复杂性文摘NO：2004.33

Complexity Digest 2004.33

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. Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current
Technologies, Science
01.01. Already the Day After Tomorrow?, Science
01.02. More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st
Century, Science
02. Climate Change: Models Change Their Tune, Nature
03. Oceanography: Noah's Flood, Nature
03.01. Volcano! Why America's Coast Could Be Toast, Independent
03.02. Expert Slams Wave Threat Inertia, BBC News
04. Did Climate Change Shape the Alps?, Science Now
05. Sustainable Hydrogen Production, Science
05.01. The Hydrogen Backlash, Science
05.02. Can the Developing World Skip Petroleum?, Science
06. Working And Training: A Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis Of Human Capital
Development, Japanese Econ. Rev.
07. Monkeys Test 'Hardworking Gene', BBC News
07.01. Cognitive Science: Rank Inferred By Reason, Nature
08. Intelligence And Culture: How Culture Shapes What Intelligence Means, Phil.
Tran.: Biol. Sc.
08.01. Group Dynamics: Nature's Complex Relationships, ScienceDaily
09. Implementing And Avoiding Control: Contemporary Art And The Chinese State,
China: An Int. J.
09.01. SARS: "Waterloo" Of Chinese Science, China: An Int. J.
10. Financial Markets, Development And Economic Growth: Tales Of Informational
Asymmetries, J. Econ. Surveys
11. Economics And Complexity, Adv. in Complex Sys.
12. Understanding Well-Being In The Evolutionary Context Of Brain Development,
Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc.
13. Complex Social Behaviour Can Select For Variability In Visual Features,
Alphagalileo & Proc. B
13.01. Locusts Inspire Technology That May Prevent Car Crashes, National
Geographic news
13.02. Borrowed From the Beetles, Science Now
13.03. Terrible T. rex Teens, Science Now
14. Human Genetics: An Expression Of Interest, Nature
15. Scientists Help Police Bust Forgers, Institute of Physics
15.01. Handwriting Analysis Goes 3D, Science Now
16. Seeing the Science for the Trees, Science Now
16.01. Fighting Oak Death With Fire?, Science Now
17. The Unruly Power Grid, IEEE Spectrum
17.01. Preventing Power Grid Failure, NPR TOTN
17.02. The Grid: Defining The Future Of The Internet, Grid Today
18. Nonlinear Dynamics: Quantizing The Classical Cat, Nature
18.01. A New Twist on Black Hole Jets, Science Now
19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks
19.01. Al Qaeda Showing New Life, U.S. Surprised by Signs of Regrouping,
Washington Post
19.02. Police Tactic Against Terror: Let's Network, NY Times
19.03. Tyranny in the Name of Freedom, NY Times
20. Links & Snippets
20.01. Other Publications
20.02. Webcast Announcements
20.03. Conference & Call for Papers Announcements

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01. Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies
, Science

Abstract: Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and
industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next
half-century. A portfolio of technologies now exists to meet the world's energy
needs over the next 50 years and limit atmospheric CO2 to a trajectory that
avoids a doubling of the preindustrial concentration. Every element in this
portfolio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project;
many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale. Although no
element is a credible candidate for doing the entire job (or even half the job)
by itself, the portfolio as a whole is large enough that not every element has
to be used.

* Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies,
S. Pacala  , R. Socolow
  , 04/08/13, Science : 968-972.


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01.01. Already the Day After Tomorrow? , Science

Summary: The thermohaline circulation of the ocean is a process that generates
a giant flow pattern in which water moves around the planet. Recently, dire
predictions and Hollywood movies have raised public consciousness of the impact
of ocean flows on climate change. In their Perspective, Hansen et al. discuss
recent observations and suggest that although the circulation may be weakening,
which might lead to climate cooling in northern Europe, compensating effects
make the picture richer and more complex and difficult to predict than
previously thought.

* Already the Day After Tomorrow?, Bogi Hansen , Svein terhus , Detlef
Quadfasel , William Turrell , 04/08/13, Science : 953-954.


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01.02. More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st
Century , Science

Excerpts: A global coupled climate model shows that there is a distinct
geographic pattern to future changes in heat waves. Model results for areas of
Europe and North America, associated with the severe heat waves in Chicago in
1995 and Paris in 2003, show that future heat waves in these areas will become
more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting in the second half of the 21st
century. Observations and the model show that present-day heat waves over
Europe and North America coincide with a specific atmospheric circulation
pattern that is intensified by ongoing increases in greenhouse gases,
indicating that it will produce more severe heat waves in those regions in the
future.

* More Intense, More Frequent, and Longer Lasting Heat Waves in the 21st
Century, Gerald A. Meehl  , Claudia Tebaldi

, 04/08/13, Science : 994-997.


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02. Climate Change: Models Change Their Tune , Nature

Excerpts: Climate models are usually tuned to match observations. A new
approach, in which the models are detuned instead, increases our confidence in
projections of future warming.

