Santa Fe Institute

The Santa Fe Institute Announces New President -

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:36:14 MST

Dr. Jeremy Sabloff will join the Institute August 1 to lead SFI�s cutting-edge research community as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary. �We are delighted Jerry has accepted our offer,� says Bill Miller, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Legg Mason Capital Management and Chairman of SFI�s Board of Trustees. �We need a broad and deep intellectual to build SFI�s scientific footprint and Jerry uniquely combines an understanding of our multidisciplinary science with executive level administrative and fundraising experience."

SFI Trustee, Bill Enloe, Receives National Award for Contributions to Affordable Housing

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:04:53 MST

William C. Enloe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Los Alamos National Bank in Santa Fe and SFI Board of Trustee is the recipient of the 2009 NeighborWorks�Business Leadership Award. �Through his volunteerism and demonstrated commitment to affordable home-ownership opportunities and economic development, Bill Enloe has made significant contributions that have strengthened Santa Fe�s communities,� said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks�America. �His efforts serve as an inspiration to others.� Mr. Enloe is dedicated to his community and to creating more affordable housing solutions in northern New Mexico. Mr. Enloe was directly involved in the development of an affordable housing subdivision in Santa Fe by assisting in establishing the necessary bond and by approving Los Alamos National Bank (LANB) loans for developers within the subdivision. Mr. Enloe was instrumental in enabling Homewise, a member of the NeighborWorks network to provide second mortgages to clients so that they may reduce the down payments required for affordable home purchases. As a member of the Downtown Master Plan Committee and the Los Alamos Housing Authority Board, Mr. Enloe worked to establish goals and policies for affordable housing in Los Alamos and provide affordable housing for teachers, police and public servants. Most recently, Mr. Enloe partnered with Homewise to develop a homebuyer program for LANB employees through Homewise�s employer-assisted housing campaign.

Professor Dunne Compares Secondary Extinctions in Food Web Models

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:33:23 MST

SFI Research Professor Jennifer A. Dunne, and collaborator R. J. Williams, building on prior work, compare levels of secondary extinctions in communities generated by four structural food-web models and a fifth null model in response to sequential primary species removals. They focused on various aspects of food-web structural integrity and how these relate to assumptions underlying different models, different species loss sequences, and simple measures of diversity and complexity. They find that hierarchical feeding, a fundamental characteristic of food-web structure, appears to impose a cost in terms of robustness and other aspects of structural integrity. However, exponential-type link distributions, also characteristic of more realistic models, generally confer greater robustness and decreased levels of web collapse are associated with increased diversity. See �Cascading Extinctions and Community Collapse in Model Food Webs� by J. A. Dunne and R. J. Williams, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 364(1524): 1711-1723.

Professor Pagel Finds Linguistic Phylogencies a More Relevant Estimator than Genes

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:48:53 MST

SFI External Professor Pagel explains that parallels between biological and linguistic evolution mean that statistical methods inspired by phylogenetics and comparative biology are being increasingly applied to the study of language. Phylogenetic trees constructed from linguistic elements chart the history of human cultures, and comparative studies reveal surprising and general features of how languages evolve. For many comparative questions of anthropology and human behavioral ecology, historical processes estimated from linguistic phylogenies may be more relevant than those estimated from genes. See �Human Language as a Culturally Transmitted Replicator� by M. Pagel, Nature Reviews Genetics 10(6) (2009): 405-415.

Professor Farmer Introduces the Reality Game

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:32:10 MST

SFI Professor J. Doyne Farmer, SFI External Professor Seth Lloyd, and collaborator Dmitriy Cherkashin introduce an evolutionary game with feedback between perception and reality. This game of change--in which probabilities for different outcomes depend on the amount wagered on those outcomes--provides the ability to vary from a purely objective to a purely subjective game. They introduce a method of measuring the inefficiency of the game, similar to measuring the magnitude of the arbitrage opportunities in a financial market. They find that the more subjective the game, the slower the convergence. See �The Reality Game� by D. Cherkashin, J. D. Farmer, and S. Lloyd, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 33(5) (2009): 1091-1105.

Cyber phenom feels home with the �smart crazies� � �Disruptive technologist� drawn to Santa Fe Institute

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:57:49 MST

Virgil Griffith, the creator of WikiScanner, has spent the past four summers as an undergraduate researcher at SFI. WikiScanner is a program that lets you see who is editing content in Wikipedia. Griffith began his work on WikiScanner while at SFI. This WikiScanner program has busted Wal-Mart and several other major corporations editing and removing content from the Wikipedia entry of their companies. Griffith has been drawn to SFI since he was in high school. He always wanted to be �where all the really smart crazies are.� And as SFI President Geoffrey West said, �He�s certainly one of our crazy smart people. He�s very interesting and he�s very SFI-ish.� Griffith will spend all of September at SFI continuing work on his plethora of projects.

Nature - "Phone Data"

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:56:29 MST

Mobile phones are being used to collect data for a variety of different disciplines and SFI Omidyar Fellow, Nathan Eagle, is studying human movement and behavior through mobile phones. In an experiment at MIT, Eagle studied call logs of 100 students and staff and found he could sort the business students from other majors with 96% accuracy. Eagle is going to experiment on a larger scale next by studying millions of mobile phone users throughout Europe and parts of East Africa. Part of his study is to see if certain phone behaviors can help alert public health officials in the early stages of disease outbreaks.

Media Channel - CIA and FBI Computers used for Wikipedia Edits

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:51:28 MST

SFI researcher, Virgil Griffith, created a program called WikiScanner, which tracks computers used to make changes and edits to Wikipedia entries. WikiScanner revealed CIA and FBI computers were used to edit topics on the Iraq War and the Guantanamo prison. WikiScanner also found computers at other organizations were used to edit topics related to them.

Astrobiology Magazine - "Reverse Ecology"

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:26:33 MST

SFI postdoctoral fellow Elhanan Borenstein and collaborators have used a technique called �reverse ecology� to see what life was like on Earth millions of years ago. By studying the genome and metabolic networks of an organism, Borenstein and colleagues were able to see the organism�s environment and how it relates to other species. This information could then be utilized on a larger scale to figure out the environmental events throughout millions of year of life on Earth.

APEC - "CLIK here to see the future: advances in disaster preparedness"

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:25:22 MST

The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) region is hit by more geological and hydrometeorogical disasters than any other part of the world. SFI external professor, Mark Newman and colleagues found that of all people affected by disasters between 1975 and 2004; 43 percent live in Southern Asia and 41 percent live in Eastern Asia. For years researchers and scientists have been working on having more prediction structures readily available. A new tool from APEC Climate Centre in Korea may have found the answer. The Climate Information Tool Kit (CLIK) is a user-friendly interface that allows data to be retrieved for anywhere on earth.

Santa Fe Radio Cafe - "The Post-Darwinian World"

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:24:37 MST

SFI Chair of the Faculty and professor, David Krakauer was interviewed by Mary Charlotte on the Santa Fe Radio Caf�. Krakauer started the discussing by explaining the basics of theories, research, and science. He goes on to tell a history of Darwin and evolution. Throughout the interview, Krakauer also discusses how Darwin helps the scientific world today by research on diseases, vaccines, historical restructuring, and complex social systems.

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Investors Form Battle Lines Over Housing Aid (Update 1)"

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:23:14 MST

Mortgage investors mostly agree that the government�s plan to reverse the housing slump is doing more harm than good. The government�s actions will increase borrowing costs because creditors would demand higher returns. Capital is going to cost more. Economist and SFI external professor John Geanakoplos has stated that �Obama�s plan will mostly be ineffective in cutting losses because it focuses on lowering payments rather than reducing homeowner debt.� Geanakoplos has advocated breaking contracts by putting the power to modify loan terms into the hands of independent arbiters.

Systems Biology: Oh, Behave

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:22:02 MST

Harvard Medical School professor and SFI external professor, Walter Fontana and colleagues have created Cellucidate, a new tool to help biologists uncover general principles about cellular signaling. Cellucidate would turn network diagrams of signaling pathways into living and breathing systems. Fontana mixed Kappa, a computer language �tuned to express basic interactions between proteins,� with a method called �coarse-graining� into computational models. By coarse-graining under Kappa�s rules, an automated compression is formed, filtering out permutations that have no bearing on the current model. The goals of Cellucidate include modeling and simulation to speed drug discovery and cure cancer. Fontana also helped found a company called Plectix BioSystems which provides a shared online space for scientists to use Cellucidate. Fontana adds, �Plectix wants to be the Facebook of proteins�where scientists will make models collaboratively.�

Economist - Warfare, culture and human evolution

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:35:41 MST

Warfare was sufficiently common and lethal among our ancestors to favor the evolution of what Sam Bowles, SFI Professor, calls parochial altruism, a predisposition to be cooperative towards group members and hostile towards outsiders. Biologists and economists have doubted that a genetic predisposition to behave altruistically (help others at a cost to oneself) could evolve (excepting the help extended to close genetic relatives). Skepticism among biologists arose primarily because most think that groups are not sufficiently different genetically to favor group selection (the most obvious evolutionary mechanism promoting altruism beyond the family). But both observation in natural settings and experiments (some of them by Bowles and his co authors) show that altruism is quite common among humans (much more so than in most other animals). In a series of recent papers Bowles shows that altruism could have evolved among humans as a result of the advantages that altruistic groups have in military and other competition with other groups.

Professor Blume Supports Trader Variation Rather Than Wisdom of Crowds

Fri, 29 May 2009 17:20:39 MST

SFI External Professor Larry Blume and co-author provide theoretical support better long-run survival for markets selecting across traders with different beliefs rather than those that balance the diverse information of many participants, which is reminiscent of the �wisdom of crowds� viewpoint. They also demonstrate the necessary conditions for long-run survival in complete markets from theirs and Sandroni�s previous work, and some surprising behavior of market prices with the survival of several trader types with different beliefs. See �The Market Organism: Long-Run Survival in Markets with Heterogeneous Traders,� by L. Blume and D. Easley, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 33(5) (2009): 1023-1035.

President West and Professors Brown and Enquist See the Forests for the Trees

Thu, 21 May 2009 14:55:17 MST

SFI President Geoffrey West and External Professors Brian Enquist and Jim Brown have proposed a quantitative theory for the structure and dynamics of forests, such that the entire forest can be described mathematically and behaves structurally and functionally like a scaled version of the branching networks in the largest trees. How trees use resources, fill space, and grow are manifestations of how trees� xylem elements are bundled together to conduct water and nutrients. These scale up to determine emergent properties of diverse forests. The theory should apply to a wide range of forests despite large differences in abiotic environment, species diversity, and taxonomic and functional composition. See �A General Quantitative Theory of Forest Structure and Dynamics� and �Extensions and Evaluations of a General Quantitative Theory of Forest Structure and Dynamics� by G. B. West, B. J. Enquist, and J. H. Brown, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106(17): 7040-7045 and 7046-7051 (parts 1 and 2 of a three-part series).

Omidyar Fellow Collins Examines Voter Behavior

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:37:19 MST

SFI Omidyar Fellow Nathan Collins and co-authors present a dynamic model of turnout in which voters� behavior in one election depends only on whether they voted in the last election and whether their party won. Assuming citizens satisfice or they adjust subjective beliefs about being pivotal in ways that depend on whether they voted and on the outcome of the election, the authors find empirical support that prior voter turnout and prior electoral outcome affect current turnout, and show that it implies turnout dynamics that are in accord with observed dynamics in several countries. The ensuing model meets a basic requirement of any turnout model, substantial steady-state turnout, and correctly predicts some counterintuitive dynamical features of aggregate turnout--including declining turnout despite close elections and nonmonotonic changes--following significant political events such as the (re)establishment of democracy or major wars. See �The Adaptive Dynamics of Turnout� by Nathan A. Collins, Sunil Kumar, and Jonathan Bendor, The Journal of Politics 71(2) (2009): 457-472. Also available at http://www.santafe.edu/~nac/Papers/CKB.pdf.

Professor Castillo-Chavez Models Tuberculosis Epidemics

Wed, 06 May 2009 12:55:53 MST

External Professor Castillo-Chavez and J. P. Aparicio use homogeneous and heterogeneous mixing models in the context of tuberculosis transmission dynamics, and explore the effects of population growth, stochasticity, clustering of contacts, and age structure on disease dynamics. Parameterized using demographic and epidemiological data, these models include a standard incidence homogenous mixing model, a non-homogeneous mixing model that incorporates �household� contacts, and an age-structured model. This framework is used to assess the possible causes for the observed historical decline in tuberculosis notifications.

SFI Science Board members and External Professors named as Fellows of SIAM

Wed, 06 May 2009 11:40:56 MST

Including Simon Levin, SFI Science Board Co-Chair and Princeton University; Alan Perelson, SFI External Professor and Science Board member and LANL; Donald Saari, Science Board member and University of California at Irvine; Steven Strogatz, SFI External Professor and Cornell University; Joseph Traub, SFI External Professor and Columbia University

Science - "Leverage: The Root of All Financial Turmoil"

Wed, 06 May 2009 09:12:57 MST

During a recent German Physical Society meeting Stefan Thurner, SFI External Professor and director of complex systems research group at the Medical Univeristy of Vienna, reported that leverage--the practice by hedge funds and other investors of borrowing money to buy investments--is the root of many nettlesome properties of financial markets that classical economics cannot explain, including a propensity to crash. The model shows that many of the distinctive statistical properties of financial markets emerge together as rates of leverage climb.

American Scientist - "The Origin of Life"

Fri, 01 May 2009 11:29:41 MST

James Trefil, Harold Morowitz and SFI Professor Eric Smith present their research which points to the laws of chemistry and physics. Using analogies of the complexity of the US Interstate highway system, Smith and his colleagues illustrate their point that �the current complexity of life should be understood as the result of a multistep process, beginning with the catalytic chemistry of small molecules acting in simple networks�elaborating these reaction sciences through processes of simple chemical selection and only later taking on the aspects of cellularization and organismal individuality.� The continued research and experiments into this �Metabolism First� theory could lead to the ability to re-create life in laboratories.

PNAS - "An integrative framework for stochastic, size-structured community assembly"

Fri, 01 May 2009 11:22:50 MST

Authors, including SFI External Professor Jessica Green, present a theoretical framework to describe stochastic, size-structured community assembly, and use this framework to make community-level ecological predictions. The model can be thought of as adding biological realism to Neutral Biodiversity Theory by incorporating size variation and growth dynamics, and allowing demographic rates to depend on the sizes of individuals.

Red Orbit - "How do we support today's Einsteins?"

Fri, 01 May 2009 11:20:16 MST

Mark Buchanan, the science writer for Physics World, discusses the new field of �econophysics� which began at the Santa Fe Institute, a facility focused on innovative, high-risk, and inter-disciplinary research. Physicists are creating models of the economy and trying to help the future of markets and the economy.

Public Lecture

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:39:17 MST

The Computer, the Brain, and the Internet The quest to understand intelligence and consciousness remains one of the greatest scientific challenges of our age. In an effort to explain the brain, scientists have turned historically to computers, both as a tool for studying the brain and mind, and as a model for how the brain might work. We now live in the age of distributed data and computers, and the internet has emerged as a giant cobweb of communication among computers and their users. Some now suggest that the internet is our best current model for the brain, and thought is nothing but a form of search in the space of ideas. As we move towards more advanced technology, the brain, the computer, and the internet are progressively merging, and our identities and insights are assuming a radically new form. In this series of talks and discussions we shall explore this new hybrid world and its implications for the intellectual future of our species.

USA Today - Is that painting real? Ask a mathematician

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:46:54 MST

If you want to distinguish an original piece of artwork from a fake, mathematicians and computer scientists may be able to help. By using stylometric analysis, computer scientist and SFI external professor, Daniel Rockmore studied the artwork of Brueghel. The work is divided into components of either words or visual frequencies. Then each component is statistically tested to see whether they compare to other authentic works. Rockmore measured 72 different statistical features of each Brueghel sketch. Imitation sketches displayed random results while the authentic sketches clustered together on a geometric plot.

Professor Thurner and Co-authors Model Bureaucratic Inefficiency

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:23:59 MST

External Professor Stefan Thurner and his co-authors formulate a quantifiable and dynamical socio-physical framework from three famous, descriptive essays by Parkinson. One includes the coefficient of inefficiency for decision-making bodies such as cabinets or boards, and considers the growth of bureaucratic or administrative bodies as related to an overall decrease in efficiency. Another develops a phase diagram for promotions for those wanting to confine bureaucratic growth. The last seeks to determine the �Pension Point.� These may be of interest to those studying social networks, interacting agent models, and socio-economic networks. See �Parkinson�s Law Quantified: Three Investigations on Bureaucratic Inefficiency,� by P. Klimek, R. Hanel, and S. Thurner.

April 2, 2009 Public Lecture - "The Post-Darwinian World" - James A. Little Theater, New Mexico School for the Deaf

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:30:13 MST

We live in a post-Darwinian world, and it is no longer possible to conceive of life without some reference to Darwin's theories. But the world is more complex than Darwin supposed. Whereas an evolutionary perspective pervades all of biology, economics and politics, we are confronted by a range of post-Darwinian complexities and challenges that require a new and expanded set of ideas. Five short presentations by SFI faculty explore both the influence and the limitations of Darwin's thought on modern science, and introduce several of the ways the Santa Fe Institute has responded to and built upon Darwin's legacy.

Professor Bettencourt and Co-authors Ask What Spam Tells Us About Social Networks

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:43:38 MST

External Professor Luis Bettencourt and co-authors note that, increasingly, the majority of Internet traffic reflects opportunistic rather than symbiotic social relations. While structural characteristics typical of other social networks are shared to a large extent by the legitimate component, they are not characteristic of opportunistic traffic. Their results indicate that social e-mail traffic has lower entropy (higher structural information) than opportunistic traffic for periods covering both working and non-working hours. Social e-mail shows stronger temporal structure with a high probability for long silences and bursts of a few messages. Such results may generalize to the structure of opportunistic social relations in other environments. See �Quantifying Social and Opportunistic Behavior in Email Networks� by L. H. Gomes, V. A. F. Almeida, J. M. Almeida, F. D. O. Castro, and L. M. A. Bettencourt, Advances in Complex Systems 12(1) (2009): 99-112.

