"On Brand" Story from Childhood

A Topps baseball card had a batting average that was inconsistent with a player's hit and at-bat totals, so I typed (with a typewriter) and snail-mailed a letter to Topps to inform them that their calculation, their data, or both were wrong. I also asked them what the error was. https://t.co/u3KPrC5YSq

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) February 23, 2019

(They answered me. Apparently, the batting average was correct, but the data were entered incorrectly.)

Tales from the ArXiv: Speech-Balloon Detection in Comic Books

There is an intriguing new paper on the ArXiv called Deep CNN-based Speech Balloon Detection and Segmentation for Comic Books.

Finally, an important paper.

Choice quote from the abstract: "Qualitative results suggest that wiggly tails, curved corners, and even illusory contours do not pose a major problem."

Headline: "Bowser to Take Over Nintendo’s U.S. Division"

After seeing this news, now I know for sure that we're living in a dystopia.

Gandalf's Quote About Social Media

Indeed. ;)

"He hated it and loved it, as he hated and loved himself.
He could not get rid of it. He had no will left in the matter."
- Gandalf (about social media) pic.twitter.com/aa5nmg2iNx

— Ethics in Bricks (@EthicsInBricks) February 19, 2019

Impending Elimination of Ohio?

I don't know the context, but I hope my friends at Ohio State are ok. (Are you still out there, MBI people?)

Welp, it had a good run. pic.twitter.com/BdWfByZlhM

— Scott Kerr (@scott_kerr) February 18, 2019

Heinlein's Checklist for Answering Mail

This is brilliant.

I particularly like that there is a box labeled "Please do not write to me again."

(Tip of the cap to Giuseppe Paleologo, who was responding to Steve Strogatz.)

My Attempt to Save the World

You can't say that I didn't warn you.

The Machines, powered by Artificial Intelligence, have taken over! And massive computations are all giving physically implausible solutions!

We need mathematical models—especially complicated ones with networks and nonlinear systems—to save humanity!

Oh wait... this is real. https://t.co/DljKjpaKSb

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) February 17, 2019

Principal Mason Says: The Homework Sword Fight is On!

I have nothing to do with this idea (despite the principal's awesome name), but I am totally on board with this!

In fact, if I were a Principal Mason — in addition to the principal Mason, which is true in my own life, at least — I would definitely do this, now that I have seen this excellent idea.

(Tip of the cap to Helen Brown Nazzaro)

A Clever Way to Increase my h-index

So if I violate this, I can improve my h-index...?

Hmmm... pic.twitter.com/YF3mGriXql

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) February 16, 2019

Topological Data Analysis of Geographic Distance to Donuts

Clearly, it must be done. It must be done!

Often from a single position you could see two @dunkindonuts #redditDataIsBeautiful pic.twitter.com/SDfHVXmKub

— Suzanne Sindi (@SuzanneSindi) February 16, 2019

My Academic Valentine

This was my contribution yesterday.

Roses are red.
The nodes have heterogeneous degrees.
The network may be heavy-tailed;
but it's probably not scale-free.#ScienceValentine#AcademicValentine

(Technically, "The network's degree distribution may be heavy-tailed;", but that's less poetic.)

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) February 14, 2019

Wonderful Felt Dragons

These felt dragons are wonderful!

(Tip of the cap to Angela Wilkerson Fitch.)

"I'm in the Best Academic Shape of My Life"

In the spirit of spring training, I feel like we should start new academic years and grant proposals with comments like "I'm in the best academic shape of my life." and "I'm just going to take it day to day this year.", especially if we've had a recent funding/research dry spell or a bad season (or after bad student reviews).

Tales from the ArXiv: Was the AI Eaten by a Grue?

This paper, called NAIL: A General Interactive Fiction Agent, describes an autonomous agent for general parser-based interactive-fiction games.

(In my quick glance, I noticed a couple of slightly misleading statements about Infocom and their text-adventure games. For example, one figure implicitly seems to suggest that Trinity came out in the early 1980s, but it actually came out in 1986. I know, I know: I am being very picky.)

I hope that they didn't get eaten by a grue.

Or, given that I mentioned Trinity, maybe they reached into the beehive for a third time?

A Great Thread on Questions to Ask When Visiting Possible Graduate-School Destinations

This thread has lots of great advice for people visiting prospective graduate-school destinations!

Similar ideas apply when considering where to do a postdoc.

It's grad school visit season. You have a ~20 min meeting with someone, and you're considering devoting 5+ years of your life to working for/with them. Are they a great mentor? Or a toxic tormentor? Here's what questions to ask... /1

— Double Shelix (@doubleshelixpod) February 11, 2019

(Tip of the cap to Suzanne Sindi.)

An Illustrated Guide from the 1950s for Using Telephones

This is pretty fantastic!

"When using the telephone, hold the receiver close to your ear. The receiver is the end without the cord." pic.twitter.com/zvciBAZdg7

— Scott Kerr (@scott_kerr) February 9, 2019

"The Use of Multilayer Network Analysis in Animal Behaviour"

One of my articles came out in final form today. Here are some details.

