Complexity Digest 2004.05

复杂性文摘 NO：2004.05

Complexity Digest 2004.05 Feb. 03, 2004

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

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Content:

01. Effective Complexity, SFI Working Papers
01.01. External and Internal Complexity of Complex Adaptive Systems, SFI
Working Papers
01.02. The Physics of Time and Dimension in the Economics of Financial
Control In memory of Per
Bak, SFI Working Papers
02. The Waterwheel in the Waterfall, arXiv
03. Complex Systems In Language Evolution: The Cultural Emergence, Adv. in
Complex Sys.
03.01. Language, Biology, And The Mind, Edge.org
04. Decision Spread In The Corporate Board Network, Adv. in Complex Sys.
05. "Look At Me When I'm Talking To You", Alphagalileo
06. Rare Ant May Help Solve Some Mysteries Of Social Evolution, ScienceDaily
07. Economic Development By The Creation Of New Sectors, J. Evol. Econ.
08. Data, Information And Knowledge: Have We Got It Right?, J. Evol. Econ.
09. The Coming Search Wars, NY Times
10. Agent Models And Different User Ontologies For An Electronic Market
Place, Knowl. & Info. Sys.
11. The Role Of Increasing Temperature Variability In European Summer
Heatwaves, Nature
11.01. Global Chilling, NYTimes
11.02. Nitric Acid Increases Relative Humidity in Low-Temperature Cirrus
Clouds, Science
12. Budgets of Mass Destruction, NYTimes
12.01. Pres. Bush in Discussion on the Economy, c-span Video
13. Drug May Give Cells A Fresh Start, Natue Science update
14. UTA Researchers Develop Sensors To Think Smart, Fort Worth Business Press
15. Nanotech Spy Eyes Life Inside The Cell, New Scientist
15.01. Cell Division: Burning The Spindle At Both Ends, Nature
16. Insight And The Sleep Committee, Nature
16.01. Slumber May Fortify Memory, Stir Insight, Science News
17. Advanced Motion-tracking Camera For Surveillance, Security, ScienceDaily
17.01. Smart Cellphone Antennas Boost Coverage, New Scientist
18. How to Hack an Election, NY Times
18.01. Divided We Stand... Still, Orgnet
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. 9/11 Commission Report, NPR Audio
19.02. 9/11 and the Bush Administration - Is Ignorance Bliss?, The
Progressive Trail
19.03. Pakistan Warns U.S. About Crossing Border, AP/Newsday
19.04. Family Bonds Strengthen Terrorism Networks, NPR Audio
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements
20.03.01. Strategic Thinking in a Complex World, Smithsonian Resident
Associates Program

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01. Effective Complexity , SFI Working Papers

Abstract: It would take a great many different concepts - or quantities -
to capture all of our
notions of what is meant by complexity (or its opposite, simplicity.)
However, the notion that
corresponds most closely to what we mean by complexity in ordinary
conversation and in most
scientific discourse is "effective complexity.?In nontechnical language, we
can define the
effective complexity (EC) of an entity as the length of a highly compressed
description of its
regularities [6,7,11].
For a more technical definition, we need a formal approach both to the
notion of minimum
description length and to the distinction between regularities and those
features that are treated
as random or incidental.

* Effective Complexity, Murray Gell-Mann , Seth Lloyd , DOI: SFI-WP
03-12-068, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by Carlos Gershenson

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01.01. External and Internal Complexity of Complex Adaptive Systems , SFI
Working Papers

Abstract: We introduce concepts of external and internal complexity to
analyze the relationship
between an adaptive system and its environment. We apply this theoretical
framework to the
construction of models in a cognitive system and the selection between
hypotheses through selective
observations performed on a data set in a recurrent process and propose a
corresponding neural
network architecture.

* External and Internal Complexity of Complex Adaptive Systems, Juergen
Jost , DOI: SFI-WP
03-12-070, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by Carlos Gershenson

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01.02. The Physics of Time and Dimension in the Economics of Financial
Control In memory of Per Bak
, SFI Working Papers

Abstract: The provision of the goods and services of a modern economy is
controlled by a
multiplicity of financial instruments. The basic properties of these
instruments are considered
here.

* The Physics of Time and Dimension in the Economics of Financial Control
In memory of Per Bak,
Martin Shubik , D. Eric Smith , DOI: SFI-WP 03-12-069, SFI Working Papers
* Contributed by Carlos Gershenson

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02. The Waterwheel in the Waterfall , arXiv

Abstract: A fundamental problem in evolutionary ecology research is to
explain how different
species coexist in natural ecosystems. This question is directly related
with species trophic
competition. However, competition theory, based on the classical logistic
Lotka-Volterra equations,
leads to erroneous conclusions about species coexistence. The reason for
this is incorrectly
interpreted interspecific interactions, expressed in the form of the
competition coefficients. Here
I use the logistic Lotka-Volterra type competition equations derived from
the so called resource
competition models to obtain the necessary conditions for species
coexistence. These models show
that only species with identical competitive abilities may coexist. Due to
such relations between
competing species ecosystems biodiversity decreases in the course of evolution.

