“A bird with a 10-gram brain is doing pretty much the same as a chimp with a 400-gram brain,” said Onur Güntürkün, who studies brain structures at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. “How is it possible?”

I am elated & humbled that my upcoming monograph (mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282...) was chosen as one of the #openaccess titles for Spring 2026. Thanks to @mitpress.bsky.social's Direct to Open (D2O) model & the hundreds of participating libraries that make it possible! #philsky #HPS #evosky #HPbio

Complexity72h program is out! 🚀 Great lecturers. Cool projects. Amazing tutors. Still not convinced? Let’s talk socials 🍻 A Greenwich pub institution + full English experience = cherry on top 🍒🇬🇧 👉 www.complexitynextgen.org/complexity72... Apply now! 👀

Defining brain cell types is no longer a matter of classification alone, but of embedding their genetic identities within the dynamical organization of population activity, writes @lmprida.bsky.social. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/defining-cel...

Network of the day: An "unpruned cyclic entailment mesh" by Gordon Pask, the networkiest of cyberneticians monoskop.org/log/?p=2369

🍄 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 on March 12th 🍄 –– Invisible yet everywhere, fungi quietly shape our world. And perhaps that’s what makes them so fascinating. So it's time to put these underground architects in the spotlight in our next edition of Art & Science at the Complexity Science Hub. csh.ac.at/events/art-s...

Konstanz School of Collective Behavior 2026 is one of a kind school where students delve into state of the art research on collective behavior. Apply here: www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/kscb/applica... Deadline: March 15th, 2026 @cbehav.bsky.social @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social @uni-konstanz.de

We are delighted to announce the 15th edition of the Graduate Student Conference, hosted by the Institute of Philosophy (@kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social). This year’s keynote speaker is Sibo Kanobana. Submit an abstract by March 6, 2026, and join us! hiw.kuleuven.be/cmprpc/event... #philsky #HPS

Conference on Complex Systems 2026 | Call for Satellites Submission deadline: February 10 #CCS2026 #satellite #ComplexSystems #NetworkScience #conference #transdiciplinary ./10 www.complexitycat.org/posts/CCS-20...

EENPS 2026 | Call for Papers and Symposia Submission deadline: February 15 #EENPS2026 #philosophy #science #transdiciplinary #conference #paper #symposium ./8 www.complexitycat.org/posts/EENPS-...

Disinformation Summer Institute 2026 Submission deadline: February 15 #disinformation #workshop #school #transdiciplinary #DSI2026 ./7 www.complexitycat.org/posts/DSI-20...

Annual Meeting of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity | SfNC 2026 Submission deadline: February 15 #conference #neuroscience #SfNC2026 #creativity #abstract #art ./6 www.complexitycat.org/posts/SfNC-2...

📢 Call for registrations - Science:TBD 📍 Leipzig | 3–4 March 2026 Join us for an inspiring lineup of keynotes: ⭐Sheena F. Bartscherer ⭐Alice Hughes @achughes.bsky.social ⭐Wolfgang Forstmeier ⭐Ulrich Dirnagl ⭐Dietram A. Scheufele @dietram.bsky.social Register now: www.idiv.de/science-tbd

Is life itself, and perhaps consciousness and higher intelligence, inevitable in the universe? That depends on how complexity evolves.

Why did consciousness evolve at all? A superb special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org brings together experts across disciplines to explore the functions of consciousness and why it emerged in some species but not others. @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...

For weekend readers, last shout-out for some musings on #AI #metaphors and their interconnections makingsciencepublic.com/2026/02/06/m...

Could the logic of life be shaped by the architecture of biological circuitry? In this paper, @manlius.bsky.social shows how genetic, metabolic, and social networks can govern slow evolutionary dynamics in a unified nonequilibrium framework. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

And if you prefer your science in a more handy Bluetorial form, we've got that covered too. Check out my thread introducing the paper when it was first published in @science.org a couple of months back. 😊👇

In case you're interested in foundations of measurement in #ConSci, you're cordially invited to join our upcoming workshop! sh1.sendinblue.com/3hbk0uthapxp... A huge thank you to my co-organizers @ronyhirsch.bsky.social and @jolienfrancken.bsky.social on this occasion! #ConSci

Next week, #complexitycat will publish the final part of our beginner's guide, a series of essays dedicated to introducing the transdisciplinary world of #ComplexSystems science in simple terms. In the meantime, we invite you to check out Part II, which you can find below. 🐈‍⬛👇

Was your contribution to #NERCCS2026 accepted? Don't hesitate and register now! Find more information on our official website or scan the QR code below. See you in Rochester! ☃️🇺🇸 nerccs2026.github.io (Notice that our final program is also available, check it out. 😉)

#NERCCS2026 conference program is now up!! nerccs2026.github.io/NERCCS2026-p...

For a long time, astrocytes were considered mere support and scaffolding for all-important neurons. The new experiments reveal in great detail the cells’ influence over neuronal signaling in the brain.