President West and Co-editors Delve Into "Organization Thinking"

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:27:37 MST

President Geoffrey West, External Professors Sander van der Leeuw and David Lane, and SFI Visitor Denise Pumain have collaborated for four years to delve deeply into the scientific study of innovation and invention, using an �organization thinking� perspective instead of neo-Darwinist �population thinking,� and using a complex systems approach with its emphasis on emergence. They also seek to develop a generative approach to invention and innovation, looking in detail at the contexts within which invention and innovation occur, and how these contexts impact on the chances for success or failure. Through interesting new insights and several well-elaborated case studies, the research presented in this volume, developed in the EC-funded Project ISCOM (Information Society as a Complex System), takes off from two fundamental premises: to guide innovation policies, taking account of the social, economic and geographic dimensions of innovation processes which are at least as critical as the science and technology; and to use complex systems science as essential for understanding these dimensions. See Complexity Perspectives in Innovation and Social Change, edited by David Lane, Denise Pumain, Sander Ernst van der Leeuw, and Geoffrey West, Springer, 2009.

Portfolio.com - Physicists Try to Predict Economy: The Crash-Test Solution

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:52:25 MST

Many people are regarding this current economic collapse as a �black swan� or an unpredictable sudden shift. But physicists and other scientists say it is predictable and they can prove it through science and technology. These scientists can create a computer model of our entire economy to study complex systems such as the financial markets. Yale economist and SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos is currently working with physicists in examining hedge funds and how their competition to win investors shifted the market. Economists need to partner with scientists to get a complete holistic view of the situation and work toward predicting the same situation early enough to stop in and make the necessary changes in time.

New York Times - Map of Science

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:57:54 MST

A new map of knowledge has been assembled by scientists, including SFI External Professor Luis Bettencourt, at the research library of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"Complexity: A Guided Tour" by Melanie Mitchell, SFI External Professor...

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:37:56 MST

What enables individually simple insects like ants to act with such precision and purpose as a group? How do trillions of individual neurons produce something as extraordinarily complex as consciousness? What is it that guides self-organizing structures like the immune system, the World Wide Web, the global economy, and the human genome? These are just a few of the fascinating and elusive questions that the science of complexity seeks to answer.

Professor Mitchell�s New Book Tours the Sciences of Complexity

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:31:12 MST

Based on her 1997 Ulam lectures and inspiration from the Complex Systems Summer Schools, External Professor Melanie Mitchell �brings clarity to the workings of complexity across a broad range of biological, technological, and social phenomena, seeking out the general principles or laws that apply to all of them. She explores as well the relationship between complexity and evolution, artificial intelligence, computation, genetics, information processing, and many other fields.� See Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell, Oxford University Press, March 2009.

Professor Wood Dispels Claim Regarding Wartime Sexual Violence

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:30:30 MST

Professor Elizabeth Wood develops a theoretical framework for understanding the observed variation in wartime sexual violence and gives two examples with a puzzling absence of such violence in Sri Lanka. She suggests that, if rape is not always a part of wartime violence, then wartime groups who engage in rape should be held accountable for their actions. See "Armed Groups and Sexual Violence: When Is Wartime Rape Rare?", E. J. Wood, Politics & Society 37(1):131-161.

New York Times - Op Ed: Matters of Principal

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:47:19 MST

John Geanakoplos, SFI External Professor, and Susan Koniak write that the plan announced by the White House will not stop foreclosures because it concentrates on reducing interest payments, not reducing principal for those who owe more than their homes are worth. The plan wastes taxpayer money and won�t fix the problem.

Now accepting applications for International Program Fellowships.

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:10:41 MST

The deadline for submitting a complete application is May 1. For detailed description and eligibility please follow this link.

Science Channel Documentary - "Connected: the power of six degrees"

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:14:21 MST

features work by SFI External Professors Duncan Watts and Steven Strogatz, along with Lazslo Barabasi, Alessandro Vespigniani and Marc Vidal.

Professors Farmer and Geanakoplos Consider Equilibrium and Financial Markets

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:31:54 MST

SFI Professor J. Doyne Farmer and SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos endeavor to convince the skeptics that equilibrium models can be useful, but also to make traditional economists more aware of the limitations of equilibrium models. They suggest that economic research needs to move in new directions if it is to continue to make progress. They then sketch some alternative approaches. See �The Virtues and Vices of Equilibrium and the Future of Financial Economics,� Complexity 14 (2009): 11-38.

Professor Christiansen Claims Culture Drives Evolution of Language

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:04:40 MST

SFI External Professor Morten Christiansen and coauthors argue that language has changed over time to fit the human brain, not the reverse. Appropriate in light of the 150th anniversary of the publication of �On the Origin of the Species,� Christiansen agrees with Darwin that the evolution of human language is best understood in terms of cultural evolution, not biological adaptation. In fact, the neural machinery used for language likely predates the emergence of language itself. See �Restrictions on Biological Adaptation in Language Evolution,� Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(2009): 1015-1020. See also previous related work: �Language as Shaped by the Brain,� Behavioral and Brain Sciences 31 (2008): 489-558 ; and SFI Working Paper 07-01-001.

Seed Magazine - Adapting to a New Economy

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:58:02 MST

SFI External Professor and Professor of Economics and Information Science at Cornell University, Lawrence Blume, discusses the use of Darwinian ideas in economics ...

Nature - Natural selection 150 years on

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:42:51 MST

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin, Mark Pagel, SFI External Professor, reflects on the theory of evolution by natural selection, which faces the challenge of finding order in the evolution of complex systems, including human society ...

Tuvan Throat-Singers

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:01:58 MST

Experience the harmonic sounds of Tyva Kyzy (Daughters of Tuva) on Friday, February 13 at 7pm ...

Support the Omidyar Challenge

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:17:56 MST

The Omidyar Fellows Program provides unparalleled research training. Every dollar donated to the Omidyar Challenge is matched and therefor has twice as much impact. Learn more by visiting http://www.santafe.edu/about/support-anniversary-fund.php#omidyar

Changes to the 2009 SFI Public Lecture Series

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:34:39 MST

There are several changes in store for the 2009 Public Lecture Series including a new format and a quarterly schedule. For details and to learn how to get email updates, download the following PDF.

New Scientist - How many people does it take to make a committee?

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:44:07 MST

Based on the 1950�s article by C. Northcote Parkinson, SFI External Professor Stephan Thurner and colleagues at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria have developed a system of equations to show which conditions form the greatest bureaucracy. They created a network model of a committee and linked clusters to reflect how people would group themselves. There could only be two outcomes from this. Either the network formed a consensus or they would become split and deadlocked. Proving the original article by Parkinson, the new research shows groups with less than twenty members tend to agree with each other while groups with over twenty members would disagree and split into small groups. This is evident in countries that are flourishing have between 13-20 members, while countries with more than 20 members tend to fall apart from disagreements among themselves.

Professor Pepper Applies Evolutionary Theory to Problem of Pathogen Drug Resistance

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:41:52 MST

Many of the greatest challenges in medicine and public health involve the evolution of drug resistance by pathogens. SFI External Professor John Pepper describes two broad classes of pathogen traits that can be targeted by drugs or vaccines, the first consisting of traits that benefit the individual organisms bearing them and causing a strong evolutionary response and the rapid emergence of drug resistance, and the second consisting of traits that benefit groups of pathogen organisms including the provider and yet cause weaker evolutionary response and less drug resistance. He suggests that it would be advantageous to focus on the second class as targets for drug and vaccine development, and provides specific examples and test cases. See �Defeating pathogen Drug Resistance: Guidance from Evolutionary Theory,� J. W. Pepper, Evolution 62(12) (2008): 3185-3191.

Professors Forrest and Brown Apply Scaling Theory to Information Networks

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:24:04 MST

SFI External Professors Stephanie Forrest and James Brown, and their collaborators, show striking similarity in hierarchical branching networks in organisms and microprocessors. Applying metabolic scaling theory, they show computational systems are also characterized by nonlinear network scaling. They hypothesize a set of constraints between the size, power, and performance of networked information systems. See �Scaling Theory for Information Networks,� M. E. Moses, S. Forrest, A. L. Davis, M. A. Lodder, and J. H. Brown, Journal of the Royal Society Interface 5(29) (2008): 1469-1480.

ArabianBusiness.com - President West illustrates how biological research points to mankind�s destruction

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 15:51:37 MST

January 5, 2009 / SFI President Geoffrey West is researching the similarities between biology and human organizations such as cities. West began by researching biological networks which led him to compare his findings on natural systems to the social systems of cities. To illustrate his findings, West uses examples of an elephant versus a mouse to show how in biology, the bigger an individual is, the slower the pace of its life. However, the opposite shows true in social organizations such as cities, where the bigger the organization, the faster their actions. West attributes the difference to wealth creation of our societies. This creates an unsustainable way of life.

New Scientist - Study Shows Happiness is Contagious

Mon, 1 Jan 2009 15:48:30 MST

January 1, 2009 / A New Scientist study reports how happy we are is directly linked to how happy our friends are and vice versa. SFI External Professor and sociologist at Columbia University, Duncan Watts points out that we are �inherently social creatures.� So part of how we feel and who we are, is determined by our social circles. Today we interact so frequently by computers, cell phones, and blackberries. This study shows the need we all have to interact face to face is important to our own happiness as well as our friends�.

Washington Post - Professor Watts explains why predicting is so difficult

Sunday, 4 Jan 2009 15:59:13 MST

January 4, 2009 / SFI External Professor Duncan Watts explains the two main reasons why predicting outcomes is difficult. For one, individuals are hard to predict because we can change our behavior based on subtle details such as background music or a writer�s font selection. Secondly, individuals decide many things based on popularity with others. To demonstrate this, Watts and collaborators conducted online experiments to see how certain songs become hits while other songs don�t make it. When you have people making decisions based on what other people are doing, prediction becomes impossible due to the errors of social influence.

Boston.com - Does city life help or hurt your brain?

Fri, 1 Jan 2009 16:00:09 MST

January 2, 2009 / Researchers at SFI have created complex mathematical algorithms to show how urban settings lead to higher levels of innovation. This is partly due to many strangers interacting in unpredictable ways. These researchers refer to it as �concentration of social interactions.� Other research has shown that city life impairs our memory and self-control but that nature, even a walk through a park, helps your mind. So then we need to find a way to balance the intellectual innovations while still being able to cope with stressors in densely populated urban areas.

Morningstar - Hedge funds can deceive you

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:52:41 MST

December 17, 2008 / SFI External Professor Peyton Young and coauthor Dean Foster show how hedge funds have the power to deceive you in their study; The Hedge Fund Game: Incentives, Excess Returns, and Performance Mimics. They show how vulnerable the market is to unskilled traders. The unskilled trader may appear skilled and you wouldn�t know the difference until it is too late and the fund blows up.

Experts: Thailand AIDS Vaccine Will Fail

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:40:07 MST

Bette Korber, of the Santa Fe Institute, along with 21 other researchers � including Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus- signed a short opinion piece recently published in the Journal of Science. The scientists believe that a $119 million federally funded experiment in which an AIDS vaccine is being tested on 16,000 volunteers in Thailand is doomed to fail and should never have been started. "They are taking two failed products and hoping that if they are combined that they are going to work," said Dennis Burton, an AIDS researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. "Everything I've seen about the Thai trial suggests that it doesn't have a prayer." The experiment is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Pentagon and is being carried out by the Thai government.

Support SFI's Annual Campaign now through December 31.

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:15:09 MST

Our annual campaign provides primary support for our educational and outreach activities and ensures we attract the brightest scientists to SFI.

Now accepting applications for 2009 Global Sustainability Summer School

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 MST

Nature - Evo-Devo:Modeling the evolutionary possible

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 15:54:15 MST

December 1, 2008 / SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Elhanan Borenstein and SFI Resident Professor David Krakauer developed a computational model which successfully illustrates the genotype-phenotype relationships in development and evolution. The model relates how a genetic input determines the phenotypic output. It also describes the phenotypic diversity across phylogeny.

Video of 2008 Ulam Lectures available online

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:53:43 MST

The 2008 Ulam Lectures - A Cooperative Species - How We Got to Be Both Nasty and Nice - by Sam Bowles can be viewed online by clicking HERE.

Internet Man of mystery

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:54:15 MST

The founder of WikiScanner, Virgil Griffith is a visiting researcher at the Santa Fe Institute, where �complex systems� are studied.

SFI External Professor Newman's cartograms reflect more than red and blue states

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:04:34 MST

SFI External Professor Mark Newman�s cartograms help explain the 2008 election results more accurately than general state maps. These cartograms maneuver the states in order to reflect the accurate size of the votes. Due to the even divisions of red and blue in some states, Newman�s cartograms show some purple.

Professor Geanakoplos Provides Theory on Emerging Asset Classes

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:51:46 MST

SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos and his collaborator provide a pricing theory for emergent asset classes, like emerging markets, that are not yet mature enough to be attractive to the general public. They show the role of leverage cycle and provide an explanation for the volatile access of emerging economies to international financial markets, using a general equilibrium model. See �Leverage Cycles and the Anxious Economy,� A. Fostel and J. Geanakoplos, American Economic Review 98(4) (2008): 1211-1244.

Researchers look into social marketing in online communities

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:28:24 MST

Online communities include people from many different groups and networks. Academics are now looking into the growth of these communities and how to market to them. SFI External Professor Duncan Watts shares his research regarding key influencers in reaching the masses.

Santa Fe Institute inaugurates its 25th Anniversary this weekend!

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:54:32 MST

"The Road Less Traveled" Gala dinner will be held November 8 at 6:00 p.m. at the Eldorado Hotel. Limited tickets available for a $500/person tax-deductable donation. Call Shannon Larsen at 505-795-1072 for a reservation. Note: the $1,000/person tickets are sold-out.

Postdoc Borenstein and Profession Feldman Study �Seed Sets� in Metabolic Networks

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:49:02 MST

SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Elhanan Borenstein and SFI External Professor Marcus Feldman introduce the concept of a metabolic network�s �seed set� and provide a methodological framework to computationally infer the seed set of a given network. The seed sets� composition significantly correlates with several basic properties characterizing the species� environments. Their findings suggest that the seed state is transient and that seeds tend either to be dropped completely from the network or to become non-seed compounds relatively fast. The �reverse ecology� approach presented lays the foundations for studying the evolutionary interplay between organisms and their habitats on a large scale. See �Large-scale Reconstruction and Phylogenetic Analysis of Metabolic Environments,� E. Borenstein, M. Kupiec, M. W. Feldman, and E. Ruppin, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 105(38) (2008): 14482-14487.

Election Maps Created by SFI Researchers Featured in ABC and BBC Election Coverage

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:40:05 MST

Novel election maps created by SFI External Professors Mark Newman and Cosma Shalizi, and former SFI Postdoc Michael Gastner, were featured in the election night coverage on ABC and the BBC. Typical election maps, which color each state with a color representing the winning candidate or party (e.g., Red for Republications and Blue for Democrats) can be misleading. Such a map for this year's Presidential election implies that the Republications won because there is more red than blue on the map. In fact, however, the reverse is true; the Democrats won by a substantial margin. The explanation for this apparent paradox, as pointed out by many people, is that geographic maps fail to take account of the population distribution. Specifically, they fail to depict the fact that the population of the red states is on average significantly lower than that of the blue ones. The blue states may be small in area, but they represent a large number of voters, which is what matters in an election. Newman, Shalizi, and Gastner correct for this misimpression by making use of cartograms, which are maps in which the sizes of states are rescaled according to their population or electoral votes. The resulting cartograms are significantly more informative and compelling. Click for details.

SFI Professors create a model to predict growth and assimilation rates for mammals and birds

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:38:15 MST

SFI Director Geoffrey B. West, along with SFI External Professors James H. Brown, William H. Woodruff, and Chen Hou create a quantitative, predictive model which differs from phenomenological models and from the dynamic energy budget theory. Their model also addresses imbalances such as starvation and overeating.

Postdoc Buckley and co-researcher Jetz study species and environmental turnover

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:16:53 MST

SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Lauren B. Buckley and coresearcher Walter Jetz provide an in depth study regarding the patterns of species and environmental turnover. They compare how amphibians and birds respond to the environmental changes.

SFI Receives $7.5 Million Challenge Grant From eBay Founder, Pierre Omidyar

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:59:22 MST

to establish the Omidyar Fellows Program which aims to attract the brightest and most creative thinkers to spend two to three years as postdoctoral fellows at the Santa Fe Institute. Consistent with SFI's multidisciplinary approach, the fellowship program will draw scholars from across the social, physical and natural sciences with the common denominators being intense curiosity, creativity and a desire to delve deep into the major questions facing science and society.

Make a Gift to the Omidyar Challenge

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:46:31 MST

The Omidyar Fellows Program provides unparalleled research training. As the postdoctoral graduates move onto academic positions elsewhere, they inform the research of other universities with the Santa Fe Institute's approach to science. Every dollar donated to the Omidyar Challenge is matched and therefor has twice as much impact. Learn more about the Omidyar Challenge and how you can get involved by visiting http://www.santafe.edu/about/support-anniversary-fund.php#omidyar

Researchers found citation statistics may be compared across the disciplines

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:33:32 MST

Several researchers have developed a mathematical computation which can be utilized to form direct comparisons between different academic disciplines. SFI External Professor Sidney Redner, a specialist in citation statistics, states not all disciplines would match this citation curve.

The Coevolution of Cultural Groups and Ingroup Favoritism

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:37:19 MST

Cultural boundaries have often been the basis for discrimination, nationalism, religious wars, and genocide. Still, little is known about how cultural groups form or the evolutionary forces behind group affiliation and ingroup favoritism. Charles Efferson from the University of Zurich and SFI External Professor along with Rafael Lalive of the University of Lausanne and Ernst Fehr of Collegium Helveticum examine these forces and show that arbitrary symbolic markers evolve to play a key role in cultural group formation and ingroup favoritism because they enable a population of heterogeneous individuals to solve important coordination problems. The resulting social environment includes strong incentives to bias interactions toward others with the same marker, and subjects accordingly show strong ingroup favoritism. When markers do not acquire meaning as accurate predictors of behavior, players show a markedly reduced taste for ingroup favoritism.