Title: The Use of Multilayer Network Analysis in Animal Behaviour

Authors: Kelly R. Finn, Matthew J. Silk, Mason A. Porter, and Noa Pinter-Wollman

Abstract: Network analysis has driven key developments in research on animal behaviour by providing quantitative methods to study the social structures of animal groups and populations. A recent formalism, known as multilayer network analysis, has advanced the study of multifaceted networked systems in many disciplines. It offers novel ways to study and quantify animal behaviour through connected ‘layers’ of interactions. In this article, we review common questions in animal behaviour that can be studied using a multilayer approach, and we link these questions to specific analyses. We outline the types of behavioural data and questions that may be suitable to study using multilayer network analysis. We detail several multilayer methods, which can provide new insights into questions about animal sociality at individual, group, population and evolutionary levels of organization. We give examples for how to implement multilayer methods to demonstrate how taking a multilayer approach can alter inferences about social structure and the positions of individuals within such a structure. Finally, we discuss caveats to undertaking multilayer network analysis in the study of animal social networks, and we call attention to methodological challenges for the application of these approaches. Our aim is to instigate the study of new questions about animal sociality using the new toolbox of multilayer network analysis.


P.S. There is an easter egg in the paper. Let me know when you find it!

Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, and Mike Mussina Elected to Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame!

Well, we have some spiffy new baseball Hall of Famers: Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, and Mike Mussina!

This awesome foursome — and I am very pleased about all four of these elections — join Lee Smith and (sigh) Harold Baines, who were elected by the Today's Game Era Committee last month. Rivera, in his first year of eligibility, is the first ever unanimous selection, although there are other luminaries who should already have gotten this distinction years ago. Sadly, the late Roy Halladay (who died tragically in a 2017 plane crash) isn't around to enjoy his election in his first year of eligibility. I thought it might take him a bit of time to get in, and I'm pleased to see Halladay sail into the Hall in his first year. It's sad that he isn't around to enjoy it. :( (By the way, Roy Halladay once wore one of the best costumes ever; he dressed up as Jamie Moyer for an 80s-themed party.) Martinez (in his final year of eligibility) and Mussina finally made it this year, though both of them should have been elected years ago. They are clear-cut Hall of Famers. Pitchers like Mussina are held to ridiculous standards because they didn't win 300 games, and that's just not a realistic level at which to gauge which starters are Hall of Famers and which are not. Mussina was a great pitcher.

For the past several years, I have really enjoyed followed the Hall of Fame tracker as the writers announce their votes.

I'll comment a bit on many (though not all) other players on the 2019 ballot, but to give context, it's worth discussing which new candidates will enter in the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot. The only huge name entering in 2020 is Derek Jeter, who could very well become the second unanimous Hall selection. (Jeter will be close to unanimous, at the very minimum.) There are some other really good players in the 2020 ballot, but I'm not sure if any of them are Hall of Famers. Jason Giambi and the perpetually underrated Bobby Abreu will get some votes, but I don't think that even they will get that many votes. The only newcomer to the ballot with any shot at all — and he is a lock, of course — is Derek Jeter. That gives plenty of scope for remaining candidates to make major increases, which will probably be significantly larger than in a normal year.

The highest voting percentage among those who did not get elected to the Hall is Curt Schilling, who was named on 60.9% of the ballot. With Mussina and Halladay both now in the Hall and no serious candidates among new starting pitchers, I expect Schilling to finally (and belatedly) make it in 2020, as long as he keeps his mouth shut.

Roger Clemens (59.5%) and Barry Bonds (59.1%) kept inching forward, and I'm sure they'll make a bit more progress next year, but they're not still on the ballot because of their performance on the field. I see no reason to think that they'll do anything other than continuing to inch forward.

Larry Walker got 54.6% of the vote in a huge gain, after gaining many votes between 2017 and 2018. Next year is Walker's last one on the ballot, which often results in large gains with one's last chance to think about a player in the regular voting, so I expect that he will follow in Alan Trammell's and Fred McGriff's footsteps and get huge gains again next year. Include the fact that Harold Baines (sigh) is now in the Hall of Fame and that Jeter is the only stellar new candidate in 2020, and I think that Larry Walker will gain hugely in votes again in 2020 and that it will be enough to get elected to the Hall of Fame. Larry Walker was an awesome player and deserves it. Prepare for a lot of discussions about Coors Field in the upcoming year. :)

Omar Vizquel (42.8%) gained a decent number of votes this year, though others were less optimistic about the signs for Vizquel. Vizquel belongs in the Hall of the Very Good — I give thanks to Jim Kaat for inventing that term in reference to himself — and also in the Hall of the Amazing, but he's not a Hall of Famer. Vizquel is destined to become the new Jack Morris (sigh) when it comes to Hall of Fame debates.

Fred McGriff (39.8%), like Alan Trammell previously, received a major boost in his final year on the writers' Hall of Fame ballot. I expect that he'll be selected relatively soon by the Today's Game Committee, likely when it next meets in 2021.

Manny Ramirez (22.8%) stayed level and Jeff Kent (18.1%) gained a little bit, but not much. Jeff Kent is destined for some veterans' committee's vote some years down the line. Scott Rolen (17.2%) gained a decent amount in his second year of eligibility, and I expect him to gain solidly in 2020 as well, possible even enough to get close to 30% of the vote. Billy Wagner (16.7%), in his fourth year of eligibility, gained a little bit. Wagner deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and I hope the selection of Lee Smith and the lack of realistic new pitcher candidates in 2020 helps him. I suspect that Wagner will become one of the next ones that sabermetricians try to champion, although I think the best move for the next year is concentrating on Larry Walker's candidacy. Todd Helton (16.5%) deserves more votes and may be a Hall of Famer — I think he belongs on the Hall — and I expect him to make major gains next year. Andruw Jones (7.5%) keeps lingering on the ballot — once again finishing slightly above the 5% cutoff to be removed from the ballot — and he deserves much better than this. Jones's career petered out quickly, and people seem to have forgotten just how good a player he was. I don't think he actually belongs in the Hall of Fame, but I'd like to see him get more consideration than this. Among the players who fell off the ballot, Lance Berkman (1.2%) deserved much more consideration for the Hall than he got.