* The Waterwheel in the Waterfall, D. Balciunas , 2004-01-26, DOI:
q-bio.PE/0401035, arXiv
* Contributed by Carlos Gershenson

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03. Complex Systems In Language Evolution: The Cultural Emergence , Adv. in
Complex Sys.

Abstract: Language arises from the interaction of three complex adaptive
systems - biological
evolution, learning, and culture. We focus here on cultural evolution, and
present an Iterated
Learning Model of the emergence of compositionality, a fundamental
structural property of language.
Our main result is to show that the poverty of the stimulus available to
language learners leads to
a pressure for linguistic structure. When there is a bottleneck on cultural
transmission, only a
language which is generalizable from sparse input data is stable. Language
itself evolves on a
cultural time-scale, and compositionality is language's adaptation to
stimulus poverty.

* Complex Systems In Language Evolution: The Cultural Emergence Of
Compositional Structure, K.
Smith kenny@ling.ed.ac.uk , H. Brighton , S. Kirby , Dec. 2003, DOI:
10.1142/S0219525903001055,
Advances in Complex Systems
* Contributed by Atin Das

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03.01. Language, Biology, And The Mind , Edge.org

Excerpts: He believes that "the mechanisms that build our brains are just a
special case of the
mechanisms that build the rest of our body. (...)

His goal is twofold: (a) "to track closely the progress in genetics, and
try to think about the
question of how a tiny number of genes can lead you from an ancestral
chimpanzee view of the world
to a human view of the world"; and (b) "to rethink linguistics as a
question of adapting from
primate systems that are already in place.

* Language, Biology, And The Mind, 04/01, A Talk with Gary Marcus, Edge.org
* VIDEO - Video (DSL)

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04. Decision Spread In The Corporate Board Network , Adv. in Complex Sys.

Abstract: The boards of large corporations sharing some of their directors
are connected in complex
networks. Boards are responsible for corporations' long-term strategy and
are often involved in
decisions about a common topic related to the belief in economical growth
or recession. We are
interested in understanding under which conditions a large majority of
boards making the same
decision can emerge in the network. We present a model (...) to explain the
fact that boards of the
largest corporations of a country can, in the span of a few months, make
the same decisions about
general topics.

* Decision Spread In The Corporate Board Network, S. Battiston
stefano.battiston@ens.fr , G.
Weisbuch , E. Bonabeau , Dec. 2003, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525903001109,
Advances in Complex Systems
* Contributed by Atin Das

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05. "Look At Me When I'm Talking To You" , Alphagalileo

Excerpts: Teachers shouldn't just assume a child is not paying attention if
they are seen "staring
into the distance" when asked a question. (...) adults can switch off from
environmental
stimulation (both live faces and other sorts of visual displays) in order
to concentrate better, a
technique called gaze aversion. When remembering information, thinking of
an answer to a question,
planning what we are going to say or speaking, we often close our eyes
(...) especially when the
task in hand is difficult. However, the new research has found that
children also use gaze aversion
to help them concentrate on difficult material.

* "Look At Me When I'm Talking To You", A. Croft alicro@bps.org.uk ,
2004/01/29, Alphagalileo
* Contributed by Atin Das

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06. Rare Ant May Help Solve Some Mysteries Of Social Evolution , ScienceDaily

Excerpts: L. minutissimus is a unique social parasite in that it lives
entirely within the colonies
of other ant species. But unlike parasitic slave-maker ants, which raid and
virtually destroy the
colonies of unsuspecting hosts, L. minutissimus appears to move in and live
amiably with its host.
(...) it doesn't appear to stage the bloodthirsty coups common to its
slave-maker ant relatives.
Rather, it behaves much like the unwelcome in-laws who come to visit for an
undetermined length of
time. Slave-makers therefore rely on overt aggression to make a living, but
L. minutissimus is
apparently accepted into host colonies without any violence.

* Rare Ant May Help Solve Some Mysteries Of Social Evolution, 2004/01/22,
ScienceDaily & Stanford
University Medical Center
* Contributed by Atin Das

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07. Economic Development By The Creation Of New Sectors , J. Evol. Econ.

Abstract: (...) first entrepreneur entering a market enjoys a temporary
monopoly. This temporary
monopoly is eroded by the entry of imitators, that gradually increases the
intensity of
competition. The saturation is reinforced as the demand for what was a new
product comes to be
satisfied. In this way the adjustment gap initially created by the
innovation is eliminated
transforming a niche into a mature market, which becomes one of the
routines of the economic
system. (...) economic development is a process in which new activities
emerge, old ones disappear,
the weight of all economic activities and their patterns of interaction change.

* Economic Development By The Creation Of New Sectors, P. P. Saviotti
saviotti@grenoble.inra.fr ,
A. Pyka , Jan. 2004, DOI: 10.1007/s00191-003-0179-3, Journal Of
Evolutionary Economics
* Contributed by Pritha Das

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08. Data, Information And Knowledge: Have We Got It Right? , J. Evol. Econ.

