Chapter 2 of our reading club for "The Brain, In Theory" starting now! www.crowdcast.io/c/brain-in-t...

Reading club: The Brain in Theory by Romain Brette

Register now for Reading club: The Brain in Theory by Romain Brette on crowdcast, scheduled to go live on September 23, 2026, 10:30 AM GMT+2.

crowdcast.io

🚨🚨🚨 NEW PREPRINT ALERT 🚨🚨🚨 "A Tale of Two Principles - Towards a Relational Perspective on the FEP.” hal.science/hal-05697510. The FEP offers a physically grounded account of intentionality in mind and life from their dynamics alone. But is this approach sufficient to capture their organization?

After two months of work, the second part of the #complexitycat trilogy on machine metaphors is almost ready, and I promise you the wait will have been worth it! 💪😼 In the meantime, take a look at the first part, where we explore the historical roots of those metaphors. 🤖👇

Complexity Cat 🐱@amahury.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"DNA is a code," "The brain is a computer,"... Machine metaphors are one of the most successful conceptual tools in biology. But have you ever wondered where these analogies come from? What fundamental assumptions do they rest on?/1 🤨 #complexitycat 🐈‍⬛ www.complexitycat.org/posts/machin...

#ALIFE2026 is coming! Join ERA with your project and register for lighting talks: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

ERA Workshop Lightning Talks Registration

Event Timing: 17.08.2026 (during the ALIFE26 conference) Contact us at emerging.researchers.alife@gmail.com Duration: 10min Talk + 5min Q&A

docs.google.com

Curious how lifelike behavior and regeneration emerge from simple rules? 👾 Discover the story behind "Growing Neural Cellular Automata", how the Computational Life area was built in industry, and where it's heading next! Got questions for the Q&A? Drop them below! 🦠✨

He also has one of my favorite quotes: If one wishes to understand the behavior of animals, one must take account of their individuality, annoying as this may be for those who prefer the tidiness of physics, chemistry, and mathematical formulations. -Donald Griffin

Greg Priest@gregpriest.bsky.social · 2d ago

Donald Griffin, discoverer of bat echolocation, was born OTD 1915. I imagine “small mammals enough like ourselves to feel that I could understand what their lives would be like, and yet different enough to make it a sort of adventure and exploration to see what they were doing.” 🐋🌱🧪 #HistSTM

Tomorrow Claudia Gadaleta will present Chapter 2 at 16h CET: www.crowdcast.io/c/brain-in-t... @r3rt0.bsky.social @k4tj4.bsky.social

Reading club: The Brain in Theory by Romain Brette

Register now for Reading club: The Brain in Theory by Romain Brette on crowdcast, scheduled to go live on September 23, 2026, 10:30 AM GMT+2.

crowdcast.io

For those who may be interested, I interviewed Riskin earlier this year: buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/the-power-...

The Power of Life

My conversation with science historian Jessica Riskin

buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com

After two months of work, the second part of the #complexitycat trilogy on machine metaphors is almost ready, and I promise you the wait will have been worth it! 💪😼 In the meantime, take a look at the first part, where we explore the historical roots of those metaphors. 🤖👇

Complexity Cat 🐱@amahury.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"DNA is a code," "The brain is a computer,"... Machine metaphors are one of the most successful conceptual tools in biology. But have you ever wondered where these analogies come from? What fundamental assumptions do they rest on?/1 🤨 #complexitycat 🐈‍⬛ www.complexitycat.org/posts/machin...

RE: https://spore.social/@yoginho/116936019109206968 Repeat after me: Just like correlation is not causation, feedbck is *not* co-construction. Self-regulation is *not* the same as self-manufacture. Living beings are more than cybernetic machines. And if you don't manufacture yourself […]

Yogi Jaeger@yoginho.spore.social.ap.brid.gy · 3w ago

New preprint out! One of two collaborations with Marcus Neustetter that we submitted to the #ArtScience journal #Leonardo. "Co-Creation: Systems Thinking Beyond the Machine" https://zenodo.org/records/21416181 #science #philosophy #art #complexity #sustainability #cocreation

Announcing #engramsensembles '27, to be held at @tcddublin next May. Registration and abstract submission will open in autumn 2026.

Tomás Ryan@tjryan.bsky.social · last yr.

Slán go fóill - we look forward to welcoming you all back to Dublin for the 3rd installment in May 2027 #engramsandensembles

Hummingbird hawkmoths show a form of "handedness": #UniKonstanz @cbehav.bsky.social researchers found that they preferentially place their proboscis on one side when searching for nectar. Full story: t1p.de/v09qd @insect-vision.bsky.social @anna-stoeckl.bsky.social @lochlanw.bsky.social

🚨NEW PAPER 🚨 "Deconstructing empirical fitness seascapes across scales of granularity" published in #G3 (@genetics-gsa.bsky.social) 1/2 The fitness landscape has been among the most influential instruments in evolutionary theory for nearly a century. But we often treat them as fixed and static.

