The latest issue of SFI's monthly e-newsletter is now available. Catch up on recent research, events, and news from the Santa Fe Institute. Read it here: mailchi.mp/santafe/sfi-... Subscribe to receive future issues: lnkd.in/e-jhAzCA

Welcome SFI Program Postdoctoral Fellow Jordan Kemp! A country’s GDP or a city’s population size represents organizational and individual decisions over time — statistics useful for policymaking, but which hide the complexity stemming from regional variations in choice.

Final week to apply for SFI’s 2026 immersive, summer programs in complexity science: Apply by Feb 4, 2026 CSSS and GWCSS : www.santafe.edu/engage/learn... Journalism Fellowship: santafe.edu/journalism-f...

In a new paper, SFI researchers examine the Boltzmann brain, a thought experiment that raises fundamental questions about memory, entropy, and time. The work clarifies how arguments for or against these ideas depend on assumptions about the past that are not fixed by physical laws alone.

SFI President David Krakauer joins Jim Rutt, SFI Trustee Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, on The Jim Rutt show for a wide-ranging conversation on intelligence, evolution, scientific risk-taking, how we come to understand complex phenomena, and much more. www.jimruttshow.com/david-krakau...

SFI’s GWCSS program is designed for Ph.D. students pursuing thesis research in computational social science. Participants work closely with peers and faculty to advance their own research and take part in collaborative complexity-based problem solving. Apply by Feb 4, 2026 santafe.edu/gwcss

A new study co-authored by SFI External Professor Laura Fortunato @anthrolog.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (University of Oxford) challenges a long-standing claim that polygynous marriage, where men have multiple wives, creates a surplus of men with no prospect of ever marrying.

Advance your research and expand your network at SFI's 2026 CSSS program with lectures, application-focused seminars, and team projects. Participants gain experience in transdisciplinary collaboration and explore real-world questions through complexity science. Apply by Feb 4, 2026 santafe.edu/csss

In a new Undark op-ed, SFI Resident Professors Brandon Ogbunu and Cris Moore argue that refusing to use AI won’t protect society — and that responsible resistance must begin with understanding how AI works.

Are you a journalist looking to deepen your understanding of complex systems? Join the 2026 CSSS Journalism Fellowship at SFI, offering a space to study complexity alongside researchers and reflect on science communication from within the field. Apply by Feb. 4, 2026 santafe.edu/journalism-f...

A human brain runs on about 20 watts, roughly the power required to keep a dim bulb lit. Why can’t computers do the same? At SFI, a working group convened experts in neuromorphic computing and stochastic thermodynamics to explore how physics could enable faster, more energy-efficient computing.

SFI welcomes Miller Scholar Francis Spufford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London. His books, including Red Plenty, Golden Hill, and the forthcoming Nonesuch, explore the entanglement of historical, economic, and social forces.

SFI External Professor Wendy Carlin has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire — among the highest honors in the British system. Carlin is recognized for her wide-ranging research in economics and for launching CORE Econ with SFI Professor Sam Bowles in 2013.

Applications open for SFI’s 2026 GWCSS program, a 2-week workshop for Ph.D. students and early-career scholars to explore complex systems and computation, collaborate on challenges, and advance their research with support from SFI faculty. Apply by Feb 4, 2026 www.santafe.edu/gwcss

Now accepting applications for SFI’s 2026 CSSS program, a 3-week experience for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals to explore foundational theory, engage in collaborative projects, and connect with a global research community. Apply by Feb 4, 2026 www.santafe.edu/csss

Do you want to help develop new theories for systems that adapt, evolve, and interact? Applications are open for SFI’s 2026 UCR program, a fully funded, 10-week experience for undergraduates, offering mentorship, seminars, and project development. Apply by Jan 14, 2026 www.santafe.edu/ucr

During the COVID-19 pandemic, UCLA biologists witnessed a rare natural experiment among dark-eyed juncos in Los Angeles. A new PNAS study by SFI External Professor Pamela Yeh and co-author Eleanor Diamant explores how sudden changes in human activity reshaped urban bird life.