* Climate Change: Models Change Their Tune, Thomas F. Stocker  , 04/08/12, DOI:
10.1038/430737a, Nature 430, 737 - 738


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03. Oceanography: Noah's Flood , Nature

Excerpts: Did a great flood once surge into the Black Sea, forming the basis of
a Biblical tale? Quirin Schiermeier investigates a computer model that has
added weight to the idea.

* Oceanography: Noah's Flood, Quirin Schiermeier  , 04/08/12, DOI:
10.1038/430718a, Nature 430, 718 - 719


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03.01. Volcano! Why America's Coast Could Be Toast , Independent

Excerpts: It sounds like the plot of a fanciful Hollywood disaster movie. A
dangerous volcano in the Canary Islands erupts, sends a giant tsunami
travelling faster than a jet aircraft into the major population centres of
America's east coast, killing tens of millions and wiping out New York and
Washington DC.

* Volcano! Why America's Coast Could Be Toast, Steve Connor  , 04/08/10,
Independent


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03.02. Expert Slams Wave Threat Inertia , BBC News

Excerpts: A scientist has attacked the inaction over a threat from a dangerous
volcano in the Canary Islands which could send a tidal wave crashing against
the US.

Bill McGuire of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre said no one was
keeping a proper watch on the mountain.

If Cumbre Vieja volcano erupts, it may send a rock slab the size of a small
island crashing into the sea, creating a huge tidal wave, or tsunami.

Walls of water 300 feet high would travel to the US at the speed of a jet.

* Expert Slams Wave Threat Inertia, 04/08/10, BBC News


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04. Did Climate Change Shape the Alps? , Science Now

Excerpts:


Youthful wrinkles. Although the tectonic forces that formed them have subsided,
the Alps still look rugged.

CREDIT: JACQUES DESCLOITRES/MODIS RAPID RESPONSE TEAM/GSFC/NASA



It sounds backward, but ancient erosion may explain old mountains'
ruggedness


Once mountain ranges stop rising, the mighty forces of erosion will eventually
rub them from Earth's face. Some peaks get a new lease on life, but the
mechanism has been mysterious. In a paper in the August issue of Geology,
researchers suggest that the European Alps may owe their sharp relief to a
spell of wet weather that trimmed the mountains and caused them to rise once
more.

* Did Climate Change Shape the Alps?, Katie Green , 04/08/09, Science Now


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05. Sustainable Hydrogen Production , Science

Excerpts: Identifying and building a sustainable energy system are perhaps two
of the most critical issues that today's society must address. Replacing our
current energy carrier mix with a sustainable fuel is one of the key pieces in
that system. Hydrogen as an energy carrier, primarily derived from water, can
address issues of sustainability, environmental emissions, and energy security.
Issues relating to hydrogen production pathways are addressed here. Future
energy systems require money and energy to build. Given that the United States
has a finite supply of both, hard decisions must be made about the path
forward, and this path must be followed with a sustained and focused effort.

* Sustainable Hydrogen Production, John A. Turner
, 04/08/13, Science : 972-974



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05.01. The Hydrogen Backlash , Science

Summary: As policymakers around the world evoke grand visions of a
hydrogen-fueled future, many experts say that a broader-based, nearer-term
energy policy would mark a surer route to the same goals.

* The Hydrogen Backlash, Robert F. Service , 04/08/13, Science : 958-961


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05.02. Can the Developing World Skip Petroleum? , Science

Summary: If technologies for hydrogen fuel take off, one of the biggest winners
could be the developing world.

* Can the Developing World Skip Petroleum?, Gretchen Vogel
, 04/08/06, Science: 967.


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06. Working And Training: A Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis Of Human Capital
Development , Japanese Econ. Rev.

Abstract: We tend to think of workers completing their education and then
entering the workforce, where they will gradually develop their skills. In
fact, however, a worker's career may be characterized not only by this gradual
buildup of job-related skills but also by recurrent education, i.e. the
phenomenon whereby a worker alternates between earning-intensive periods and
training-intensive periods along his career path. In this study, we build a
dynamic optimization model of earning/training decisions of a worker in which
these patterns of his career path can be explained in an integrated manner.

* Working And Training: A Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis Of Human Capital
Development, K. Nishimura  , T. Yagi  , M. Yano , Jun. 2004, DOI:
10.1111/j.1468-5876.2004.t01-2-00297.x, The Japanese Economic Review
* Contributed by Pritha Das


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07. Monkeys Test 'Hardworking Gene' , BBC News

Excerpts: "Normal monkeys and people procrastinate - tend not to work very well
when they have a lot of time to get the job done, and work better when the
reward is nearer in time," Dr Richmond says. "The monkeys under the influence
of the treatment don't procrastinate." The treatment consists of blocking an
important brain chemical - dopamine.

