Nature is not homogenous. Most of the universe is complex and composed of various subsystems—self-contained systems within a larger whole. Microscopic cells and their surroundings, for example, can be divided into many ...
General Physics
Nov 19, 2020
2
25
Almost all truly intriguing systems are ones that are far away from equilibrium—such as stars, planetary atmospheres, and even digital circuits. But, until now, systems far from thermal equilibrium couldn't be analyzed ...
General Physics
Nov 11, 2020
1
402
Living organisms aren't the only things that evolve over time. Cultural practices change, too, and in recent years social scientists have taken a keen interest in understanding this cultural evolution. Much research has focused ...
Evolution
Oct 27, 2020
0
132
SFI External Professor Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, former Omidyar Fellow Paul Hooper, and long-time SFI collaborator Cody Ross are among co-authors on a new paper that proposes an index for measuring "reproductive skew" across ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2020
0
16
The natural world is astonishingly complex. After centuries of study, scientists still have much to learn about how all the species in an ecosystem coexist, for example. New research on microbial communities published in ...
Ecology
Sep 23, 2020
0
73
Turing machines were first proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing in 1936, and are a theoretical mathematical model of what it means for a system to "be a computer."
General Physics
Aug 27, 2020
5
665
If given the chance, a Kenyan herder is likely to keep a mix of goats and camels. It seems like an irrational economic choice because goats reproduce faster and thus offer higher near-term herd growth. But by keeping both ...
Evolution
Jul 27, 2020
2
798
Biological builders like beavers, elephants, and shipworms re-engineer their environments. How this affects their ecological network is the subject of new research, which finds that increasing the number of "ecosystem engineers" ...
Ecology
Jul 3, 2020
0
428
Throughout history, portraits featuring the human profile have evolved to reflect changing cultural norms. A new study led by Helena Miton, a Santa Fe Institute Omidyar Fellow, and co-authored by Dan Sperber of Central European ...
Social Sciences
Jun 15, 2020
0
171
In group decision-making, swing voters are crucial...or so we've heard. Whether it's a presidential election, a Supreme Court vote, or a congressional decision —and especially in highly partisan environments, where the ...
Social Sciences
Jun 2, 2020
0
82