Are you a journalist with a deep interest in complexity? Each year, the Santa Fe Institute invites two experienced journalists to join the Complex Systems Summer School through the CSSS Journalism Fellowship. Application deadline: Feb. 4, 2026 Learn more: santafe.edu/journalism-f...

For computational devices, talk isn’t cheap. A new study by SFI Prof. David Wolpert and former Graduate Fellow Abhishek Yadav shows that every bit of information — from neurons firing to CPUs reading memory — has an unavoidable energy cost, and more accurate communication always means more heat.

New book: Allocation, Distribution, and Policy In a new textbook, SFI Professor Sam Bowles and Weikai Chen, a professor of economics at Renmin University of China, present Ph.D.-level problem sets, exam questions, and detailed solutions based on a novel approach to microeconomics.

The simulation hypothesis has long captured our imagination, yet most arguments rely on intuition over clear definitions. A new paper by SFI Professor David Wolpert introduces the first precise mathematical framework for defining simulation — and shows many common assumptions don’t hold up.

For most of history, societies drew firm lines between those who belonged and those who didn't, shaping who was protected or excluded. Beginning in the Enlightenment, European societies began expanding rights. A recent SFI working group is examining the historical forces driving this expansion.

In October, the International Society for Artificial Life recognized several SFI researchers and co-authors with the ISAL Award for Outstanding Publication of 2024. The award celebrates the paper “Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems," which was published last fall.

New book: An Introduction to Ergodicity Economics A new textbook by SFI External Professor Ole Peters and Alexander Adamou re-examines core assumptions in economic theory. It presents a formal challenge to expected-value thinking and shows how non-ergodicity can arise naturally in economic models.

Three SFI External Professors and collaborators received a 2025 SAF Research Award from the Shanghai Archaeology Forum for their ongoing project, “The Global Dynamics of Inequality over the Long Term.” The project was one of 10 celebrated at the 2025 SAF meeting, selected from 140 nominations.

Are you an early-career researcher or research professional with a broad interest in complexity science? Applications are open for SFI’s 2026 CSSS program, a three-week, in-residence program offering an intensive introduction to complexity science. Apply by Feb 4, 2026 santafe.edu/csss

A new study co-authored by SFI’s Mark Newman and Max Jerdee shows that a widely used metric for evaluating algorithms (NMI) can produce biased results, impacting scientific conclusions. To address this, the authors developed an asymmetric, reduced version of the mutual information metric.

Applications open for SFI’s 2026 UCR program. Are you fascinated by transdisciplinary questions that transcend or combine disciplines? UCR is a fully funded, 10-week summer research experience for undergraduates curious about complexity science. Apply by Jan 14, 2026 santafe.edu/ucr

Can we build a science of stories? This week, a transdisciplinary group at SFI asks: What if we treated stories as data? As networks? As science? By mapping their patterns across time and culture, researchers aim to reveal how narratives shape knowledge, meaning, and power.

How likely are you to invest in a new business? Ask your partner to marry you? Move to a new country? A new model by SFI External Professor Paul Smaldino and colleagues explains how wealth, experience, and environment shape our risk tolerance — and how those effects persist across generations.

Applications are open for SFI’s 2026 summer education programs, offering research and training in complexity science in Santa Fe, NM: – Undergraduate Complexity Research – Complex Systems Summer School – Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science Info: www.santafe.edu/engage/learn...

SFI welcomes complexity Postdoctoral Fellow Max Jerdee Jerdee focuses on building unbiased methods for analyzing network data. Using tools such as Bayesian inference and related probabilistic approaches, he develops models that identify network structures while rigorously quantifying uncertainty.

A new special issue of Philosophical Transactions B takes on one of science’s biggest questions: how life begins. Rather than retracing Earth’s history, the authors look for the universal conditions that could make life possible anywhere, approaching the question from many fields and angles.