* Monkeys Test 'Hardworking Gene', Richard Black , 2004/08/14, BBC News
* Contributed by Carlos Gershenson


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07.01. Cognitive Science: Rank Inferred By Reason , Nature

Excerpts: Pinyon jays seem to work out how to behave towards an unfamiliar jay
by watching it in encounters with members of their own flock. (...)

Susan is taller than Billy. Peter is taller than Susan. Who is taller, Billy or
Peter? Knowledge about pairs of objects linked by relationships such as
'taller' or 'stronger' permits conclusions to be drawn about novel pairs (here,
Billy and Peter) ?a process known as transitive inference. Monkeys, rats and
some birds can solve transitive-inference tasks in the laboratory1, but why
would this ability evolve?

* Cognitive Science: Rank Inferred By Reason, Sara J. Shettleworth  , 04/08/12,
DOI: 10.1038/430732b, Nature 430, 732 - 733


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08. Intelligence And Culture: How Culture Shapes What Intelligence Means ,
Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc.

Excerpts: This paper discusses the relationship between culture and
intelligence. The main message of the paper is that intelligence cannot fully
or even meaningfully be understood outside its cultural context. Behaviour that
is considered intelligent in one culture may be considered unintelligent in
another culture, and vice versa. Moreover, people in different cultures have
different implicit (folk) theories of intelligence (...). The paper opens with
a general discussion of issues regarding the relationship between the two
concepts. It then describes the theory of successful intelligence, which
motivates our work on the interface between culture and intelligence. Finally,
the article draws some conclusions.

* Intelligence And Culture: How Culture Shapes What Intelligence Means, And The
Implications For A Science Of Well-Being, R. J. Sternberg  , E. L. Grigorenko ,
2004/08/11, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1514, Philosophical Transactions: Biological
Sciences
* Contributed by Pritha Das


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08.01. Group Dynamics: Nature's Complex Relationships , ScienceDaily

Excerpts: Every family unit is a complex social network influenced by numerous
inputs. In nature, social organizations at the family and small-group level can
range from violent to peaceful, monogamous to polyandrous, segregated to
sharing work. On Wednesday August 4, 2004, scientists will gather for the
symposium, "Family Dynamics: the Evolution and Consequences of Family
Organization." The session, (...) will examine the varied structures of social
organization and the conditions, from genetics to habitat, that affect the
evolution and development of these groups. (...)

* Group Dynamics: Nature's Complex Relationships, 2004/08/09, ScienceDaily &
Ecological Society Of America
* Contributed by Atin Das


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09. Implementing And Avoiding Control: Contemporary Art And The Chinese State ,
China: An Int. J.

Excerpts: This article investigates how the legalisation and economic
privatisation processes taking place in China since the late 1970s have
contributed to the formation of autonomous public spheres. It explores how
unofficial artists have worked to create a space for innovative elite culture
outside both state-promoted official culture and market-driven popular culture.
Unofficial artists have found their own sphere by counting on non-interference
from the state and by risking punishment if the state decided to interfere.
This strategy requires non-state resources available through the market
economy. The artists' strategy fits with the liberal conception of private
economy (...).

* Implementing And Avoiding Control: Contemporary Art And The Chinese State, T.
Salmenkari taru.salmenkari@helsinki.fi , Sep. 2004, DOI:
10.1142/S0219747204000135, China: An International Journal
* Contributed by Atin Das


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09.01. SARS: "Waterloo" Of Chinese Science , China: An Int. J.

Abstract: It was Mainland China where SARS first struck, and where ultimately
there were the most cases. However, Mainland Chinese scientists and physicians
failed to capitalise, in terms of research publications, on their advantages
and resources. They could have been the first to identify the pathogen,
sequence its genome and describe how it sickens its victims. This article
examines the reasons why the country lost an opportunity to show off its
growing scientific prowess to the international community - authoritative and
institutional structures, scientists from different jurisdictions not
collaborating, etc. - and concludes that nothing has since changed.

* SARS: "Waterloo" Of Chinese Science, C Cao eaicaoc@nus.edu.sg , Sep. 2004,
DOI: 10.1142/S0219747204000147, China: An International Journal
* Contributed by Atin Das


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10. Financial Markets, Development And Economic Growth: Tales Of Informational
Asymmetries , J. Econ. Surveys

Excerpts: The development of financial systems is very often characterised by
the development of innovative financial contracts which allow a more efficient
allocation of resources and a higher level of capital productivity and economic
growth. (...) economists have recently managed to shed new light on the well
studied issue of the relationship between financial market development and
economic growth. This paper reviews the most recent progress of this literature
which shows that the amount of information asymmetry in the credit market and
the degree of heterogeneity between borrowers (typically firms) and lenders
(typically workers or savers) determine the nature of the financial system.
(...)