In the 2020 ballot, I predict that Derek Jeter (obviously), Curt Schilling, and Larry Walker make the Hall of Fame. I am least confident about the prediction about Walker, who may end up just falling shy. The fact that there are so few new stellar candidates and that the ballot has cleared up considerably (McGriff is also no longer on the ballot) will help many players make major gains in voting, likely including enough of them for both Curt Schilling and Larry Walker to get elected.

Update (1/26/19) Here are some lessons learned (according to Jay Jaffe) from the balloting results. One of the things that I noticed in this article, which I hadn't noticed earlier this week (but presumably did at some point in the past), is that the players who are debuting in 2021 are also weak overall. Therefore, there are two years for players who are currently on the ballot to make major gains. Jaffe wrote more details in this article.

What Happens in San José Stays in San José (2019 Edition)

I'll soon be going to San José, Costa Rica for the third time to work on a collaboration on dengue dynamics and control. I'll also be participating in a spiffy panel discussion, where I'll get to meet one of my coauthors in person for the first time.

"Money" Laundering: Doing it the Literal Way

Well, it wasn't my intent to discover this, but my debit card and university ID card survived their trip through the washer and dryer remarkably well.

Their Gaussian curvatures got transformed a bit, but overall they're doing alright.

Sometimes, I am such a theorist.

Note: I suggest responding with your best money-laundering joke.

Additional note: My debit card still has its glossy sheen, but the ID card's surface isn't quite as smooth as it used to be.

The Cult of Pure Mathematics

Well, there you have it: pure mathematics is kind of like a cult, so let's stop pretending and go all the way. :P

"Our CVs won’t list the prestigious journals in which we have published, but rather our reputations will be the rumors of our arcane wisdom."

It's the cult I've always wanted!https://t.co/vkZelVoWqM

— Anna Haensch (@extremefriday) January 15, 2019

One choice excerpt (of many) from the article:

Within the sphere of pure mathematics — the oldest and most successful of humanity’s intellectual endeavors — I believe our best chance at preserving the integrity and dignity of our tradition is to return to our Pythagorean roots. We should become a cult.

Let us do away with the job market and mathjobs.com and reference letters. Let us stop pretending we understand each other’s respective sub-fields. Let us abandon those fuck-ugly Brutalist travesties we call our department buildings and leave them to those shills in applied math.

(Tip of the cap to Adriana Salerno.)

RIP Richard Haberman (1945–2018)

I just got the e-mail to the applied dynamical-systems mailing list with the sad news that Rich Haberman died on December 31st. I used his book in a class my sophomore year (and our best TA was his former student from SMU), and then I met him through the Snowbird conferences, partly because he was one of the few senior people who sometimes did poster presentations. Rich was later my host for my job interview at SMU. My tweet below includes the preface of the second edition of his book.

RIP Rich Haberman (1945 – 12/31/2018).

I knew Rich and interacted with him at the Snowbird meetings (and he later hosted me for my job interview at SMU), but I used his PDE book in one of my classes before then.

He was an "unapologetic champion of Applied Mathematics". pic.twitter.com/JmCXkWqsAt

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) January 11, 2019

I'd also like to quote the obituary (written by Alejandro Aceves, Roy Goodman, and Peter Miller) in the e-mail that was sent to SIAM's dynamical-systems mailing list:

We are very sad to have to report that Richard Haberman passed away on December 31, 2018. Richard (Rich) received his BS (1967) and PhD (1971) at MIT. During his time as a graduate student, he met Mark Ablowitz, both of whom had the same advisor David Benney. Rich and Mark established a strong friendship that lasted until Rich's passing. They also co-authored papers which mark the start of Rich's contributions to nonlinear waves. In line with the times they worked on ways to generate isospectral flows which are equivalent to systems of nonlinear partial differential equations, including extensions to two and three dimensions, where as we know there are fewer known integrable models. The role of linear and nonlinear resonances leading to 'universal' evolution equations is best seen in their 1975 Journal of Mathematical Physics paper 'Resonantly coupled nonlinear evolution equations'. It is perhaps this aspect that points to the ease in which Rich's work blends nonlinear waves and dynamical systems in a natural way. More recent work with one of us (Roy Goodman) focused on explaining the two-bounce resonance phenomenon and chaotic scattering in the interaction of solitary waves in near-integrable and nonintegrable systems, which again blends nonlinear waves and dynamical systems.

Rich spent the bulk of his career at Southern Methodist University (SMU). An unapologetic champion of Applied Mathematics, he helped shape the Department of Mathematics to put emphasis in this direction. Throughout his almost 40 years as SMU, he mentored many young faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students. One of us (Peter Miller) was lucky to have been a beneficiary of this mentorship of undergraduates at SMU in the 1980's, and feels especially indebted to Rich for his training in applied mathematics and nonlinear waves in particular and his suggestion and support to continue study in graduate school. At the 2007 ICIAM meeting, he recruited one of us (Alejandro Aceves) to join SMU.

Rich's passion to teach the discipline with an applied flavor is best reflected in his books, most notably his book Elementary Applied Partial Differential Equations which has a world-wide audience and has been translated in many languages. This book is famous for its no-nonsense approach to a difficult subject and its clarity of presentation. Rich served for many years as Editor in Chief for the SIAM book series Mathematical Modeling and Computation. His last unfinished project with one of us (Alejandro Aceves) was to write a textbook in nonlinear dynamics based on many iterations of notes he had produced through the years.

