The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Swarming starlings help probe plasma, crowds and stock market

Researchers at the University of Warwicks Physics Departments Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics have found a powerful technique that could be used to detect precisely when ordered patterns form in everything from plasma in the solar wind and fusion reactors, to crowds of people, or flocks of birds. The technique could even be used to find unusual patterns in stock market behaviour.

The researchers began their work in a research group interested in plasmas. These are difficult to study at the best of times because the opportunities to view plasma in the solar wind are limited by the small number of satellites observing such things and plasmas in nuclear fusion reactions are obviously not easily accessible.

The University of Warwick researchers were particularly interested in how complex systems such as plasma, crowds of people, or flocks of birds suddenly move from a disordered random state to an ordered one. To crack this problem they developed a technique that combines an earlier study of the flocking behavior of large groups of birds and insects with information technology used to correlate information from a range of parallel signals.

University of Warwick physicist Robert Wicks hit upon the idea of using an information technology tool called mutual information that can detect patterns and correlations from a very small set of points (typically 10 within a large system). In theory he believed that this method would be much more accurate than the normal statistical analysis of such dynamic systems such as crowds or plasmas and it should be particularly good at picking up the phase transitions from disorder to order in such complicated systems.

Initially the researchers were stumped as to how to test this theory. The very complexity (and often inaccessibility) that caused the observation problems they were trying to overcome meant there was no accurate real world date set to check their new tech
'"/>

Contact: Robert Wicks
r.wicks@warwick.ac.uk
44-077-719-64121
University of Warwick
9-Aug-2007


Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. The birds and the bs: Challenging Chomsky, starlings learn human-only syntax patterns
2. Anthrax bacteriums deadly secrets probed
3. Measuring the unseeable: Penn researchers probe proteins dark energy
4. Researchers probe risks, benefits of folic acid fortification
5. MIT researchers probe bones tiny building blocks
6. Study to probe how healthy younger adults make use of genetic tests
7. York mathematician probes geometric route to combat viruses
8. Penn scientists engineer small molecules to probe proteins deep inside cell membrane
9. Simulated populations used to probe gene mapping
10. Super small nanoelectrodes can probe microscale environments
11. Prototype space probe prepares to explore Earths deepest sinkhole

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Swarming starlings help probe plasma crowds and stock market

(Date:11/23/2009)...e in German . , Not just birds, but also a .... Researchers at Princeton University in the U.S. ... Radolfzell, Germany studied the migratory behavio...lled "Vespertilionidae" with the help of mathemati...r short as well as long distances of various kinds...
(Date:11/22/2009)...cientists have inventoried an astonishing abundanc...that have never known sunlight - creatures that so... to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves....ther vanguard technologies, animals known to thriv... a diverse collection of species ranging from crab...
(Date:11/22/2009)...esearch Centre, a partnership of the University of...r Coastal Health Research Institute, have uncovere...in cells die following a stroke, as well as a poss...he study were recently published online in Nature...ls continue to die even after blood flow has been ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):We're off then: The evolution of bat migration 2Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 2Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 3Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 4Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 5Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 6Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 7Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 8Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 9New understanding about mechanism for cell death after stroke leads to possible therapy 21 in 4 nursing home residents carry MRSA 47915 11 in 4 nursing home residents carry MRSA 47915 2New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 1New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 2New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 3New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 4Keys to a Fit Pregnancy and Losing the Baby Weight 47910 1Keys to a Fit Pregnancy and Losing the Baby Weight 47910 2Keys to a Fit Pregnancy and Losing the Baby Weight 47910 3
(Date:11/20/2009)...ntly announced that Dr. Dominique Hebrault will pr...nalytical Technology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and ... (PRWEB) November 20, 2009 -...ology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and Green Engineeri...nology (PAT) case studies will be presented on how...
(Date:11/19/2009)...e/ -- Dr. Mate Hidvegi, inventor of Avemar ferment... issued on November 17 by Biropharma Kft, discredi...lf-serving statements about its U.S. competitor Am... his office in Budapest, Hungary: ,, "The Biro...y to AveULTRA, www.aveultra.com , is misleading...
(Date:11/19/2009)...., Nov. 19 Arlington Medical Resou...ading driver of antibiotic selection in nosocomial...ainst gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens. D...comial pneumonia, surveyed European physicians rev...de appropriate coverage against common pathogens, ...
(Date:11/19/2009)...nthesis Companies Form International Gene Synthesi...n Risk Reduction ,Five Member Companies Represen... , (PRWEB) November 19, 20...esis companies today announced agreement that they... biosecurity in the gene synthesis industry. By s...
Breaking Biology Technology:Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and Green Engineering 2American BioSciences Rebuts Misleading Statements Made by Hungarian Competitor 2Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity is the Most Important Driver of Antibiotic Selection for Nosocomial Pneumonia In Europe 2Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity is the Most Important Driver of Antibiotic Selection for Nosocomial Pneumonia In Europe 3World's Top Gene Synthesis Companies Establish Tough Biosecurity Screening Protocol 2World's Top Gene Synthesis Companies Establish Tough Biosecurity Screening Protocol 3World's Top Gene Synthesis Companies Establish Tough Biosecurity Screening Protocol 4
Other News:
...n types of muscular dystrophy--those caused by mut... greater accuracy and sensitivity than existing te... to test female family members who may be carriers... developed by Michael Zwick, PhD, and Madhuri Hegd...
..., Santa Barbara have discovered that attaching pol...ells dramatically increases the in vivo lifetime o...e July 07 issue of Experimental Biology and Medici...rugs and circulating bioreactors. ...Polymeric nan...
...olumbia University Medical Center received a $2.5 ...dical Imaging and Bioengineering to use stem cells...t should ultimately allow scientists to use a pati...econstruction following disfiguring injuries from ...
...International, Inc. (OTCBB: BVTI), a majority owne...(NASDAQ:ABPI), announced on June 27, 2007 blinded ...votal Phase 3 clinical trial of BiovaxID for Non-H... June 2006. This interim blinded data is the most...
New genetic test developed at Emory advances detection and diagnosis of muscular dystrophy 2New genetic test developed at Emory advances detection and diagnosis of muscular dystrophy 3Nanoparticles hitchhike on red blood cells: a potential new method for drug delivery 2Researchers use adult stem cells to create soft tissue 2Biovest announces interim blinded data of fast-tracked pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of BiovaxID 2
...ain and distress at Washington news conference..WH... Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) ..Mart...h Issues, The HSUS..Alan Goldberg, Ph.D., director...ohns Hopkins University..Barbara Orlans, Ph.D., pr...
...to its mother's behavior.. Baby rats nursed by the...tress and aversion to alcohol.. The infants' distr...on to alcohol.. Alcohol's effects on maternal beha...fant.. . It's no secret that a baby's survival, un...
.Researchers at ZymoGenetics, Inc. announced today the discovery of a potential new therapy for lupus, and possibly other autoimmune diseases . Administration of a novel immunosuppressive agent devel
...nique may one day help some women using donated eg...own genes instead of those of the donor.. . A comb... experts report today (Thursday . 27 April) in the...ped a novel method of membrane fusion which would ...
The power of the mother-child bond 2The power of the mother-child bond 3The power of the mother-child bond 4ZymoGenetics discovers potential new therapy for autoimmune diseases 2ZymoGenetics discovers potential new therapy for autoimmune diseases 3New fertility technique to help women have own genetic baby from donor egg 2