Complexity

Jellyfish didn’t need novel genes to take an evolutionary leap in complexity.

Throughout nature, throngs of relatively simple elements can self-organize into behaviors that seem unexpectedly complex. Scientists are beginning to understand why and how these phenomena emerge without a central organizing entity.

Some researchers are using a complexity framework thought to be purely theoretical to understand evolutionary dynamics in biological and computational systems.

In new computer experiments, artificial-intelligence algorithms can tell the future of chaotic systems.

The rise of new extremist groups has served as both an impetus and test-case for Neil Johnson’s models of terrorism and insurgency.

Scientists are homing in on a warning signal that arises in complex systems like ecological food webs, the brain and the Earth’s climate. Could it help prevent future catastrophes?

Scientists are exploring how organisms can evolve elaborate structures without Darwinian selection.