Abstract: Economists make the unarticulated assumption that information is
something that stands
apart from and is independent of the processor of information and its
internal characteristics. We
argue that they need to revisit the (...). Some associate information with
data, and others
associate information with knowledge. But since none of them readily
conflates data with knowledge,
this suggests too loose a conceptualisation of the term information. We
argue that the difference
between data, information, and knowledge is in fact crucial. Information
theory and the physics of
information provide us with useful insights with which to build an
economics of information (...).

* Data, Information And Knowledge: Have We Got It Right?, M. Boisot
boisot@attglobal.net , A.
Canals , Jan. 2004, DOI: 10.1007/s00191-003-0181-4, Journal Of Evolutionary
Economics
* Contributed by Pritha Das

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09. The Coming Search Wars , NY Times

Excerpts: As a result, Google now has an immense number of users, with 200
million searches on an
average day. That gives it a great advantage over its competitors, which
are now trying to catch
up.

"The system that has the most users benefits the most," said Nancy
Blachman, (...) author of an
independent guide to using Google. "Microsoft faces a tremendous challenge
because Google
fine-tunes its system by watching how users adjust their queries."
But Google has done more than develop a smart new technology.

* The Coming Search Wars, John Markoff , NY Times

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10. Agent Models And Different User Ontologies For An Electronic Market
Place , Knowl. & Info. Sys.

Abstract: In this paper the agent-based electronic market architecture GEMS
is described. The
market incorporates different user perspectives: consumers, retailers, and
producers. Ontologies
for the different user perspectives are included. Knowledge is included to
relate information from
the different perspectives; for example, evaluation knowledge that can be
used to derive product
evaluations in terms of user ontology from product information based on
producer ontology. Agent
models are used as a high-level design structure for the architecture. It
is shown how this
combination of agent models, ontologies and knowledge provides an adequate
approach to the
distributed and knowledge-intensive character of the application.

* Agent Models And Different User Ontologies For An Electronic Market
Place, M. Albers , C. M.
Jonker , M. Karami , J. Treur treur@cs.vu.nl , Jan. 2004, DOI:
10.1007/s10115-002-0092-3,
Knowledge and Information Systems
* Contributed by Pritha Das

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11. The Role Of Increasing Temperature Variability In European Summer
Heatwaves , Nature

Excerpts: We find that an event like that of summer 2003 is statistically
extremely unlikely, even
when the observed warming is taken into account. We propose that a regime
with an increased
variability of temperatures (in addition to increases in mean temperature)
may be able to account
for summer 2003. To test this proposal, we simulate possible future
European climate with a
regional climate model in a scenario with increased atmospheric
greenhouse-gas concentrations, and
find that temperature variability increases by up to 100%, with maximum
changes in central and
eastern Europe.

* The Role Of Increasing Temperature Variability In European Summer
Heatwaves, Christoph Schär ,
Pier Luigi Vidale , Daniel Lüthi , Christoph Frei , Christian Häberli ,
Mark A. Liniger , Christof
Appenzeller , DOI: 10.1038/nature02300, Nature 427, 332 - 336 (22 January
2004)

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11.01. Global Chilling , NYTimes

Excerpts: We may be able to blame the Northeast's current severe cold
spell, ironically, on global
warming.

New Yorkers may be able to blame the city's current cold spell ?the most
severe in nearly a decade
?on global warming.

Global warming doesn't mean that every place on the globe gets warmer. The
weather history that can
be read in polar ice-core samples indicates that previous periods of
warming affected North America
and Europe far differently than they did the tropics ?the Northern
Hemisphere got a lot colder.

It's far too early to say for sure, but the same processes may be at work
today.

* Global Chilling, Paul R. Epstein , 04/01/28, NYTimes

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11.02. Nitric Acid Increases Relative Humidity in Low-Temperature Cirrus
Clouds , Science

Excerpts: In situ measurements of the relative humidity with respect to ice
(RHi) and of nitric
acid (HNO3) were made in both natural and contrail cirrus clouds in the
upper troposphere. (...) We
propose that surface HNO3 molecules prevent the ice/vapor system from
reaching equilibrium by a
mechanism similar to that of freezing point depression by antifreeze
proteins. {Delta}-ice
represents a new link between global climate and natural and anthropogenic
nitrogen oxide
emissions. Including {Delta} -ice in climate models will alter simulated
cirrus properties and the
distribution of upper tropospheric water vapor.
Editor's Note: We know that clouds are extremely sensitive parameters for
climate change dynamics.
The role of nitric acid as a cloud "anti freeze?could possible create a
significant shift in that
parameter with unforeseen consequences.

