The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 1950 the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi was discussing the possibility of intelligent alien life with his colleagues. If alien ...

Living organisms, our planet and even the entire universe are getting ever more complex with time. “Complex” doesn’t just mean “complicated”: it means that the parts of a system interact in ways that ...

For most industries, complexity is considered a problem. It slows decisions. It confuses customers. It increases costs. It ...

Yesterday I blogged about a new study in which scientists reconstructed 450 million year old proteins in order to trace the evolution of some receptors for hormones. The paper itself does not comment ...