From Information Age To Molecular Age, Tech. Forecasting & Social Change
02.01. Mobiles 'Narrow Information Gap', BBC News
02.02. FCC Investigates Smart Radios, GCN
02.03. The Answer To Video Piracy, McKinsey Quarterly
03. Forecasting Business Cycles Using Deviations From Long-Run Economic
Relationships, Macroecon.
Dynamics
04. Mathematics Could Stabilize Peace Treaties, Natue Science update
04.01. Modeling Robust Settlements To Civil War, SFI Working Paper
04.02. The Cognitive Foundations Of Cultural Stability And Diversity,
Trends in Cognitive Sc.
05. New Robot Brain Takes To The Skies, ABC Science Online
06. "Mad Cow?Mechanism May Be Integral to Storing Memory, Whitehead Inst
Press Release
06.01. Mad Cow Case May Bring More Meat Testing, NYTimes
07. Measurements: The Brain Wave Made Me Do It, NYTimes
07.01. Parents' Brains Tuned To Babies' Tears, Natue Science update
07.02. Neuroscience: ORs Rule the Roost in the Olfactory System, Science
07.03. A "Slurp" Says More Than Ten Beeps, Alphagalileo
08. Two Hands, One Brain: Cognitive Neuroscience Of Bimanual Skill, Trends
in Cognitive Sc.
08.01. Two Brains, One Clock, Trends in Cognitive Sc.
09. Coding And Learning Of Behavioral Sequences, Trends in Neurosc.
10. Stem-Cell 'Secret Of Youth' Found, Natue Science update
11. Evolution: Climb Every Mountain?, Science
11.01. The Costs Of Specialization, The Scientist
12. Developmental Biology: Tubulogenesis CLICs into Place, Science
13. The Elephant and the Chili Pepper, NYTimes
14. Secret Of 'Strained Silicon' Chips Revealed, NewScientist
15. Bifurcation Structures Of Period-Adding Phenomena In An Ocean Internal
Wave Model, Int. J.
Bifur. & Chaos
16. Randomness in Quantum Computation, Science
16.01. Pseudo-Random Unitary Operators for Quantum Information Processing,
Science
17. Microsoft Aims To Make Spammers Pay, BBC News
17.01. Software Shares Out Spare Processing Power, NewScientist
18. Examining Halliburton's 'Sweetheart' Deal in Iraq, NPR Audio
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. Hussein's Capture Not Likely to Harm Al Qaeda, Washington Post
19.02. Fear Of Modern Terrorism, The Japan Times
19.03. Gulf Arabs Approve Anti-Terror Pact, Back Iraqi Sovereignty Transfer
Plan, China View
19.04. State of the War on Terror, 2003, NPR Audio
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements
20.04. ComDig Announcement: New ComDig Archive in Beta Test

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01. Illuminating the Dark Universe , Science

Excerpts:


  Microwave data observed by the WMAP satellite(...) reveal a universe
dominated by dark energy.


Portraits of the earliest universe and the lacy pattern of galaxies in
today's sky confirm that the
universe is made up largely of mysterious dark energy and dark matter. They
also give the universe
a firm age and a precise speed of expansion.(...)

Lingering doubts about the existence of dark energy and the composition of
the universe dissolved
when the WMAP satellite took the most detailed picture ever of the cosmic
microwave background
(CMB). (...)
The universe is only 4% ordinary matter, (...). And the remainder, 73%, is
dark energy.

* Illuminating the Dark Universe, Charles Seife , 03/12/19, Science: 2038-2039


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02. From Information Age To Molecular Age , Tech. Forecasting & Social Change

Excerpts: In tandem with the rise of the information society after World
War II, two other
developments were of great significance, (1) the Cold War energizing the
U.S. Department of Defense
to act as driver for technology forecasting and (2) the concern with
operations and systems
analysis. By 1970, the setting began to change. (a) The Cold War was waning
and the limits of
systems analysis were becoming apparent (...). (b) The awesome growth of
computational power (...)
became a kind of laboratory tool for the researcher. One example is the
development of "complexity
science" (...) complex nonlinear, dynamic, adaptive systems (CAS).

* From Information Age To Molecular Age, H. A. Linstone , Jan.-Feb. 2004, DOI:
10.1016/j.techfore.2003.09.004, Technological Forecasting and Social Change
* Contributed by Pritha Das


_________________________________________________________________

02.01. Mobiles 'Narrow Information Gap' , BBC News

Excerpts:


Mobile phones have taken off in Africa


Mobile phones are helping to bridge the communications divide between the
world's rich and poor, a
report says.

The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute says that in developing
countries, the proportion of
people with access to a phone has grown over the past 10 years by more than
25%.

One in five of the world's population had used a mobile phone by 2002, it
reports - up from one in
237 in 1992.

The relatively low cost of mobile reception masts has driven this trend.

* Mobiles 'Narrow Information Gap', 03/12/23, BBC News


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02.02. FCC Investigates Smart Radios , GCN

Excerpts: The Defense Department's next-generation Joint Tactical Radio
System uses
software-defined radio technologies, which let wireless communications
devices switch waveforms.
The reprogrammable radios, based on an open-communications architecture,
will provide U.S.
commanders and warfighters with interoperable voice and data communications
capabilities.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has also funded a number of
technologies that use
dynamic frequencies. DARPA has funded cognitive radio work (...).

Cognitive radio draws on artificial intelligence to automatically negotiate
the best transmission
path based on factors it evaluates internally, such as what space other
radios are using.