Rich is survived by his wife of 50 years Liz Haberman, his children Ken and Vicki, and his granddaughters Leila, Gwyneth and Chloe. He was dedicated to his family and the profession. He was a friend, scientist, mentor and educator who will be sorely missed. The SMU Department of Mathematics is planning the creation of a scholarship in his name and more information about it will be posted on the Department website.

A Funky Visual Illusion: What's the Frequency?

From my own experimentation, the frequency matters.

You can only see this optical illusion if you shake your head (I’m serious) 😂 pic.twitter.com/WhtZ1b0r4t

— Dr Michelle Dickinson (@medickinson) January 10, 2019

(Tip of the cap to Jenna Walrath.)

It's Good to Have a Clew (and a Clew)

The word CLUE derives from ‘clew’, an Old English word for a ball of string. It came to mean ‘a hint that aids a solution’ through allusion to the Greek legend of Theseus, who used Ariadne’s ball of thread to find his way back out of the Labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. pic.twitter.com/LrrzAKtEDk

— Haggard Hawks 📚🦅 (@HaggardHawks) January 7, 2019

Scales in the Universe

This website, which illustrates the scales — both large and small — of the universe is wonderful!

It reminds me of the 1977 video called Powers of Ten (of which there are also modern versions), except with new stuff that we now know!

(Tip of the cap to Sara Solla.)

Pondering Social Contagions in the 19th Century

If only they knew about social contagions...

The winner of Answers magazine's big Question Competition of 1888 was Mr. E Bond of Bloomsbury, who submitted this entry: pic.twitter.com/0kU0Mwxlqj

— Dr Bob Nicholson (@DigiVictorian) December 28, 2018

And here is the beginning of the thread.

In 1888, Answers magazine ran a prize competition in which readers were challenged to send in 'The Most Interesting Question On Any Subject.' Reading through the results is like looking at Victorian Britain's Google search history...

Thread 👇👇👇: pic.twitter.com/Z4aQDTtM3E

— Dr Bob Nicholson (@DigiVictorian) December 28, 2018

The Final Polishing Step Before Submitting a Manuscript or a Grant Proposal

Naturally. ;)

In the new year, don't forget about this final, very important step when doing the final polishing of your manuscripts and grant proposals just before you submit them. :P

[Note: I clipped this comic years ago from LA Weekly. It fits academia like a clever but frustrating glove.] pic.twitter.com/K2ncYEatya

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 27, 2018

A Paper that Rejects Itself

What a conundrum! :P

Amazing. Train a network to classify papers (accept/reject). Then run the network on the paper describing the network, and it classifies the paper as a strong reject. This is why we can't have nice paper classifiers. (h/t @hardmaru) https://t.co/OC2baCI1Za pic.twitter.com/3N9wsKQ374

— Chethan Pandarinath (@chethan) December 21, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Karen Daniels.)

Real-Life Binary Trees!

Here is picture proof that (reasonably) balanced binary trees exist in real life!

[I took this picture about a decade ago in front of @peetscoffee a few blocks from @Caltech.] pic.twitter.com/iwxfYtVSV4

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 21, 2018

Tales from the ArXiv: Motto: "Somebody has to Study this Shit!"

Motto: Somebody has to study this shit!

And I mean this literally: the title of the paper is "An Agent-Based Model for Bovine Viral Diarrhea".

Update: Normally, I hate it when papers are full of bullshit. However, I may need to make an exception in this case.

Self-Awareness and the Elephant in the Room

So, in other words, they first needed to see the elephant in the room? :)

Elephants failed the mirror test for self-awareness — until researchers made the mirrors big enough for elephants to see themselves alongside other elephants.https://t.co/GnI2Z1hsi7 pic.twitter.com/SA5oRE65NU

— Quanta Magazine (@QuantaMagazine) December 18, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Steve Strogatz.)

But Are These Data Cookies Reproducible?

I think it's very important to check the reproducibility of these data.

(Tasty, tasty reproducibility.)

Last day of class tomorrow! I baked cookies for my Intro to Data Analytics students, with frosted data plots. Lucky them. #DAatDU pic.twitter.com/j3TCNeDOBe

— Dr. Sarah Supp (@srsupp) December 14, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Javier Buldú.)

Update: Now that I think of it, "Sweet, sweet reproducibility." would have been better phrasing, given its larger set of allusions.

"Variability in Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou Arrays Can Prevent Recurrences"

A paper of mine came out in final form today. Here are some details.

Title: "Variability in Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou Arrays Can Prevent Recurrences"

Authors: Heather Nelson, Mason A. Porter, and Bhaskar Choubey

Abstract: In 1955, Fermi, Pasta, Ulam, and Tsingou reported recurrence over time of energy between modes in a one-dimensional array of nonlinear oscillators. Subsequently, there have been myriad numerical experiments using homogenous FPUT arrays in the form of chains of ideal, nonlinearly coupled oscillators. However, inherent variations (e.g., due to manufacturing tolerance) introduce heterogeneity into the parameters of any physical system. We demonstrate that such tolerances degrade the observance of recurrences, often leading to complete loss in moderately-sized arrays. We numerically simulate heterogeneous FPUT systems to investigate the effects of tolerances on dynamics. Our results illustrate that tolerances in real nonlinear oscillator arrays may limit the applicability of results from numerical experiments on them to physical systems, unless appropriate heterogeneities are taken into account.

Lee Smith and Harold Baines Elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee

Lee Smith and Harold Baines were elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame today by "Today's Game Era Committee", an incarnation of the Veterans Committee.

