We trust our memories because they feel natural, and because time seems to flow in only one direction, from the past to the present. Physics, however, allows for stranger possibilities that challenge our intuition.
In a new paper, SFI researchers examine the Boltzmann brain hypothesis, a longstanding thought experiment that raises fundamental questions about memory, entropy, and the direction of time. The work clarifies how arguments for or against these ideas depend on assumptions about the past that are not fixed by physical laws alone.
https://t.co/hbixt3ip0Y
Have you read our latest #complexitycat essay? It's the perfect introduction to the world of #ComplexSystems science! If you want to receive our latest weekly news, subscribe to our newsletter and don't miss a thing: from international events to diverse job opportunities! 🗺️🚀🔥
A new special issue of Philosophical Transactions B takes on one of science’s biggest questions: how life begins. Rather than retracing Earth’s history, the authors look for the universal conditions — energy, chemistry, information — that could make life possible anywhere.
The collection gathers researchers across physics, chemistry, biology, and astrobiology, exploring the question from many angles — from protocells and phase transitions to the physical limits that shape early metabolisms.
SFI’s Ricard Solé and Chris Kempes highlight the push toward testable, general principles of living systems, with theory and experiment working closely together.
https://t.co/nje8UgQFcp
Working on supply chains, food trade resilience, or agoecology?🌮🌾🚜
The Call for abstracts for the Satellite on Food Systems at the CCS Siena is now open!!
We’ll welcome your submissions until the
10th of July!
https://t.co/My7mGXhqKW
Our latest paper @PLoSONE, analyzing trajectories of the Sustainable Development Goals with A.I. Led by @albertog_mx, with Matias Núñez, Miguel Robles Pérez, Tzipe Govezensky, Rafael A Barrio, @kimmokaski, & @juliatagp.
-Many countries have similar trajectories.
-Some goals can negatively correlated (improvement in one decreases another one)
-No country will reach any goal by 2030. Were they too ambitious? What did we lack?
-Our findings give insights for potential future goals (2050?).
https://t.co/pjDoKXOJTr
To those who are not familiar with artificial neural networks (and AI/ML/LLM in general), here is my very quick intro to all those fancy stuff (updated Aug 2024):
https://t.co/1zNRrtaapC
#NobelPrize
Looking for a postdoc? Interested in attending a conference or winter school? Check out our Events and Community columns, where I will post weekly announcements of job opportunities, academic events and research schools in complex systems.👇
https://t.co/mKq9ixGr3k