* FCC Investigates Smart Radios, Joab Jackson , 12/19/03, GCN


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02.03. The Answer To Video Piracy , McKinsey Quarterly

Take-Away:




The solution to the piracy conundrum begins with more cooperation among the
major players. Media
companies should give broadband providers a cut of their revenues in
exchange for help policing the
heavy file-sharing violators. PC makers could encourage video-on-demand
services-and the equipment
upgrades they will bring-by adopting copyright protection technologies.

* Computers & Technology - The Answer To Video Piracy, 2004, The McKinsey
Quarterly, Number 1


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03. Forecasting Business Cycles Using Deviations From Long-Run Economic
Relationships , Macroecon.
Dynamics

Abstract: We introduce a new index that explores the linkage between
business-cycle fluctuations
and deviations from long-run economic relationships. This index is
virtually a measure of the
distance between an attractor (...). The index is applied to U.S. quarterly
data to demonstrate its
association with an economy's vulnerability state. We find that the average
of the index during
expansions negatively correlates with the average contraction in output
during recessions. A
nonlinear error correction model based on a revised version of the index
reveals a forecasting gain
as compared to the linear error correction model.

* Forecasting Business Cycles Using Deviations From Long-Run Economic
Relationships, C. W. J.
Granger  , R. Yauecos ecos1021@mails.fju.edu.tw , N. Francis , Nov. 2003, DOI:
10.1017/S1365100503020261, Macroeconomic Dynamics
* Contributed by Pritha Das


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04. Mathematics Could Stabilize Peace Treaties , Natue Science update

Excerpts:


Less than one in five civil wars end through negotiated settlements.
?GettyImages



A political scientist at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico has devised a
mathematical method
that could help civil-war negotiators to find the most stable peace treaties.

Elisabeth Wood calculates that a settlement will be stronger and more
likely to last if it finds
the ideal way to apportion the stakes. For example, if two warring factions
each want control of
some part of a disputed region, negotiators need to divide the territory in
a way that comes
closest to satisfying them both.

* Mathematics Could Stabilize Peace Treaties Game theory might help draw up
war settlements, Philip
Ball  , 03/12/16, Nature Science Update


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04.01. Modeling Robust Settlements To Civil War , SFI Working Paper

Abstract: Why do some civil war settlements prove robust, while others
fail? I show how a
settlement's robustness, defined in terms of the risk factor of the
mutual-compromise equilibrium,
depends on the nature of the stakes of the conflict and the distributional
terms of the settlement.
I identify the distributional terms of the optimal settlement, namely, that
most robust to
exogenous shocks to the actors' confidence that the other will continue to
compromise. I introduce
a measure of the degree of the perceived indivisibility of the stakes, an
increase in which not
only decreases the range of feasible distributional settlements, but
decreases their robustness as
well. I explore how intra-party heterogeneity and uncertainty regarding
ex-post outcomes lessen the
range and robustness of settlements. In the conclusion, I compile the
predictions of the model and
briefly consider the policy implications.

* Modeling Robust Settlements To Civil War: Indivisible Stakes And
Distributional Compromises,
Elisabeth Jean Wood , 2003, Santa Fe Working Paper, 03-10-056


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04.02. The Cognitive Foundations Of Cultural Stability And Diversity ,
Trends in Cognitive Sc.

Abstract: The existence and diversity of human cultures are made possible
by our species-specific
cognitive capacities. But how? Do cultures emerge and diverge as a result
of the deployment, over
generations and in different populations, of general abilities to learn,
imitate and communicate?
What role if any do domain-specific evolved cognitive abilities play in the
emergence and evolution
of cultures? These questions have been approached from different vantage
points in different
disciplines. Here we present a view that is currently developing out of the
converging work of
developmental psychologists, evolutionary psychologists and cognitive
anthropologists.

* The Cognitive Foundations Of Cultural Stability And Diversity, D. Sperber
dan@sperber.com , L. A.
Hirschfeld , Jan. 2004, DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2003.11.002, Trends in
Cognitive Sciences
* Contributed by Atin Das


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05. New Robot Brain Takes To The Skies , ABC Science Online

Excerpts:


The Mantis makes it possible for fleets of small drone helicopters to do
jobs now done by
conventional aircraft, say scientists (CSIRO)



A new robot 'brain', based in part on the workings of the human inner ear,
has enabled the
production of the world's first small robotic helicopter that can see and
think for itself, say
Australian researchers.

The 'brain' and helicopter - called "Mantis" - was announced this week by
CSIRO Complex Systems
Integration.
(...)the CSIRO helicopter is the first to fly completely independent of
expensive global
positioning systems (GPS) guidance. Instead it uses its brain to control
its balance and
orientation.

* New Robot Brain Takes To The Skies, Heather Catchpole , 03/12/18, ABC
Science Online


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06. "Mad Cow?Mechanism May Be Integral to Storing Memory , Whitehead Inst
Press Release

Excerpts:


(...) yeast cell turns blue.


Scientists have discovered a new process for how memories might be stored,
a finding that could
help explain one of the least-understood activities of the brain. What's
more, the key player in
this process is a protein that acts just like a prion ?a class of proteins
that includes the
deadly agents involved in neurodegenerative conditions such as mad cow
disease.

The study, (...), suggests that this protein does its good work while in a
prion state,
contradicting a widely held belief that a protein that has prion activity
is toxic or at least
doesn't function properly.