* Nitric Acid Increases Relative Humidity in Low-Temperature Cirrus Clouds,
R. S. Gao , P. J. Popp
, D. W. Fahey , T. P. Marcy , R. L. Herman , E. M. Weinstock , D. G.
Baumgardner , T. J. Garrett ,
K. H. Rosenlof , T. L. Thompson , P. T. Bui , B. A. Ridley , S. C. Wofsy ,
O. B. Toon , M. A.
Tolbert , B. Kärcher , Th. Peter , P. K. Hudson , A. J. Weinheimer , A. J.
Heymsfield , Science
Jan 23 2004: 516-520

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12. Budgets of Mass Destruction , NYTimes

Excerpts: (...) what we have in the Bush team is a faith-based
administration. It launched a
faith-based war in Iraq, on the basis of faith-based intelligence, with a
faith-based plan for
Iraqi reconstruction, (...). This group believes that what matters in
politics and economics are
conviction and will ?not facts, social science or history. (...)
The latest report from the Congressional Budget Office says the deficit is
expected to total some
$2.4 trillion over the next decade ?almost $1 trillion more than the
prediction of just five
months ago.

* Budgets of Mass Destruction, Thomas L. Friedman , 04/02/01, NYTimes

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12.01. Pres. Bush in Discussion on the Economy , c-span Video

Summary: Pres. Bush in Discussion on the Economy
In an event hosted by Fidelity Investments Consulting, Pres. Bush
participates in a conversation on
the economy.
1/30/2004: MERRIMACK, NH: 45 min.
Editor's Note: The format of this "discussion" is that of a testimonial
church service. People who
believe in his tax policy give testimony on how they could use the tax
break for "finishing an
upstairs bathroom?(Pres. Bush: "I'd suggest the toilet as well.?26:10min).
The president of the
U.S. with the largest budget deficit in world history then goes on to
explain: "The government's
got plenty of money." (27:02min)
Video

* Pres. Bush in Discussion on the Economy, G.W. Bush , 04/01/30, c-span
video, MERRIMACK, NH: 45
min.

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13. Drug May Give Cells A Fresh Start , Natue Science update

Excerpts:

Might we one day regenerate limbs like an salamander?

?Image Source

When they treated mouse muscle-forming cells with the drug, the cells
apparently reverted to a
'blank' state capable of forming other kinds of tissues. The researchers
were then able to guide
the cells into becoming bone or fat cells instead.(...)

A handful of others are trying to 'dedifferentiate' adult cells instead
?effectively turning back
the clock on grown-up cells so they revert into stem cells. This research
is inspired by organisms
such as the salamander, whose cells can dedifferentiate when it regenerates
a lost limb or tail.

* Drug May Give Cells A Fresh Start, Philip Ball , Helen Pearson ,
04/01/30, Nature Science Update

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14. UTA Researchers Develop Sensors To Think Smart , Fort Worth Business Press

Excerpts: The prototype sample is a polymer (plastic) four inches in
diameter with sensors that are
40 microns square.
Depending on the type of sensor used, the material can be used for various
applications.
For first responders or in the defense industry, "Smart Skin?suits could be
utilized to warn
people when they have entered an area of toxic gases. A T-shirt on a
diabetic could monitor insulin
and glucose problems based on body temperature.
"This could help prevent sudden infant death syndrome,?(...)

* UTA Researchers Develop Sensors To Think Smart, Gail Bennison ,
04/01/30, Fort Worth Business
Press

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15. Nanotech Spy Eyes Life Inside The Cell , New Scientist

Excerpts:

Looking inside a cell

(...) biochemists are hoping to go one step further, deploying viruses as
"nano-cameras" to get a
unique picture of what goes on inside living cells and a greater
understanding of how viruses
themselves work.

A team led by Bogdan Dragnea at Indiana University in Bloomington is
exploiting the ability of
viruses laden with gold to break into cells, along with the viral shell's
own telltale response to
laser light. Together these give an unprecedented picture of the chemical
and physical activity in
cells.

* Nanotech Spy Eyes Life Inside The Cell, Anil Ananthaswamy , 04/01/31, New
Scientist

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15.01. Cell Division: Burning The Spindle At Both Ends , Nature

Excerpts: Accurate transmission of the genome during cell division requires
the physical separation
of replicated chromosomes. The identities of two molecular motors needed to
do the job in
fruitflies are now revealed.

A dramatic event in the life of a cell is its transformation into two
genetically identical
progeny. (...) Errors in this process can result in cell death or
contribute to cancer. The mitotic
spindle ?the apparatus that distributes the chromosomes ?has been studied
for decades.
Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms underlying chromosome transport have
remained elusive.

* Cell Division: Burning The Spindle At Both Ends, Rebecca W. Heald , DOI:
10.1038/427300a, Nature
427, 300 - 301 (22 January 2004)

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16. Insight And The Sleep Committee , Nature

Excerpts: If subjects were exposed to the task continuously for 13 blocks,
(...), the proportion
who gained insight was similar to that in the awake groups. (...)
favourable effect of sleep on
insight occurred only if a memory had been formed before the sleep period.

The data further suggest that the conscious use of the hidden rule did not
evolve from procedural
learning ?that is, from the unconscious acquisition of a skill through
practice. Rather, it
stemmed from separate mental representations that were rearranged during
sleep after training had
taken place.

* Insight And The Sleep Committee, Pierre Maquet , Perrine Ruby ,
04/01/22, DOI: 10.1038/427304a,
Nature 427, 304 - 305

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16.01. Slumber May Fortify Memory, Stir Insight , Science News

Excerpts:

SLEEP ON IT. Rats' memories for novel experiences may get a boost during
slow-wave sleep.

