A team at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna mapped an entire nation's supply chain network using mobile phone data, predicting systemic risk and resilience. The model can be easily implemented by other countries and provides a detailed view of national economic behavior on a daily timescale.
A research team from the Complexity Science Hub Vienna has developed a stress test to identify weaknesses and strengths in healthcare systems. They used data from Austria to show how many resident physicians can drop out before patients don't find a new doctor within reasonable distance, highlighting regional differences in resilience.
The first global dataset of SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals has been published, providing a comprehensive overview of the virus's impact on animal populations worldwide. The dataset shows an increasing number of reported cases globally, with high diversity of variants detected in various species.
An international research team applied a new dynamical model and exceptional historical data to examine major explanations for cultural complexity evolution. The study found little support for many influential theories, including the transition to agriculture and conflict theories.
A recent study out of the Complexity Science Hub Vienna developed a mathematical and computational framework for analysing neural activity in C. elegans, a tiny worm used to study neural activity. The study proposes a way to unmask the roles of neurons by using more natural perturbations.
Researchers at CSH create the first complete representation of Hungary's economy, mapping production networks and supply relationships. They find that only a few firms pose a substantial risk to the overall economy, with nearly 75% of systemic risk concentrated on just 100 high-risk companies.
A new study reveals that online social network algorithms can distort and amplify biases against minority groups, leading to unequal visibility and ranking. Researchers found that homophily and the proportion of minorities in a network can contribute to this effect.
Researchers from the Complexity Science Hub Vienna propose that homophily, or interacting with like-minded individuals, automatically leads to social balance and stability. They demonstrate this using data from the Massive Multiplayer Online Game Pardus, where players tend to form friendships with those who share similar characteristics.
Researchers developed a school simulation model that shows how the virus spreads in different settings and calculates the effectiveness of measures against its spread. The model reveals that elementary and lower secondary schools can keep reproduction rates below 1 with classroom ventilation, wearing masks, and class size reduction.
Researchers applied a physics method to Balinese rice irrigation practices, finding that a balance between water stress and pest stress is crucial for equilibrium. The traditional method, which involves synchronized flooding, can help maintain social harmony and prevent chaos in water schedules.
The study found that advances in iron metallurgy, horse riding, and agricultural productivity played a significant role in the development of military machines. Mega-empires emerged as societies supporting tens of millions of inhabitants and covering vast territories.
The study analyzed mobile phone data from 1.2 million Austrians, revealing that women make significantly longer phone calls and adhere more closely to governmental measures than men. In contrast, men are less likely to have their mobility restricted and return to normal more quickly than women.
Urban scaling laws, observed in cities worldwide, can be explained by the spatial geometry of a city. Researchers mapped building heights and assigned dots to people living in buildings to determine fractal dimensions, revealing a constant sublinear scaling exponent that determines city growth rates.
Research from the Complexity Science Hub found that urban planning can directly influence social network formation and socio-economic equality. Towns with evenly distributed social networks tend to have lower economic inequality, while those with fragmented networks exhibit higher disparities.
A new theory suggests that societies can only be either cohesive or fragmented, with the number of social contacts being the tipping point. As people seek to minimize social stress, they increasingly avoid disagreements and form filter bubbles, leading to a breakdown in constructive communication and potentially threatening democracy.
Researchers compiled a comprehensive dataset of over 6,000 governmental interventions against COVID-19 from 56 countries and 24 US states. The CCCSL dataset provides detailed information on various control strategies, including case identification, contact tracing, and social distancing measures.
COVID-19 infection curves showed expected exponential growth, but instead of flattening, they remained constant with a similar number of new infections every day. The complexity scientists proposed a network effect where the virus spread from cluster to cluster, leading to linear growth and low infection prevalence.
Researchers at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna developed a traffic light system to show global coronavirus infection trends. The tool helps users assess safe travel destinations by analyzing confirmed cases per 10,000 inhabitants, providing insights into the risks of traveling to countries with varying levels of infection.
A new model of opinion formation shows how people's emotional connections with others influence their political views, leading to increased polarization. The Weighted Balance Theory identifies hyperpolarization as a vicious circle where intense emotions and opinions replace moderate positions.
Scientists at CSH Vienna create model to determine regional health care system's resilience in real-time, focusing on physicians' networks and patient flows. The model helps identify critical points where the system can absorb or compensate for lost doctors without collapse.
Researchers discovered a correlation between statin dosage and osteoporosis diagnosis in a large patient dataset. Lower doses of cholesterol-lowering drugs were found to protect against bone resorption, while higher doses increased the risk of osteoporosis.
Researchers propose a novel method from physics that makes economic effects of major events computable for the first time. The new method calculates resilience and outputs, testable predictions can be made and visualizations help understand economies.
A team of researchers used the Seshat database to analyze 300,000 records on social complexity and religion across 500 past societies. They found that beliefs in big gods followed, not preceded, increases in social complexity, suggesting that collective identities are more important for cooperation.
A study of over 8 million albums from 1956 to 2015 reveals that new musical styles emerge as a result of counter-signaling from outsider groups. This challenges traditional theories on the evolution of fashion and trends in music, highlighting the role of elite competition in driving innovation.