A new model of empathy: The rat - The Washington Post
"... Recently, scientists demonstrated “emotional contagion” in mice, a situation in which one animal’s stress worsens another’s.
But empathy that leads to helping activity — what psychologists term “pro-social behavior” — hasn’t been formally shown in non-primates until now."
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
"The more complex the structure the more effective is the energy dissemination. Populations are better in this respect than single individuals; ecosystems even more so, and most effective of all—so far—are human high-tech societies."
"The more complex the structure the more effective is the energy dissemination. Populations are better in this respect than single individuals; ecosystems even more so, and most effective of all—so far—are human high-tech societies."
Friday, December 14, 2012
Can Engineers and Scientists Ever Master “Complexity”? | Cross-Check, Scientific American Blog Network
Can Engineers and Scientists Ever Master “Complexity”? | Cross-Check, Scientific American Blog Network
*A key insight to emerge from chaos theory is that many complex systems are inherently unpredictable, because infinitesimal causes can have enormous consequences. This is the notorious butterfly effect—a term coined by meteorologist Edward Lorenz–which says that the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings in Iowa can culminate in a typhoon in India.
*A key insight to emerge from chaos theory is that many complex systems are inherently unpredictable, because infinitesimal causes can have enormous consequences. This is the notorious butterfly effect—a term coined by meteorologist Edward Lorenz–which says that the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings in Iowa can culminate in a typhoon in India.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Collective Intelligence | Conversation | Edge
Collective Intelligence | Conversation | Edge
"It's also possible for groups of people to work together in ways that seem pretty stupid, and I think collective stupidity is just as possible as collective intelligence. Part of what I want to understand and part of what the people I'm working with want to understand is what are the conditions that lead to collective intelligence rather than collective stupidity. But in whatever form, either intelligence or stupidity, this collective behavior has existed for a long time. "
"It's also possible for groups of people to work together in ways that seem pretty stupid, and I think collective stupidity is just as possible as collective intelligence. Part of what I want to understand and part of what the people I'm working with want to understand is what are the conditions that lead to collective intelligence rather than collective stupidity. But in whatever form, either intelligence or stupidity, this collective behavior has existed for a long time. "
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Time's quantum arrow has a preferred direction: BaBar experiment confirms time asymmetry
Time's quantum arrow has a preferred direction: BaBar experiment confirms time asymmetry
a violation of time reversal symmetry and confirmation that some subatomic processes have a preferred direction of time.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-11-quantum-arrow-babar-asymmetry.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-11-quantum-arrow-babar-asymmetry.html#jCp
Human brain, internet, and cosmology: Similar laws at work?
Human brain, internet, and cosmology: Similar laws at work?: "Having the ability to predict – let alone trying to control – the dynamics of complex networks remains a central challenge throughout network science. Structural and dynamical similarities among different real networks suggest that some universal laws might be in action, although the nature and common origin of such laws remain elusive."
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