Our minds may hide the truth in political candidates

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:08:20 MST

Our minds put things into categories in order to process information at a quicker rate. SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Nathan Collins has been able to show this is also the case in political beliefs. The categories of Republican and Democrat may hinder us from seeing the truth.

NIH increases its support for high-impact research with $138 million

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:12:46 MST

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it has increased its support of high-impact research with 2008 NIH Director�s Pioneer and New Innovator Awards to 47 scientists. Each Pioneer Award provides $2.5 million in direct costs over five years. New Innovator Awards are for $1.5 million in direct costs over the same time period. Included in the Pioneer Award recipients is Joshua M. Epstein, Ph.D., Brookings Institution Center on Social and Economic Dynamics director and Santa Fe Institute external professor, who will integrate behavioral factors into models of the development and progression of infectious and chronic diseases.

Hidden Infections Crucial to Understanding, Controlling Disease Outbreaks

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:10:34 MST

Scientists at the University of Michigan, including Santa Fe Institute External Professor Mercedes Pascual, are researching the cycles of the infectious disease cholera by studying less dramatic, mild infections lurking in large numbers of people. Their findings will appear in Nature Magazine. Their goal was to understand the patterns of cholera, particularly the impact of infection-induced immunity on the dynamics of cholera outbreaks. Since it is difficult to get very sick from cholera, there are a lot of people who are walking around with the disease in high infection areas such as Bengal, and these researchers were interested in studying the consequences of this. Their findings showed that many more people are being exposed to the bacteria than are getting serious infections or dying, and that individuals with mild infections are losing their immunity quite quickly.

New Bluetooth System Orients Blind And Sighted Pedestrians

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:53:24 MST

A new bluetooth system, called Talking Points, has been developed at the University of Michigan. The new system is primarily for the blind, but will also be useful for the sighted, and orients them to points of interest as they move around. It is the first step to an audio virtual reality. This is the first known system of its kind to use Bluetooth technology. "Location-based guide systems of one kind or another have been built and re-built by academic researchers for over a decade now, but this is the first project that has really focused on the needs of the visually impaired and gone out to make sure the system is being developed to meet those needs," said Mark Newman, co-author of the papers being presented and External Professor at Santa Fe Institute.

Peak oil "wrong," says Schwartz

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:45:59 MST

Environmental futurist and Santa Fe Institute trustee Peter Schwartz says that peak oil is not a driver of clean technology and those that support it are wrong. The peak oil theory claims that US oil production would peak between 1965 � 1970. Schwartz, however, claims we do not know how much oil is out in the world, and that estimates are conservative.

Power emerges from consensus in monkey social networks

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:37:25 MST

Santa Fe Institute researchers Jessica Flack and David Krakauer study how power structures arise from a status communication network in a monkey society, an area that is rarely studied. "When building a society, it is of utmost importance that signals be informative and any sources of ambiguity minimized," says Krakauer. In their study, they show that power emerges through consensus.

SFI External Professor Jim Hartle Wins 2009 American Physical Society Einstein Prize for Gravitational Physics

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:03:11 MST

The Einstein Prize is awarded to recognize outstanding accomplishments in the field of gravitational physics. The prize consists of $10,000 and a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient. It also includes an allowance for the recipient to travel to a meeting of the Society to receive the award and deliver a lecture. It is awarded biennially in odd-numbered years.

Global Warming Heats Up Need for Malaria Vaccine

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:53:10 MST

There has been much debate as to whether there is a link between climate change and the spread of infectious diseases. A 2006 study by University of Michigan ecologist and Santa Fe Institute External ProfessorMercedes Pascual, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, however, found that climate change, in addition to drug and pesticide resistance, changing land use patterns, and human migration, was responsible for the resurgence of malaria. He found that even small increases in temperature lead to the proliferation of mosquitoes in regions that were previously inhospitable to malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Malaria, often called the �forgotten epidemic�, is responsible for over 1 million deaths worldwide per year, and as global temperatures rise malaria will affect developing and developed countries alike in the years to come. Malaria continues to be one of the world�s deadliest diseases and a vaccine is the best hope of ridding the world of the disease.

The Great Map Debate

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:10:17 MST

At a press conference at the United Nations in 1973, Arno Peters condemned the standard rectangular map, claiming that it is a symbol of subjugation of the Third World. Peters unveiled his own map where Africa and South America pretty much take up the majority of the planet, America and Europe are greatly reduced in size, and Greenland is almost completely gone from the map. Although he is now dead, his name and claims anger professional cartographers to this day, however a more politically correct map is still a hot subject. Cartographers have long sought ways to create maps whose appearance reflects key features of different regions. Research by members of the Worldmapper Project, including Dr Mark Newman of the University of Michigan and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, has now resulted in methods of solving this tricky jigsaw puzzle. When run on a computer, the result is a whole new family of maps � and an atlas which may well put cartography back on the political map.

Maybe you actually are connected to Kevin Bacon

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:42:44 MST

The small world theory that states there are six degrees of separation between any two people on Earth was put to the test by a massive study of electronic communication. The research was conducted through 30 billion electronic conversations among 180 people around the world. The average length was 6.6 steps and 78 percent of the pairs could be connected in seven hops or less. For a piece of folklore, it wasn't bad," said Duncan Watts, one of the Columbia researchersa nd External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute . "It was off only in its detail."

Quantum mechanics could make sensors million time more effective

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:28:36 MST

Revelations of new Quantum mechanics will be publicized in Science. By harnessing a property of quantum mechanics called entanglement, mechanical engineers, such as MIT professor and Santa Fe Institute External Professor Seth Lloyd, may be able to improve detectors and imaging systems. Theoretically, it could be used for medical purposes such as greatly reduced X-ray output, making it safer for the patient.

Tufts hosts experts from around the world to discuss 'compassionate leadership'

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:20:21 MST

Tufts University recently held a panel discussion on "compassionate leadership" and its relevance to world events. Panelists included Queen Noor of Jordan, Rabbi Irwin Kula, and the Sakyong, Jamgon Miphon Rinpoche. The panel was moderated by Jerry Murdock, co-founder of Insight Venture Partners. Jerry is a member of the Board of Trustees for both the Santa Fe Institute and the Aspen Institute.

Professor Crutchfield Shows Global Complexity in Finitary Process Soup

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:18:45 MST

SFI Professor James Crutchfield at the University of California, Davis, and past Graduate Fellow Olof Gornerup use their recently introduced model of the �finitary process soup� to explore the population dynamics of structural complexity. They show that global complexity in the finitary process soup is due to the emergence of successively higher levels of organization, that the hierarchical structure appears spontaneously, and that the process of structural innovation is facilitated by the discovery and maintenance of relatively noncomplex, but general, individuals in a population. See �Hierarchical Self-Organization in the Finitary Process Soup,� O. Gornerup and J. P. Crutchfield, Artificial Life 14(3) (summer 2008): 2452-54

NIH extends commitment to transformative research with 2008 Pioneer, New Innovator Awards

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:12:04 MST

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has increased its support of high-impact research with 2008 NIH Director's Pioneer and New Innovator Awards to 47 scientists. The grants, estimated to be up to $138 million over five years, enable recipients to pursue exceptionally innovative approaches that could transform biomedical and behavioral science. Joshua M. Epstein, Ph.D., Director of the Brookings Institution Center on Social and Economic Dynamics and Santa Fe Institute external professor, is among the prestigious scientists honored with the 2008 NIH Director's Pioneer Award.

MIT quantum insights could lead to better detectors

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:42:53 MST

MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering and External Professor at Santa Fe Institute Seth Lloyd has found that a quantum-physics property called entanglement can be harnessed to make detectors--similar in principle to radar systems used to track airplanes in flight or ships at sea--that are as much as a million times more efficient than existing systems. In addition, beams of entangled light could be swept across a scene to reconstruct a detailed image, with a similar improvement in efficiency. In a year he believes it will be possible to build a laboratory-scale system to demonstrate the new concept. These new findings could improve military night vision systems, lower the x ray output form medical machines such as CT scans, and be used to create a safer microscope for living organisms.

Enhanced Sensitivity of Photodetection via Quantum Illumination

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:39:37 MST

In his report in Science Magazine, MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering and External Professor at Santa Fe Institute Seth Lloyd reports on his findings which show that a quantum-physics property called entanglement can be harnessed to make detectors--similar in principle to radar systems used to track airplanes in flight or ships at sea--that are as much as a million times more efficient than existing systems. In addition, beams of entangled light could be swept across a scene to reconstruct a detailed image, with a similar improvement in efficiency. In a year he believes it will be possible to build a laboratory-scale system to demonstrate the new concept. These new findings could improve military night vision systems, lower the x ray output form medical machines such as CT scans, and be used to create a safer microscope for living organisms.

Queuing Conundrums

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:00:00 MST

In this article in The Economist, Hyejin Youn and Hawoong Jeong, of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Michael Gastner, of the Santa Fe Institute, analysed the effects of drivers taking different routes on journeys in Boston, New York and London. Their study, to be published in a forthcoming edition of Physical Review Letters, found that when individual drivers each try to choose the quickest route it can cause delays for others and even increase hold-ups in the entire road network. They explain how when drivers all try to find the shortest route, the traffic flow settles into a Nash equilibrium, which is the point where no individual driver could arrive any faster by switching routes. They hypothesize that closing certain routes can actually reduce delays, and that planners should note that there is now evidence that even a well intentioned new road may make traffic jams worse.

Biology's Gift to a Complex World

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:30:24 MST

In this article in The Scientist, John Holland, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, explains the various breakthroughs attributed to the application of biology to complex engineering problems. Today, scientists and engineers from fields as diverse as agriculture, synthetic biology, and mechanical engineering are using genetic algorithms to find efficient solutions to their problems. In his research, Holland applies these genetic algorithms to complex adaptive systems. After being introduced to one of the first computers and studying the use of real math in biology at the University of Michigan, Holland published a sketch of the basic ideas behind genetic algorithms in 1962. Soon after his engineer students began applying the algorithm to otherwise unsolvable problems. Today, genetic algorithms underlie a wide range of engineering algorithms that search for the optimal form or better designs. After joining the Santa Fe Institute, Holland began working with other scientists at the Institute to apply the genetic algorithm to everything from engineering to economics to possibly helping cure cancer.

UA prof fights odds to come back from stroke

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:56:11 MST

After a debilitating stroke, Professor John Pepper�s future as a researcher in ecology and evolutionary biology seemed over. Pepper, who was a postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and had just received a job as Professor at the University of Arizona, had many serious side effects from the stroke, but was determined to continue with his research at the University of Arizona. Against all odds, and with the help of his friends and family (The Santa Fe Institute extended his contract so he would have medical insurance), Pepper is back at the University of Arizona and is working on research on the evolution of cancer cells as a way to curb the often deadly disease that is adept at developing resistances to drugs.

Quantum Computer or Red-Flag?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:58:09 MST

As companies like D-Wave inch closer to building the first quantum computer, Dr. Mae-Won Ho attempts to explain what quantum computation is, how it improves on classical computation, and what the difficulties are in building a quantum computer. D-Wave claims to have built the world�s first adiabatic quantum computer and Seth Lloyd, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, is one of the pioneers of quantum computing and a collaborator in research with D-Wave.

MASTERS Program: Aims to give kids accelerated curriculum

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:05:45 MST

John Bishop, President of Norsam Technologies, is proposing a program based at Santa Fe Community College for students in grades 10, 11 and 12 that emphasizes math, arts, science, technology, engineering, reading and service. The MASTERS Program students would enroll in community college courses and could earn up to two years of college credits along with their high-school diplomas. Supporters hope the program, designed for young people who want an accelerated curriculum and an affordable college education as well as at-risk students who need a flexible schedule, will help give students a jump on life. The new school will also be working with Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Center for Genome Research, the Santa Fe Institute and the arts and culture communities on the service learning component of the program.

Taking One For The Team

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:47:38 MST

Evolutionary biologists Laurent Lehmann and Santa Fe Institute External Professor Marcus Feldman of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California have built a mathematical formula that tracks the spread of hypothetical genes for belligerence and bravery in small groups of humans that engage in frequent combat. They hypothesize that while bravery that makes men great warriors may increase the chance of getting killed, the trait tends to live in on the warriors� descendants. The model shows that while a sizable amount of these brave warriors would die, some would survive, and those survivors would be rewarded with mating with the females of the conquered tribe, passing on their genes for bravery.

Book Review: Investing By The Numbers

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:28:47 MST

Investing By The Numbers, by Jarrod W. Wilcox, shares with readers many models for quantitative investing, rather that one overarching idea. The book offers readers useful tips for those interested in quantitative investing. The book follows the same idea as many books from the Santa Fe Institute, the idea that one has to look at investment using an ecological framework. Many strategies are competing for scarce returns, and often the best strategy is the one that has few following it.

iTherX Pharmaceuticals Appoints Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board for Hepatitis C Antiviral Drugs

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:52:43 MST

iTherX Pharmaceuticals Inc, a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has appointed a Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board to assist the company in the development of its novel therapeutic agents for Hepatitis C. iTherX is pioneering the introduction of a novel class of antivirals called entry inhibitors, which prevent the first step in virus infection: fusion with and entry into the liver cell. Included in the newly formed Advisory Board is Alan Perelson, PhD, Senior Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute.

Simplexity: Where nothing is left to chance

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:42:30 MST

In an excerpt from the Los Angeles Times, Jeffrey Kluger, science editor of Time Magazine, uses the events leading up to World War I as a prime example of what's known as simplexity - the idea that simple things can be surprisingly complex, and complex things can be deceptively simple. Kluger describes the major rules that govern complex and simple systems: phase changes, relaxation concepts, and, most importantly, choke points. This growing field of study reveals that all manner of phenomena - epidemics, traffic, even politics - move through tiny choke points, seemingly inconsequential junction boxes that may shape the very direction of history. The way small causes yield huge effects is itself only one piece of the much grander idea of simplexity, a science that is increasingly being studied at universities and institutes around the world, but nowhere more intensely than at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, where dozens of researchers from fields as diverse as economics, chemistry, physics, sociology and neuroscience study simple rules that underlie complex systems.

Fortune favours the brave; but the brave are motivated by favours of another kind

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:36:49 MST

Biologists have long pondered why heroism exists in human beings. Evolutionary rules tell us bravery should not have evolved due to the dangers involved (injury and death), which hurt the chances of survival and reproduction. Stanford University professors Laurent Lehmann and Marcus Feldman, an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, have provided research in a new study that suggests that great bravery can have evolutionary benefits under certain circumstances, despite its obvious dangers. Their research shows that brave soldiers may win more sexual partners as well as more battles, and that the extra chances to spread their genes can outweigh the risk of dying in combat. They have created a mathematical equation that shows it was overall beneficial for small groups of hunter gatherers living in an environment where rival groups competed intensely for food and shelter to be courageous during confrontations. Their model demonstrates that bravery genes could spread quickly, despite increased risk of death, if the conquest of neighboring tribes brought a group either increased opportunities for men to have sex or opportunities for extra territory or material resources.

Does male dominance get passed on genetically?

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:50:24 MST

Many sociological and anthropological studies have shown that dominant men have more reproductive success because they can attract more partners. While short-term analysis does show that the genetic traits of top-ranked men are passed on more often than those of other men, the variance in male fitness does not influence the genetics of a population in the long run. That's what scientists from the University of Arizona, the Santa Fe Institute, and the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology have concluded; they published their findings in a recent PNAS article. Overall, it appears that evolution does not favor dominant males for more than a few generations. On the evolutionary timescales, genetic contributions from the entire community take precedence. A man may be on top the world in his lifetime, but his genetic information won't stand out from those of everyone else in the distant future.

Scientists closer to creating life

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:26:59 MST

Scientists are advancing slowly toward one of the most audacious goals humans have ever set for themselves: creating artificial life. They've already accomplished some steps needed to construct a simple, single-celled organism that's capable of evolving and reproducing itself - basic requirements for life. While there are many difficulties, the difficulties don't keep researchers from trying to simulate life, if not create it from a blank slate. Steen Rasmussen, a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, heads a "Protocell Project." Its goal is to build lifelike artificial cells that are "self-reproducing and capable of evolution; self-containing, thereby possessing individual identity; self-sustaining in that they can maintain their complex structure."

The Human & The Humanities

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:09:13 MST

The National Humanities Center will host the third and final conference on "The Human & The Humanities," November 13 - 15, 2008, once again attracting scientists and humanities scholars to discuss how developments in science are challenging traditional notions of "the human." Amongst the speakers and special guests at the event will be David Krakauer, from the Santa Fe Institute.

Purrsonality: Understanding Your Cat's Character

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:41:24 MST

Managing Editor of The Daily Cat Jennifer Viegas attempts to explain personality in animals. "Personality is a complex of behavioral traits that go together without obvious reason," says Sander van Doorn, PhD, a researcher at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and one of the world's leading experts on the evolution of personality in animals. He says such traits are what help to characterize uniqueness among individuals. In other words, no two cats or humans -- not even among identical twins -- think and behave exactly alike.

Science Takes Steps Toward Artificial Life

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:31:22 MST

Scientists are advancing slowly toward one of the most audacious goals humans have ever set for themselves: creating artificial life. They've already accomplished some steps needed to construct a simple, single-celled organism that's capable of evolving and reproducing itself - basic requirements for life. Steen Rasmussen, a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, heads a "Protocell Project." Its goal is to build lifelike artificial cells that are "self-reproducing and capable of evolution; self-containing, thereby possessing individual identity; self-sustaining in that they can maintain their complex structure."