#philsci #HPbio #cogsci #evosky #neuroskyence

I'll be posting lectures (not discussions) of this semester's "Collective Dynamics of Complex Systems" Lecture 1: youtu.be/FBeL2jabjjM

Now out in Synthese! 😊 "Reframing the free will debate: the universe is not deterministic", with Henry Potter and George Ellis rdcu.be/e2hIh

[New paper!] Mobility data are incredibly powerful, but also come with a long list of well-known biases (sampling, coverage, demographics, behavioral, etc.). In the paper, we survey them all and then zoom in on one that has been surprisingly underexplored: temporal bias. arxiv.org/abs/2601.22330

I'll be contributing to "Hybrid Minds" in Vienna later this month (registration at link below). I'll provide some philosophical reflections on the idea that we can replace organic parts of a living being one by one with mechanical ones - and end up with an equivalent system. I call it the […]

Santa Fe Institute | Complex Systems Summer School 2026 Application deadline: February 4 #CSSS2026 #SFI #ComplexSystems #transdiciplinary #NetworkScience #school ./9 www.complexitycat.org/posts/SFI-CS...

Projects time 👨‍💻👩‍💻🧑‍💻

Santa Fe Institute | Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science Application deadline: February 4 #workshop #CSS #SFI #PhD #postdoc #faculty ./5 www.complexitycat.org/posts/SFI-wo...

Would you like to support the global #NetworkScience community? Become a #sponsor of #NetBioMed2026! Our event promotes #NetworkMedicine with broad applications in #Epigenomics, #Biomedicine, #AI, and beyond. 🚀 Spread the word and shape the future of #Medicine! ⚕️ #NetSci2026

𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 Short paper discussing some connections. arxiv.org/pdf/2601.21510

Yesterday, 3,000+ people got #ComplexityThoughts Issue 75 in their inbox. Want the next one? Subscribe: open.substack.com/pub/manlius/... #ComplexSystems 🧪🧬🦠🌐 As usual, also on: 🎧 Spotify: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/com... 🎧 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Final days to submit an abstract to #PBCS2026! If you are an early-career scholar looking for a supportive environment to discuss your work & meet international peers, consider applying! Another plus this year: The workshop will be in Madrid! sites.google.com/view/xivpbcs... #HPbio #philsci #philsky

Good take on the "Moltbook" story from @benjedwards.com arstechnica.com/information-... Another good take I saw on the other site: "more of a fanfic for AGI than actual AGI". This could describe a whole lot of AI misalignment red-teaming....

Introducing a new scientific computing library: syntropy. Syntropy is a comprehensive package for information theory, aimed at both theoreticians and data analysts working on discrete, continuous, and mixed data. 1/N github.com/thosvarley/s...

📣 CS2Italy 2026 the Italian Conference on Computational Social Science ⏰ Today is the last day to submit your abstract 📍 Turin, May 19–21 We welcome abstract submissions in: #ComputerScience #NetSci #ComplexSystems #Sociology #Economics #Politics #CognitiveScience #Psychology 👉 cs2italy.org

Isn’t it always true of Einstein-esque breakthroughs that you can’t see them coming? My first official newsletter is live on my Substack!

I am happy to share this article, entitled "The importance of Biological Theory". It is my inaugural editorial as the new Editor-in-Chief of @biologicaltheory.bsky.social . In these complex and challenging times, theory is more important now than ever. Enjoy! doi.org/10.1007/s137...

Our Satellite Call for #CCS2026 is still open, but the clock is ticking. ⌛️ Want to spotlight a hot topic in #ComplexSystems? Submit your proposal by Feb 10 and help shape our community. Any methods, tutorials, debates, and demos are welcome! Apply here: bit.ly/3LUgTNc

Nine years ago I began exploring the world of #ComplexSystems science and to commemorate such a long learning journey I am writing a trilogy dedicated to explaining key concepts in the field in a digestible way. I published Part II last week, so check it out and stay tuned! 📡😼

The EENPS 2026 call for papers & symposia is now open! 🔥🔥🔥 🗓 Submission deadline: 15 Feb 2026 Conference: 18–19 Sept 2026, Bucharest 😉 See the conference website for full details! eenps2026.sciencesconf.org

Ok since I apparently have a little slice of Bluesky's attention regarding planets right now, allow me to rant a little. This week's newsletter post is all about talking about exoplanets and why we might not want to call any of them "Earth-like" for a few decades 🧪🔭

What is already known about gene regulation is so complicated that "there is not really any good language to communicate it in the general media". But - imo - there is in this (not really) long 🧵 and in @philipcball.bsky.social's How Life Works...

🔔Deadline Extended!🔔 We have extended the submission deadline for abstracts and award nominations to February 15. We hope to see you in Philadelphia! Submit an abstract: www.tsfnc.org/sfnc2026-sub... Nominate for an award: www.tsfnc.org/sfnc2026-sub...

Only six days left! Tutorial submissions close on February 2nd. Submit here: ic2s2-2026.org/submit-tutor...

Amid the hype around prattling "AI" models, astonishing research into living minds gets overlooked. Wonderful piece by @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social in @quantamagazine.bsky.social about bats navigating in a natural environment, decoding the sense of direction. www.quantamagazine.org/how-animals-...

🎉 New publication from IAS Research! Marius Werz’s article “From Function to Freedom: Enactivism between Being and Becoming” revisits enactivism’s metaphysical assumptions on normativity and transformation. Published in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Applications will be opening soon for BAMB! 2026 The summer school will take place from 12 - 23 July 2026 www.bambschool.org