* Financial Markets, Development And Economic Growth: Tales Of Informational
Asymmetries, S. Capasso , Jul. 2004, DOI: 10.1111/j.0950-0804.2004.00222.x,
Journal of Economic Surveys
* Contributed by Pritha Das


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11. Economics And Complexity , Adv. in Complex Sys.

Abstract: This paper presents a view of the economy as a complex system with
heterogeneous interacting agents who collectively organize themselves to
generate aggregate phenomena which cannot be regarded as the behavior of some
average or representative individual. There is an essential difference between
the aggregate and the individual and such phenomena as bubbles and crashes,
herd behavior, the transmission of information and the organization of trade
are better modeled in the sort of framework suggested here than in more
standard economic models.

* Economics And Complexity, A. Kirman kirman@ehess.vcharite.univ-mrs.fr , Jun.
2004, DOI: 10.1142/S0219525904000123, Advances in Complex Systems
* Contributed by Atin Das


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12. Understanding Well-Being In The Evolutionary Context Of Brain Development ,
Phil. Tran.: Biol. Sc.

Excerpts: Much of the work on well-being and positive emotions has tended to
focus on the adult, (...). However, it is pertinent to ask if early life events
might engender certain predispositions that have consequences for adult
well-being. The human brain undergoes much of its growth and development
postnatally until the age of seven (...). Indeed, the prefrontal association
cortex, areas of the brain concerned with forward planning (...) continue to
develop until the age of 20. In this article, I consider the significance of
this extended postnatal developmental period for brain maturation and how brain
evolution has encompassed certain biological changes (...).

* Understanding Well-Being In The Evolutionary Context Of Brain Development, E.
B. Keverne , 2004/08/13, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1517, Philosophical
Transactions: Biological Sciences
* Contributed by Pritha Das


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13. Complex Social Behaviour Can Select For Variability In Visual Features ,
Alphagalileo & Proc. B

Excerpts: Previous research has shown that Polistes fuscatus wasps use
variation in marking patterns to recognize their nestmates as individuals.
Here, we examine markings across paper wasps to determine which species have
the kind of highly variable markings necessary (...). We find that variable
markings are confined to species with complex social behaviour. Therefore,
complex social behaviours likely select for individuals with variable,
distinctive markings that allow individual recognition. Selection for
distinctiveness may provide another explanation for the evolution of phenotypic
diversity, as other taxa with complex social behaviour have been noted for
their unusually variable visual features (eg wolves, wild dogs, humans).

* Complex Social Behaviour Can Select For Variability In Visual Features: A
Case Study In Polistes Wasps, E. A. Tibbetts , 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo &
Proceedings B (Biological Sciences)
* Contributed by Atin Das


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13.01. Locusts Inspire Technology That May Prevent Car Crashes , National
Geographic news

Excerpts: Locusts, have a large neuron called the locust giant movement
detector (LGMD) located behind their eyes. The LGMD releases bursts of energy
whenever a locust is on a collision course with another locust or a predatory
bird. (...) "The [LGMD] system is complemented by the brain of the locust,
which provides the necessary experience and knowledge to really react according
to the situation" (...) Cuadri and his colleagues are responsible for adapting
the locust collision-avoidance system to the automotive environment. Their
adapted system is based on a single, integrated step that combines visual
optics and electronics. The conventional way of doing this would involve tow
steps: First, a camera would capture the image. Second, a digital processor
would analyze it.

* Locusts Inspire Technology That May Prevent Car Crashes, John Roach ,
2004/08/06, National Geographic news
* Contributed by Nadia Gershenson


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13.02. Borrowed From the Beetles , Science Now

Excerpts:


  The jewel beetle moves in to lay its eggs immediately after a forest fire has
raged.

CREDIT: HELMUT SCHMITZ



Spotting wildfires as early as possible is vital in slowing their spread. Now,
a beetle thought to be able to detect fires from as far away as 80 kilometers
has inspired an ingenious and cheap new forest fire detector.

The jewel beetle, Melanophila acuminate, is a living fire detector: (...)To
spot fires, the bug has discs of cuticle in tiny pits under its wings, which
absorb infrared radiation at 3 micrometers, the dominant wavelength emitted by
a raging wildfire. The heat makes the discs expand, setting off
mechanoreceptors.

* Borrowed From the Beetles, John Pickrell , 04/08/10, Science Now


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13.03. Terrible T. rex Teens , Science Now

Excerpts:


Hungry. Growth rings (inset) in a rib show that T. rex grew fast.

CREDIT: THE FIELD MUSEUM



Tyrannosaurus rex was a creature of superlatives. As big as a bull elephant, T.
rex weighed 15 times as much as the largest carnivores living on land today.
Now, paleontologists have for the first time charted the colossal growth spurt
that carried T. rex beyond its tyrannosaurid relatives. "It would have been the
ultimate teenager in terms of food intake," (...).
(...) it packed on 2 kilograms a day and maxed out at more than 5600 kilograms
at age 18.5.