A Nudge Can open the Door To Destiny

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:58:28 MST

Jeffrey Kluger is the science editor of Time magazine and the author of "Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple)," writes in a syndicated Los Angeles Times article about the Santa Fe Institute. "The way small causes yield huge effects is itself only one piece of the much grander idea of simplexity, a science that is increasingly being studied at universities and institutes around the world, but nowhere more intensely than at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. The institute was created in 1984 with Murray Gell-Mann -- the winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics -- as its founding director. It's grown into a multidisciplinary think tank where dozens of researchers from fields as diverse as economics, chemistry, physics, sociology and neuroscience study the simple rules that undergird pretty much everything. It's there that investigators are discovering how individual investors in a millions-strong stock market mirror the behavior of individual particles in an atomic collider, allowing software designers to write better programs that can help us understand both. It's there that scientists are exploring how cars on a highway or people fleeing a burning building mimic the motion of flowing water, and seeing if that can lead to safer roads or more evacuation-friendly office towers.

August 2008 Accolades

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:34:46 MST

Accolades is a monthly column that recognizes the latest achievements of George Mason University faculty and staff members. Amongst others, Robert Hazan is recognized for his lectures on the origins of life and the early Earth at institutions including the Santa Fe Institute.

Science�s awesome challenge: Creating artificial life

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:52:15 MST

WASHINGTON - Scientists are advancing slowly toward one of the most audacious goals humans have ever set for themselves: creating artificial life. There's hope for a synthetic cell within 10 years. Scientists have already accomplished some steps needed to construct a simple, single-celled organism that�s capable of evolving and reproducing itself - basic requirements for life. (SFI External Professor) Steen Rasmussen, a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, heads a "Protocell Project." Its goal is to build lifelike artificial cells that are "self-reproducing and capable of evolution; self-containing, thereby possessing individual identity; self-sustaining in that they can maintain their complex structure."

Can we make software that comes to life?

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:42:23 MST

The tinkering, refinement and self-organisation of natural selection that has allowed evolution to make such creative leaps in the history of life will be explored at an international conference in the UK this week. Explanations into the ways that self-organisation operates among birds, to help them form flocks, and in robots, children, flies and cells, will be examined. SFI External Professor Peter Schuster is among the speakers. With the Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen, he came up with the idea of the "hypercycle" - different components "feeding on each others' waste" while maintaining an (often fragile) overall stability. This scheme was used to show how simple chemicals co-operated to create the first living things billions of years ago.

Invisible hand: Sometimes it needs a helping hand (The Hook)

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:53:14 MST

In the June 20 issue of Science, Samuel Bowles, director of the Behavioral Sciences Program at the Santa Fe Institute, looks at how market interactions can fail to optimize the rewards of participants� e.g., the micromanager who gets less than he wants from his employees. In this Essay in The Hook, author Ronald Bailey summarizes Bowles article and his thesis that policies designed for self-interested citizens may undermine "the moral sentiments."

Professor Wood Explores Wartime Transformation of Social Networks

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:12:51 MST

SFI Professor Elizabeth Wood discusses how civil war may radically change the pace, direction, or consequences, with perhaps irreversible effects, of six social processes: political mobilization, military socializations, polarization of social identities, militarization of local authority, transformation of gender roles, and fragmentation of the local political economy. As she analyzes the effects of these processes as transformations in social networks, she traces the wide variation in these processes during the wars in Peru, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, and Sierra Leone. See �The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks,� E. J. Wood, Annual Review of Political Science 11 (2008): 539-561.

The end of science? SFI Innovation

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:12:40 MST

Much like the scientific superpowers of France, Germany and Britain in centuries' past, the United States has a diminishing lead over other nations in financial investment and scholarly research output in science and engineering, say a group of historians and sociologists led by University of Wisconsin-Madison emeritus history professor J. Rogers Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth recommends a major investment in a new type of nimble and interdisciplinary science in the United States by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. He says the creation of more than two-dozen smaller-scale research institutes that would be autonomous from, but adjacent to, current universities could have great results. These would operate with little bureaucracy and without the constraints of conventional academic departments, and be more likely to fuel creative thinking, he says. These institutes would mirror the successes of smaller-scale campuses such as Rockefeller University in New York, the Salk Institute in California and the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. Each of these campuses, Hollingsworth says, produces a high percentage of breakthrough research advances despite their small size, and their successes stem from an organizational culture and structure that is nimble, collaborative and cross-disciplinary. For the past 15 years, Hollingsworth has been studying research organizations worldwide and looking at whether there are different approaches and structures around the world that are more conducive to promoting innovation. This essay put his ongoing work in an historical perspective.

Hollingsworth and Co-authors Recommend Major Investment in a New Type of Nimble and Interdisciplinary Science like SFI

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:43:42 MST

These institutes would mirror the successes of smaller-scale campuses such as Rockefeller University in New York, the Salk Institute in California and the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. Each of these campuses, Hollingsworth says, produces a high percentage of breakthrough research advances despite their small size, and their successes stem from an organizational culture and structure that is nimble, collaborative and cross-disciplinary.

Editorial by SFI Professor J. Doyne Farmer Published in New Scientist

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:16:06 MST

New Scientists links to SFI Professor Doyne Farmer's website as an example of one economist who is making headway in understanding the market's financial collapse through agent-based simulation models. "The regulation of markets ought to be based on the very best science, even if that does mean abandoning some of economists' most cherished ideas. "

Synthetic life forms and the emerging frontier in biology

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:49:15 MST

The Guardian writes about the cutting edge of synthetic biology, "a rapidly expanding field in which researchers are rewriting the basic operating instructions of living cells. It opens up myriad possibilities for biotechnology in decades to come. Whichever definition of synthetic life is adopted, it seems now to be a question of 'when' rather than 'if.' "We are at the doorstep of being able to create life," said (SFI External Professor)Steen Rasmussen, a physicist trying to create artificial living systems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

Bigger is Better, Until You Go Extinct

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:42:55 MST

Aaron Clauset of the Santa Fe Institute and (SFI External Professor) Douglas Erwin of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., created the most accurate computer model yet to predict how mammal species' body sizes change over time. Using fossil data from up to 60 million years ago to specify the form of the model, they were able to accurately reproduce the distribution of 4,000 known mammal body sizes in the last 50,000 years. Crucially, their model assumes that that when a new species appears, its size, on average, is slightly larger than its ancestor species. So why aren't all mammals the size of elephants by now? Because there's an opposing force at work, Clauset said. While evolution favors larger creatures, extinction seems to favor the small. The larger a species' body size, the more likely the species is to go extinct. "The tendency for evolution to create larger species is counter-balanced by the tendency of extinction to kill them off," Clauset told LiveScience. "The distribution of sizes over time is stabilized because these processes balance out."

Why Markets Go Bad

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:32:58 MST

TMC reviews the research by SFI Professors and others describing the recent "phase transition" effects of financial markets. " In recent unpublished work, (SFI researchers) Thurner, Farmer and John Geanakoplos, a Yale University economist, have developed an agent model of the securities market that includes hedge funds, banks and ordinary investors. The model's hedge funds try to identify momentarily mispriced securities, and make a profit by buying or selling in the expectation that the price will return to a realistic value in the future. As in the real world, they "leverage" their investments by borrowing from the banks. The simulations have revealed some alarming consequences of this kind of activity. With no leverage, a hedge fund can only lose its own investors' money, but as leverage increases it can also lose money it has borrowed from a bank, possibly putting that bank into difficulties." "Lots of leverage begins to pose the threat of failures cascading through the market," says Thurner. Intriguingly, the risk of cascades like this occurring doesn't increase gradually. Things go smoothly until the amount of leverage reaches a certain threshold, at which point the model shows the market undergoing a sudden change, loosely akin to a physical phase transition, like water freezing into ice.

Novel Computational Model describes speed HIV escapes immune response

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:21:38 MST

Researchers from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, have developed a model that illustrates how HIV evades the immune system. The study, published July 18th in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, incorporates detailed interactions between a mutating virus and the immune system. Drs. Christian Althaus and (SFI External Professor) Rob De Boer performed computer simulations to help interpret longitudinal data derived from HIV-infected patients. They illustrate that the virus often evades the immune response very slowly, on a timescale of years. Depending on the diversity of the immune system, the virus will either be controlled effectively or accumulate detrimental mutations. The results suggest an alternative strategy of vaccine design could be to reduce the replicative capacity of the virus.

Predicting the distribution of creatures great and small.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:10:10 MST

A model published in Science by SFI Fellow Aaron Clauset and SFI External Professor Doug Erwin shows that after millions of virtual years of new species evolving and old species becoming extinct, the model reaches an equilibrium in which the tendency of species to grow larger is offset by their tendency to become extinct more quickly. Because species size is fundamentally related to so many other characteristics like metabolism, life span and habitat, the researchers' simple evolutionary model offers support to idea that some aspects of evolutionary and ecological theory can be unified.

Albuquerque/Santa Fe New Breed of City: One of the 'mountain megas,' N.M. corridor needs supporting infrastructure, Brookings study says

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:08:10 MST

Today, the Albuquerque-Santa Fe corridor is rapidly turning into one of the nation's major "megapolitan" areas, adding more than 100,000 people since 2000. And it needs to begin thinking and acting the part, according to a Brookings Institution study, "Mountain Megas: America's Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper." An idea can originate at the Santa Fe Institute or Los Alamos National Laboratory, for example, have its birth as a small startup company in Santa Fe, then move to Albuquerque when the company needs a bigger-city environment closer to a major airport to support its growth, explained Christopher Leinberger. The great strength of the Albuquerque-Santa Fe corridor in exploiting that new kind of connection is the brain power of two major national labs, a research university and all the institutions and businesses that surround them, Leinberger said."What New Mexico is known for," he said, "is the intellectual firepower that exists in Albuquerque and Santa Fe combined."

Professor Jackson Considers Categorization, Bias, and Unintentional Discrimination

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:04:51 MST

SFI Professor Matthew Jackson at Stanford University coauthored a study on how categorization affects decision making and how specific biases emerge from categorization. In particular, types of experiences and objects that are less frequent in the population tend to be more coarsely categorized and lumped together. As a result, decision makers make less accurate predictions when confronted with such objects. This can result in discrimination against minority groups even when there is no malevolent taste for discrimination. See �A Categorical Model of Cognition and Biased Decision Making,� R. Fryer and M. O. Jackson, B. E. Journal of Theoretical Economics 8(1) (2008): p. NIL_2-NIL_44.

Synthetic life forms and the emerging frontier in biology

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:07:25 MST

London's Guardian interviews (SFI External Professor) Norman Packard, founder and CEO of Venice-based Company ProtoLife, about his project to create synthetic life. (He) is one of the leaders of an ambitious project that has in its sights the lofty goal of life itself. His team is attempting what no one else has done before: to create a new form of living being from non-living chemicals in the laboratory. Some people have accused Packard of playing God; while others see him as the ultimate entrepreneur. But whichever way one looks at this effort, the practical pay-offs of creations like those being chased after by Packard and others could be enormous. Synthetic life could indeed be used to build living technologies: bespoke creatures that produce clean fuels or help heal injured bodies. The potential of synthetic organisms far outstrips what genetic engineering can accomplish today with conventional organisms like bacteria. "The potential returns are very, very large - comparable to just about anything since the advent of technology," says Packard. And there is no doubt that there is big money to be made too.

Captain's Blog, Stardate: 7/11/08

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:44:02 MST

CNNMoney.com Managing Editor Andy Serwer stops by Santa Fe Institute while on vacation and runs into old friends. His travelogue and insights into the real estate market follow.

SFI External Professor Nina Fedoroff Awarded Honorary Degree at Rockefeller University

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:58:42 MST

A prominent researcher in molecular biology and genetics, Fedoroff recently received the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for scientific research, at a White House ceremony in 2007. She currently is on leave from Penn State while serving the United States as the science and technology adviser to the Secretary of State and to the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Study by SFI External Professor Pablo Marquet published in this week's Science

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:39:56 MST

"A Significant Upward Shift in Plant Species Optimum Elevation During the 20th Century" by SFI External Professor and former International Fellow Pablo Marquet and collaborators is featured in this week's issue of Science Magazine

Universal scaling laws from cells to cities:

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:24:15 MST

Sign up to View a lecture by SFI President Geoffrey West at Imperial College, London, on his work developing a unified quantitative theory of biological and social structure and organization. Here he describes scaling -- whereby many of life�s most fundamental and complex phenomena scale with size in a surprisingly simple fashion.

Will the QC kill the PC?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:22:52 MST

Traditional computers shuffle information in the form of binary numbers, the digits 1 and 0, which are remembered by the "on" and "off" positions of tiny switches, or "bits", on the circuit boards. Quantum computers use atoms and subatomic particles as the switches that perform the memory and processing tasks. As the threat posed by internet viruses and hackers to people's personal computers increases, quantum cryptography could become a standard feature of desktop computers to ensure safe internet communication. (SFI External) Professor Seth Lloyd, a quantum mechanical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believes this property of quantum computing has opened up another new possibility, that is of growing concern to internet users. His research has revealed a way of using quantum computing to keep personal information private. Currently, internet sites and search engines can keep large amounts of information about people's computer and search practices. "If you use what I am calling quantum private queries, it would allow you to ask a question of a search engine like Google, but keep your own information private. If they try to keep your information, you will know about it. It will allow computer users to know no one else is snooping on their information," said Professor Lloyd.

Policies Designed for Self-Interested Citizens May Undermine "The Moral Sentiments": Evidence from Economic Experiments

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:50:22 MST

Writing in Science magazine, SFI Professor Sam Bowles says, "Many of these unintended effects of incentives occur because people act not only to acquire economic goods and services but also to constitute themselves as dignified, autonomous, and moral individuals. Good organizational and institutional design can channel the material interests for the achievement of social goals while also enhancing the contribution of the moral sentiments to the same ends.

The Economics Of Nice Folks

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:43:05 MST

(SFI Professor) Sam Bowles argues in Science June 20 that economics will get it wrong then, sometimes badly so. He points to new experimental evidence that people do often act against their own personal self-interest in favor of the common good, and they do so in predictable, understandable ways. Poorly-designed economic institutions fail to take advantage of intrinsic moral behavior and often undermine it. .

Legg Mason Value Trust Newsletter

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:04:30 MST

In his recent letter to Legg Mason Value Trust investors, Manager and SfI Trustee Bill Miller singles out the work of an SFI External Professor in improving the economy.... "The weak dollar is another culprit in the commodity cycle. Oil began to rise in earnest when the dollar index broke down sharply in February. The Fed could help a lot by halting its interest rate cuts. Real short rates are now negative. It is not the price of credit that is the problem, it is its availability. If the Fed stopped cutting rates, that would help the dollar, which in turn ought to stall the commodity price rises, and thus also help the inflation picture. More technically, the Fed, in my opinion, needs to focus on the value of collateral and not on the price of credit. It appears they are beginning to do this, which is a very healthy sign. This is a topic for another letter, but anyone interested in it should consult the work of John Geanakoplos, a distinguished economics professor at Yale and an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute, who has written extensively on this issue, and presented to the Fed on it as well. He and Chairman Bernanke were grad students together at MIT."

Open Systems Model for Powering Electronic Products Moves Closer to Reality

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:36:01 MST

The Alliance for Universal Power Supplies (AUPS) held its second conference in San Francisco in June to explore making power supplies universal and reusable. Santa Fe Institute was one of the participants. The participants are seeking digital collaboration, so that manufacturers can eliminate costs and consumers can enjoy the convenience of powering any product with any power supply. They believe significant reductions in solid waste can be achieved.

Perfecting a Solar Cell by Adding Imperfections

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:33:41 MST

Nanotechnology is paving the way toward improved solar cells. New research shows that a film of carbon nanotubes may be able to replace two of the layers normally used in a solar cell, with improved performance at a lower cost. Researchers have found a surprising way to give the nanotubes the properties they need: add defects. "This study is an example of using nanostructuring of materials � changing things like defect density and tube length at very small scales � to shift trade-offs between materials properties and get more performance out of a given material," (SFI Fellow Jessica) Trancik says. "Making inexpensive materials behave in advanced ways is critical for achieving low-carbon emissions and low cost energy technologies."

Is Information a Virus?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:10:56 MST

New research suggests that �viral information� spreads in a very different way than an actual biological or computer virus does. According to mathematician (and SFI External Professor) Steven Strogatz, online social networks can be �incestuous�; that is, information tends to travel within a limited social circle. In contrast, viruses�caught from someone who sneezes on the bus, for example�aren�t limited or discriminatory.

Roadrunner Supercomputer Puts Research At A New Scale

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:55:34 MST

Los Alamos researchers, including SFI External Professor Luis Bettencourt have just powered up a new (Petaflop) computer to mimic extremely complex neurological processes. "The prefix "peta" stands for a million billion, also known as a quadrillion. For the Roadrunner supercomputer, operating at petaflop/s performance means the machine can process a million billion calculations each second. In other words, Roadrunner gives scientists the ability to quickly render mountainous problems into mere molehills, or model systems that previously were unthinkably complex."

The Art of Simplexity

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:54:27 MST

Murray Gell-Mann, a Nobel Prize--winning physicist and a co-founder of SFI, and neuroscientist Chris Wood of the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) in New Mexico, "a multidisciplinary think tank devoted to complexity theory" are quoted in a Time magazine article on what it means for something to be simple or complex. "A guppy, with its symphony of biological systems and subsystems, is vastly more complicated than a star.The ability to balance on the simplicity-complexity fulcrum is producing results (in science and industry.)"

Before Darwin

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:22:14 MST

(A new (simpler) view of the origins of life,(pre-dating Mendel's and Darwin's theories) deserves public attention, argues SFI Professor Eric Smith in his commentary in the Scientist. "Carbon fixation is one of the most conserved reactions throughout the biosphere. It suggests that a bridge between geochemistry and life may be found in the mechanisms of metabolism and the principles of ecology, not in compartments or memory molecules, which could have come later."... "(These), ecological principles become the foundations for the rest of biology, rather than merely secondary consequences of relations among individuals. Second, we should be warned that when we act as engineers in the living world, imagining that we can manipulate properties of individuals but remain ignorant of principles of ecology, we should expect the biosphere's response to be complex and not necessarily in accordance with our designs. The rapidly rising cost of industrial agriculture, and its fragility to shocks in energy supply, to pests, and to weather, is directly tied to the loss of natural ecological sources of stability in industrially managed agricultural systems.