Ribeiro

Rats permitted to explore novel objects display distinctive activity
throughout much of their
brains. That activity reappears-even more strongly than originally-during a
stage of slumber called
slow-wave sleep, (...).

A reprise of waking neural activity during slow-wave sleep-the longest
sleep stage in rats and
people-promotes recall of novel experiences, the scientists propose. Then,
neural changes crucial
for memory storage occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, in their view.

"These two phases of sleep play separate, complementary roles in memory,"
(...).

* Slumber May Fortify Memory, Stir Insight, Bruce Bower , 04/01/24, Science
News, Vol. 165, No. 4

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17. Advanced Motion-tracking Camera For Surveillance, Security , ScienceDaily

Excerpts: (...) researcher has made that job considerably easier and less
expensive, thanks to a
new technology he developed that can automatically track moving objects in
real time. Using
low-cost, commercially available hardware, the Automatic Image Motion
Seeking (AIMS) camera follows
a moving object and keeps the target at the center of the field of view.
"This camera has broad
impact for security surveillance, because it eliminates the need to have a
full-time guard watching
a video screen. It's one intelligence level above any other existing
system, and we've found the
right compromise between speed and accuracy."

* Researcher Develops Advanced Motion-tracking Camera For Surveillance,
Security,
Videoconferencing, 2004/01/27, ScienceDaily & University Of Rhode Island
* Contributed by Atin Das

_________________________________________________________________

17.01. Smart Cellphone Antennas Boost Coverage , New Scientist

Better cellphone coverage

It is how this antenna is controlled that is crucial. It is no good
expecting people in a control
centre to decide where coverage needs expanding, (...)
So the researchers have placed an autonomous software agent in charge of
each antenna. (...)

In Adamant, if a cell has too many users, the software agent in charge of
that cell simply
negotiates with those in charge of neighbouring antennas, asking which can
help. If a neighbour is
not too busy, that antenna can "reach out" to those with no coverage.

* Smart Cellphone Antennas Boost Coverage , Duncan Graham-Rowe , 04/02/01,
New Scientist

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18. How to Hack an Election , NY Times

Excerpts: Concerned citizens have been warning that new electronic voting
technology being rolled
out nationwide can be used to steal elections. Now there is proof.
When the State of Maryland hired a computer security firm to test its new
machines, these paid
hackers had little trouble casting multiple votes and taking over the
machines' vote-recording
mechanisms. The Maryland study shows convincingly that more security is
needed for electronic
voting, starting with voter-verified paper trails.

When Maryland decided to buy 16,000 AccuVote-TS voting machines, there was
considerable opposition.

* How to Hack an Election, NY Times

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18.01. Divided We Stand... Still , Orgnet

Excerpts: I used the political books on the New York Times Bestseller List
as a starting point for
'snowball sampling'. In the network map above, two books are linked if they
were bought together.
The network is organized and displayed by an algorithm that looks at the
pattern of connections and
finds the emergent structure. (...)
Two distinct clusters, with dense internal ties have emerged. (...)
Yet, this network of 67 books is dependent on just 2 nodes to remain
connected -- Sleeping with the
Devil and Bush at War.

* Divided We Stand... Still, Saldis Krebs , 04/01, Orgnet

_________________________________________________________________

19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks

_________________________________________________________________

19.01. 9/11 Commission Report , NPR Audio

Excerpts: The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks wants two more
months to complete its
investigation, saying there's no way to finish by the May 27 deadline
imposed by Congress.

* 9/11 Commission Report, Richard Ben-Veniste , John Feehery , 04/01/28,
NPR Audio

_________________________________________________________________

19.02. 9/11 and the Bush Administration - Is Ignorance Bliss? , The
Progressive Trail

Excerpts: The commission has been given only three months to complete its
review of 200 interviews
and 2 million documents, many of which had to be pried loose from an
uncooperative executive branch
that has done nearly everything it could to frustrate the commission's
purpose. As former
Commissioner Max Cleland, a former Democratic senator from Georgia, told
Eric Boehlert of Salon
last November: "I think the White House has made it darn near impossible to
get full access to the
documents by May, much less get a full report out analyzing those documents
by May."

* 9/11 and the Bush Administration - Is Ignorance Bliss?, Eric Alterman ,
The Progressive Trail

_________________________________________________________________

19.03. Pakistan Warns U.S. About Crossing Border , AP/Newsday

Excerpts: He said so far tribesmen in the border regions, which are largely
autonomous from the
central government, are showing restraint as Pakistani troops search the
region for al-Qaida
fugitives.

"We are urging them not to resist the (Pakistani) army," Durrani said. "But
if Americans go into
their areas, the tribesmen will not listen to us."

Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants are believed to be in hiding in the
border regions --
possibly inside Pakistan -- and sympathies for the Taliban run high there.