* "Mad Cow?Mechanism May Be Integral to Storing Memory, 03/12/25, Whitehead
Institute Press
Release


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06.01. Mad Cow Case May Bring More Meat Testing , NYTimes

Excerpts:


Associated Press
Dr. Dave Steffen testing a brain for mad cow disease in 2001 at University
of Nebraska at Lincoln.


The officials declined to say exactly what they would recommend, but
acknowledged that European and
Japanese regulators screened millions of animals using tests that take only
three hours, fast
enough to stop diseased carcasses from being cut up for food.

United States inspectors have tested fewer than 30,000 of the roughly 300
million animals
slaughtered in the last nine years, and they get results days or weeks later.
But the American system was never intended to keep sick animals from
reaching the public's
refrigerators, (...).

* Mad Cow Case May Bring More Meat Testing, Donald G. Mcneil Jr.
  , 03/12/26, NYTimes


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07. Measurements: The Brain Wave Made Me Do It , NYTimes

Excerpts: Now, British researchers say they have figured out a way to use
similar brain waves to
tell something slightly different: whether someone is about to make a mistake.

The study, presented on Thursday at a conference of the Physiological
Society at Cambridge
University, reported that changes in a specific, easily monitored kind of
brain wave were reliable
predictors of a drop in performance on a task requiring prolonged attention.

The researchers focused on a brain wave known as P300, which is generated
when the brain encounters
a stimulus.

* Measurements: The Brain Wave Made Me Do It, John O'neil  , 03/12/23, NYTimes


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07.01. Parents' Brains Tuned To Babies' Tears , Natue Science update

Excerpts:


Waah: crying provokes parents, but not childless adults.
?GettyImages


Researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, played parents and
childless adults recordings
of babies' cries and laughter. They measured their brain activity using
functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI).

Parents' brains fired up more in response to sobs than giggles, the
researchers found1. The cries
activated one brain region in particular, called the amygdala, which is
involved in processing
emotions.

* Parents' Brains Tuned To Babies' Tears. Emotions triggered by wailing
tots., 03/12/22, Natue
Science update


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07.02. Neuroscience: ORs Rule the Roost in the Olfactory System , Science

Excerpt: The mammalian olfactory system is capable of detecting thousands
of different odor
molecules. Considerable evidence suggests that each olfactory neuron
expresses only one olfactory
receptor (OR) from the large OR family encoded by more than 1000 genes
scattered throughout the
genome. This phenomenon is known as "the one OR-one neuron rule." Such
differential expression of
OR genes enables the olfactory system to recognize individual odors and to
subsequently create a
spatial map of odor identity in the olfactory bulb of the brain.

* Neuroscience: ORs Rule the Roost in the Olfactory System, Joseph W.
Lewcock  , Randall R. Reed ,
03/12/19, Science: 2078-2079


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07.03. A "Slurp" Says More Than Ten Beeps , Alphagalileo

Excerpts: Natural warning sounds may be the future in airplanes and perhaps
in cars as well. A
"slurp" when fuel is low works better than a monotonous beeping sound.
(...) has studied how
warning sounds function, how we associate sounds, and how new sounds can be
designed. Alarm sounds
have remained largely the same for many years. They involve (...) sound
pulses of different
frequency. (...) found that it is easier to remember what an alarms sound
means if we can associate
it with something we recognize, and that it was also much easier for people
to distinguish between
several types of sounds

* A "Slurp" Says More Than Ten Beeps, M. Leggett mleggett@physoc.org ,
2003/12/18, Alphagalileo
* Contributed by Atin Das


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08. Two Hands, One Brain: Cognitive Neuroscience Of Bimanual Skill , Trends
in Cognitive Sc.

Abstract: Bimanual coordination, a prototype of a complex motor skill, has
recently become the
subject of intensive investigation. Whereas past research focused mainly on
the identification of
the elementary coordination constraints that limit performance, the focus
is now shifting towards
overcoming these coordination constraints by means of task symbolization or
perceptual
transformation rules that promote the integration of the task components
into a meaningful
`gestalt'. The study of these cognitive penetrations into action will
narrow the brain-mind gap and
will facilitate the development of a cognitive neuroscience perspective on
bimanual movement
control.

* Two Hands, One Brain: Cognitive Neuroscience Of Bimanual Skill, S. P. Swinnen
Stephan.Swinnen@flok.kuleuven.ac.be , N. Wenderoth , Jan. 2004, DOI:
10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.017,
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
* Contributed by Atin Das


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08.01. Two Brains, One Clock , Trends in Cognitive Sc.

Abstract: A recent study has shown that information about the duration of
brief time intervals
acquired by one side of the brain is readily available to the other
cerebral hemisphere in a
patient in which the corpus callosum and the other forebrain commissures
have been sectioned. This
strongly suggests that the internal clock that measures time duration is
subcortical, and that its
output can be easily projected to both hemispheres via subcortical commissures.

* Two Brains, One Clock, C. A. Marzi carloalberto.marzi@univr.it , Jan.
2004, DOI:
10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.015, Trends in Cognitive Sciences
* Contributed by Atin Das


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09. Coding And Learning Of Behavioral Sequences , Trends in Neurosc.

Abstract: A major challenge to understanding behavior is how the nervous
system allows the learning
of behavioral sequences that can occur over arbitrary timescales, ranging
from milliseconds up to
seconds, using a fixed millisecond learning rule. This article describes
some potential solutions,
and then focuses on a study by Mehta et al. that could contribute towards
solving this puzzle. They
have discovered that an experience-dependent asymmetric shape of
hippocampal receptive fields
combined with oscillatory inhibition can serve to map behavioral sequences
on a fixed timescale.