These are not good picks, especially the one of Harold Baines. They belong more in the Hall of Very Good, rather than in the Hall of Fame. They had very good careers and compiled large numbers in various stats, but in my opinion they don't belong in the Hall of Fame. One of the things to think about when considering whether a player raises or lowers the standards of the Hall at their position. In my view, Lee Smith is a borderline case and I would put him just below the border, but he was the all-time saves leader for a while (and, in general, I can see the arguments in his favor), and he got many Hall of Fame votes for years. Thus, I only view this as a mildly bad pick. I understand it, but I wouldn't put him in the Hall. Part of the issue with Lee Smith has always been the overrating of saves, and I am not surprised that he got in through the Today's Game Era Committee, given the many votes he got from writers over the years in the regular voting. So I can mostly understand his case. But Harold Baines? He was a very good player, but he really lowers the bar at his position. He never got a sniff from the writers, nor did he deserve it.

I'm looking forward to the regular ballot, which will get us Mariano Rivera (who may break the record for highest voting percentage), Edgar Martínez (finally!), Roy Halladay, and maybe (and hopefully!) Mike Mussina will make it. Those four all richly deserve enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

Maybe Lee Smith's election will help Billy Wagner's case?

"'C' is for Cookie": Academic Evaluation Edition

Comment: "'C' is for cookie. That's good enough for me!"

Comment 2: Apparently, some of my what we did in mathematics in Somerville was an even better idea than I thought. ;)

'The provision of chocolate cookies had a significant effect on course evaluation. These findings question the validity of (student evaluations of teaching) and their use in making widespread decisions within a faculty.' HT @KStackWhitney (photo: Dschwen) https://t.co/lO1v18tmf5 pic.twitter.com/N6epK3GinU

— Erika Marín-Spiotta (@emsaurios) December 7, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Jacquelyn Gill.)

Does Particle Man Hate Tariff Man?

Does Particle Man hate Tariff Man? And what about Triangle Man?

Jewelry and Differential Equations

I'm sure that many jewel thieves started on the road to crime after failed attempts to solve a differential equation.

Wolfram Alpha thinks that I may want to find jewelry, even though I asked it about a differential equation. pic.twitter.com/PpfoFUbEUb

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) December 4, 2018

Tales from the ArXiv: Laundering Anti-Money

This new paper has the following title: "Scalable Graph Learning for Anti-Money Laundering: A First Look"

Wow! I wonder what happens when laundered anti-money collides with laundered money?

Tales from the ArXiv: Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

If I had done this study, I would make a video submission to the Gallery of Nonlinear Images (may it rest in peace), and I would set it to the tune of the song Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Just saying...

Extra Special Mathematics Terminology

One of my favorite terminology fails in mathematics is the notion of an "extra special group" (which has the added bonus that my undergraduate abstract-algebra professor was unable to say it without also giggling): https://t.co/BsW1dgDYaC

So inspired!#terminologyfail

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 27, 2018

"Motor Primitives in Space and Time via Targeted Gain Modulation in Cortical Networks"

Our paper officially came out in Nature Neuroscience today! Here are some details.

Title: Motor Primitives in Space and Time via Targeted Gain Modulation in Cortical Networks

Authors: Jake P. Stroud, Mason A. Porter, Guillaume Hennequin, and Tim P. Vogels

Abstract: Motor cortex (M1) exhibits a rich repertoire of neuronal activities to support the generation of complex movements. Although recent neuronal-network models capture many qualitative aspects of M1 dynamics, they can generate only a few distinct movements. Additionally, it is unclear how M1 efficiently controls movements over a wide range of shapes and speeds. We demonstrate that modulation of neuronal input–output gains in recurrent neuronal-network models with a fixed architecture can dramatically reorganize neuronal activity and thus downstream muscle outputs. Consistent with the observation of diffuse neuromodulatory projections to M1, a relatively small number of modulatory control units provide sufficient flexibility to adjust high-dimensional network activity using a simple reward-based learning rule. Furthermore, it is possible to assemble novel movements from previously learned primitives, and one can separately change movement speed while preserving movement shape. Our results provide a new perspective on the role of modulatory systems in controlling recurrent cortical activity.

Introduction to "Confusion Equations"

Proposal: "Convection–Diffusion Equations" should be called "Confusion Equations" (or at least "Conffusion Equations").

Tales from the ArXiv: Shit's About to Get Octonionic!

Here is an interesting-looking a new paper (by Michael Freedman, Modjtaba Shokrian-Zini, and Zhenghan Wang ) called "Quantum computing with Octonions".

One thing that I find really exciting in the last few years is seeing octonions show up more and more in (in-the-process-of-becoming) practical things!

"Shit's about to get octonionic!", as some of us might say. ;)

Adrián Beltré Announces Retirement

Adrián Beltré has announced his retirement. Next stop, Cooperstown!

I was hoping that Beltré would continue playing, as he's still very effective. Also, if he spent time playing as the oldest player in the Major Leagues, he would have become the first player ever to spend time as both the youngest player in the Majors and as the oldest one.

A Useful Exercise for Junior Scholars on the Academic Job Market

Here is a story and useful exercise for people on the job market for junior faculty positions or postdocs: When I was a postdoc at Georgia Tech, I was asked to go through about 20 postdoc applications for my thoughts on them. This was for the Center for Nonlinear Science in the physics department. (They had already removed about half of the original set of applications, so these were ones that made the cut to still be considered.) I decided that I would try to do it in one hour. It actually took me about two, even while purposely trying to be very fast. Then, in addition to helping the Georgia Tech folks (which was a good thing to do), I asked myself what I noticed about the applications during that intentionally rushed time. I then used those insights to help me improve my application materials.