* Pakistan Warns U.S. About Crossing Border, Munir Ahmad , 04/01/30,
AP/Newsday

_________________________________________________________________

19.04. Family Bonds Strengthen Terrorism Networks , NPR Audio

Excerpts: The wives of two men tied to the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist network
in Southeast Asia
remain supportive in the face of evidence that their husbands plotted and
executed terrible crimes
-- in one case the bombing of a Bali nightclub in which more than 200
people died. Kelly McEvers
reports from Indonesia.

* Family Bonds Strengthen Terrorism Networks, 04/01/31, NPR Audio

_________________________________________________________________

20. Links & Snippets

_________________________________________________________________

20.01. Other Publications

- An Astrophysical Basis For A Universal Origin Of Life, S. A. Colgate
colgate@lanl.gov , S.
Rasmussen steen@lanl.gov , J. C. Solem jxcs@lanl.gov , K. Lackner
kl2010@columbia.edu , Dec. 2003,
Advances in Complex Systems, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525903001079
- Effectiveness Of Recruitment Behavior In Stingless Bees (Apidae,
Meliponini), S. Jarau
stefan.jarau@univie.ac.at , M. Hrncir , V. M. Schmidt , R. Zucchi , F.
G. Barth , Nov. 2003,
Insectes Sociaux, DOI: 10.1007/s00040-003-0684-2
- Why Do Honey Bees Dance?, A. Dornhaus adornhaus@web.de , L. Chittka ,
online 2003/11/22,
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, DOI: 10.1007/s00265-003-0726-9
- Multiple Unloadings By Nectar Foragers In Honey Bees: A Matter Of
Information Improvement Or Crop
Fullness?, M. H. Huang , T. D. Seeley tds5@cornell.edu , T. D. Seeley ,
Nov. 2003, Insectes
Sociaux, DOI: 10.1007/s00040-003-0682-4
- Evidence For Notch-Mediated Lateral Inhibition In Organizing Butterfly
Wing Scales, R. D. Reed
reed@u.arizona.edu , online 2003/11/14, Development Genes and Evolution, DOI:
10.1007/s00427-003-0366-0
- Pitch Shifts And Song Structure Indicate Male Quality In The Dawn Chorus
Of Black-Capped
Chickadees, P. J. Christie christip@biology.queensu.ca , D. J. Mennill ,
L. M. Ratcliffe , online
2003/11/15, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, DOI: 10.1007/s00265-003-0711-3
- Effects Of Kinship On Territorial Conflicts Among Groups Of Lions,
Panthera Leo, G. Spong
gs328@cam.ac.uk , S. Creel , online 2003/11/22, Behavioral Ecology and
Sociobiology, DOI:
10.1007/s00265-003-0723-z
- Brain Structure Implicated In Early Onset Depression, G. Bradley
press@biomedcentral.com ,
2004/01/26, Alphagalileo
- What Stops Mars Express Getting Lost In Space?, G. De Marchi
guido.de.marchi@esa.int ,
2004/01/29, Alphagalileo
- Long-term Effects Of Embryo Culture On Behavior Studied, 2004/01/27,
ScienceDaily & University Of
Pennsylvania
- Death-defying Approach Devised By Penn Scientists To Prevent Cell
Apoptosis, 2004/01/30,
ScienceDaily & University Of Pennsylvania Medical Center
- Electronic Roads: Intelligent Navigation Through Multi-Contextual
Information, G. Fakas
fakas@ucy.ac.cy , A. Kakas , C. N. Schizas , Jan. 2004, Knowledge and
Information Systems, DOI:
10.1007/s10115-003-0090-0
- A Model Of Endogenous Political Party Platforms, A. M. Gomberg , F.
Marhuenda , I. O.-Ortín
ortin@merlin.fae.ua.es , Jul. 2004, Economic Theory
- A Neuro-Fuzzy Technique For Document Binarisation, N. Papamarkos
papamark@ee.duth.gr ,
2003/11/08, Neural Computing & Applications, DOI: 10.1007/s00521-003-0382-z
- Dynamic Response of Permian Brachiopod Communities to Long-Term
Environmental Change, Thomas D.
Olszewski , Douglas H. Erwin , SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 03-12-067
- Modularity "for Free?in Genome Architecture, Ricard V. Sol?, Pau
Fernandez , SFI Working
Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 03-12-071
- Finite State Automata Resulting from Temporal Information Maximization,
Thomas Wennekers , Nihat
Ay , SFI Working Papers, DOI: SFI-WP 04-01-001
- New Form of Matter Created in Lab, David Whitehouse , 2004-01-29, BBC News
- Planning Just-in-Time versus Planning Just-in-Case, Nurit Alfasi , Juval
Portugali , 2004-02,
Cities 21(1):29-39, DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2003.10.007
- The Circular Topology of Rhythm in Asynchronous Random Boolean Networks,
Philipp Rohlfshagen ,
Ezequiel A. Di Paolo http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/ezequiel/, 2004-02,
Biosystems 73(2):141-152,
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2003.11.003
- Running C++ Models Under the Swarm Environment, Richard Leow , Russell K.
Standish , 2004-01-27,
arXiv, DOI: cs.MA/0401025
- The Efficiency Of Muscle Contraction, Nicholas P. Smith , Christopher J.
Barclay , Denis S.
Loiselle
, Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, (January 21, 2004),
10.1016/S0079-6107(03)00108-1
- Crossmodal Integration - Insights From The Chemical Senses, Dana M. Small
, Trends in Neurosciences, (January 20, 2004), 10.1016/S0166-2236(04)00003-7
- Information Processing, Dimensionality Reduction And Reinforcement
Learning In The Basal Ganglia,
Izhar Bar-Gad , Genela Morris and Hagai Bergman
Progress in Neurobiology, (January 20, 2004), 10.1016/S0301-0082(03)00192-8
- The Physiological Basis Of Transcranial Motor Cortex Stimulation , In
Conscious Humans , V. Di
Lazzaro , A. Oliviero , F. Pilato , E. Saturno , M. Dileone , P. Mazzone ,
A. Insola , P.A. Tonali
, J.C. Rothwell , Clinical Neurophysiology, 2004, 115:2255-266
- New Form Of Matter Created In Lab,