* Terrible T. rex Teens, Erik Stokstad , 04/08/11, Science Now


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14. Human Genetics: An Expression Of Interest , Nature

Excerpts: The baseline level of gene expression varies from person to person,
but how is this determined genetically? The answer may improve our
understanding of complex traits, including some genetic diseases.

* Human Genetics: An Expression Of Interest, Nancy J. Cox  , 04/08/12, DOI:
10.1038/430733a, Nature 430, 733 - 734


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15. Scientists Help Police Bust Forgers , Institute of Physics

Excerpts: Professor Giuseppe Schirripa Spagnolo, Carla Simonetti and Lorenzo
Cozzella from the Universita` degli Studi oma Tre?in Rome, Italy, have
devised a forgery detection method that creates a 3D hologram of a piece of
handwriting and analyses tiny variations and bumps along its path using two
common scientific techniques: virtual reality and image processing. (...)
Schirripa Spagnolo  team create 3D holograms of the path of a piece of
writing, generating an image on a computer that looks like a ditch or furrow.
This makes it easy to analyse variations or umps?generated by the writer
pressure on the paper at cross over points, for example the mid-point of the
figure eight.

* Scientists Help Police Bust Forgers, 2004/08/10, Institute of Physics
* Contributed by Nadia Gershenson


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15.01. Handwriting Analysis Goes 3D , Science Now

Excerpts:


Different strokes. The bump in this 3D image indicates that the "S" line was
drawn after the "F" line.

CREDIT: SPAGNOLO ET AL.




Researchers use holograms to separate fact from forgery

* Handwriting Analysis Goes 3D, David Grimm  , 04/08/13, Science Now


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16. Seeing the Science for the Trees , Science Now

Excerpts: Forest managers should borrow a page from medical science and base
their practices on systematic reviews of scientific evidence, former Oregon
governor John Kitzhaber told scientists (...). He also announced a new center
to promote alternative approaches to natural resource policy that "are not
inhibited by bureaucratic paralysis or driven solely by stakeholder politics."


Management of natural resources in the U.S. West has been ineffective because
government acts as the mediator of disputes between industry and
conservationists rather using science to guide decision-making

* Seeing the Science for the Trees, Jay Withgott , 04/08/10, Science Now


_________________________________________________________________

16.01. Fighting Oak Death With Fire? , Science Now

Excerpts:


Not just oaks. Sudden oak death affects at least 25 species, including
California bay laurel.

CREDIT: CALIFORNIA OAK MORTALITY TASK FORCE, ROB GROSS



Humans may be important vectors for sudden oak death, according to new
research, raising concerns that the disease ravaging California's oak woodlands
may be difficult to control. But a study by another research group has yielded
some potentially good news: Fire may limit the spread of the pathogen.


(...), they discovered that the disease was much less prevalent in areas that
had burned since 1950. "You almost never see infections in areas that have
previously burned," says Moritz. "It's exceedingly rare, which is remarkable."

* Fighting Oak Death With Fire?, Jay Withgott , 04/08/09, Science Now


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17. The Unruly Power Grid , IEEE Spectrum

Excerpts:


Chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics suggest that widespread blackouts will be
an inevitable fact of life.



The connection between chaos and blackouts began to tighten when researchers
started to work with actual blackout data. In the mid-1990s, Doyle, at Caltech,
began to mine data on blackouts that had been collected since 1984 (...).

(...) observed that the frequency of large blackouts was much higher than they
expected. (...) The curve fit what is called a power law hich refers not to
the power in a circuit but to the fact that the probability of a blackout is
related to its magnitude by some constant exponent.

* The Unruly Power Grid, Peter Fairley  , 04/08, IEEE Spectrum


_________________________________________________________________

17.01. Preventing Power Grid Failure , NPR TOTN

Excerpts: It's been one year since a record blackout hit North America. What
have we learned from it? Are blackouts preventable?

* Preventing Power Grid Failure, 04/08/13, NPR, TOTN


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17.02. The Grid: Defining The Future Of The Internet , Grid Today

Excerpts: Grid computing is no longer the exclusive realm of researchers
seeking to harness enough compute power for massive computational challenges.
Commercial enterprises are now focused on the tremendous benefits that Grid
computing will yield. Yet, it's still in an early stage of its evolution. "The
Grid" has the potential to become a global Web of ubiquitous electronic
services which will improve infrastructure utilization, increase data
access/integration, enable new levels of communication and provide for the
creation of new applications.

* The Grid: Defining The Future Of The Internet, Wolfgang Gentzsch  , 04/08/16,
Grid Today


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18. Nonlinear Dynamics: Quantizing The Classical Cat , Nature

Excerpts: A mathematical analysis of a pendulum system reveals the relevance to
quantum systems of the classical concept of onodromy??why a falling cat
always lands the right way up. (...)