* Coding And Learning Of Behavioral Sequences, O. Melamed  , W. Gerstner  ,
W. Maass  , M. Tsodyks
, H. Markram henry.markram@epfl.ch , Jan. 2004, DOI:
10.1016/j.tins.2003.10.014, Trends in
Neurosciences
* Contributed by Atin Das


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10. Stem-Cell 'Secret Of Youth' Found , Natue Science update

Excerpts: BIO stopped ES cells turning into specialized adult cells, (...).
BIO works by activating
a set of protein signals - called the Wnt pathway - in the ES cells.

The Wnt pathway is known to be involved in development. (...) researchers
reported that it also
prevents blood-forming stem cells from turning into other cell types.

The discovery could be useful to scientists who are trying to make
therapies based on stem cells.
By controlling the Wnt pathway, they could tell the cells when to stay
young, and when to
specialize.

* Stem-Cell 'Secret Of Youth' Found, Erika Check , 03/12/23, Natue Science
update


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11. Evolution: Climb Every Mountain? , Science

Excerpts: Environments are highly variable, providing myriad ecological
niches that different
species can exploit to ensure their survival. A population of organisms may
respond to this
variation by becoming niche specialists or by evolving into generalists
that can exploit a variety
of niches rather than just one. (...) an organism's performance (or
fitness) in one specific
environment is accompanied by the organism's decreased performance (or
fitness) in other
environments. (
(...)ability of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens to diversify into
other niches decreases as
the organism becomes a specialist (...).

* Evolution: Climb Every Mountain?, Santiago F. Elena  , Rafael Sanjuán
, 03/12/19, Science: 2074-2075.


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11.01. The Costs Of Specialization , The Scientist

Excerpts: As an organism becomes specialized to a specific ecological
niche, its fitness to survive
in an alternative niche in the same environment decreases. This
long-recognized trend is key to the
dynamics of adaptive radiations-concentrated bursts of evolution during
which new species or
variants rapidly form-diverging from a common ancestor in ecology and
phenotype. (...) focus on the
constraints regulating this process and report that niche adaptation itself
may limit a
population's ability to subsequently diversify into other niches (...).

* The Costs Of Specialization, Andrea Rinaldi  , 03/12/22, The Scientist


_________________________________________________________________

12. Developmental Biology: Tubulogenesis CLICs into Place , Science

Excerpts:


Going tubal. The CLIC protein EXC-4 is required for regulation of tube
size. (...)


(...) flow of fluids through tubular networks is critical to human
existence. Tubes of all sizes
are also the essential functional units of many organs, including the
vascular system, kidney, and
lung. However, (...), the molecular mechanisms that control tube formation
(tubulogenesis) and size
during development are poorly understood. One of the most powerful models
for studying tube
formation is the excretory (renal) canal system of the worm Caenorhabditis
elegans: As the worm
develops, a single excretory cell extends a tubular process along the
length of the animal (see the
figure).

* Developmental Biology: Tubulogenesis CLICs into Place, Sarah M. Paul  ,
Greg J. Beitel ,
03/12/19, Science: 2077-2078


_________________________________________________________________

13. The Elephant and the Chili Pepper , NYTimes

Excerpts: The elephant pepper is one of 47 ideas for social change in poor
countries that the World
Bank recently financed through its Development Marketplace. (...)
Farmers in the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe have hit on a novel way to keep
elephants from trampling
their fields. They surround their crops with rows of chili peppers, whose
smell is noxious to
elephants. The peppers prevent battles that have harmed both man and
animal, save crops and give
farmers a lucrative new product to export.

* The Elephant and the Chili Pepper, 03/12/24, NYTimes


_________________________________________________________________

14. Secret Of 'Strained Silicon' Chips Revealed , NewScientist

Excerpts:


Faster chips


The speed of current flow depends on the crystal structure of silicon.
Inside the silicon lattice,
the electrons around each atom form patterns of energy states called
orbitals. These states merge
to form a continuous band that allows electrons and positively charged
"holes" to move through the
lattice.

The orientation of the orbitals is important. Each atom has six lobe-shaped
orbitals: two in the
direction of electron flow and four that are perpendicular to it (see graphic).

* Secret Of 'Strained Silicon' Chips Revealed, Celeste Biever  , 03/12/20,
New Scientist


_________________________________________________________________

15. Bifurcation Structures Of Period-Adding Phenomena In An Ocean Internal
Wave Model , Int. J.
Bifur. & Chaos

Abstract: In this paper, we study bifurcation structures of period-adding
phenomena in an internal
wave model that is a mathematical model for ocean internal waves. It has
been suggested that
chaotic solutions observed in the internal wave model may be related to the
universal property of
the energy spectra of ocean internal waves. In numerical bifurcation
analyses of the internal wave
model, we illustrate bifurcation routes to chaos and parameter regions
where chaotic behavior is
observed. (...) we discuss a mechanism of the phenomena from the viewpoint
of bifurcation analysis

* Bifurcation Structures Of Period-Adding Phenomena In An Ocean Internal
Wave Model, G. Tanaka  ,
S. Murashige  , K. Aihara , Nov. 2003, DOI: 10.1142/S0218127403008703,
International Journal of
Bifurcation and Chaos
* Contributed by Pritha Das


_________________________________________________________________

16. Randomness in Quantum Computation , Science

Excerpts: The use of random unitary operators may also be essential for
characterizing efficiently
the way in which the quantum computer is affected by interaction with its
environment. A complete
characterization of the decoherence process induced by the environment
generally requires the
application of tomographic techniques, which are known to be exponentially
inefficient. However,
Emerson et al. argue that by using random evolutions it should be possible
to find simple
benchmarking tools to properly characterize the most important aspects of
decoherence.