A new form of matter

A new form of matter - only the sixth ever seen - has been made in the
lab and it could provide a
new way to transmit electricity.
- Jumping Genes Are Fruit Flies' Saviors, Science Now,
A chunk of rogue DNA may protect flies against pesticides
- Think Outside the Bison, People   , Science Now,
Failure to adapt to a changing food supply doomed the Neanderthals
- Science And Society Would Benefit If Researchers Disclosed The Cost Of
Their Work, 04/02/02, The
Scientist
- HIV Continues To Elude Researchers, 04/02/02, The Scientist
- Smoking Out the Enemy, 04/02/02, The Scientist, Latent HIV reservoirs
lead researchers to 'shock
and kill' strategies
- The Greatest Regeneration, 04/02/02, The Scientist, Researchers go out on
a limb with some new
models for regrowth
- Office Workers Want To Break Free, BBC News. Employees that can
telecommute from the beach or
their back garden could be more productive, a survey suggests.
- Most Flexible Electronic Paper Yet Revealed , Will Knight , 04/01/26, New
Scientist,

The displays can be rolled into a tube with a 2 cm diameter (Image: Philips)

- Nuclear Inquiry Skips Pakistani Army, David Rohde , Pakistan's
military-led government appears to
be glossing over evidence that senior military officials may have approved
the sale of nuclear
technology.
- Statistical Mechanical Description Of The Parking-Lot Model For Vibrated
Granular Materials,
Phys. Rev. E 69, 011307 (2004)
G. Tarjus and P. Viot, Phys. Rev. E 69, 011307 (2004)
- Energy Balance In Feedback Synchronization Of Chaotic Systems, C.
Sarasola F. J. Torrealdea A.
d'Anjou A. Moujahid M. Graña , Phys. Rev. E 69, 011606 (2004)
- General Fractal-Discrete Scheme For High-Frequency Lung Sound Production,
L. P. L. de Oliveira ,
B. E. J. Bodmann , D. Faistauer , Phys. Rev. E 69, 011905 (2004)
- Entanglement Production In Coupled Chaotic Systems: Case Of The Kicked
Tops, Jayendra N.
Bandyopadhyay , Arul Lakshminarayan , Phys. Rev. E 69, 016201 (2004)
- Pattern Formation Capacity Of Spatially Extended Systems, Serguei
Vakulenko , Bogdan Kazmierczak
, Stéphane Génieys , Phys. Rev. E 69, 016215 (2004)
- 'Shakespeare, Einstein and the Bottom Line', 04/01/31, NPR Audio, NPR's
Steve Inskeep talks to
David Kirp, author of a new book about the commercialization of higher
education in America called
Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher
Education. (Published by
Harvard University Press.)
- Deficits, Fruit Flies and the Beltway, John Kasich , Some advice for
Washington, from a former
chairman of the House Budget Committee, on curtailing the rise and growth
of government spending.
- Tea Strainer In The Neck 'Stops Strokes' , Laura Spinney , 04/01/28, New
Scientist,

The diverter

- Dawn Of The Y: Papaya-Glimpse Of Early Sex Chromosome, Genetic mappers
say that the papaya plant
has a rudimentary Y chromosome, the youngest one in evolutionary terms yet
found, offering a
glimpse of the evolution of sex chromosomes.
- Pushing Cancer Over The Edge: Compounds Trigger Tumor-Cell Suicide,
Compounds that free cancer
cells to commit suicide slow tumor growth.
- Conduit to the Brain: Particles enter the nervous system via the nose,
Tiny airborne particles
can apparently infiltrate the brain by shimmying up the nerve that governs
smell.
- Wet 'n' Wild, Scientists have tracked the weirdness of water to
microscopic arrangements of
molecules and perhaps to the existence of a second, low-temperature form of
the familiar substance.
- Warming Climate May Slam Many Species, Expected increases in global
temperature could eradicate
from a sixth to a half of the plant and animal species across large areas
of the globe, a new
analysis suggests.
- Nanotube Implants Could Aid Brain Research, Electrically conducting
carbon nanotubes could be the
ideal material for probing the brain and treating neural disorders.
- Hot Or Cold? Debate On Protein Heats Up, Wasabi and horseradish trigger
the same pain-signaling
receptor on nerve cells.
- Insect Receptor For Sweat Creates Buzz, A sweat-sensing cell-surface
protein allows female
mosquitoes to target human skin.
- Neuroplasticity: Changes In Grey Matter Induced By Training, Bogdan
Draganski , Christian Gaser ,
Volker Busch , Gerhard Schuierer , Ulrich Bogdahn , Arne May , Nature
427, 311 - 312 (22 January
2004), DOI: 10.1038/427311a