A quantummechanical clich?is Schr inger  cat, whose role is to dramatize the
superposition of quantum states by being both alive and dead.Classical
mechanics now introduces a second cat, which dramatizes monodromy through its
ability always to land on its feet.
(...)beautiful example of the relation between nonlinear dynamics and quantum
theory.

* Nonlinear Dynamics: Quantizing The Classical Cat, Ian Stewart  , 04/08/12,
DOI: 10.1038/430731a, Nature 430, 731 - 732


_________________________________________________________________

18.01. A New Twist on Black Hole Jets , Science Now

Excerpts:


Twist away. A new simulation suggests that black holes whip up nearby magnetic
fields.

CREDIT: V. SEMENOV ET AL.






A question that's long vexed astrophysicists is how the gargantuan energy
fountains called radio-loud quasars propel tight beams of particles and energy
across hundreds of thousands of light-years. Scientists agree that the power
comes from supermassive black holes. But they differ sharply about how the
machinery works. Now, a new model tries to set the record straight, proposing
that a whirling black hole can whip magnetic fields into a coiled frenzy that
expels the energy as two narrow jets.

* A New Twist on Black Hole Jets, Robert Irion  , 04/08/13, Science Now


_________________________________________________________________

19. Complex Challenges: Global Terrorist Networks





_________________________________________________________________

19.01. Al Qaeda Showing New Life, U.S. Surprised by Signs of Regrouping ,
Washington Post

Excerpts: In the more than two years since U.S. forces destroyed al Qaeda's
haven and much of its leadership in Afghanistan, many U.S. intelligence
officials and terrorism experts had come to believe that other Islamist
extremist groups now posed the gravest threat.

 From Istanbul to Madrid, local jihadists mounted daring and deadly attacks
with
little apparent support from Osama bin Laden's crippled network.

(...) led to a new terrorism alert in the United States caught many U.S.
officials and outside experts by surprise.

* Al Qaeda Showing New Life, U.S. Surprised by Signs of Regrouping, Dan Eggen
, John Lancaster
  , 04/08/14, Washington Post


_________________________________________________________________

19.02. Police Tactic Against Terror: Let's Network , NY Times

Excerpts: The city's counterterrorism investigators have been cultivating
contacts with businesses that might become unwitting parts of a terror
plot.(...)
In January, their mission was to speak before a mosquito sprayers' convention
in Harrisburg, Pa. In April, the detectives attended a meeting of self-storage
business owners (...). This summer, they were in Naples, Fla., mingling with
propane gas vendors (...).
Called Operation Nexus, the program has focused on particular types of
businesses based on intelligence that the department has culled from sources
like an Al Qaeda manual for terrorist operatives (...).

* Police Tactic Against Terror: Let's Network, William K. Rashbaum  , 04/08/14,
NYTimes


_________________________________________________________________

19.03. Tyranny in the Name of Freedom , NY Times

Excerpts: If we don't recognize the distinction between passionate political
speech and terrorism now, it may be too late to protest later. (...)

It started with Attorney General John Ashcroft's declaration, shortly after
9/11: "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my
message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." This was an early attempt
to couple disagreeing on civil liberties with abetting terrorists. And while
I'm not reflexively opposed to the entire Patriot Act, two provisions do serve
more to quell protest than terrorism.

