NECSI on the Radio

“We hope that you enjoy this incredible discussion of Complex systems and how they work in our day to day lives and how Yaneer works in the field to answer the big questions our world faces on a day to day basis, or more accurately maybe is to say he works on creating the 'questions' that first need to be asked before they can be answered. Whether your running a major business, creating a city or just a small home garden you are most definitely working in complex systems theory! Listen hard and listen well because if you do you will certainly gain some knowledge today on how your world works and how you and I and everyone else fit into this craziness!”

“In this episode, Haley talks with Yaneer Bar-Yam, President of the New England Complex Systems Institute, and Alexander Siegenfeld, a PhD physics student at MIT, about their collaborative research paper entitled: Negative Representation and Instability in Democratic Elections. They each discuss why the current political climate in the U.S. is so polarized and unstable and explore how low voter turnout leads to negative representation and further instability. Describing insights from their research, they share the importance of increasing voter turnout and weakening the two party system (through methods like ranked choice voting) in order to achieve a more stable democracy.”

“A conversation with Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of the New England Complex Systems Institute, about markets, pandemics, ecosystems, climate change, uncertainty, invasive species, and much else.”

The HumanCurrent was the official podcast of the Ninth International Conference on Complex Systems.

“In this episode of the Blue Frontiers Podcast you’ll be able to hear how Yaneer Bar-Yam and his team at the New England Complex System’s Institute, NECSI, predicted financial crisis of 2008 and the Arab Spring one year before it happened. Yaneer Bar-Yam, President of one of the most influential complexity science centers in the world, speaks with our Seavangelesse, Nathalie Mezza-Garcia, about their shared view on diversity coming from the study of complex systems and the implementation of self-organized mechanisms of decision-making in human societies. “

“In this episode, Angie interviews Assistant Professor at the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) and Visiting Scientist and the MIT Media Lab, Alfredo Morales. Professor Morales works in the areas of complex systems, AI, data science, and human behavior to develop both methods and insights that help solve complex societal problems. During his interview, he shares details from the AI and Beyond Program at NECSI, a five day certificate program where he presented alongside, Stephen Wolfram, Iyad Rahwan, and Yaneer Bar-Yam. He also discusses some unintended consequences that could arise from artificial intelligence and how complexity science can help us integrate AI systems more effectively.”

“In this episode, Angie interviews complexity scientist, professor, and founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI), Yaneer Bar-Yam. Professor Bar-Yam shares the details of new research out of NECSI entitled, Preliminary Steps Toward a Universal Economic Dynamics for Monetary and Fiscal Policy. His research, which was conducted with Jean Langlois-Meurinne, Mari Kawakatsu, and Rodolfo Garcia, calls for wealth redistribution, not tax cuts, to improve the US economy.”

“No matter who holds the highest office in the land, it never seems like the U.S. government is working as well as it could be. Our form of government is so intricately woven that it would be impossible for even the deftest efficiency expert to pinpoint the clog (or more likely, clogs) in the system. 

”But physics can shed some light, says Yaneer Bar-Yam, a physicist and the director of the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge. By applying a special framework borrowed from quantum field theory to convoluted systems like our government and big companies, Bar-Yam can home in on the right amount of relevant information to understand the way the system works, and even what it might do next.”

“Haley interviews professor, Complexity Scientist, and founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI), Yaneer Bar-Yam, to discuss the nature of global complex problems. Yaneer shares how quickly unintended consequences can ripple throughout our global systems. More specifically, he discusses research he conducted with NECSI on the causes of increasing global food prices. Yaneer states, ‘We need to understand global consequences in order to be able to act and react effectively to the challenges we are facing today.’”

“In this episode, Haley interviews professor, complexity scientist, and founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI), Yaneer Bar-Yam. Yaneer talks about how we can understand complex systems science by applying it across all of the systems we interact with in our society today. He also explains the importance of flatter, team-oriented organizations when dealing with complexity because, he says, today’s hierarchical organizations are limited by ‘what one individual can do and individuals have a limited degree of complexity that they can cope with.’ Also, in this episode, Angie and Stacy Hale discuss how the role of leadership is changing in the face of more and more complex problems. They also talk about Stacy’s experience as a student at NECSI.”

“In Latin America, scientists have become more convinced of the link between the mosquito-borne Zika virus and the birth defect known as microcephaly. Colombia is the one country that hasn’t fit the pattern. But that may now be changing.”

NECSI President Yaneer Bar-Yam was interviewed by Jeff Schechtman of WhoWhatWhy on the dynamics of complex systems in international development, military conflict and ethnic violence. They discussed how complex human biological systems can serve as models for understanding the new paradigm of warfare.

“Joe sits down with Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam to talk about what happens when conventional calculus and statistics go wrong, and how the growing field of “complex systems” mathematics can help us understand everything from revolutions to how to contain disease like Ebola”

“This one-minute highlight from Flood’s podcast is from his conversation with physicist Yaneer Bar Yam, founder of the New England Complex Systems Institute, about complex system mathematics and how it is used to fight diseases like Ebola.”

“Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam, of the New England Complex Systems Institute and MIT, has argued that if we want to live longer lives, all we need do is understand evolution. 

”He told Today: ‘We heal and fight our own diseases. The question is, why doesn't our body repair itself enough to extend life longer? 

”’The answer that science gives has to do with understanding how evolution works’. 

”He said that ‘the lifespan that we have... is actually genetically programmed for particular environmental conditions that existed during our evolutionary history. 

”’Evolution chooses the lifespan, and so we can intervene in that choice’.”

“Here's a little math problem for you: How many calories go into the ethanol that's in your tank of gas? 

”Enough to feed 22 people, if you're talking the bare minimum calories needed in a single day, according to researchers at the New England Complex Sciences Institute.”

NECSI president Yaneer Bar-Yam was interviewed for the Phil Valentine Show on October 4, 2012. They discussed the role of US food policies and drought in rising global food prices.

“When French peasants stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789, they weren't just revolting against the monarchy's policies. They were also hungry. 

”From the French Revolution to the Arab Spring, high food prices have been cited as a factor behind mass protest movements. But can food prices actually help predict when social unrest is likely to break out?”

“The United States government requires about 40 percent of the nation's annual corn crop be converted to ethanol — just over 13 billion gallons this year. 

”But as the country faces the worst drought since the 1950s, professor Yaneer Bar-Yam says the U.S. can no longer afford to turn corn into fuel.”

“The United States is a major provider of the world’s food, and particularly corn, one of the most globally significant foods. Corn feeds people, livestock, and, when it's turned into ethanol, cars. The government requires a certain amount of the nation's annual corn crop be converted to the clean-burning, domestically produced fuel — just over 13 billion gallons this year. 

”But as the country faces its worst drought in more than 50 years, can we afford to turn that food into fuel? Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam says no. The president of the New England Complex Systems Institute has found a link between rising food prices and crises around the world, including 2011's Arab Spring. Bar-Yam says waiving the ethanol requirement could prevent food riots this year.”

Science podcast interview with Yaneer Bar-Yam on ethnic violence.