There are various ways to do such an exercise, and I suspect most people will be doing it without looking at submitted applications in the above way. Gather a set of postdocs in a sufficiently broad field (e.g., "applied mathematics" or even just "mathematics"), as it's a good part of the exercise to see how you evaluate people who are studying topics that are somewhat outside of your expertise. Make sure there is a strict time limit, as you want to see what you notice — both good and bad — about applications in that setting, as it's a realistic setting for how applications are evaluated when it counts. I think you'll pick up some good insights this way, and you can also give each other helpful advice to improve your application materials.

There are various things that we (= senior academics) talk about and give as advice all of the time, but it's good to really try it for yourself. Then you'll see what you notice — both good and bad — in the bundle of applications that you read really quickly.

And, importantly, good luck on your job hunts!

Incidentally, you can find my research statement, teaching statement, and LaTeX file (with drafts of various 'personalization' paragraphs) from my time on the job market, to get my first faculty position, over a decade ago on this Web page

Rubik's Poincaré Disk

Wow! This is so awesome!

#Twisty #puzzle guest tweet. #Hyperbolic #Rubik's cube analogue shown solving in the Poincaré disk model. 24-color puzzle based on the regular {7,3} #tiling. https://t.co/fH15fczvKw pic.twitter.com/3mHMGiygQ2

— Tiling Bot (@TilingBot) November 18, 2018

Which 2-Digit Parent Mathematics Subject Classification Should I Pick as my Primary Classification?

Suppose that you are in the situation that I am in terms of Mathematics Subject Classification, as shown in my tweet below (each term corresponds to one of these), and you are now supposed to pick one of these as your primary classification on the job market. (Note that I am not on the job market, but there was a time long ago when I was a junior scientist and I was faced with this situation.) Which one would you pick?

The Mathematics Subject Classification does an "awesome" job of classifying me: https://t.co/chQW9cCotC

This classification ontology is horrible for applied mathematicians in general, and that can really hurt them on the job market. pic.twitter.com/DnYYBI2Muh

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 16, 2018

Applied mathematicians face this all the time (though my own research portfolio is a particularly extreme case of MSC failure) on the job market in their job applications for postdoc and faculty positions in mathematics departments in the United States. They forced to submit the standard American Mathematical Society (AMS) cover sheet, and they are then categorized according to an ontology that fails them utterly. It is systematically unfair to applied mathematicians.

The MSC needs to be revamped.

"Layer Communities in Multiplex Networks"

The final coordinates of one of my papers finally appeared with its journal coordinates, although a published version was already available in August 2017. It just took a while for the full special issue in which it appeared to be published, so only now to do we have our volume, issue, and page numbers. This is my first publication in Journal of Statistical Physics.

Here are some other details:

Title: Layer Communities in Multiplex Networks

Authors: Ta-Chu Kao and Mason A. Porter

Abstract: Multiplex networks are a type of multilayer network in which entities are connected to each other via multiple types of connections. We propose a method, based on computing pairwise similarities between layers and then doing community detection, for grouping structurally similar layers in multiplex networks. We illustrate our approach using both synthetic and empirical networks, and we are able to find meaningful groups of layers in both cases. For example, we find that airlines that are based in similar geographic locations tend to be grouped together in a multiplex airline network and that related research areas in physics tend to be grouped together in a multiplex collaboration network.

2018 Most Valuable Player Awards

There were also no surprises with Major League Baseball's 2018 Most Valuable Player Awards. Mookie Betts of the Red Sox won by a landslide in the American League (with Mike Trout finishing second yet again and continuing his historical run of MVP-caliber seasons), and Christian Yelich of the Brewers won by a landslide in the National League. I thought that Mookie Betts would be unanimous; he was ranked first on 28 of the 30 ballots. Yelich was ranked first on 29 of the 30 ballots.

Some of the rankings are available on this page. Complete point totals are available for the American League on this page and for the National League on this page.

"WHAT IS... a Multilayer Network"

My "WHAT IS..." article on multilayer networks just appeared in published form today in the December 2018 issue of Notices of the American Mathematical Society.

Armin Straub has taken it upon himself to post a comprehensive list of all "WHAT IS..." articles. Mine is the 149th such article.

2018 Cy Young Awards

the 2018 Major League Baseball Cy Young Awards were announced today, and there weren't any surprises: Jacob deGrom of the Mets ran away with the National League award, and Blake Snell of the Rays won a close race over Justin Verlander of the Astros.

2018 Major League Baseball Managers of the Year

The 2018 American League Manager of the Year is Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics. The 2018 National League Manager of the Year is Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves.

What Happens in Columbus Stays in Columbus

I'm off the Columbus, the only city in Ohio I've ever visited. I'll be at Ohio State again, though mainly visiting a different group than usual this time. I'm looking forward to chatting with their various data folks, as well as chatting with my collaborators. (There is a nonzero intersection in these groups.)

Ohtani and Acuña Jr. are the 2018 Rookies of the Year!

The Angels' Shohei Ohtani, who is both a position player and a pitcher, was the run-away winner of the American League Rookie of the Year Award. I knew he had a good chance, but I thought the balloting was going to be a tight three-way race between Ohtani, and Yankee infielders Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres. You can find the rankings and point totals on this page. In the National League, the balloting went as expected: the Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. is the Rookie of the Year, Juan Soto of the Nationals finished second, and Walker Buehler of the Dodgers finished a distant third. (The final ranking and point totals are both available in the link above.)

The 2018 class of Major League Baseball rookies was very strong indeed!

"Roll for Initiative"

I think I've decided on what message to put on my tombstone. ;) 👻 pic.twitter.com/i7CbQp9xJO

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) November 11, 2018

(Well, "Roll for surprise." probably conveys the implication better, but it doesn't seem as good.)

Congratulations to Dr. Alejandro Martínez!