* Randomness in Quantum Computation, Juan Pablo Paz , 03/12/19, Science:
2076-2077


_________________________________________________________________

16.01. Pseudo-Random Unitary Operators for Quantum Information Processing ,
Science

Excerpt: Unfortunately, the implementation of random unitary operators on a
quantum processor is
exponentially hard. Here we introduce a method for generating pseudo-random
unitary operators that
can reproduce those statistical properties of random unitary operators most
relevant to quantum
information tasks. This method requires exponentially fewer resources, and
hence enables the
practical application of random unitary operators in quantum communication
and information
processing protocols. Using a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum processor,
we were able to realize
pseudorandom unitary operators that reproduce the expected random
distribution of matrix elements.

* Pseudo-Random Unitary Operators for Quantum Information Processing,
Joseph Emerson , Yaakov S.
Weinstein , Marcos Saraceno , Seth Lloyd , David G. Cory
  , 03/12/19, Science: 2098-2100


_________________________________________________________________

17. Microsoft Aims To Make Spammers Pay , BBC News

Excerpts: Microsoft researchers have come up with a way to slow down
spammers and make them 'pay'
for e-mails. (...)

The development has been called the Penny Black project, because it works
on the idea that
revolutionised the British postage system in the 1830s - that senders of
mail should have to pay
for it, not whoever is on the receiving end.

Stamp of approval

"The basic idea is that we are trying to shift the equation to make it
possible and necessary for a
sender to 'pay' for e-mail," explained Ted Wobber of the Microsoft Research
group (MSR).

* Microsoft Aims To Make Spammers Pay, BBC News


_________________________________________________________________

17.01. Software Shares Out Spare Processing Power , NewScientist

Excerpts: But until now, it has only been possible to subscribe to one of
these services at a time.
(...) new system that will make it possible to run several distributed
computing projects on a
single computer, and even let you specify what proportion of the computer's
resources is donated to
each project.

It is called the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing
(BOINC). BOINC acts like a
software platform that can run a number of screen-saver style applications
on top of the PC's own
operating system.

* Software Shares Out Spare Processing Power, Duncan Graham-Rowe  ,
03/12/21, New Scientist


_________________________________________________________________

18. Examining Halliburton's 'Sweetheart' Deal in Iraq , NPR Audio

Excerpts:


A U.S. Army contractor with KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root) directs Iraqi
workers clearing debris on
the grounds of a former presidential palace in Iraq.
Credit: Benjamin Lowy/Corbis




Experts Say Lucrative Contracts Yield Razor-Thin Profit Margins According
to KBR's latest quarterly
report, the profit margin on military services is 3.8 percent. (Typical
defense contracts yield
profit margins of 7 percent.) With a profit margin that razor thin, the
company has to be
efficient, (...). The Iraq contracts are cost-plus: the government
reimburses the company for its
costs, then adds on a profit of 2 percent to 7 percent. Critics say this
creates a perverse
incentive: the more you spend, the more you make. The Pentagon says this
type of flexible contract
is necessary in a war zone.

* Examining Halliburton's 'Sweetheart' Deal in Iraq, 03/12/22, NPR All
Things Considered Audio


_________________________________________________________________

19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks





_________________________________________________________________

19.01. Hussein's Capture Not Likely to Harm Al Qaeda , Washington Post

Excerpts: Some terrorism experts, including a few favored by the Bush
administration, view Iraq as
a key al Qaeda supporter and believe Hussein's capture serves as a
deterrent for other terrorist
organizations. The more common view, however, is that there was never a
strong link or even an
ideological bond between Hussein's government and Osama bin Laden's
terrorist network, and that the
capture could well push al Qaeda to prove it is still relevant.
(...) reinforced recently when intelligence sources were reporting that bin
Laden was again in
communication with his followers.

* Hussein's Capture Not Likely to Harm Al Qaeda, 03/12/25, Washington Post


_________________________________________________________________

19.02. Fear Of Modern Terrorism , The Japan Times

Book Report Excerpts: Religious discourse is the best way to gain leverage
over the political
competition, and "radical Islam is appealing because it offers a framework
for a moral/ethical
critique of power."

Of course, external factors have an influence. Film footage of fellow
Muslims suffering under
Western attack in Iraq and Afghanistan inflames passions. The belief that
the U.S. turns a blind
eye to Palestinian tragedies and Israeli injustices has a profound impact
on Muslim attitudes.
(...)best vaccination against the terrorist contagion is a liberal arts
education that encourages
critical, analytical, multidimensional thinking.
Book Reference: The New Terrorism : Anatomy, Trends and Counter-strategies,
Andrew Tan & Kumar
Ramakrishna (eds.) (Singapore : Eastern Universities Press, 2002)

* Fear Of Modern Terrorism, Brad Glosserman , 03/12/28, The Japan Times


_________________________________________________________________

19.03. Gulf Arabs Approve Anti-Terror Pact, Back Iraqi Sovereignty Transfer
Plan , China View

Excerpts: The Gulf Agreement on Combating Terrorism, (...), will boost
security cooperation among
member states by exchanging information and strengthening security
networks, officials said.
As the Gulf region has become one of the vortexes of global terrorist
attacks, the GCC leaders
pledged to join the international war against terrorism.
"In compliance with the GCC nations' desire to work together with the
United Nations in creating a
safe and secure international environment, and in support of global efforts
to fight terrorism, the
Council agrees that the GCC join international agreements that fight global
terror," the communique
said.