The secret relationships that govern life on Earth www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The secret relationships that govern life on Earth

Books on parasitism and symbiosis inspire wonder at the strange ways in which species’ lives intertwine.

nature.com

CCS 2026 | Early-bird Registration Deadline: August 20 #CCS2026 #ComplexSystems #STEM #NetworkScience #Research #Conference #Registration ./11 www.complexitycat.org/posts/CCS-20...

North of England Golden Eagle Project Manager Application deadline: August 21 #NEGEP #Ecology #Restoration #Preservation #Experience #Nature #Conservation ./10 www.complexitycat.org/posts/projec...

NeurIPS 2026 Workshop: Symmetry and Geometry in Neural Representations Submission deadline: August 22 #Workshop #NeurIPS #Symmetry #Geometry #Neural #Representation #NetworkScience ./9 www.complexitycat.org/posts/worksh...

Utrecht University | PhD on Multimodal Analysis of Emotion, Narrative, and Migration Politics Online Application deadline: August 20 #PhD #Multimodal #Analysis #Emotion #Narrative #Migration #Politics ./8 www.complexitycat.org/posts/PhD-ut...

Carnegie Mellon University | Postdoctoral Associate in Meta-Research Application deadline: August 15 #Postdoc #PhD #MetaResearch #knowledge #synthesis #openscience ./7 www.complexitycat.org/posts/postdo...

I defend a similar position in the latest #complexitycat essay: www.complexitycat.org/posts/machin... There, I analyze the origins and success of machine metaphors in biology. Later this week, I will present the second part of the trilogy, focusing on exploring the limits of such metaphors.

Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 3d ago

"For Hesse, metaphors were not passive representations of things but constituted conceptual tools actively shaping scientific thought." This is precisely why I've cited Hesse in my (much less profound) writing on scientific metaphor. aeon.co/essays/why-a...

Looking for an Associate Prof position? Interested in behavioural ecology & cultural evolution? Come join us at the Dpt of Ecology and Evolution in Lausanne🇨🇭 @dee-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social! Great department & great place to live. Pls RP. Apply here: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli...

📢 The Call for Symposia for #FRM2027 is now open! 📍 İstanbul, Turkey 🗓️ 26–29 May 2027 🚨 Submission deadline: 1 November 2026 👉 Read more and submit your proposal: buff.ly/AW9JI2C @frm2027ist.bsky.social

🥨 Pack your favorite treats from home & join the ERA MiniCon International Snack Exchange! Whether sweet, salty, or savory—come taste, swap, & share delicious snacks with researchers from around the globe. What will you bring? 🌍🍫 📅 Aug 16, 2026 | 📍 Waterloo #ALIFE2026

I defend a similar position in the latest #complexitycat essay: www.complexitycat.org/posts/machin... There, I analyze the origins and success of machine metaphors in biology. Later this week, I will present the second part of the trilogy, focusing on exploring the limits of such metaphors.

Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 3d ago

"For Hesse, metaphors were not passive representations of things but constituted conceptual tools actively shaping scientific thought." This is precisely why I've cited Hesse in my (much less profound) writing on scientific metaphor. aeon.co/essays/why-a...

📢 The Call for Papers for #ComplexNetworks2026 is OPEN! Join us in Granada 🇪🇸 to present your theoretical developments and applied case studies in #NetworkScience ! 📅 Dec 2–4, 2026 ⏳ Deadline: Sept 2, 2026 Submit your work today: complexnetworks.org/submission/ #CallForPapers

What separates life from death? What makes the cell on the left different from the one on the right? These are questions I explore in my new @princetonupress.bsky.social book. At the cell scale, death begins when the distinction between inside & outside collapses. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

We are extremely happy to announce that Michelle Girvan has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at #CompleNet27 in Rochester, NY, USA. Check our website for more information complenet.github.io

Join us at @css-conference.bsky.social for our "Practical and Ethical Insights on Using AI in Complex Systems" panel! 🤖⚖️ 🗓️ Oct 13 | ⏰ 6 PM EST 🎤: @melaniemitchell.bsky.social, @juniperlov.bsky.social, @scilearn.bsky.social & @skojaku.bsky.social See you there! #CCS2026 #ComplexSystems #AI #Ethics

CCS 2026 | Womplexity Meets Northeast: Connecting Communities in Complex Systems Science Submission deadline: August 15 #WomenInSTEM #Mentorship #ComplexSystems #Equity #Diversity #CCS2026 ./6 www.complexitycat.org/posts/CCS-20...

npj Complexity | Variational, Nonequilibrium, and Optimization Principles of the Coevolution of Structure and Dynamics in Complex Systems Submission deadline: August 3 #CallForPapers #Nonequilibrium #Coevolution #Dynamics #ComplexSystems ./5 www.complexitycat.org/posts/specia...