If you missed any of the 2025 SFI Community Lectures, remember you can stream them on our YouTube channel. The 2025 series covered diverse topics, ranging from computation and artificial intelligence to molecular biology, history, philosophy, and cognitive science. www.youtube.com/@SFIScience/...

At SFI, Sahana Subramanyam found a place where ideas moved freely between disciplines and mentors encouraged exploration. Her experience in the Undergraduate Complexity Research (UCR) program helped shape her path to a Ph.D. at Stanford and a research career on social inequality. Read her essay:

Apply now for SFI’s 2026 CSSS Journalism Fellowship (June 9–July 8). Each year, two accomplished journalists join our summer school program for a deep dive into complexity science. Stipend, housing, and travel covered. Applications open until Feb. 4, 2026. Apply: www.santafe.edu/news-center/...

The latest issue of SFI's monthly e-newsletter is now available. Catch up on recent research, events, and news from the Santa Fe Institute, and sign up to get the next edition in your inbox. Read it here: mailchi.mp/santafe/sfi-...

SFI Resident Professor Sam Bowles has co-authored a new book of problem sets and solutions based on the new microeconomics, with applications to inequality, climate change, and other pressing issues in today’s world. Available now.

SFI welcomes Program Postdoctoral Fellow Shuhao Fu. Artificial-intelligence systems have made remarkable progress in recent years, but they still struggle with the kind of flexible, relational reasoning that comes naturally to humans. Fu studies how to bridge that gap.

What if one model could realistically predict the economy of an entire country? The entire world? A month-long working group, co-organized by SFI External Professor @doynefarmer.bsky.social, made the case that agent-based models may bring this vision to life:

SFI welcomes Complexity Postdoctoral Fellow Maike Morrison. @maikemorrison.bsky.social develops mathematical tools to quantify biological variation. She draws on ecology, population genetics, and information theory to study population structure, diversity, and stability.

Congratulations to SFI Professor Melanie Mitchell (@melaniemitchell.bsky.social), a winner of the 2025 National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications. Mitchell is recognized for her writing and podcasts on AI and how we think about intelligence.

Do people always act in their best interest? A new working group meeting explores how context shapes people's decisions—and how seemingly irrational choices are rational in certain contexts. These insights could one day help create policies that enable better decision-making.

Catch up on our most recent Community Lecture: “Transmission Versus Truth: What Will It Take to Make an AI as Smart as a 4-Year-Old?” with Alison Gopnik. This was the last of six community lectures for 2025, and all are available to watch on SFI’s YouTube channel. Watch here:

Tomorrow: the final event in SFI’s 2025 Community Lecture Series! Join us for Alison Gopnik's lecture, “Transmission Versus Truth: What Will It Take to Make an AI as Smart as a 4-Year-Old?” —  7:30 pm at The Lensic. Free tickets: lensic.org/events Livestream: youtube.com/@SFIScience

In this SFI Seminar, biographer Alec Nevala-Lee explores the life of physicist and Nobel laureate Luis W. Alvarez, whose work spanned the Manhattan Project, investigating the JFK assassination, and developing the asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction. youtu.be/F4KGgtxNF58

SFI's Postdocs in Complexity Global Conference brings together early-career researchers from around the world. Held September 16–19, this year’s meeting drew 53 scholars for four days of collaboration, networking, and advancing research projects. www.santafe.edu/news-center/...

Global markets are complex systems, shaped by feedback loops, shocks, and adaptive behavior, rarely following textbook rules. A special issue on complexity economics in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization explores how this approach offers tools for today’s challenges. santafe.edu/news

Stochastic modeling provides new ways to tackle pressing medical problems. In this seminar, Sean Lawley (University of Utah) illustrates this with two examples: using ovarian tissue cryopreservation to delay menopause, and analyzing how missed medication doses affect treatment. youtu.be/ec1jKmPskXI

In this SFI Seminar, Mahesh Bandi (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) presents an analysis of five years of data from an 80-turbine farm, revealing universal, collective, and nonlinear correlations that shape wind power fluctuations. youtu.be/i2WumlT3Mm0