Complex Systems Speaker and Seminar Series
Spring: 2013
February 13-14, 2013: Dr. Hod Lipson. Cornell University. Creative Machines Lab. Accelerating Discovery: Distilling Natural Laws from
Experimental Data, from Physics to Biology
February 20-21, 2013: Dr. Scott Ortman. Santa Fe Institute and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Winds from the North: Resolving one of the great mysteries in American Archaeology
February 20-21, 2013: Dr. Scott Ortman. Santa Fe Institute and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Culture and the Accumulation of Social Complexity
February 13-14, 2013
Dr. Hod Lipson. Cornell University. Creative Machines Lab.
Accelerating Discovery: Distilling Natural Laws from Experimental Data, from Physics to Biology
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14
7 PM, Rasmuson Hall, Room 101
Abstract:
Accelerating Discovery: Distilling Natural Laws from Experimental Data, from Physics to Biology
Can machines discover scientific laws automatically?
This talk will outline recent research projects, starting with self-reflecting robotic systems and ending with machines that can formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and interpret the results to discover new scientific laws. We will see examples from psychology to cosmology, from classical physics to modern physics, from big science to small science.
Dr. Lipson is the director of Cornell University’s Creative Machines Lab at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His work focuses on evolutionary robotics and creating machines that can demonstrate some aspects of human creativity.
HodLipson-2-14-13.pdfFebruary 20-21, 2013
Dr. Scott Ortman. Santa Fe Institute and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 – 7:00 PM
RASMUSON HALL 101
Abstract:
Winds from the North: Resolving one of the great mysteries in American Archaeology
Winds from the North: Resolving one of the great mysteries in American Archaeology An enduring problem in North American archaeology is the relationship between the present-day Pueblos of New Mexico and the ancestral Pueblo society of the Mesa Verde region. Archaeologist Scott Ortman integrates biological, linguistic, cultural, and archaeological evidence to trace the origins of the Tewa-speaking pueblos, reveal their relationship with Mesa Verde, and relates this process to the evolution of global human diversity.
THURSDAY, MARCH 21 – NOON to 1 PM
ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES, ROOM 106
Abstract:
Culture and the Accumulation of Social Complexity
Human societies have grown exponentially in scale and complexity over the past ten thousand years, but the basic drivers of this process remain poorly understood. Archaeologist Scott Ortman suggests that conceptual systems, or “culture,” played an important role in this process. Social complexity is grounded in conceptual metaphors that recruit our primary emotions and instincts to develop social coordination, and he illustrates this hypothesis using examples from the ancient Near East and the U.S. Southwest.
Dr. Scott Ortman is currently an Omidyar Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute and a Lightfoot Fellow at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. He received his doctorate in Anthropology in 2010 from Arizona State University, with his dissertation winning the 2011 “Outstanding Dissertation” award from the Society for American Archaeology. His special interest areas include agent-based modeling of social and natural systems, and coupled human-natural systems in the American Southwest.
Scott-Orman-Events-2.pdf