* Tyranny in the Name of Freedom, Dahlia Lithwick , 04/08/12, NY Times


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20. Links & Snippets





_________________________________________________________________

20.01. Other Publications



- Smart Windows Block Heat Not Light, Mark Peplow , 2004/08/10, Nature
Publishing Groups
- Physical Schemata Underlying Biological Pattern Formation - Examples, Issues
and Strategies, Herbert Levine , Eshel Ben-Jacob , 2004/08/05, arXiv, DOI:
q-bio.CB/0408003
- Do 5-month-old Infants See Humans as Material Objects?, Valerie A. Kuhlmeier
, Paul Bloom , Karen Wynn , 2004/11, Cognition 94(1):95-103, DOI:
10.1016/j.cognition.2004.02.007
- Self-organization of Tree Form: A Model for Complex Social Systems, Tsvi
Sachs , 2004/09/21, Journal of Theoretical Biology 230(2):197-202, DOI:
10.1016/j.jtbi.2004.05.006
- Power-law Distribution in a Learning Process: Competition, Learning and
Natural Selection, Hari M. Gupta , Jos?R. Campanha , 2004/08/06, Physica A,
Article in Press, Uncorrected Proof, DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.07.010
- An Evolving Ontogenetic Cellular System for Better Adaptiveness, Mathieu S.
Capcarrece , 2004/08/06, Biosystems, Article in Press, Corrected Proof, DOI:
10.1016/j.biosystems.2004.05.020
- Evolving Beyond Perfection: An Investigation of the Effects of Long-term
Evolution on Fractal Gene Regulatory Networks, Peter J. Bentley , 2004/08/03,
Biosystems, Article in Press, Corrected Proof, DOI:
10.1016/j.biosystems.2004.05.019
- Open Problems In Using Agent-Based Models In Industrial And Labor Dynamics,
N. Gilbert n.gilbert@soc.surrey.ac.uk , Jun. 2004, Advances in Complex Systems,
DOI: 10.1142/S0219525904000093
- Synchronization Of Neural Oscillations As A Possible Mechanism Underlying
Episodic Memory: A Study Of Theta Rhythm In The Hippocampus, Y. Yamaguchi
yokoy@brain.riken.jp , Y. Aota  , N. Sato  , H. Wagatsuma  , Z. Wu , Jun. 2004,
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1142/S0219635204000488
- The Brain-Computer: Origin Of The Idea And Progress In Its Realization, M.
Ichikawa ichikawa@brain.riken.jp , G. Matsumoto , Jun. 2004, Journal of
Integrative Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1142/S0219635204000476
- An Average Linear Time Algorithm For Web Usage Mining, J. Borges
jlborges@fe.up.pt , M. Levene mark@dcs.bbk.ac.uk , Jun. 2004, International
Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, DOI:
10.1142/S0219622004001021
- The Corruption (And Redemption) Of Science, D. W. Orr david.orr@oberlin. edu
, Aug. 2004, Online at Zmag 2004/07/27, Conservation Biology & Zmag
- Optical Properties Of The Scales Of Morpho Rhetenor Butterflies: Theoretical
And Experimental Investigation Of The Back-Scattering Of Light In The Visible
Spectrum, L. Plattner , 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo & Interface
- Prenatal Developmental Conditions Have Long-Term Effects On Offspring
Fecundity, H. Gorman  , R. G. Nager , 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo & Proceedings B
(Biological Sciences)
- Efficient Face Detection By A Cascaded Support-Vector Machine Expansion, S
Romshani  , P. Torr  , B. Scholkopf  , A Blake , 2004/08/09, Alphagalileo &
Proceedings A (Mathematical, Physical & Engineering Sciences)
- Once Upon A Digital Time, T. Morris tmorris@gopa-cartermill.com , 2004/08/11,
Alphagalileo
- Survey Explains Why Some Animals Have Smaller Eyes: Lifestyle Matters More
Than Size, 2004/08/12, ScienceDaily & Cornell University
- Biologists Deciphering Complex Lemur Scent Language, 2004/08/10, ScienceDaily
& Duke University
- Computing Economic Chaos, Day R. H.  , Pavlov O. V. , Jun. 2004, The Journal
of Economic History, DOI: 10.1023/B:CSEM.0000026787.81469.1f
- Well-Being And Affective Style: Neural Substrates And Biobehavioural
Correlates, R. J. Davidson , 2004/08/11, Philosophical Transactions: Biological
Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1510
- Visual Pattern Recognition in Drosophila Is Invariant for Retinal Position,
Shiming Tang , Reinhard Wolf , Shuping Xu , Martin Heisenberg
, 04/08/13, Science : 1020-1022.
- Complex Auditory Behaviour Emerges From Simple Reactive Steering, BERTHOLD
HEDWIG  , JAMES F. A. POULET  , 04/08/12, Nature 430, 781 - 785, DOI:
10.1038/nature02787
- Protecting Baby: Calcium In Pregnancy Reduces Lead Exposure, By taking
calcium supplements during pregnancy, a mother can significantly reduce the
lead exposure of her fetus.
- Joint Effort: Bacteria In Yogurt Combat Arthritis In Rats, Yogurt containing
certain types of live bacteria may help prevent or treat arthritis.
- Curbing Allergy To Insect Venom: Therapy Stops Reactions To Stings Years
Later, Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but
immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
- To Err Is Human, Two researchers have issued a blunt critique of what they
see as a misguided emphasis on immoral behaviors and mental flaws in many
social psychology studies.
- Teenage T. Rex's Monstrous Growth, Tyrannosaurus rex achieved its massive
size due to an enormous growth spurt during its adolescent years.
- Satellite Boosts Olympic Security, An enhanced satellite location system aims
to help Olympic security guards react more quickly to emergencies.
- Security for the Homeland, Made in Alaska, LESLIE WAYNE
, Two big security companies benefited from large Pentagon contracts because of
ties to Alaskan businesses representing tribal groups.
- Supertubes, Phaedon Avouris  , 04/08, IEEE Spectrum, The unique properties of
carbon nanotubes may make them the natural successor to silicon
microelectronics
- Will Russia, the Oil Superpower, Flex Its Muscles?, Erin E. Arvedlund
, Russia is again emerging as a superpower - but the reason has less to do with
nuclear weapons than with oil.
- Putting You in the Tractor's Seat, Brendan I. Koerner
, A new computer game aimed at rural audiences, or those city dwellers with an
agrarian bent, lets players plow, plant and risk bankruptcy.
- Evolving Ears as Whales Got Wet,


Transitional. Remingtonocetus's ear ossicles--including the malleus and incus,
colored blue and green, respectively--helped it hear better underwater

CREDIT: J. G. M. THEWISSEN/LAUREN STEVENS



- Coming Soon: A New Solar System, Nearby star yields the closest example yet
of rocky planets in the making
- A Wasp With a Taste for Brain,


On target. The wasp Ampulex compressa finds the roach's brain with receptors in
its stinger, which injects neurotoxins.