_________________________________________________________________

20.02. Webcast Announcements

Voices of Public Intellectuals Lecture Series: Democracy's Response to the
Terrorist Threat
Now in its fifth year, the Radcliffe Institute Voices of Public
Intellectuals lecture series brings
issues affecting civic life to a public forum. This year's series of three
lectures features
experts in the study of terrorism and the prosecution of terrorists to
explore the effects of
terrorism on democracy. These lectures take place in Cambridge on February
26, March 4, and March
11 at 4 p.m.

World Economic Forum 2004, Davos, Switzerland

Riding the Next Democratic Wave,
Al-Thani, Khan, Vike-Freiberga, Wade, Soros, Zakaria, World Economic Forum,
04/01/25
The Future of Global Interdependence, Kharrazi, Held, Owens, Shourie,
Annan, Martin, Schwab, World
Economic Forum, 04/01/25

Why Victory Against Terrorism Demands Shared Values

The Process of Curricular Review: Redefining a World-Class Education,
Benedict Gross, Thomas
Bender, Harvard@home, 04/01/21, Dean of Harvard College Benedict Gross
discusses Harvard's first
comprehensive review of the undergraduate curriculum in almost 3 decades.
This program introduces
the process of curricular review by presenting two segmented lectures. The
first, by Dean Gross,
outlines the approach and considerations in undertaking the current review.
The second lecture,
presented by NYU Professor Thomas Bender, presents a historical perspective
on academic culture.

Cancer Biology , NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16, How the spread of cancer
is like wound healing
gone awry.

    Tracking Ebola , NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16, A new study might
help scientists predict
where Ebola may!
strike next.

    Animal Thought and Communication, NPR Talk of the Nation, 04/01/16,
How do animals think and communicate with each other? And what can studying
animals tell us about
the evolution of language in humans? In this hour, NPR's Ira Flatow and
guests look at thought and
communication in apes, gorillas and monkeys. What can non-human primates
tell us about
communication in humans?

CODIS 2004, International Conference On Communications, Devices And
Intelligent Systems, 2004
Calcutta, India, 04/01/09-10
   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 Po
tential and Practicalities,
   Bucharest, Romania, 03/07/28-08/08
   ECAL 2003, 7th
   European Conference on Artificial Life, Dortmund, Germany,
   03/09/14-17
   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
   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

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

The O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, San Diego, CA, 04/02/09-12

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

11th Annual Winter Chaos Conference Dynamical Systems Thinking in Science
and Society, Stony
Creek, CT, USA, 04/03/12-14

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

IDS'04 - Intentional Dynamic Systems Symposium, Memphis, TN, USA, 04/04/24-26

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

What Really Matters ?The Global Forum 2004, Santa Fe, NM, 04/05/02-040

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

NAACSOS 2004, North American Association for Computational Social and
Organizational Science,
Pittsburgh PA, 04/06/27-29

Statphys - Kolkata V An International Conference on Complex Networks:
Structure, Function and
Processes , Kolkata, India, 04/06/27-30

3rd Intl School Topics in Nonlinear Dynamics Discrete Dynamical Systems and
Applications , Urbino
(Italy), 04/07/07-09

`Perspectives on Nonlinear Dynamics 2004 (PNLD-2004), Chennai, India,
04/07/12-15

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

14th Annual International Conference The Society for Chaos Theory in
Psychology & Life Sciences ,
Milwaukee, WI, USA, 04/07/15-18

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

SME 2004 Symposium on Modeling
and Control of Economic Systems , University in Redlands, CA, 04/01/28-31

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

   Fractals and Natural Hazards at
32nd Intl Geological Congress (IGC), Florence, Italy, 04/08/20-28

ICCC 2004, IEEE International Conference on Computational Cybernetics, ,
Vienna, Austria, 04/08/30-09/01

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

6th Intl Conf on Electronic Commerce
ICEC'2004: Towards A New Services Landscape, Delft, The Netherlands,
04/10/25-27

   Complexity and Philosophy Workshop - 2-Day Conference , Rio de Janeiro,
04/11

_________________________________________________________________

20.03.01. Strategic Thinking in a Complex World , Smithsonian Resident
Associates Program

Recognizing the world as one vast interconnected system is essential to
understanding the level of
complexity in today's global environment.

This course is designed to give you a working knowledge of complexity
science, and to show how to
apply insights from the new science to your life and work, and to world events.

* Strategic Thinking in a Complex World, T. Irene Sanders , David Rejeski
, 04/05/01-22,
Smithsonian Resident Associates Program

_________________________________________________________________
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