My doctoral student Alejandro Martínez has now officially finished his D.Phil. (i.e., Ph.D.), with a dissertation called Disordered Granular Crystals.

His thesis work includes several awesome papers, including this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one. (Alejandro also has additional papers from his thesis era that are in collaboration with other people.)

Alejandro is now a postdoctoral scholar in computational biology in Chile.

Plants that Look like Stones

Wow!

Lithops, South African plants that have evolved to look like stones. pic.twitter.com/6NQqniKZbJ

— Back To Nature (@backt0nature) November 5, 2018

Sometimes the Refereeing Process Actually Works :)

We had a paper just accepted to PRE, and I wanted to show it to someone who I thought may not have seen it.

Me: "Yes, we need to upload the revised version to the arXiv reasonably soon. We changed it substantially (we had a very thorough and helpful referee), so I didn't want to only point you to the old version."

Response: "I hesitated to tell you this in the first message, but I was the referee--thanks for the compliment, all the more meaningful since you didn't know!!"

As frustrating as this can all be (and it is very often indeed), sometimes the process really does work, and sometimes you end up accidentally complimenting somebody a lot instead of accidentally having egg on your face. ;)

Tales from the ArXiv: The Power Law OF DEATH

First I saw a researcher (Geoff West) claim that there is The Power Law of DOOM! (That's my name for it — not theirs.) At some point, I thought I had that in a blog post, but now I think it was only verbal snarky remarks and a Facebook entry. It started with a talk that he gave years at Oxford in which Geoff started off by saying that he was only going to have very modest conclusions in his seminar, but by the end of the talk, he was predicting the imminent decline of civilization.

And on the heels of The Power Law OF DOOM, we now have claims of The Power Law OF DEATH in a new arXiv paper called "Statistical study of time intervals between murders for serial killers".

In both cases (and as is common), the claims of a power law are unlikely to be justified statistically.

See also The Small-World Network OF LUST, this old blog entry, and this old blog entry.

Why are Pencils Yellow?

"Hardtmuth settled on yellow to communicate the graphite’s geographical origins, while also linking its product to the long-held Chinese associations of royalty, and therefore superiority." https://t.co/Mn1LjGRbYQ

— Samuel Arbesman (@arbesman) October 31, 2018

E. L. Ince and the State of Differential Equations in England in 1926

E. L. Ince, being snarky about the state of the study of differential equations in England, in the preface of his classic 1926 book on the subject. pic.twitter.com/nLPXLv5mNt

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) October 29, 2018

Dodgers Win Game 3 of the World Series 3–2 in 18 Innings!

Wow!

It's a great day for a ball game. Let's play two!

Many records were set, including longest postseason game (by time) and longest World Series game (by both inning and time). It tied the record for most innings in a postseason game.

(We're still down 2 games to 1, so we have an uphill climb. But today was really exciting. Let's see what tomorrow brings!)

812 Double Pendulums with Different Initial Conditions

This is what 812 double pendulums with different initial conditions look like https://t.co/jklEvfb5EI | https://t.co/ctsPCmFfEJ pic.twitter.com/jMar6rlRma

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 26, 2018

Spatial and Information Efficiency in Price Lists

Everything's clear, right?

theres gotta be a better way to convey this information pic.twitter.com/pHEswDU0TC

— sean (@seanposting) October 21, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Heather Zinn Brooks.)

"Network Science In Education: Transformational Approaches in Teaching and Learning"

Our book on network science in education just came out. Here are some details.

Title: Network Science In Education: Transformational Approaches in Teaching and Learning

Editors: Catherine B. Cramer, Mason A. Porter, Hiroki Sayama, Lori Sheetz, and Stephen Miles Uzzo

The book also includes my chapter about developing my undergraduate mathematics course about networks.

Which Headline Do You Prefer?

Seen in the wild: @sfchronicle using two different headlines for the same article. pic.twitter.com/xPhbvbAMzV

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) October 14, 2018

Using a 'Sort' Function to Order the Chicken and the Egg

Wel that settles that. 😂 pic.twitter.com/0xHvS8Dply

— allie, 🎃 the spookiest 👻 transbian 💀 (@aBagorn) October 14, 2018

(I saw this through a 'like' by Chris Danforth on Twitter.)

A Map of Every Building in America

Wow!

"A MAP OF EVERY
BUILDING IN AMERICA" RT @JenLucPiquant @jswatz: Here is the online version of the big, weird, fun thing I was telling you about yesterday... I loved working on this. https://t.co/loRUJhGJJo

— Marc Abrahams (@MarcAbrahams) October 12, 2018

A Really Fancy Visual Illusion

Wow!

Amazing motion illusion.
V5 is firing due to V4 saturation! pic.twitter.com/oNgxRXXN3f

— Alice Proverbio (@AliceProverbio) October 12, 2018

Amazing Visual Illusion: A Dynamic Müller–Lyer Illusion

This visual illusion is amazing. It is a dynamic Müller–Lyer illusion.

This is probably the best illusion I've ever seen. The blue and red lines are all the same length; none is moving or changing size, and they’re all at the same level. Only the arrowheads are moving. https://t.co/bDyeOKXgbC pic.twitter.com/V6KrmLkiPr

— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) October 4, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Marcel Salathe.)

Look at Me, I'm 𝞧 sub d...

I am going to have a field day for puns with this new (for me) nugget of information...

Sooo, Max Born, who gave us the statistical interpretation of the quantum mechanical wavefunction, is the grandfather of Olivia Newton-John @olivianj of Grease fame. How did I not know this.

— Michelle Kuchera (@MKizzyy) October 3, 2018

How Many First-Authored Papers in "Leading" Journals Does One Need to be Hired as an Assistant Professor?

