This paper first surveys empirical patterns that appear in asset returns. The main patterns are the following. (i) Returns are hard to predict out of sample. The correlation dimension is rather large and is unstable. I.e., returns are generated by a "complex" process. (ii) Detrended volume of...

The clustering of dead bodies by ants is simulated, using a cellular automaton model, the rules of which are carefully derived from experiments. Starting from a random spatial distribution of corpses, a cemetery organizes itself into clusters of corpses. The dynamics of clustering can be...

We study how the interplay between the memory immune response and pathogen mutation affects epidemic dynamics in two related models. The first explicitly models pathogen mutation and individual memory immune responses, with contacted individuals becoming infected only if they are exposed to...

The perpetuation of a family's position in the distribution of income from parents to children reflects the genetic and cultural transmission of individual traits, as well as the inheritance of group memberships and income-earning assets. We show that the extent of intergenerational economic...

This paper discusses some of the problematic aspects of the Bayesian first-principles ``proof'' of Occam's razor which involves Occam factors. Although it is true that the posterior for a model is reduced due to Occam factors if that model is capable of expressing many functions, the phenomenon...

We present and study the behavior of a simple kinetic model for the melting of RNA secondary structures, given that those structures are known. The model is then used as a map that assigns structure dependent overall rate constants of melting (or refolding) to a sequence. This induces a...

We suggest that group effect need not be invoked to explain the differences in latency times exhibited by groups of different sizes in the initiation of building in the termite {\it Macrotermes subhyalinus} (Rambur), and in the initiation of aggressive behavior in various subspecies of the honey...

Recent investigations have uncovered large, consistent deviations from the predictions of the textbook representation of Homo Economicus: in addition to their own material payoffs, many experimental subjects appear to care about fairness and reciprocity and reward those who act in a cooperative...

We investigate the problem of learning to play a generalized rock-paper-scissors game. Each player attempts to improve her average score by adjusting the frequency of the three possible responses. For the zero-sum case the learning process displays Hamiltonian chaos. The learning trajectory can...

In this paper we introduce a new approach to optimization problems based on a previous theoretical work on extinction patterns in macroevolution. We name them Macroevolutionary Algorithms (MA). Unlike population-level evolution, which is employed in standard genetic algorithms, evolution at the...