CREDIT: FREDERIC LIBERSAT



- Super Ant Colony Hits Australia, 04/08/14,


Natural aggression kept numbers under control in the ants' native country



BBC News
- British Hospitals Struggle to Limit 'Superbug' Infections, Lizette Alvarez
, Britain has one of the worst rates of hospital-acquired M.R.S.A., or
"superbug," bloodstream infections in Europe, and the problem is getting worse.
- Will a Large Complex System with Time Delays Be Stable?, Viktor K. Jirsa  ,
Mingzhou Ding  , 04/08/13, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 070602
- Quantum Chaos of Bogoliubov Waves for a Bose-Einstein Condensate in Stadium
Billiards, Chuanwei Zhang , Jie Liu , Mark G. Raizen , Qian Niu
, 04/08/09, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 074101
- Complexity of Vector Spin Glasses, J. Yeo  , M. A. Moore  , 04/08/09, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 93, 077201



_________________________________________________________________

20.02. Webcast Announcements




The 4th Intl Workshop on Meta-synthesis and Complex System, Beijing, China,
04/07/22-23


Intl Conf on Complex Networks: Structure, Function and Processes, Kolkata,
India, 04/06/27-30


 From Autopoiesis to Neurophenomenology: A Tribute to Francisco Varela
(1946-2001), Paris, France, 2004/06/18-20



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



Evolutionary Epistemology, Language, and Culture, Brussels, Belgium,
04/05/26-28


International Conference on Complex Systems 2004, Boston, 04/05/16-21


Life, a Nobel Story, Brussels, Belgium, 04/04/28


Nonlinear Dynamics and Statistical Mechanics Days, Brussels, Belgium,
04/04/26-27


Science Education Forum for Chinese Language Culture, Panel Discussion, Taipei,
Taiwan, 04/05/01


Biologically Inspired Approaches to Advanced Information Technology, ,
Lausanne,Switzerland, 04/01/29-30


Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: Lab Demonstrations, Strogatz, Steven H.,
Internet-First University Press, 1994

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

  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












Gabriele Leidloff, Ugly Casting 1.4 , Berlin, Germany, 04/08/19-10/08


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


Intl Conf on Science of Complex Networks: from Biology
to the Internet and WWW (CNET2004), Aveiro
(Portugal), 04/08/29-09/02




ICCC 2004, IEEE International Conference on Computational Cybernetics,
s
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

  Dynamics Days 2004, XXIV Annual Conf
,
Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 04/09/13-17

   II. Socrates Workshop on Chaotic Systems,
Maribor, Slovenia, 04/09/13-17

   Inquiries, Indices and Incommensurabilities: Managing Emergence, Complexity
and Organization,
Washington, DC, 04/09/18-19

  Neuroeconomics 2004, Charleston, SC, 04/09/16-19

  New Economic Windows 2004: Complexity Hints for Economic Policy, Salerno,
Italy, 04/09/16-18

  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

  The
  Nonlinear Waves in Fluids: Recent Advances and Modern Applications, Udine,
Italy, 04/09/18-22

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

  3rd Natll Conf on Systems Science ,
Trento (Italy), 04/10/07-09

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

  Intl Workshop On Bifurcations In Nonsmooth And Hybrid Dynamical Systems  ,
Milano (Italy), 04/10/21-22

  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


ICDM '04: The Fourth IEEE Intl Conf on Data Mining, Brighton, UK, 04/11/01-04

Denaturing Darwin: International Conference on Evolution and Organization
, Amersfoort, The Netherlands, 04/11/12-14


  The 7th Asia-Pacific Complex Systems Conference,  Queensland, Australia,
04/12/06-10

  17th Australian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence,  Queensland,
Australia, 04/12/06-10

Cellular Computing Symposium, U Warwick
(UK), 04/12/09-10

  International Conference On Computational Intelligence (Icci 2004) ,
Istanbul, Turkey, 04/12/15-17


  Kondratieff Waves, Warfare And World Security, NATO Advanced Research
Workshop
, Covilh? Portugal, 05/02/14-17



5th Creativity And Cognition Conference, London.UK, 05/04/12-15

  Powders & Grains 2005, Stuttgart, Germany, 05/06/18-22

  Workshop on Complexity and Policy Analysis, Cork, Ireland, 05/06/22-24


18th International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations (ICNF 2005), Salamanca,
Spain, 05/09/19-23


_________________________________________________________________
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