Stuart Kauffman : NPR

Stuart Kauffman Stuart Kauffman is a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture.

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Stuart Kauffman

Stuart Kauffman is a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture.

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Friday April 26, 2013

A digital representation of the human genome at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Chasing The Seeds Of Life

April 26, 2013 • How did life originate? This seemingly eternal question was recently the focus of an unusual gathering at CERN in Switzerland. Commentator Stuart Kauffman was at the center of the action and takes us on a journey through the ideas that led up to this meeting of the minds.

Monday February 11, 2013

A Mind And A Man Worthy Of Adulation: Conrad H. Waddington

A zygote begins its journey to expression in the form of a human being. Science Picture Co./Science Faction/Getty Images hide caption

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Science Picture Co./Science Faction/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

A Mind And A Man Worthy Of Adulation: Conrad H. Waddington

February 11, 2013 • Conrad H. Waddington helped unite population genetics and developmental biology, laying the foundations for systems biology. Commentator Stuart Kauffman says Waddington was more than merely brilliant; he was human.

Tuesday January 22, 2013

Toward A New View of Law and Society: Complexity And Power In The Legal System

The United States Supreme Court: a temple to complexity and self-reinforcing feedback loops? Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Opinion

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Toward A New View of Law and Society: Complexity And Power In The Legal System

January 22, 2013 • The symbiosis between law and power is fractal in nature and can be found at all levels of hierarchy in the legal system. Laws enable new strategy spaces for actors within the system. Creative actors seek adjacent-possible actions within the prevailing legal environment to achieve their desired ends.

Friday December 7, 2012

A View From Doha: The Time To Tackle Climate Change Is Now

Climate activists at a rally in Doha on December 1, 2012. Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

December 7, 2012 • The urgency of taking action on climate change couldn't be higher, according to commentators Asim Zia and Stuart Kauffman. New laws and incentives at all governance levels, however, could trigger an economic transformation that would ensure climate security.

November 19, 2012 • Commentator Stuart Kauffman outlines the findings of a paper he co-authored in the journal PLOS ONE that questions the FDA's total commitment to "randomized controlled trials" for drug testing when he says an alternative called "Team Learning" may be more effective in some cases.

Monday September 3, 2012

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

Should The FDA Rethink How It Runs Clinical Trials?

September 3, 2012 • The path to better medical treatments may require us to rethink how we carry out the testing of new therapies, argues commentator Stuart Kauffman.

Monday August 20, 2012

Applying Newtonian thinking is wrong when it comes to the evolution of life and culture. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Wikimedia Commons

Monday June 25, 2012

13.7: Cosmos And Culture

The Ultimate Crack Down: We Know Not What We Do

June 25, 2012 • Mandatory sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine disproportionately affected black people. Why? Caryn Devins and Stuart Kauffman argue that simple laws introduced into complex networks, such as our legal system, produce unintended consequences.

Stuart Kauffman

Friday April 26, 2013

Monday February 11, 2013

Tuesday January 22, 2013

Friday December 7, 2012

Monday November 19, 2012

Monday October 1, 2012

Monday September 3, 2012

Monday August 20, 2012

Monday August 13, 2012

Monday August 6, 2012

Monday July 9, 2012

Monday July 2, 2012

Monday June 25, 2012