* Gulf Arabs Approve Anti-Terror Pact, Back Iraqi Sovereignty Transfer
Plan, 03/12/22, China View


_________________________________________________________________

19.04. State of the War on Terror, 2003 , NPR Audio

Summary: NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with Josh Meyer, international terrorism
correspondent for the
Los Angeles Times, about the state of the war on terror this past year,
beginning with the current
level orange alert.

* State of the War on Terror, 2003 , Liane Hansen , 03/12/28, NPR Audio


_________________________________________________________________

20. Links & Snippets





_________________________________________________________________

20.01. Other Publications



- Paying Attention To Consciousness, J. G. Taylor john.g.taylor@kcl.ac.uk ,
2003/12/19, Progress in
Neurobiology, DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2003.10.002
- River Flow Forecast For Reservoir Management Through Neural Networks, R.
Baratti
baratti@dicm.unica.it , B. Cannas  , A. Fanni  , M. Pintus  , G. M.
Sechi  , N. Toreno , Oct. 2003,
Neurocomputing, DOI: 10.1016/S0925-2312(03)00387-4
- Searching For Madness Within The Complexity Of Schizophrenia: In Search
of Madness: Schizophrenia
and Neuroscience by Walter Heinrichs (2001) O.U.P., A. L. Crutchfield  , S.
K. Acheson ,
2003/11/21, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, DOI:
10.1017/S1355617704221154
- How Well Does IQ Predict Neuropsychological Test Performance In Normal
Adults?, C. M. D.-Asper  ,
D. J. Schretlen dschret@jhmi.edu , G. D. Pearlson , 2003/11/21, Journal of
the International
Neuropsychological Society, DOI: 10.1017/S1355617704101100
- Why Are Human Newborns So Fat? Relationship Between Fatness And Brain
Size At Birth, H. R.
Correia hamilton.correia@clix.pt , S. C. Balseiro  , E. R. Correia  , P. G.
Mota  , M. L. De Areia
, 2003/12/16, American Journal of Human Biology, DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.10233
- Detection Of Chemical Threat Agents In Drinking Water By An Early Warning
Real-Time Biomonitor,
U. Green druwegreen@bwb.org , J. H. Kremer  , M. Zillmer  , C. Moldaenke ,
Online 2003/11/04,
Environmental Toxicology, DOI: 10.1002/tox.10138
- The US's Retreat From The Kyoto Protocol: An Account Of A Policy Change
And Its Implications For
Future Climate Policy, R. Steurer reist@gmx.net , Online 2003/12/03,
European Environment, DOI:
10.1002/eet.333
- The Phenotype Of Arabidopsis Ovule Mutants Mimics The Morphology Of
Primitive Seed Plants, S. O.
Park  , S. Hwang  , B. A. Hauser , 2003/12/22, Alphagalileo & Proceedings
Biological Sciences
- Less Is More: New Technology Captures Gene-rich DNA Segments, 2003/12/23,
ScienceDaily & Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Estimating The Risk Of Cancer, 2003/12/23, ScienceDaily & Netherlands
Org. For Sc. Res.
- Researcher Goes To New Heights To Study Ant-Plant Relationships,
2003/12/24, ScienceDaily & Univ.
Of Arkansas, Fayetteville
- Toward A Theory Of Chaos, A. Sengupta osegu@iitk.ac.in , Nov. 2003,
International Journal of
Bifurcation and Chaos, DOI: 10.1142/S021812740300851X
- Parasitic Exploitation As An Engine Of Diversity, K. Summers
summersk@mail.ecu.edu , S. Mckeon  ,
J. Sellars  , M. Keusenkothen  , J. Morris  , D. Gloeckner  , C.
Pressley  , B. Price  , H. Snow ,
Nov. 2003, Biological Reviews, DOI: 10.1017/S146479310300616X
- Large Scale Gene Expression Profiling Of Metabolic Shift Of Mammalian
Cells In Culture, R. Korke
, M. de L. Gatti  , A.L. Y. Lau  , J. W. E. Lim  , T. K. Seow  , M. C. M.
Chung  , W.-S. Hu
acre@cems.umn.edu , 2004/01/04, Journal of Biotechnology, DOI:
10.1016/j.jbiotec.2003.09.007
- Global Scientific Research Net Starts Operation, EE Times Online
(subscription) - 18 hours ago
MANAHASSET The US National Science Foundation, a consortium of Russian
ministries and science
organizations and the Chinese Academy of Sciences this week announced the
start of operations for a
dedicated global computer network ring for joint ...
- Some Doctors Letting Patients Skip Co-Payments, Milt Freudenheim , Some
doctors and clinics have
begun to foil the cost-control efforts of health plans by waiving extra
charges.
- 'Willy' Didn't Yearn to Be Free, Clive D. L. Wynne
, When Keiko the killer whale beached himself earlier this month in Norway,
the story of probably
the most expensive animal in human history came to an end.
- I.R.S. Focuses on Noncash Donations to Charities, Stephanie Strom
, More attention will be paid to taxpayers claiming deductions for
contributions of patents and
other forms of intellectual property.
- The Auditors Never Noticed, Floyd Norris , The fraud at Parmalat went on
and on for more than a
decade. The auditors never noticed.
- The Farmland Bubble, American family farms are victims of federal
agricultural subsidies, which
raise land prices while mostly benefiting industrial farms.
- Leading the Weapons Hunt in Iraq, If David Kay, the chief American
weapons inspector in Iraq,
decides to leave his post early, the U.S. should enlist the help of U.N.
inspectors.
- Body Handles Nanofiber Better, TRNmag.com,03/12/17-24. Living tissue
often reacts to foreign
objects by encapsulating them in scar tissue. This is a problem with
orthopedic implants like
artificial hips and neural implants like electrical probes.
- Late Neanderthals 'More Like Us', Neanderthals were evolving physical
features like those of
modern humans just before they disappeared from Europe.
- NZ Seabird Returns 150 Years On, Two British birdlovers believe they have
found a seabird thought
to have become extinct 153 years ago.
- Quarks in a Surprising Spin, Jr Minkel  , 03/12/23, Science Now
- Ash Clouds: Severe Storms Can Lift Smoke Into Stratosphere, Science News,
Vol. 164, No. 25, see
also (Audible format), 03/12/20