SFI Researcher Harold Morowitz to appear on the History Channel on June 16

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:39:17 MST

Investmanet Research: What's New

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:19:32 MST

The Journal of Financial Planning recommended and linked to (SFI Trustee) Michael Mauboussin's recent paper for being among the better practitioner-oriented research papers. �Fat Tails and Nonlinearity� (Michael Mauboussin, Legg Mason, December 20, 2007, http://www.leggmason.com/individualinvestors/documents/insights/D4114-FatTailsNonlinearityLMIS.pdf). (... this (is an ) excellent non-journal article. Bringing Nassim Taleb�s now well-known black swan metaphor to the worlds of investment planning, Mauboussin introduces the reader to the concept and risk associated with the complex system we call �the market.�

New Edition of Dictionary of Economics

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:17:00 MST

STEVEN N. DURLAUF has edited anothe edition of The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, established as the leading reference work in the field. Durlauf is the Kenneth J. Arrow Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA. He has served as Co-Director of the Economics Program at the Santa Fe Institute for which he currently serves as a Science Board and external faculty member. A Fellow of the Econometric Society, Durlauf's research covers a range of topics in macroeconomics, econometrics, and income inequality. The second edition will retain many individual classic essays of enduring importance from its predecessor plus over one thousand new or heavily revised articles.

Study Finds Culture Influences Reaction to Reward, Rebuke

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:30:42 MST

A Wall Street Journal article about what happens in various societies to people who don't share, solicits the opinion of SFI Professor Howard Gintis. The article notes, "social appearances and the good opinion of others do regulate our behavior. In the only other major cross-cultural study of this sort, Dr. Gintis and his colleagues several years ago examined 15 primitive societies of farmers, foragers, hunters and nomads in 12 countries, not unlike those in which humanity might have first evolved. The researchers found that these people all cared as much about fairness as the economic outcome of a trade." "They care about the ethical value of what they do," said Dr. Gintis.

Factors That Make Bacteria More Modular Detailed

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:29:16 MST

ScienceDaily (May 29, 2008) � Many bacteria break their metabolic processes into chunks. That may be logically tidy, but it's often metabolically inefficient. Researchers have now figured out the factors that tend to make bacteria more modular. Elhanan Borenstein of the Santa Fe Institute and Stanford University, (and others) constructed the metabolic networks of many species of bacteria and measured how much those networks broke into pieces, or modules. Then they looked for factors that correlate. Many bacteria transfer genes among themselves, instead of simply handing them from ancestor to descendant. Bacteria that do more of this also tend to be more modular. "If you are going to give away and get parts of different networks, it makes sense for your network to be modular," Borenstein says. That way, the transfers are more likely to be useful. In this case, the greater rate of transfer could easily be both cause and effect of modularity, Borenstein points out.

Most HIV cases traced to transmission of single virus

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:37:26 MST

Most HIV cases can be traced to the transmission of a single virus, according to a study published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (and involving research by the Santa Fe Institute,) the Birmingham News reports. According to researcher George Shaw, a professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the findings are surprising and could have an impact on HIV/AIDS vaccine development. The findings are significant because they indicate that if researchers are "trying to develop a vaccine or microbicide or whatever to prevent [HIV] infection, the only thing it has to do is prevent the transmission of a single virus," Shaw said. He added, "That should be possible. All you have to do is provide some additional block to what already is an efficient process." The findings "provide light on what was previously a very cloudy area of HIV infection," Shaw said, adding, "It puts acute and early transmission of HIV-1 in very sharp focus."

Book Review The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 And What It Means by George Soros

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:35:01 MST

In a review of George Soros' book about the current financial market volatility the reporter describes Soros' and (SFI Trustee) Legg Mason Value Trust Manager Bill Miller's mistake on buying the ailing Bear Stearns "On March 16, (Soros) observed that "The panic is palpable," and bought into ailing Bear Stearns, expecting some return on a Federal Reserve brokered auction of the company. He got burned admitting that, "We forgot to take into account that Bear is disliked by the establishment, and the Fed would use the occasion to deal with a moral hazard by punishing shareholders." For those who might be confused by Soros' analysis there, Bill Miller, manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust explains: "Bear had been very aggressive in seizing the capital of Askin Capital in 1994 and precipitating its failure. In 1998 it opted out of rescuing Long Term Capital Management. That's the kind of thing where, if you're Merrill, Citigroup or the Fed, you remember." Miller also bought shares in Bear, for the same reasons Soros did. The trading diary ends with Soros losing money. While he wishes he could have reached a more triumphant ending, he notes that the result "may be more appropriate for the purposes of the book."

Zuni student's program helps identify remains

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:18:55 MST

SANTA FE, May 27, 2008 (Albuquerque Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Daniel Pedro's family was a little taken aback when he announced his intent to study ancestral human remains. On the 19-year-old's native Zuni Pueblo, it is taboo to handle remains. But as a budding anthropologist, Pedro was troubled by one method used to identify where Indian remains came from. It involves crushing bone to extract DNA. There must be a better way, Pedro thought. For three years, he has been working on a computer program that might one day determine the ethnicity of skeletal remains simply by analyzing facial structure. The Santa Fe Indian School senior's project was honored last month with a creativity and innovation award at the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge, as well as a $1,000 award from the Santa Fe Institute.

U.S. Medical Research Gets $600 Million From Institute

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:55:12 MST

Hughes Supplements Gap As Government Funds Lag One new investigator (receiving a piece of a $600 Million Howard Hughes grant) is (SFI External Professor) Mercedes Pascual, who was born in Uruguay, grew up in Argentina and Brazil and now has a lab at the University of Michigan. She is trying to determine how global climate change affects outbreaks of infectious diseases. Pascual wants to build a mathematical model to help scientists identify when and how cholera, malaria and other diseases might balloon into epidemics, enabling public health agencies to prepare for, or even preempt, deadly outbreaks. ... Aware of the potential of her model, the Hughes Institute is banking on Pascual to deliver it. "There is a tremendous freedom in terms of time to focus on the research, time for creativity, time to pursue whatever area you think is important," Pascual said.

Former Santa Fe Institute Researcher Traces Migration Patterns of Flu Virus

Fri, 23 May 2008 10:10:47 MST

It's the case of the missing flu virus. When the flu isn't making people sick, it seems to just vanish. Yet, every year, everywhere on Earth, it reappears in the appropriate season and starts its attack. "In order to try to predict how flu viruses might evolve, we have to understand how they're moving around the world and where they're evolving," says Derek Smith, now of the University of Cambridge and formerly of the Santa Fe Institute.

Tracking influenza's every movement

Tue, 20 May 2008 06:52:55 MST

Former Santa Fe Institute researcher traces migration patterns of flu virus �In order to try to predict how flu viruses might evolve, we have to understand how they�re moving around the world and where they�re evolving,� says Derek Smith, now of the University of Cambridge and formerly of the Santa Fe Institute, corresponding author of the research. Asia, the study suggests, is the best place to look for up-and-coming strains. The team published its findings April 18 in Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5874/340

Professor Pascual Suggests General Model for Food Web Structure

Mon, 19 May 2008 12:58:47 MST

SFI External Professor Mercedes Pascual and co-authors develop a likelihood-based approach for the direct comparison of alternative models based on the full structure of the network. Results drive a new model that is able to generate all the empirical data sets and to do so with the highest likelihood. See �A General Model for Food Web Structure,� S. Allesina, D. Alonso, and M. Pascual, Science 320(5876) (May 2, 2008): 658-661.

Potential Vulnerabilities Discovered In HIV Infection

Mon, 19 May 2008 09:18:02 MST

A new study reveals the genetic identity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the version responsible for sexual transmission, in unprecedented detail.

SFI Researcher Jennifer Dunne featured in today's Santa Fe New Mexican

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:29:31 MST

The Evolving Web of Future Wealth

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:20:02 MST

The web of connections among goods and services in an economy may be the long-missing key to understanding how novel innovations and new wealth arise. Scientific American is gauging readers' reactions to a new book by (SFI Complexity Researcher) Stuart Kauffman's where he posits that traditional economists are unable to explain something that seems obvious but isn't: How does innovation drive growth?

Professor Stadler Uses Nearby Intron Pairs as Phylogenetic Markers

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:36:01 MST

SFI External Professor Peter Stadler and co-authors tackle deep branches of the evolutionary tree for insect phylogeny. They show that the analysis of phylogenetically nested, nearby intron pairs is suitable to identify evolutionarily younger intron positions and to determine their relative age, which should be of equal importance for the understanding of intron evolution and the reconstruction of the eukaryotic tree. See �Near Intron Positions are Reliable Phylogenetic Markers: An Application to Holometabolous Insects,� V. Krauss, C. Thummler, F. George, J. Lehmann, P. F. Stadler, and C. Eisenhardt, Molecular Biology and Evolution 25(2) (May 2008): 821-830.

Quantum Internet Could Protect Batman's Secret Identity

Wed, 07 May 2008 06:55:06 MST

As researchers like (SFI External Professor) Seth Lloyd of MIT make progress toward the goal of quantum computing, they've found that the same architecture used to build quantum random access memory (QRAM) could apply across the whole of the internet. This could put an end to internet spying for good, and would mean that Batman could send email to the JLA without fear of discovery.... Lloyd admits, the QRAM set-up is a little slower than the RAM. "You'd have to be willing to make that trade-off." That brings Lloyd back to the idea of quantum Internet search. "If you had a quantum Internet, then this would be useful," he points out. "This offers a huge decrease in energy used and an increase in robustness." The other interesting aspect is the possibility of completely anonymous Internet search. Not even your service provider would know who you are or what you search for.

Subsea storage may fix our CO2 problem

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:34:25 MST

A growing body of research predicts deep subsea rock formations may be ideal for carbon sequestration � the process of storing carbon dioxide emissions underground to keep them from entering the Earth's atmosphere and contributing to climate change. A number of researchers already are conducting projects to inject CO2 in onshore formations to see if large amounts of the greenhouse gas can be stored underground indefinitely. Daniel Schrag, a professor at Harvard University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, says the high pressures and low temperatures found below the sea floor � 10,000 feet or more underwater � provide a nearly foolproof way to keep CO2 stored. In those conditions CO2 becomes a liquid more dense than water that will not rise up to the ocean floor. "It's a pretty simple idea that has much lower risks than carbon sequestration on land," Schrag said. "And there's truly a huge capacity for storage under the sea floor."

Mapmaker for the World of Influenza

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:37:55 MST

Science April 18, 2008 DEREK SMITH DIDN�T WANT TO DO ROCKET science�literally. That�s how he ended up becoming an internationally recognized expert in influenza virus evolution.... �I�m not a pacifist,� Smith says, �but I didn�t want anything to do with work directly related to the military.� Instead, he started looking for a job in which his expertise might benefit public health. He found it in a Ph.D. project to model the immune system�s recognition of influenza viruses at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. He never regretted the choice. Now at the University of Cambridge, U.K., Smith has become the unofficial cartographer of the influenza world. He has developed a technique to produce colorful maps visualizing the never-ending changes in the influenza virus, and over the past 4 years, his lab has become a global nerve center that analyzes influenza data from around the world.

New Breed of Business Gurus Rises

Mon, 05 May 2008 07:21:25 MST

An article in the Wall Street Journal reviews the popularity of speakers noting that psychologists and CEOs Climb in Influence, Draw Hits and Big Fees. No matter who's preaching, managers (should be) wary of blindly embracing advice. "People have to use all these gurus with some caution," says Michael Mauboussin, chief investment strategist at Legg Mason Capital Management. He is a fan of Clayton Christensen, the Harvard professor known for his writings on "disruptive innovation," who ranks No. 17 on the list, up from 49 in 2003. Mr. Mauboussin says gurus often idolize certain companies during good times, and then chastise the same ones during bad. "The reality is, they were never so good, and they were never so bad," he says.

Scientists Develop Technique For Extracting Hierarchical Structure Of Networks

Mon, 05 May 2008 07:20:09 MST

In a May 1 Nature paper, "Hierarchical structure and the prediction of missing links in networks," Santa Fe Institute (SFI) researchers Aaron Clauset, Cristopher Moore, and Mark Newman show that many real-world networks can be understood as a hierarchy of modules, where nodes cluster together to form modules, which themselves cluster into larger modules -- arrangements similar to the organization of sports players into teams, teams into conferences, and conferences into leagues, for example. This hierarchical organization, the researchers show, can simultaneously explain a number of patterns previously discovered in networks, such as the surprising heterogeneity in the number of connections some nodes have, or the prevalence of triangles in a network diagram. Their discovery suggests that hierarchy may, in fact, be a fundamental organizational principle for complex networks.

Killing the Rational Man

Mon, 05 May 2008 07:14:53 MST

When studying economic theory, one learns early on about the concept of the "rational man." The idea is that in any market economy, decisions are made based on rationality. . In order to understand how the market works, one is told, one has to simply accept that man is rational and would never buy something for more than it is worth, or sell it for less than the market value. .. about a decade ago, a group of physicists met with a group of economists at the Santa Fe Institute and questioned them on this point. The physicists, having experienced real human beings, could not understand how anyone could create an entire discipline based around the assumption that humans are rational. In the 1970s, two professors, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, decided to test just how rational people are when making decisions involving risk. They conducted an enormous number of studies that show that, most of the time, people make decisions that are demonstrably irrational... The work of Kahneman and Tversky did change the science of economics. It even spawned a new field called behavioral economics. Unfortunately, it has not been widely adopted within the discipline of risk management. It is important to the profession that this work take a more prominent role.

Hierarchical structure and the prediction of missing links in networks

Fri, 02 May 2008 06:15:04 MST

SFI's Aaron Clauset in a letter to Nature reports on Networks' research..".which has in recent years emerged as an invaluable tool for describing and quantifying complex systems in many branches of science... recent studies suggest that networks often exhibit hierarchical organization, in which vertices divide into groups that further subdivide into groups of groups, and so forth over multiple scales. In many cases the groups are found to correspond to known functional units, such as ecological niches in food webs, modules in biochemical networks (protein interaction networks, metabolic networks or genetic regulatory networks) or communities in social networks..... Taken together, our results suggest that hierarchy is a central organizing principle of complex networks, capable of offering insight into many network phenomena.

Postdoctoral Fellow Trancik Considers Innovative Uses of Nanotube Films

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:19:35 MST

SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Jessika Trancik and co-authors report on the synthesis of thin, transparent, and highly catalytic carbon nanotube films. Nanotubes catalyze an important reaction in dye-sensitized solar cells. This research may have application to batteries, fuel cells, and electroanalytical devices. See J. E. Trancik, S. C. Barton, and J. Hone, �Transparent and Catalytic Carbon Nanotube Films,� NANO Letters 8(4) (April 2008): 982-987.

Ancient Ecosystems Organized Much Like Our Own

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:09:53 MST

ScienceDaily (Apr. 28, 2008) � Similarities between half-billion-year-old and recent food webs point to deep principles underpinning the structure of ecological relationships, as shown by researchers from the Santa Fe Institute, Microsoft Research Cambridge and elsewhere. Analyses of Chengjiang and Burgess Shale food-web data suggest that most, but not all, aspects of the trophic structure of modern ecosystems were in place over a half-billion years ago. It was an Anomalocaris-eat-trilobite world, filled with species like nothing on today's Earth. But the ecology of Cambrian communities was remarkably modern, say researchers behind the first study to reconstruct detailed food webs for ancient ecosystems. Their paper suggests that networks of feeding relationships among marine species that lived hundreds of millions of years ago are remarkably similar to those of today. "Paleontologists have long known that food webs were important but we have lacked a rigorous method for studying them in deep time," comments co-author and paleontologist Doug Erwin of the Santa Fe Institute and the Smithsonian Institution. "We have shown that we can reconstruct ancient food webs and compare them to modern webs, opening up new avenues of paleoecology. We were surprised to see that most aspects of the basic structure of food webs seem to have become established during the initial explosion of animal life."

Ancient ecosystems organized much like our own

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:53:23 MST

Conducted by researchers from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, Microsoft Research Cambridge, and other institutions, the study is the first to reconstruct detailed food webs for ancient ecosystems. The researchers compiled data from the 505 million-year-old Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada and the even earlier Chengjiang Shale of eastern Yunnan Province, China, dating from 520 million years ago. "There are a few intriguing differences with modern webs, particularly in the earlier Chengjiang Shale web. However, in general, it doesn�t seem to matter what species, or environment, or evolutionary history you�ve got, you see many of the same sorts of food-web patterns,� explained Dunne. (ANI) The discovery of strong and enduring regularities in how such webs are organized will help in the understanding of the history and evolution of life, and could provide insights for modern ecology - such as how ecosystems will respond to biological extinctions and invasions.

Physicists quantify the 'coefficient of inefficiency'

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:03:14 MST

(SFI External Professor) Stefan Thurner.. with the Medical University of Vienna and colleagues are trying to quatify why groups with more than 20 members are much more ineffectual at making decisions that smaller groups, as observed by Parkinson's law.... The dynamics of a cabinet with a fixed number of members was simulated by starting the model with each node in a specific state. The state of a node is then flipped if enough of its influencers are in the opposite state. This process is repeated many times until the system settles into a stable configuration of coalitions of �fors� and �againsts�. Their findings indicate that the dynamics of the cabinet change just where, and how, Parkinson predicted... Thurner and his colleagues believe that this change occurs at the point where a cabinet can support multiple independent factions � something that could impair its ability to make good decisions. Thurner hopes that the team�s research could help committee-driven organizations such as the European Union create effective decision making bodies. This will become more difficult as the EU admits more members (there are currently 27). Indeed, the EU is considering reducing the number of commissioners on its executive council from 27 to 18, to avoid the curse of Parkinson�s coefficient of inefficiency.

