We propose a universal, astrophysically based theory of the origin of life on Earth and on other rocky planets as well. Life is an information system where the information content grows because of selection. It must start with the minimum possible information, or the minimum possible departure...

Urban growth dynamics attracts the efforts of scientists from many different disciplines with objectives ranging from theoretical understanding to the development of carefully tuned realistic models that can serve as planning and policy tools. Theoretical models are often abstract and of limited...

In biological systems higher order hyperstructures seem to occur both in an intuitive and a formal sense. Starting at a molecular level of description we have: molecules, polymers, supramolecular structures, organelles, cells, tissues, organs, etc. but in models and simulations of these systems...

Through conceptual examples and demonstrations, we argue that the symbiotic combination of the Internet and humans will result in a significant enhancement of the previously existing, self-organizing social structure of humans. The combination of the unique capabilities of intelligent,...

This paper summarizes some of the problems associated with the generation of higher order emergent structures in formal dynamical systems as well as some of the formal properties of dynamical systems capable of generating higher order structures.

In the study of complex systems---in particular self-organizing systems---the notions of emergence and higher order structures come up. A framework for studying them was given in [1,2] where the notion of a hyperstructures occur both in an intuitive and a formal sense. But in formalizations of...

This paper presents an overview of an approach to address complexity issues and real-life engineering problems in large, urban transportation systems. In this context we discuss the fundamental problem of designing a metropolitan transportation system which is both efficient and controlable.

Artificial Life and the more general area of Complex Systems does not have a unified theoretical framework although most theoretical work in these areas is based on simulation. This primarily due to an insufficient representational power of the classical mathematical frameworks for the...