New field observations, satellite images, and computer models suggest that
a severe thunderstorm,
enhanced by heat from forest fires, can boost soot, smoke, and other
particles as far as the lower
stratosphere, an unexpected phenomenon.
- Crystal Clear: Liquid Crystal Sensor Plays Nature's Game, Science News,
Vol. 164, No. 25, see
also (Audible format), 03/12/20. By fixing the components of a cell
membrane to a liquid crystal,
researchers devised a sensitive and high-speed sensor for detecting
chemical and biowarfare agents.
- Bones Of Invention: German Cave Yields Stone Age Figurines, Science News,
Vol. 164, No. 25, see
also (Audible format), 03/12/20. Three ivory figurines found in
southwestern Germany may belong to
one of the world's oldest known art traditions, dating to more than 30,000
years ago.
- Gel Bots? Vibrated Goo Mimics Slithery Motions, Science News, Vol. 164,
No. 25, see also (Audible
format), 03/12/20. The ability of soft, jellylike hydrogels to move as do
snails, snakes, and
inchworms may point the way to a new class of squishy robots that promise
to be simple, quiet, and
versatile.
- Brazil Nut Loss Looms: Harvest May Be Too Heavy To Last, Science News,
Vol. 164, No. 25, see also
(Audible format), 03/12/20. A study of 23 spots in Amazonian forests has
raised the question of
whether the collection of Brazil nuts-praised as a model of gentle forest
use-has reached such
levels that it may not be sustainable.
- Bookish Math, Science News, Vol. 164, No. 25, see also (Audible format),
03/12/20. Statistical
tests and computation can help solve literary mysteries surrounding the
authorship of well-known
works.
- Dune Leapfrogging Is Deciphered, Science News, Vol. 164, No. 25, see also
(Audible format),
03/12/20. Some wind-propelled sand dunes can pass right through each other
if their relative sizes
are right, new computer simulations indicate-although the sand grains of
one dune don't actually
penetrate through the other dune.
- Baboons Demonstrate Social Proficiency, Science News, Vol. 164, No. 25,
see also (Audible
format), 03/12/20. Wild baboons exhibit a richer, more complex social life
than scientists have
often assumed, according to two new studies.
- Drug Particle Delivers Insulin On Demand, Science News, Vol. 164, No. 25,
see also (Audible
format), 03/12/20. Injectable polymer nanoparticles could store insulin in
the body over several
days and release the medication precisely when blood sugar concentrations
change.
- Long-Term Ecosystem Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Charles H.
Peterson , Stanley D. Rice
, Jeffrey W. Short, Daniel Esler , James L. Bodkin , Brenda E. Ballachey ,
David B. Irons

, Science Dec 19 2003: 2082-2086.
- Kinesin Moves by an Asymmetric Hand-Over-Hand Mechanism, Charles L.
Asbury , Adrian N. Fehr ,
Steven M. Block
, Science Dec 19 2003: 2130-2134. Published online December 4, 2003;
10.1126/science.1092985
- Science And Government:Disclosure in Regulatory Science, David
Michaels  , Wendy Wagner
, Science Dec 19 2003: 2073
- History Of Science:Seeking Simultaneity, M. Norton Wise

, Science Dec 19 2003: 2072
- Ecology: Bye, Bye Biosphere 2, Jeffrey Mervis
, Science Dec 19 2003: 2053
- Naked nanofibres stretch optical properties , Jeff Hecht  , 03/12/18, New
Scientist
- Tough Year In Fight On Terror, Danny Shaw  , 03/12/23, BBC



_________________________________________________________________

20.02. Webcast Announcements


   Presentation Webcasts from Scientific Sessions 2003,
   American Heart Association
   EVOLVABILITY & INTERACTION: Evolutionary Substrates of
   Communication, Signaling, and Perception in the Dynamics of Social
   Complexity, London, UK, 03/10/08-10
   The Semantic Web
   and Language Technology - Its Potential and Practicalities,
   Bucharest, Romania, 03/07/28-08/08
   ECAL 2003, 7th
   European Conference on Artificial Life, Dortmund, Germany,
   03/09/14-17
   IMA International
   Conference Bifurcation 2003, Univ. Southampton, UK, 27-30 July,
   2003
   New Santa
   Fe Institute President About His Vision for SFI's Future Role,
   (Video, Santa Fe, NM, 03/06/04)
   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
   13th Ann Intl Conf,
   Soc f Chaos Theory in Psych & Life Sciences, Boston, MA, USA,
   2003/08/08-10
   CERN
   Webcast Service, Streamed videos of Archived Lectures and
   Live Events
   Dean
   LeBaron's Archive of Daily Video Commentary, Ongoing Since
   February 1998
   Edge Videos





