An Agent-Based Model of COVID-19

Many simple models of disease spread assume a homogeneous population (or population groups) with a uniform basic reproduction number ( R 0 ). The goal here is to develop and analyze an agent-based model of disease that models: (1) variability of interaction rates between agents; and (2) the structure of the in-person contact network.

C. Wolfram, “An Agent-Based Model of COVID-19,” Complex Systems, 29(1), 2020 pp. 87–105.
https://doi.org/10.25088/ComplexSystems.29.1.87

Max-Plus Generalization of Conway’s Game of Life

We propose a max-plus equation that includes Conway’s Game of Life (GoL) as a special case. There are some special solutions to the equation that include and unify solutions to GoL. Moreover, the multivalue extension of GoL is derived from the equation, and the behavior of solutions is discussed.

K. Sakata, Y. Tanaka and D. Takahashi, “Max-Plus Generalization of Conway’s Game of Life,” Complex Systems, 29(1), 2020 pp. 63–76.
https://doi.org/10.25088/ComplexSystems.29.1.63

What Is a Particle?

It has been thought of as many things: a pointlike object, an excitation of a field, a speck of pure math that has cut into reality. But never has physicists’ conception of a particle changed more than it is changing now.

Read the full article at: www.quantamagazine.org

talks.cam : Making connections- brains and other complex systems

We’re delighted to announce the start of a new, online seminar series ‘Making connections- brains and other complex systems’, which is not specifically a CNN activity but we believe will be of interest to many on this list.

The series will cover brain networks and other complex systems, and aims to bring together researchers from a range of fields, including systems neuroscience, psychiatry, genomics, computer science, machine learning and physics.

We are starting off with a fantastic line up of speakers particularly focused on the brain- see the schedule below. Talks will be held at 3pm online on alternate Tuesdays, and titles/abstracts and a link to the meeting will be circulated nearer the time.

Tues 17th November 2020- Dr Conor Liston
Tues 1st December 2020- Prof Dani Bassett
Tues 15th December 2020- Dr Aaron Alexander-Bloch
Tues 12th January 2021- Prof Olaf Sporns

You can also sign up to the seminar series here: https://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/index/128590

Coronavirus: The Swiss Cheese Strategy, by Tomas Pueyo

How the US and the EU failed to control the virus, and how comparable countries succeeded.
How you can make sense of all the necessary measures with one simple idea.
Why the West’s testing and contact tracing is largely useless — and what they can do about it.
The questions that journalists and the People must ask politicians to keep them accountable.
How you can stop the virus in your own community, without the need of your government.

Source: https://tomaspueyo.medium.com/coronavirus-the-swiss-cheese-strategy-d6332b5939de