Physicist seeks �deeper� view of nature, societies

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:02:21 MST

Crossing the boundaries of physics and biology, Santa Fe Institute fellow Geoffrey West has moved beyond establishing the relationship between blood flow in the body and traffic flow in cities. Speaking yesterday to an audience of students, faculty and community members at the University of Missouri�s Monsanto Auditorium, West said studying how the natural environment reacts to problems can give clues for how cities should solve problems such as crime, pollution and global warming. "We better understand cities if we�re going to solve these problems," West said. "We cannot in my opinion we will not - solve the problem by focusing on global warming, by focusing on energy and the environment and then focusing on the market. � We need to create a generation of people very quickly that think in broader terms, seeing these as integrated problems."

Professor Pagel Considers Genomes, Language, and the Transition to Multicellular Organisms

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:20:39 MST

SFI External Professor Mark Pagel writes that both genomes and language suggest that biological and social complexity emerge from how information is used, not from how much of it there is. Similarly, he poses that the emergence of digital regulation derived from unused stretches of junk DNA may have precipitated the transition from single cells to complex multicellular organisms. See M. Pagel, �Rise of the Digital Machine,� Nature 452 (7188) (2008): 699.

The 3rd International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of Hepatitis Therapy

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:11:33 MST

The Workshop was held April 9-10, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (SFI External Professor) Dr. Avidan Neumann (Bar-Ilan University) discussed the role of mathematical modeling of viral dynamics in the development of new antiviral compounds. Dr. Neumann demonstrated the role of models in understanding Hepatitis C Viral infection and replication, providing insight into the mechanisms of action of (current medications) PegINF and RBV and the time course of response to therapy, and evaluating antiviral dynamics and resistance evolution with investigational HCV compounds. These mathematical models will undoubtedly be useful tools for understanding the mechanisms of action of therapies, resistance evolution patterns, determining optimal treatment durations, and for early prediction of response to therapy.

Legg Mason Value Trust Letter to Shareholders: First Quarter 2008

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:22:47 MST

In his quarterly letter to shareholder's (SFI Trustee Chair) and Legg Mason's Bill Miller quotes SFI's John Geanakoplos. Dear Shareholder..... The weak dollar is another culprit in the commodity cycle. Oil began to rise in earnest when the dollar index broke down sharply in February. The Fed could help a lot by halting its interest rate cuts. Real short rates are now negative. It is not the price of credit that is the problem, it is its availability. If the Fed stopped cutting rates, that would help the dollar, which in turn ought to stall the commodity price rises, and thus also help the inflation picture. More technically, the Fed, in my opinion, needs to focus on the value of collateral and not on the price of credit. It appears they are beginning to do this, which is a very healthy sign. This is a topic for another letter, but anyone interested in it should consult the work of John Geanakoplos, a distinguished economics professor at Yale and an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute, who has written extensively on this issue, and presented to the Fed on it as well. He and Chairman Bernanke were grad students together at MIT.

Maps Point the Way to Fighting the Flu Virus

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:20:40 MST

An international team of researchers has crafted software that illustrates interactions between immune systems and the flu strains trying to breach their defenses--on a global scale. The software allows them to map the clashes between immune systems and germs, starting with the influenza virus. This difference between viruses�as our immune system interprets them�is known as the "antigenic difference," says Derek Smith, professor of infectious disease informatics at the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology, who wrote the antigenic cartography software in collaboration with Alan Lapedes, a computational biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Smith earned a PhD in computer science from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque while a fellow at the Santa Fe Institute. "You take antibodies raised for different strains of flu and see how well they bind to different strains of influenza," he adds, "and you end up with a table with these measurements."

Jim Cramer Blog; Give Drug Stocks a Chance

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:44:57 MST

"Nobody thinks "buy defense" any more when oil spikes. They just think buy oil and ag. And they sell retail. I find that pretty amazing. Higher oil prices mean a slowdown in the economy, which means buy drugs and foods, or at least drugs. But the group is bizarrely despised.... I read this terrific article last night in SFI, the Santa Fe Institute magazine, that talked about this market's inherent emotional irrationality. Today's Exhibit A about how right that article is."

Professor Lillo Considers Financial Markets and the Effect of Large Orders

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:51:47 MST

SFI External Professor Fabrizio Lillo and his coauthors discuss how agents strategically adjust the properties of large orders in order to meet their preferences and minimize their impact. They show that heterogeneity of agents is a key ingredient for the emergence of some aggregate properties characterizing this complex system. See G. Vaglica, F. Lillo, E. Moro, and R. N. Mantegna, �Scaling Laws of Strategic Behavior and Size Heterogeneity,� Physical Review E 77 (3 pt. 2) (2008): nil_1253-nil1258.

The Prize Lagrange-Foundation CRT to an SFI Professor

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:05:24 MST

The economist W. Brian Arthur of the Santa Fe Institute (USA) and mathematician Yakov G. Sinai of the University of Princeton (USA) are the winners of the Prize Lagrange-Foundation CRT on Complex Systems. The ceremony will be held April 22 in Torino, Italy.

8 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:09:18 MST

An Associated Press (AP) article asks �Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? According to �If at First You Don�t Succeed,� a book by Brent Bowers, you�re a natural-born capitalist if you exhibit all eight of these entrepreneurial traits: 1. Seizing opportunities. Have a knack for spotting and grabbing opportunities that nobody else seems to notice? In the early days of the Internet, many people talked about starting an online auction house. Pierre Omidyar and his collaborators organized a business plan that created eBay. Other characteristics include showing innovative behavior since childhood, turning on a dime, pragmatism, tenacity and self confidence bordering on delusions of grandeur.

State Department's 2008 Earth Day Commemoration

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:04:55 MST

Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State Nina Fedoroff will examine how science and technology are applied to environmental issues during the State Department's Earth Day celebrations.

Edward N. Lorenz, a Meteorologist and a Father of Chaos Theory, Dies at 90

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:06:01 MST

Edward N. Lorenz, a meteorologist who tried to predict the weather with computers but instead gave rise to the modern field of chaos theory, died Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 90. Dr. Lorenz published his findings in 1963. �The paper he wrote in 1963 is a masterpiece of clarity of exposition about why weather is unpredictable,� said J. Doyne Farmer, a professor at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. The following year, Dr. Lorenz published another paper that described how a small twiddling of parameters in a model could produce vastly different behavior, transforming regular, periodic events into a seemingly random chaotic pattern.

The Complexity of Evolution

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:24:24 MST

Scientists usually study natural selection at a single level, such as genes or individuals or even a population, says (SFI External Professor) and biophysical complexity researcher Maya Paczuski -- but it takes place at all these levels simultaneously, and what happens at each scale resonates through the web of life in ways we're just beginning to comprehend. Paczuski, founder of the University of Calgary's Complexity Science Group, talked to Wired.com on the expansion of evolutionary theory to include complexity and emergence. These phenomena don't replace the classic mechanisms of genetic mutation and natural selection, but work with them; and accompanying this expanded conception of evolution is the multi-scale perspective espoused by Paczuski. "One of the things that complexity theory teaches us is that you have emergent properties -- like ecosystems -- so you have to think of selection happening at many different scales. That problem hasn't been addressed in any coherent way in scientific literature. It's one of the great complex problems of the future."

First Step Towards a Quantum Internet

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:22:06 MST

A gate using qubit made of entangled photon pairs could lead to 'automatically secure' networks. (SFI External Professor) Professor Seth Lloyd, a quantum-computing researcher at MIT, told Personal Computer World magazine of an important step towards creating a quantum Internet in which communication would be 'automatically secure'. Prem Kumar, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University, has created a quantum 'controlled NOT' logic gate within an optical fibre.

Scientists sift clues to mysterious migration

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:05:10 MST

Anasazi - Artifacts point to possible ideological or religious struggles behind the move south 700 years ago...The migration raises the most vexing and persistent question in Southwestern archaeology: Why, in the late 13th century, did thousands of Anasazi abandon Kayenta, Mesa Verde and the other magnificent settlements of the Colorado Plateau and move south into Arizona and New Mexico? (SFI External Professor) Timothy Kohler of Washington State University and members of the Village Ecodynamics Project are collaborating with archaeologists at Crow Canyon on a computer simulation of population changes in southwest Colorado from 600 to about 1300. Amid the swirl of competing explanations, one thing is clear: The pueblo people didn't just dry up and blow away like so much parched corn. They restructured their societies and tried to adapt. When all else failed, they moved on.

NM technology association honors seven women

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:03:26 MST

New Mexico Business Weekly reports that The New Mexico Information Technology and Software Association honored seven women on April 3 for outstanding contributions to the technology industry. Among them was Irene Anne Lee from the Santa Fe Institute. NMITSA firmly believes that only a full-time regional information technology association (RITA) can raise the competitiveness and presence of New Mexico's IT sector relative to other competitor regions throughout the United States and the world.

Physicists model how we form opinions

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:02:02 MST

Stefan Thurner of the Medical University of Vienna and the Santa Fe Institute and other researchers in a recent issue of Europhysics Letters, say our individual opinions both influence and are influenced by our surroundings. By following a set of rules, the researchers have modeled the opinion formation process in societies where individuals� opinions are strongly influenced by others they interact with. The scientists found that, depending on two criteria � how strongly individuals are influenced by each other and how many connections individuals have � a society�s overall state can exhibit either large segregated patches of consensus, or areas with closely intermingled opinions.

Gorbachev calls for more international cooperation

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:01:03 MST

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decries America's military buildup since the Cold War and he is calling for more international cooperation in addressing political and environmental problems. Gorbachev says the growing U.S. defense budget is pushing other countries to do the same and he contends that the expansion of conventional weapons also will undermine efforts to abolish nuclear weapons. Gorbachev, who left office in 1991, was in Santa Fe to deliver a speech to benefit the Santa Fe Institute, a research and education center. He made his comments at a news conference before his lecture.

SFI Researchers quoted in today's SF New Mexican

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:27:39 MST

When it comes to understanding HIV, looking at the big picture sometimes isn't enough. What's really needed to understand how truly prolific the virus is, is to look at the big movie. That's what Los Alamos National Laboratories researcher (SFI External Faculty) Alan Perelson did when he was trying to figure out how fast the disease replicates throughout the human body.

External Professor Wagner resolves robustness and evolvability paradox

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:31:10 MST

SFI External Professor Andreas Wagner considers RNA genotypes and their secondary structure phenotypes to resolve the paradox between robustness and evolvability. He writes that, while genotype robustness and evolvability share an antagonistic relationship, the phenotype robustness promotes structure evolvability. See Andreas Wagner, "Robustness and Evolvability: A Paradox Resolved," Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences 275, no. 1630 (2008): 91-100.

External Professor Schuster calls for joint effort in mathematics

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:22:56 MST

Professor Peter Schuster suggests that, in addition to dynamic systems theory, different mathematical disciplines must jointly develop methods for handling the enormously complex networks of gene regulation and metabolism. He provides selected examples from his lab. See Monatshefte f�r Chemie - Chemical Monthly: An International Journal of Chemistry (v.139, #4).

Do words have definitions?

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:39:03 MST

(SFI External Professor) Ray Jackendoff, a linguist at Tufts University, argued in his recent Foundations of Knowledge, that words do in fact have definitions. However, those definitions themselves are not made up of words composed into sentences Jackendoff has proposed that a very different system (lexical semantics) using different rules is employed when we learn the meanings of new words by combining little bits of meaning (that themselves may not map directly on to any words).

How to Turn a Herd on Wall St.

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:32:15 MST

What makes a herd, financial or otherwise, stop and turn around? Specifically, behavioral experts want to know if there are psychological cues that can help transform this bear market into a bullish one. Experiments testing various versions of this game have shown that many players flip strategies in the middle of playing, apparently simply because they have set some private threshold for changing, like trying one strategy three times, �and if it doesn�t work, switch to the other one,� said Willemien Kets, a postdoctoral fellow at the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Kets contends that this switching strategy can be successful precisely because others decide to stick to a congested road. �You see this �grass is always greener� kind of behavior emerging,� Dr. Kets said in an interview, �which suggests that a variety of contrarian strategies will evolve naturally in the course of any such game because there are people who are more conservative in their strategies.�

SFI Workshop Featured in the Santa Fe New Mexican

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:55:54 MST

An article by Santa Fe New Mexican science writer Sue Vorenberg explores the discussions from "Dominance, Leveling and Egalitarianism in Primates and Other Animals," a Workshop organized by SFI Professor Sam Bowles.

SFI's Irene Lee Nominated for the First Annual NMITSA 2008 Women in Technology Awards

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:52:32 MST

Irene Lee, Project GUTS' Principal Investigator, was one of seven women honored at a luncheon April 3, 2008.

Gorbachev To Lecture in Santa Fe: Former Soviet leader expected to speak on the environment and nuclear disarmament

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:36:26 MST

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the pro-green, antinuke message that Mikhail Gorbachev is expected to deliver during a speech in Santa Fe next month will come perhaps at a fitting time for northern New Mexico. While Gorbachev prefers to deliver his remarks from notes jotted down on a notepad, an associate said environmentalism and nuclear disarmament -- both hot topics in the City Different -- will likely be themes of a lecture he'll give during an April 14 visit, which is a fundraiser for the Santa Fe Institute. "He's called for the abolition of nuclear weapons," said Matt Peterson, head of Global Green USA, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International, which Gorbachev founded in 1993.

External Faculty Member Kohler's New Research on Climate, Famine, and Violence in the Southwest

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:46:11 MST

Professor Timothy Kohler and coauthors present new archaeological research and computer simulation which suggest why Ancestral Puebloans deserted the Southwest United States. See American Scientist 96 (2008): 146-153.

SFI Postdoc van Doorn Studies Animal Personalities

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:38:00 MST

Sander van Doorn, SFI Postdoctoral Fellow, and his co-authors discuss how the more an individual stands to lose, the more cautious that individual should be. Further, a branching point is not needed for the emergence of polymorphism; the emergence of individual differences is a robust phenomenon. See Nature 451, E8-E9 (28 February 2008).

SFI Listed As the �Rising Star� Institution for Environmental Science/Ecology

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:45:10 MST

Thompson Scientific Science Watch of March 2008, lists the Santa Fe Institute as a �rising star� institution for Environmental Science/Ecology - a repeat honor. ScienceWatch.com produces a listing of the scientists, institutions, countries, and journals that have achieved the highest percentage increase in total citations from the fourth bimonthly period of 2007 to the fifth bimonthly period of 2007�that is, from August 2007 to October 2007.

External Professor Bettencourt studies influenza and pandemics

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:29:18 MST

External Faculty Member Luis Bettencourt studies influenza transmission and mortality in 1918 Great Britain, which may be useful in pandemic planning. See Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 275 (1634), March 7 2008, p. 501-509.

UPI reports on pendulums studied in mixed reality state

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:57:12 MST

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., March 12 (UPI) -- U.S. physicists have used a virtual and real pendulum to create the first mixed reality state in a physical system. (SFI and) University of Illinois scientists said through bidirectional instantaneous coupling, each pendulum "sensed" the other, their motions became correlated and the two began swinging as one. "In a mixed reality state there is no clear boundary between the real system and the virtual system," said (SFI External Professor) Associate Professor Alfred Hubler. "The line blurs between what's real and what isn't." In the experiment, Hubler and graduate student Vadas Gintautas connected a mechanical pendulum to a virtual one. The researchers sent data about the real pendulum to the virtual one, and sent information about the virtual pendulum to a motor that influenced motion of the real pendulum. When the lengths of the two pendulums were dissimilar, they remained in a dual reality state. When the lengths of the pendulums were similar, however, they "suddenly noticed each other, synchronized their motions, and danced together indefinitely," said Hubler. The experiment and its potential ramifications are to be discussed this week in New Orleans during the annual meeting of the American Physical Society.

SFI Trustee compares heterogeneous data in interdisciplinary effort

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:16:28 MST

Robert McCormick Adams, SFI Trustee, provides an overview of the interdisciplinary efforts to compare heterogeneous data--circumscribed, formulaic and myopic limitations of 20,000 cuneiform tablets which omit large population elements, with the archeological record and satellite imagery--for the city and province of UMMA in 21st century B.C. Available online at the Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj.html.

SFI Professor edits volume on genetic imprinting

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:12:12 MST

SFI Professor Jon F. Wilkins has edited a new volume entitled Genomic Imprinting, co- published in January 2008 by Springer and Landes Bioscience. For more information, see the SFI Update for February or contact the publisher at www.landesbioscience.com/books/; then search for "Wilkins."

New research into "mixed reality states" promises Matrix-like "whoa"

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:42:25 MST

The experiment, the first fully successful one of its kind, sounds simple but raises mind-blowing questions about reality.� According to (SFI External Professor) Illinois physicist Alfred Hubler, "In a mixed reality state there is no clear boundary between the real system and the virtual system.� The line blurs between what�s real and what isn�t." Hubler describes the pendulums synchronization, stating, "[The pendulums] suddenly noticed each other, synchronized their motions, and danced together indefinitely." Hubler thinks that eventually coupling of the real and virtual worlds, may lead to it being hard to tell what is real and what is fake -- a topic immortalized by generations of science fiction writers.

Mathematical modelling offers new strategies for fighting hospital infections

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:58:59 MST

A mathematical model that looks at different strategies for curbing hospital-acquired infections suggests that antimicrobial cycling and patient isolation may be effective approaches when patients are harbouring dual-resistant bacteria. The model was developed by a team led by (SFI External Professor) Carlos Castillo-Chavez, an Arizona State University (ASU) Professor.

Former leader of Soviet Union to speak in Santa Fe

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:45:45 MST

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, will speak on the end of the Cold War and coming environmental problems during a visit to Santa Fe next month to benefit the Santa Fe Institute. The 77-year-old Gorbachev was Soviet president from 1990 to 1991 and general secretary of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1985 to 1991. His speech, "Gorbachev on Leadership: From the End of the Cold War to the Growing Environmental Crisis," is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. April 14 at Santa Fe's Lensic Performing Arts Center.

Tickets now on sale for SFI Lecture "Gorbachev on Leadership"

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:29:23 MST

On Monday, April 14 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and former leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991) President Mikhail Gorbachev will present a benefit lecture on behalf of the Santa Fe Institute. This event is underwritten by the Peters Family Art Foundation.