_________________________________________________________________

20.03. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements



  2nd
  WSEAS Intl Conf on Non-linear Analysis, Non-linear Systems
  and Chaos, Athens, Greece, 03/12/29-31

  Complex
  Physical, Biological and Social Systems, MIT, Cambridge,
  MA, 04/01/05-09

  2nd
  Biennial Seminar on the Philosophical, Epistemological, and
  Methodological Implications of Complexity Theory, Havana,
  Cuba, 04/01/07-10

  2004
  Western Simulation MultiConference (WMC'04), San Diego,
  CA., USA, 04/01/18-24

  The
  Mathematica Gulf Conference, Muscat, Oman, 04/01/26

  1st
  International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Approaches to
  Advanced Information Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland,
  04/01/29-30

  Physics
  of Socio-Economic Systems, 1st Intl Winter School
  2004, Konstanz, Germany, 04/02/16-20

  Advances
  in Molecular Electronics: From molecular materials to single
  molecule devices, Dresden, Germany, 04/02/23

  Leadership in
  Rapidly Changing Business Environments -Learning and Adapting in
  Time, Cambridge, MA, 04/02/26-27

  4th
  Intl ICSC Symposium Engineering Of Intelligent Systems (EIS
  2004), Island of Madeira, Portugal, 04/02/29-03/02

  Conference
  on Longevity , Sydney, Australia, 04/03/05-07

  Arbeitskreis
  Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme Jahrestagung
  (AKSOE), Regensburg, Germany, 04/03/08-12

  Capital
  Science 2004, Washington, 04/03/20-21

  Fractal 2004,
  "Complexity and Fractals in Nature", 8th Intl
  Multidisciplinary Conf, Vancouver, Canada, 04/04/04-07

  6th German Workshop on Artificial Life 2004 (GWAL-6), Bamberg, Germany,
04/04/14-16

  The
  9th IEEE Intl Conf on Engineering of Complex Computer
  Systems, Florence, Italy, 04/04/14-16

  2004
  Advanced Simulation Technologies Conference (ASTC'04),
  Arlington, VA., USA, 04/04/18-22

  NKS
  (New Kind of Science) 2004 Conference and Minicourse,
  Boston, Massachusetts, 04/04/22-25

  Urban
  Vulnerability and Network Failure: Constructions and Experiences
  of Emergencies, Crises and Collapse, Manchester, UK,
  04/04/29-30

  5th
  International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS2004),
  Boston, MA, USA, 04/05/16-21

  3rd Intl Conf on
  Systems Thinking in Management (ICSTM 2004) "Transforming
  Organizations to Achieve Sustainable Success",
  Philadelphia, Pa, USA, 04/05/19-21

4th Intl Conf on
Fractals And Dynamic Systems In Geoscience, München, Germany, 04/05/19-22

  9th
  Annual Workshop on Economics and Heterogeneous Interaction Agents
  (WEHIA04),, Kyoto, Japan, 2004/05/27-29

  13th
  International Symposium on HIV & Emerging Infectious
  Diseases, Toulon, France, 04/06/03-05

  ECC8
  Experimental Chaos Conference, Florence, Italy,
  04/06/14-17

  7th Intl Conf on Linking Systems Thinking, Innovation,Quality,
Entrepreneurship and Environment
(STIQE), MARIBOR, SLOVENIA, 04/06/24-26

  From Animals To Animats
  8, 8th Intl Conf On The Simulation Of Adaptive Behavior
  (SAB'04), Los Angeles, USA, 04/07/13-17

  3rd
Intl Conf Autonomous Agents & Multi-Agent Systems Conference (AAMAS 2004),
New York City,
04/07/19-23

7th
Intl Workshop on: Trust in Agent Societies , New York City, 04/07/19-20

  8th
  World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and
  Informatics, Orlando, Florida, USA, 04/07/18-21

  2004
  Summer Simulation MultiConference (SummerSim'04), San Jose
  Hyatt, San Jose, California, 04/07/25-29

  6th
  International Mathematica Symposium (IMS 2004), Banff,
  Canada, 04/08/02-06

  ANTS
  2004, 4th International Workshop on Ant Colony
  Optimization and Swarm Intelligence, Brussels, Belgium,
  04/09/05-08

  Dynamic
  Ontology, An Inquiry into Systems, Emergence, Levels of Reality,
  and Forms of Causality, Trento, Italy,
  04/09/08-11

  9th
  Intl Conf on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems
  (ALIFE9), Boston, Massachusetts, 04/09/12-15

  The
Verhulst 200 on Chaos, Brussels, BELGIUM, 04/09/16-18

  The
  8th Intl Conf on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature
  (PPSN VIII), Birmingham, UK, 04/09/18-22

  XVII Brazilian
  Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Sao Luis, Maranhao -
  Brazil, 04/09/22-24

   TEDMED Conference ,
Charleston SC, 04/10/12-15

  Wolfram
  Technology Conference, Champaign, Illinois,
  04/10/21-23





_________________________________________________________________

20.04. 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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