Research by SFI External Professor Herbert Gintis (Central European University) published in Science

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:45:02 MST

Gintis says data from economic games show that the effectiveness of punishment in fostering cooperation varies greatly from society to society.

Forbes: The Billionaire Inventors

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:31:05 MST

There is little else that unites them, beyond having had an odd idea that, in retrospect, seems so simple and obvious, it provokes the universal reaction, "Why on Earth didn't I think of that?" Take (SFI Trustee) Pierre Omidyar: The French-born computer programmer realized the Internet could match buyers and sellers to create an electronic flea market of unprecedented scale. That light-bulb moment became the online auction site eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ), launched in 1995. Today, eBay is a primary or secondary source of income for more than a million people--and the basis of Omidyar's $7.7 billion fortune.

SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos (Yale University) in The Wall Street Journal

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:03:29 MST

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has cut the Fed's target federal-funds rate several times since September in an effort to soften the blow of a credit logjam to the economy. Still, the credit crunch seems to keep getting worse. Interest rates on everything from high-yield, or junk, bonds to mortgages are going up, not down. Now investors and economists are lining up with ideas of what else poor Mr. Bernanke ought to do. John Geanakoplos, a respected Yale economist, says the problem isn't interest rates, it is collateral. When the credit cycle turns, lenders' collateral requirements reverse from too easy to too tough.

MIT: Turning 'funky' quantum mysteries into computing reality

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:40:20 MST

The strange world of quantum mechanics can provide a way to surpass limits in speed, efficiency and accuracy of computing, communications and measurement, according to research by (SFI External Professor) MIT scientist Seth Lloyd. "There are limits, if you think classically," said Lloyd, a professor in MIT �s Research Laboratory of Electronics and Department of Mechanical Engineering. But while classical physics imposes limits that are already beginning to constrain things like computer chip development and precision measuring systems, "once you think quantum mechanically you can start to surpass those limits," he said.

Watch "Making the World Flat: Science and Technology in the Developing World" by SFI External Professor Nina V. Fedoroff

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:07:28 MST

SFI External Professor Nina V. Fedoroff is Special Adviser, Science and Technology, U.S. Department of State; Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Willaman Professor of Life Sciences, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University.

SFI External Professor Fabrizio Lillo receives Young Scientist Award for Socio and Econophysics 2008

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:14:32 MST

TED conference begins in Monterey

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:34:28 MST

The San Francisco Chronicle follows the TED conference as it begins in Monterey. "The mix of attendees speaks largely to the conference's evolution over the years, growing from a fairly geeky tech confab into a global think fest with the mandate of solving the world's problems. There ... noted tech thinker (SFI Trustee) Esther Dyson chats up (SFI Trustee) eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

A Life on the Edge

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:18:18 MST

Few writers have captured the grandeur and cruelty of the American frontier more vividly than Cormac McCarthy. As the film of his novel 'No Country for Old Men' sweeps the Oscars, Boyd Tonkin explores the psychological landscape that shaped his vision

Looking at life through DNA

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:30:36 MST

While visiting the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, Anita Goel began thinking more deeply about theories that might adequately describe the interaction of DNA molecular motors with their environment. The 29 year-old researcher in the physics department at Harvard, hopes to learn how ... the environment can affect the motor's operation. "I find it intriguing," says Goel, "that conditions within cells can affect the flow of information encoded in DNA."

SFI External Professor Marcus Feldman (Stanford University) and collaborators published in February 21 issue of Science Magazine

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:48:02 MST

Human genetic diversity is shaped by both demographic and biological factors and has fundamental implications for understanding the genetic basis of diseases. We studied 938 unrelated individuals from 51 populations of the Human Genome Diversity Panel at 650,000 common single-nucleotide polymorphism loci. Individual ancestry and population substructure were detectable with very high resolution. The relationship between haplotype heterozygosity and geography was consistent with the hypothesis of a serial founder effect with a single origin in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we observed a pattern of ancestral allele frequency distributions that reflects variation in population dynamics among geographic regions. This data set allows the most comprehensive characterization to date of human genetic variation.

SFI Professor Samuel Bowles featured in The Economist

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:27:24 MST

An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism. Normally, biologists explain this as being either nepotism or you- scratch- my- back- and- I'll- scratch- yours. But Dr Bowles believes people do perform acts which cost them more than they gain.

National Geographic: Massive Genetic Study Supports "Out of Africa" Theory

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:10:08 MST

A massive new study (in Science) of human genetic diversity reveals surprising insights into our species' evolution and migrations�including support for the theory that the first modern humans originated in Africa�scientists said today. Researchers compared 650,000 genetic markers in nearly a thousand individuals from 51 populations around the globe�an unprecedented level of detail for a human genetic study. "You get less and less variation the further you go from Africa," said Marcus Feldman, an evolutionary biologist at Stanford University in California and a study co-author. Such a pattern fits the theory that the first modern humans settled the world in stepping-stone fashion after leaving Africa less than 100,000 years ago.

The Economist: Moral Thinking describes SFI Research Professor Sam Bowles' latest research

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:00:32 MST

(Research outlined at the recent AAAS annual meeting in Boston,) Dr Bowles, however, thinks that the virtues of human collaboration are so great that groups composed of genuine, self-sacrificing altruists would outcompete others. His best example of such self-sacrifice is warfare, an activity in which morality and immorality intersect in ways that have always been puzzling�and where liberals and conservatives often draw opposite conclusions about what is right and wrong. Paradoxically, that clash of views suggests that Dr Bowles and Dr Wilson really are on to something with the idea of functional morality.

Nature reports on the international trend toward interdisciplinary science centers

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:39:20 MST

Traditional universities such as University College London are restructuring to encourage interdisciplinary research, inspired by the purpose-built Janelia Farm Research Center and Santa Fe Institute, which created complexity theory.

Best Motion Picture of the Year - Oscar goes to "No Country for Old Men"

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:22:00 MST

SFI Research Fellow Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel, adapted into a screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, received four Oscars during the Academy Award ceremony held on February 24, in the following categories: Best Motion Picture of the Year, Achievement in Directing, Adapted Screenplay, and Actor in a Supporting Role.

SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos (Yale University) in The Wall Street Journal

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:27:09 MST

Yale economist John Geanakoplos's concept of the leverage cycle shows how negative-feedback loops are driving today's economy. When times are good, credit is ample, causing the economy to heat up. When the cycle shifts, lenders tighten standards and become more demanding about the collateral they hold, feeding into the negative-feedback loops hitting the economy.

SFI Researchers to Speak at AAAS Annual Meeting

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:50:41 MST

- SFI Professor Sam Bowles (University of Sienna) to speak Friday, February 15 at 10:30 a.m. on "Moral Judgment: Evolutionary and Psychological Perspectives" - SFI External Professor Nina Fedoroff (Advisor to the Secretary of State, U. S. Department of State and Penn Sate University) to speak at 1:45 p.m. Friday, February 15 on "Are There Diverse Paths to Progress in Global Science?" and again Saturday, February 16 Dr. Fedoroff will deliver the Plenary Lecture at 6:30 p.m. - SFI Professor Douglas Erwin (Smithsonian Institution) will speak Monday, February 16 at 9:15 a.m. on "Major Transformations in Evolution: The State of the Art and Public Understanding"

NY Post / Yahoo! Legg Work- Holder: Sweeten Deal

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:31:59 MST

(SFI Trustee) Bill Miller is headlined internationally about Yahoo!'s possible merger with Microsoft. "The second-largest shareholder ...thinks the software giant will have to sweeten its offer to get the $44.6 billion deal done. Bill Miller, who runs Legg Mason's Value Trust fund, ...controls more than 80 million Yahoo! shares, or about 6 percent of the company, valued at roughly $2.3 billion...In the letter, he mentions press reports that claim Microsoft was prepared to pay over $40 a share for Yahoo! last year and that his own valuations of the company are in that range, although he didn't say how much he wants from Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer. "We think MSFT will need to enhance its offer if it wants to complete a deal," Miller said."

Now accepting applications for International Fellowship Program

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:16:09 MST

Komsomolskaya Pravda - Kirgistan/ Top 1000 Universities

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:12:12 MST

Kirgistan's Pravda publishes a report listing Santa Fe Institute among the world's top higher education programs.

COMMENTARY The Coming Ad Revolution by (SFI Trustee) Esther Dyson

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:28:55 MST

The discussion about privacy is changing as users take control over their own online data. While they spread their Web presence, these users are not looking for privacy, but for recognition as individuals -- whether by friends or vendors. This will eventually change the whole world of advertising. The current online-advertising model will become less effective, even as it gets increasingly sophisticated.... This approach (called behavioral targeting and already in service by ad networks that track users through so-called tracking cookies) undercuts traditional online publishers, who employ content to lure users and to sell adjacent ads....This does not mean that traditional online advertising will go away, just that it will become less effective. Value is being created in users' own walled gardens, which they will cultivate for themselves in real estate owned by the social networks. The new value creators are companies -- like Facebook and Dopplr -- that know how to build and support online communities.

EBay cuts listing fee for sellers at online auction website

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:48:09 MST

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - EBay said on Tuesday it is cutting fees it charges people to offer items for sale and raising standards at the online auction website. In a move aimed at staving off increasing competition from the likes of Google and Craigslist, eBay is trimming fees it charges aspiring sellers by as much as halfThis is the first time eBay has offered incentives and discounts to sellers since it was founded in 1995 by (Santa Fe Institute Trustee and) French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar

EBay cuts listing fee for sellers at online auction website

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:38:17 MST

SFI Trustee Michael Mauboussin (Legg Mason Capital Management) in Harvard Business Review's "Breakthrough Ideas for 2008"

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:05:47 MST

(Santa Fe Institute Trustee) Michael Mauboussin says that as computing power grows and networks unleash the wisdom of crowds, the unique value of experts in making predictions and solving problems is steadily narrowing. This trend, �the expert squeeze,� doesn�t necessarily mean that expertise will become dispensable, only that organizations must change how they use experts.

Join the Omidyar Challenge

Wed, 28 Jan 2008 11:17:50 MST

As part of a gift by eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar, SFI needs to raise $2 Mn by October 1, 2009.

Science Centric - Dartmouth researchers develop computational tool to untangle SFI Professor Rockmore creates a tool to untangle complex data

Wed, 17 Jan 2008 15:57:49 MST

December 17, 2008 / SFI External Professor Daniel Rockmore and colleagues created the �partition decoupling method� (PDM) which combines the partition scrubbing method and the hierarchical spectral clustering method. The PDM would be used for decomposing the correlation networks of the markets. The end result would reveal interdependencies in the network components. This information would be useful in risk management and portfolio construction. It could also be used with complex systems other than the financial market such as the brain or political orientation.

SFI External Faculty Scott E. Page (University of Michigan) Interviewed in The New York Times

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:36:50 MST

In the long-running debate on affirmative action, Scott E. Page, a professor of complex systems, political science and economics at the University of Michigan, is a fresh voice. His recently published book, �The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Societies� (Princeton University Press), uses mathematical modeling and case studies to show how variety in staffing produces organizational strength.

Now accepting applications for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:47:20 MST

SFI External Professor Daniel Schrag (Harvard University) on Minnesota Public Radio

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:18:19 MST

SFI External Professor Daniel Schrag (Harvard University) featured in Cnet

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:32:50 MST

SFI Postdoc Dan Hruschka featured in Tuesday's New York Times

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:31:29 MST

SFI Professor Samuel Bowles in Science

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:35:12 MST

SFI Postdoc G. S. van Doorn in Nature

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:13:55 MST

The genetic mechanisms that determine sex in animals are extremely diverse, involving different sets of genes residing on different chromosomes. In an article in the October 17 issue of Nature G. S. van Doorn and M. Kirkpatrick posit that these patterns can be explained by linking sex determination genes to genes that improve survival rates in one sex to the detriment of the other sex. They have developed a mathematical model to show how genes that improve fitness in one sex at the expense of the other can hijack sex determination from one chromosome to another, thereby helping to explain the diversity of sex-determination mechanisms seen in nature.

Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff sworn in as Science and Technology Advisor to U.S. Secretary of State (PHOTO)

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:42:00 MST

SFI President and Distinguished Professor Geoffrey West on NPR

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 09:11:41 MST

According to West, lifespan is connected to size. Elephants, for example, live longer than birds or field mice because the larger animals' hearts beat slower and use energy more efficiently.

SFI Trustee Michael Mauboussin (Legg Mason Capital Management) on NPR Science Friday

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:25:39 MST

Research by Virgil Griffith, 2005 REU Student, Featured in Wired Magazine and NPR

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:56:33 MST

Wikipedia Scanner -- the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith -- offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.

Samuel Bowles, Professor, Santa Fe Institute, in August 7 New York Times

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:22:01 MST

For thousands of years, most people on earth lived in abject poverty, first as hunters and gatherers, then as peasants or laborers. But with the Industrial Revolution, some societies traded this ancient poverty for amazing affluence...

SFI President and Distinguished Professor Geoffrey B. West on public radio's Smart City:

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:32:00 MST

The Biological City: Cities are like elephants. They get more economical with size. That's the conclusion of Dr. Geoffrey West, president of the Santa Fe Institute. Together with ecologist Jim Brown of the University of New Mexico, he is producing important new insights on how cities grow, why they fade, and what we can do about it. Read more and listen to the interview online.

SFI Professor Libby Wood (Yale University) featured on NPR's All Things Considered

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:27:46 MST

SFI External Professor Nina V. Fedoroff Named Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:51:03 MST

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff to be her new Science and Technology Adviser. Dr. Fedoroff is the Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and Evan Pugh Professor in the Biology Department and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University.

SFI External Professor Nina V. Fedoroff receives National Medal of Science and Technology from President Bush

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:05:30 MST

President George W. Bush announced the recipients of the nation's highest honor for science and technology, naming the recipients of the 2006 National Medals of Science and Technology. The National Science Foundation (NSF) administers the prestigious award program, which was established by Congress in 1959. It honors individuals for pioneering scientific research in a range of fields, including physical, biological, mathematical, social, behavioral and engineering sciences, that enhances our understanding of the world and leads to innovations and technologies that give the United States its global economic edge. 2006 National Medal of Science Laureates include SFI External Faculty Nina V. Fedoroff (Penn State University).

John Holland on NOVA Science Now

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:54:29 MST

SFI External Faculty John Holland (University of Michigan) appeared on the July 10 broadcast of NOVA Science Now's program on emergence. The segment is available for online viewing.

SFI Professor Doug Erwin in Tuesday's New York Times

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:35:19 MST

"Darwin Still Rules, but Some Biologists Dream of a Paradigm Shift," an essay by SFI Professor Doug Erwin (Smithsonian Institution) appeared in the June 26 issue of Science Times.

National Geographic article on swarm theory features Deborah Gordon

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:34:02 MST

"The Difference" by External Faculty Scott Page featured in Strategy + Business

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:48:30 MST

SFI President Geoffrey West Featured in May Issue of New Scientist

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:03:41 MST

"Scaling Metabolic Rate Fluctuations" appears in PNAS by SFI International Fellow Pablo Marquet

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:02:37 MST

The Motley Fool website expounds on benefits of association with SFI

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:05:23 MST

SFI Postdoctoral Fellow, Sander van Doorn, and SFI Visiting Researcher, Max Wolf in May 31 issue of Nature

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:54:29 MST

New work by Max Wolf (University of Groningen; currently at the Santa Fe Institute), Santa Fe Institute Postdoctoral Fellow Sander van Doorn, Franz Weissing (University of Groningen), and Olof Leimar (Stockholm University) offers an explanation for the evolution of animal personalities. Their findings are detailed in "Life-history trade-offs favour the evolution of animal personalities" in the May 31 issue of Nature.

SFI Trustee Featured in International Herald Tribune

Thu, 24 May 2007 14:17:32 MST

In a May 20 article entitled "Software Brings Gamelike Play to the Workplace," SFI Trustee J. Leighton Read (Alloy Ventures) commented on "whether work would not be better if it were not like a videogame." Read and CISCO co-sponsored "Collective Intelligence in Synthetic Environments" in February, 2007. (http://www.santafe.edu/network/events.php?pFilter=past).

SFI Researcher Duncan Watts on "The Politics of Eurovision" in May 22 New York Times

Wed, 23 May 2007 08:40:36 MST

In "The Politics of Eurovision," Duncan J. Watts, SFI Researcher and Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, editorializes on the practice of "bloc voting" in this year's Eurovision contest. The article appeared in the May 22 issue of the New York Times.

Jessica Flack Posts Discussion on "The Road" on Oprah's Website

Wed, 23 May 2007 08:38:05 MST

SFI Research Fellow Jessica Flack has posted "The Struggle for Survival: Conflict and Creativity" as SFI's next installment on the discussion board of Oprah's website for "The Road."

SFI Fellow Cormac McCarthy Wins 2007 Pulitzer Prize

Fri, 12 May 2007 15:52:35 MST

SFI Fellow Cormac McCarthy has been awarded the prestigious 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his 2006 novel "The Road." McCarthy is the author of nine previous novels. Among his honors are the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Doug Erwin Discusses "The Road" on Oprah's Website

Fri, 11 May 2007 15:20:47 MST

Now you can join McCarthy's colleagues from SFI as they explore themes and issues raised in The Road. Doug Erwin (SFI Professor & Smithsonian Institution) has contributed a discussion point entitled "The End of the World: Extinction and Reemergence of Life" on Oprah's website.

SFI Researcher in New York Times

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:24:31 MST

An article by SFI Researcher Duncan J. Watts (Columbia University) appeared April 15 in the New York Times. Entitled, "Is Justin Timberlake a Product of Cumulative Advantage?" Watts details the extensive effects of cumulative advantage on everything from cultural marketing to business to politics. Watts is the author of "Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age."

Business Network Member James P. Hackett Featured in HBR

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:13:39 MST

James P. Hackett, Business Network Member and CEO of Steelcase is featured in Harvard Business Review on "Preparing for the Perfect Product Launch."

Cormac McCarthy highlighted in New York Times

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:41:51 MST

An April 10 article in the New York Times by Caryn James entitled "Web Sites and TV Talk Shows Puncture Holes in the Cloak of Invisibility," highlights SFI Fellow Cormac McCarthy's interview with Oprah as a sign of the vanishing cult of invisible celebrity.

Sander van Doorn has won one of the 2007 Young Investigator Prizes

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:06:58 MST

Sander van Doorn has won one of the 2007 Young Investigator Prizes, awarded annually by the American Society of Naturalists. The prize was awarded for sexual selection and sympatric speciation.

West, Brown, and Enquist Collaboration Featured in The Scientist

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:14:40 MST

Geoffrey West, James Brown, and Brian Enquist's landmark collaboration on the laws of biological scaling was featured in the March issue of The Scientist in an article entitled, "A Grand Unifying Theory of Biology?" The article covered the history of the collaboration as well as their most recent work on metabolic theory.

Study Could Affect HIV Vaccine

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:44:56 MST

In today's issue of Science Magazine SFI Professor Tanmoy Bhattacharya and Visiting Researcher Bette Korber report the findings of a study that could affect an HIV vaccine. Friday's New Mexican quotes Korber as saying, "Since HIV escapes the immune system of the human host by mutation, and the virus finds multiple ways of escaping immune recognition, our findings have practical implications for defining relevant variants for inclusion in vaccine antigens"

New Book by Scott Page, SFI External Faculty, and John Miller, SFI Resident Faculty

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:21:46 MST

Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life" This book provides the first clear, comprehensive, and accessible account of complex adaptive social systems, by two of the field's leading authorities. Such systems--whether political parties, stock markets, or ant colonies--present some of the most intriguing theoretical and practical challenges confronting the social sciences. Engagingly written, and balancing technical detail with intuitive explanations, Complex Adaptive Systems focuses on the key tools and ideas that have emerged in the field since the mid-1990s, as well as the techniques needed to investigate such systems. It provides a detailed introduction to concepts such as emergence, self-organized criticality, automata, networks, diversity, adaptation, and feedback. It also demonstrates how complex adaptive systems can be explored using methods ranging from mathematics to computational models of adaptive agents."

Diverse Teams, Wise Crowds, and Informed Experts

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:12:48 MST

The Business Network is pleased to announce its next Topical Meeting, held March 16 in Chicago, featuring SFI Trustee Michael Mauboussin and SFI External Faculty Scott Page. This meeting is by invitation only, but please contact Kay Frew (kfrew@santafe.edu) with questions.

SFI President & Faculty featured in HBR's List of Breakthrough Ideas for 2007

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:37:14 MST

SFI President Geoffrey B. West, "Innovation and Growth: Size Matters," and External Faculty Duncan J. Watts, "The Accidental Influentials," are both featured in the Harvard Business Review's List of Breakthrough Ideas for 2007.

New Book by Scott Page, SFI External Faculty

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:27:25 MST

"The Difference - How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies" by SFI External Faculty and University of Michigan Professor, Scott E. Page was released January 15, 2007. In this landmark book, Page redefines the way we understand ourselves in relation to one another by revealing that progress and innovation may depend less on lone thinkers than on diverse people working together and capitalizing on their individuality. Page changes the way we understand diversity - how to harness its untapped potential, how to understand and avoid its traps, and how we can leverage our differences for the benefit of all.

"More Than You Know": A Business Week "Best Business Book of 2006"

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:25:12 MST

" More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places, " by SFI Trustee and Business Network Member Michael Mauboussin was named one of Business Week's "Best Business Books of 2006. " Mauboussin, of Legg Mason Capital Management, writes, "You will be a better investor, executive, parent, friend, or person if you approach problems from a multidisciplinary perspective." Click here to read the full article. "More Than You Know" was distributed to Business Network Members in June 2006.

SFI Chairman Bill Miller Highlighted in Fortune Magazine

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:21:44 MST

SFI Trustee and Chairman of the Board Bill Miller, of Legg Mason Capital Management, was highlighted in a recent November issue of Fortune Magazine. The article, "The Greatest Money Manager of our Time," noted Miller's close affiliation with SFI regulars such as Prof. Murray Gell-Mann, SFI President Geoffrey West, Norman Johnson, and SFI Trustees Joy Covey, Gary Bengier, Jim Rutt, and David Weinberger. Click here to read the full article.

Geoff West to lecture at ASU

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:29:39 MST

Dr. West will lecture on Universal Scaling Laws in Biology from Genomes to Ecosystems: Towards a Quantitative Theory of Biological Structure and Organization. The lecture takes place on January 23, 2007 at 7pm in Room 104, Life Sciences E-Wing.

Newman in Atlantic Monthly

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:44:03 MST

Mark Newman, SFI External Faculty & Professor of Physics was featured in the January/February 2007 issue of Atlantic Monthly in an article by P.J. O'Rourke entitled, "Where Big Ideas Will Come From." With geographers from the University of Sheffield's Social and Spatial Inequalities Research Group, Newman is credited with creating Worldmapper, a program examined for its ability to predict what places are likely o be the most innovative in the future by turning statistical information into vivid maps.
Link to article (requires log in): http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200701/orourke-innovation
Link to Worldmapper: http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/

Colloquium - December 7th, 2006

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:00:00 MST

Colloquium Series - "Operating on the Edge of Chaos at Google," by Shona Brown, Vice President Google, Robert N. Noyce Conference Room, 3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.

Sherrington Honored

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:00:00 MST

David Sherrington (SFI External Faculty) has been chosen to receive the 2007 Dirac Medal and Prize of the UK Institute of Physics. Congratulations!

Bowles Keynote Speaker at World Bank

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:00:00 MST

Samuel Bowles (SFI Professor) will present a keynote address to the human development and economics staff of the World Bank (all 700 of them) at their annual Human Development Week, October 31-November 3.

SIM Student Featured

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 12:00:00 MST

Malika Hale, a participant in the 2006 Student Internship/Mentorship (SIM) Program, is featured in a Time magazine article, in which she talks about her SFI project (see p. 2).

Curran Awarded MacArthur Fellowship

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI External Professor Lisa Curran has been awarded a 2006 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Lisa is a Professor in the School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at Yale University.

McCarthy's Tenth Novel

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 12:00:00 MST

Cormac McCarthy's tenth novel entitled The Road was featured in the September 4 Newsweek as a "hotly anticipated novel", and is scheduled for release September 26, 2006.

Schuster and the Pope on Evolution

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 12:00:00 MST

Peter Schuster (SFI External Faculty, President Austrian Academy of Sciences) was the first presenter in the annual weekend seminar held by Pope Benedict XVI (formerly Professor Joseph Ratzinger) for his old doctoral students. This year's seminar is on evolution.

Kohler Awarded NSF Grant

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:00:00 MST

Timothy A. Kohler (SFI External Faculty) along with colleagues from WSU and the University of Washington have been awarded a five-year IGERT grant (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program) for a program in evolutionary modeling.

Resident Faculty Search

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI has opened a search for Resident Faculty and Sabbatical Visitors.

Gov. Richardson Appoints Jim Rutt

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 12:00:00 MST

Jim Rutt (Vice Chair, SFI Board of Trustees) has been named to the New Mexico State Investment Council by Governor Bill Richardson.

McCarthy Play in New York

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 12:00:00 MST

"The Sunset Limited" a play by Cormac McCarthy, is coming to Theaters in New York October 24 through November 19.

Brown Elected to ASM

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:00:00 MST

James Brown (University of New Mexico Professor and SFI External Faculty and Science Steering Committee Member) was recently elected Honorary Member, the highest honor conferred by the ASM (American Society of Mammalogists).

2006 Ulam Lectures

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 12:00:00 MST

Nina Fedoroff (Evan Pugh Professor of Biology, Willaman Professor of Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University and SFI External Professor) will be giving the Ulam lectures this year. They will be held on September 12, 13, and 14, at the James A. Little Theater beginning at 7:30 P.M.

Axtell and Epstein in Economist

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 12:00:00 MST

"The Cambrian Age of Economics" in the July 20, 2006 issue of The Economist mentions SFI External Faculty Rob Axtell and Joshua Epstein.

West is Here to Stay

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:00:00 MST

Geoffrey West, SFI President and Distinguished Professor, is pictured and quoted in the Profiles section of New Mexico Magazine (August, 2006).

SFI Trustee Featured

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 12:00:00 MST

Pierre Omidyar (eBay Founder and SFI Trustee) is featured in the July 3, 2006, issue of Newsweek "The Giving Back Awards: 15 People Who Make America Great."

Rainfall and Magnetism

Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Ole Peters and UCLA climatologist J. David Neelin have published their findings in the June, 2006, issue of Nature Physics as well as on the NSF website.

Cardenas in Science

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

Juan Camilo Cardenas (Universidad de los Andes, Bogota) is one of the authors of "Costly Punishment Across Human Societies" that appears in the June 2006 issue of Science (Vol. 312 no. 5781, pp. 1767-1770).

Traub Donates Archives to CMU

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

Joe Traub (Columbia University and SFI External Faculty) has donated 100 boxes of archival material to the Carnegie Mellon University Library. This collection is in the process of being digitized.

Schuster Elected President

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

Peter Schuster (University of Vienna and SFI External Faculty) has been elected President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Congratulations, Peter!

Erwin on Extinction

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

The new book "Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago" by Doug Erwin (Smithsonian Institution Senior Scientist and SFI Research Faculty) is now available. Doug will also be giving a public lecture in Santa Fe on July 12 entitled, "The Mother of Mass Extinctions."

Farmer and Arthur in Nature

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

"Culture Crash," on the pros and cons of econophysics, includes quotes from Doyne Farmer and Brian Arthur. In the same issue, see the related editorial, "Econophysicists Matter" (subscription required).

Lloyd's New Book

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

"Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos," by Seth Lloyd (MIT and external faculty at SFI), received a very nice write-up in the New York Times Sunday Book Review .

Evolution Beneath the Waves

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

Drew Allen, former member of SFI's weekly scaling group, appeared on NPR to discuss his current work in evolutionary biology. The paper that the story references appears in the June 13 issue of PNAS and is co-authored with several SFI-affiliated researchers including Van Savage and Jim Brown.

2006 Fellowship Recipient

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

John Mark Agosta, of Intel Corp., is the recipient of the 2006 Business Network Fellowship. In his application, John proposed to apply methods with origins in Bayesian decision theory and modeling to autonomous collaboration among networked computers. At Intel, John is part of Intel Research's DDI network intrusion project, where his work involves developing probabilistic models for intelligent diagnosis and management.

New Book By Business Network Member (PDF)

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 12:00:00 MST

Eric Beinhocker, of McKinsey Global Institute, has written a new book, The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics. Aimed at a non-academic general and business audience, Eric's book prominently features the work of SFI researchers such as Professor J. Doyne Farmer and Professor Sam Bowles. Read a review of the book in Wired magazine.

Secondary School Honors

Wed, 24 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI is pleased to honor eleven Santa Fe area high school seniors and one area teacher with the 2006 Prize for Scientific Excellence.

Business Network Member Featured in Harvard Business Review

Mon, 22 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

Harvard Business Review selected Jeffrey R. Cares, President & CEO of SFI Business Network Member Alidade Incorportaed, for HBR's The List -- Breakthrough Ideas for 2006. Jeff was featured at #5 -- Battle of the Networks. The article appeared in the May 2006 issue.

West "In Focus"

Fri, 12 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI President Geoffrey West will be featured on the KNME-TV program "In Focus" tomorrow night, Friday, May 12 at 7:30 P.M. (channel 5). A taped copy of the interview will be available in the library.

McCarthy Honored

Fri, 12 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

The New York Times Book Review has identified former SFI Visiting Researcher Cormac McCarthy's novel "Blood Meridian" as one of the best works of American fiction in the last 25 years. [login required]

Public Lecture Tonight

Tue, 09 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

Michael Mauboussin, Senior Vice President, Legg Mason Capital Management, Inc., will give a talk entitled "More than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places" on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 7:30 pm at the James A. Little Theater.

Speakers Confirmed for June Meeting

Tue, 09 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

Stephanie Forrest, Geoffrey West, Raissa D'Souza, and Melanie Moses have been confirmed as speakers for the Topical Meeting scheduled for June 28 in Seattle, WA.

SFI President in TIME's 100 Most Influential People

Mon, 01 May 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI President Geoffrey West was chosen in the "scientists and thinker" category for bringing one of the research community's most versatile minds to bear on some of nature's most complex questions. This special double issue edition of TIME Magazine is available on newsstands, May 1, 2006.

Buelteman Featured in New Mexico Magazine

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:00:00 MST

For a sampling of Robert Buelteman's electrifying images of flowers and leaves see the cover and article in the May 2006 issue. Also see Robert's work as part of an exhibition at the Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, June 9-July 4, 2006.

Registration Deadline

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 12:00:00 MST

Today is the last day to register for the Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation Course.

Public Lecture Tomorrow Night

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 12:00:00 MST

Christian de Duve, Nobel Laureate (Medicine 1974); Founder, International Institute of Cellular and Molecular Pathology; and Professor Emeritus, University of Louvain and Rockefeller University, will give a talk entitled "The Origin of Life" on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at 7:00 pm at the James A. Little Theater.

Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation Course

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:00:00 MST

Argonne National Laboratory and SFI will be hosting an intensive introduction to agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) with a focus on business applications on April 24-28, 2006.

Winter 2006 Bulletin Available

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:00:00 MST

The current issue of this annual magazine informs SFI's friends and supporters about work at the Institute (PDF 19 MB).

SFI Featured in National Geographic

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:00:00 MST

SFI is mentioned in the March 2006 issue of National Geographic. "The Origin of Life Through Chemistry," an article by Joel Achenbach, describes work by Harold Morowitz, Professor, George Mason University, and Eric Smith, Professor, SFI.

SFI Featured in the Santa Fean

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 12:00:00 MST

"The Science of Synergy" by Elizabeth Wolf in the March 2006 issue focuses on SFI and includes discussions with George Cowan, Murray Gell-Mann, and Geoffrey West. Download the article in PDF format (704 KB).

Watts in Science

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:00:00 MST

Duncan Watts (External Faculty) coauthored a report in the February 10, 2006 issue of Science entitled "Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market."

Erwin on Extinction

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 12:00:00 MST

Doug Erwin (SFI External Faculty Member and Chair of the Science Steering Committee) has a new book entitled, Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago.

Public Lecture Tonight

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:00:00 MST

Dean Falk, Hale G. Smith Professor and Chair, Anthropology, Florida State University, will give a talk entitled "The Hobbit of Flores Island: Body and Soul" on Wednesday, February 22, 2005 at 7:00 pm at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.

Workshop Extends Deadline

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 12:00:00 MST

The workshop in the Foundations of Theoretical Medicine now has ongoing admissions.

SFI Researchers featured in Nature

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:00:00 MST

The work of SFI researchers Jessica Flack, Michelle Girvan, and David Krakauer, along with Frans B. M. de Waal (Emory University), is featured in the January 26, 2006 issue in "Policing Stabilizes Construction of Social Niches in Primates." This work on a group of pigtailed macaques demonstrates how niche construction can modify the behavior of primates within social networks.

Europhysics News Online

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:00:00 MST

The European Physical Society has posted its Special Annual Issue of Europhysics News (European analog of Physics Today) which includes articles by Murray Gell-Mann, Yuzuru Sato, and Constantino Tsallis. SFI is mentioned in several places.

Business Network Fellowship 2006

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:00:00 MST

The 2006 Business Network Fellowship position is open to individuals from member companies of the Santa Fe Institute Business Network. This position allows an individual up to four weeks of visitation at the Institute over a two-year period to pursue research congruent with the science of the Santa Fe Institute. One Fellowship per year is awarded.

2006 Public Lecture Series

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 12:00:00 MST

This annual series of public lectures is designed to present SFI science to anyone who is interested, including non-scientists. All lectures are free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Theoretical Medicine Workshop

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 12:00:00 MST

Applications are now being accepted for "The Foundations of Theoretical Medicine", SFI's Summer Math Modeling workshop. The deadline for applications is February 15, 2006.

ScienceDaily - SFI External Professor Rockmore researches topological structures in the equities market network

Tues, Dec 2008 16:02:11 MST

December 16, 2008 / SFI External Professor Daniel Rockmore and coresearchers study the complex systems of the financial markets. Rockmore and colleagues created the �partition decoupling method� (PDM) which combines the partition scrubbing method and the hierarchical spectral clustering method. The PDM would be used for decomposing the correlation networks of the markets. The end result would reveal interdependencies in the network components. This information would be useful in risk management and portfolio construction.

April 2, 2009 Public Lecture - "The Post-Darwinian World" - James A. Little Theater, New Mexico School for the Deaf

Thurs,01 April 2009 14:02:54 MST

Wall Street Journal - Professor Geanakopols discusses the high cost of capital

Thurs, 1 Jan 2009 15:47:16 MST

January 1, 2009 / Yale University professor and SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos discusses the economic impact of leveraging and deleveraging. He says the problem has to do with bigger collateral requirements than in the past. Geanakoplos states the cost of capital will stay high without policies, which would support prices of assets.

SFI Professor Bowles researches �Parochial Altruism� in our ancestors

Thurs, 20 Nov 2008 11:26:01 MST

Through computer simulations SFI Professor Samuel Bowles and coauthors recreated conditions experienced by our Late Pleistocene ancestors. Through these simulations, Bowles shows evidence that parochial altruism is part of our human legacy.

NewsHour turns the �Big Picture� toward the political and economic inequalities in New Mexico

Tues, 14 Oct 2008 12:26:14 MST

PBS�s NewsHour�s economic correspondent Paul Solman interviews politicians regarding the economic differences throughout New Mexico. SFI Professor Samuel Bowles is also interviewed for an economists take on the situation.

SFI External Professor Geanakoplos and collaborators address the current economic crisis in America

Thurs, 30 Oct 2008 12:11:27 MST

SFI External Professor John Geanakoplos and coauthor Susan Koniak offer some solutions to the current financial crisis in America. Their solution includes a plan to help more Americans keep their homes and stabilize housing prices.