This is in ecology, but we can think of analogous exercises for mathematics and physics (including also with numbers of citations of papers at the time of being hired).

How many first-authored papers in “leading” journals does an ecologist need to be hired as a tenure-track asst. prof at an R1 university? Not nearly as many as most ecologists think. https://t.co/qpfozljVD0 pic.twitter.com/VrcfEbTjdh

— Dynamic Ecology (@DynamicEcology) October 2, 2018

FYI: I have seen several things on this blog over the years that are relevant far beyond their core ecology audience, so it's worth a look beyond this post.

Update: It's also not required to have lots of citations to get a top faculty job. It would be good to see a distribution of what people have had in practice. (The number of citations listed by Google Scholar for me for 2006 is 53.)

Dodgers Win 6th Straight National League West Division Title!

The Dodgers won the game-163 tie-breaker with the Colorado Rockies to win their 6th straight National League West division title!

We face the Atlanta Braves in one of the two National League Division Series starting on Thursday. Go Dodgers!

Will the Authors of this Paper Look Back in Anger?

Key question: Will the authors look back in anger when they read their referee reports on this paper?

"Can high-density human collective motion be forecasted by spatiotemporal fluctuations?"

Eigenmodes of crowd dynamics at an Oasis concert. #moshmathhttps://t.co/srSG8Biyui pic.twitter.com/XxnlBQuDFJ

— Chris Danforth (@ChrisDanforth) September 24, 2018

XKCD on Curve Fitting

Yes, yes, and yes!

Here is today's new XKCD.

Trying to Divide by 0 on a Mechanical Calculator

;)

Division by zero is a mathematical challenging concept: see what happens when you try in on a mechanical calculator https://t.co/cfo52jdEGr pic.twitter.com/5jho6XqX7Q

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 18, 2018

"Inferring Parameters of Prey Switching in a 1 Predator–2 Prey Plankton System with a Linear Preference Tradeoff"

Another of my papers came out in final published form today.

Title: Inferring Parameters of Prey Switching in a 1 Predator–2 Prey Plankton System with a Linear Preference Tradeoff

Authors: Sofia H. Piltz, Lauri Harhanen, Mason A. Porter, and Philip K. Maini

Abstract: We construct two ordinary-differential-equation models of a predator feeding adaptively on two prey types, and we evaluate the models’ ability to fit data on freshwater plankton. We model the predator’s switch from one prey to the other in two different ways: (i) smooth switching using a hyperbolic tangent function; and (ii) by incorporating a parameter that changes abruptly across the switching boundary as a system variable that is coupled to the population dynamics. We conduct linear stability analyses, use approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) combined with a population Monte Carlo (PMC) method to fit model parameters, and compare model results quantitatively to data for ciliate predators and their two algal prey groups collected from Lake Constance on the German–Swiss–Austrian border. We show that the two models fit the data well when the smooth transition is steep, supporting the simplifying assumption of a discontinuous prey-switching behavior for this scenario. We thus conclude that prey switching is a possible mechanistic explanation for the observed ciliate–algae dynamics in Lake Constance in spring, but that these data cannot distinguish between the details of prey switching that are encoded in these different models.


Note: This paper is actually the third in a series of papers that arose from Sofia's doctoral thesis. In all three, we studied prey switching in plankton as a dynamical system. However, although we were concerned in all three papers with the same ecological situation, we modeled it in three different mathematical ways: using piecewise-smooth dynamical systems (in paper 1), using fast–slow dynamical systems (in paper 2), and using smooth dynamical systems (in this paper). It is really important to model the same phenomenon in different ways and to compare the qualitative features of the different models against each other as well as to empirical data. I am really pleased with this effort, which Sofia did a superb job of leading.

"Frequency-Based Brain Networks: From a Multiplex Framework to a Full Multilayer Description"

One of my papers just came out in final form. Here are some details.

Title: Frequency-Based Brain Networks: From a Multiplex Framework to a Full Multilayer Description

Authors: Javier M. Buldú and Mason A. Porter

Abstract: We explore how to study dynamical interactions between brain regions by using functional multilayer networks whose layers represent different frequency bands at which a brain operates. Specifically, we investigate the consequences of considering the brain as (i) a multilayer network, in which all brain regions can interact with each other at different frequency bands; and as (ii) a multiplex network, in which interactions between different frequency bands are allowed only within each brain region and not between them. We study the second-smallest eigenvalue λ2 of the combinatorial supra-Laplacian matrix of both the multiplex and multilayer networks, as λ2 has been used previously as an indicator of network synchronizability and as a biomarker for several brain diseases. We show that the heterogeneity of interlayer edge weights and, especially, the fraction of missing edges crucially modify the value of λ2, and we illustrate our results with both synthetic network models and real data obtained from resting-state magnetoencephalography. Our work highlights the differences between using a multiplex approach and a full multilayer approach when studying frequency-based multilayer brain networks.

Bonus: This paper has an easter egg. Can you find it? (Hint: This is Spinal Tap.)

A Very Exciting (and Dangerous?) Mathematics Conference

Some mathematics conferences are more dangerous than others.

(Bernadette Stolz-Pretzer is apparently attending a particularly exciting conference. Thanks for posting this picture and letting me share it.) pic.twitter.com/wKiax2gWOA

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) September 11, 2018

P.S. I wonder what they actually have in mind with that session? I'm at a loss. I suppose it's clearer to the people who are actually attending the conference?

Referee Reports for the Watts–Strogatz 'Small World' Paper

This is a great document!

Steve Strogatz posted his referee reports (with annotations for their revision plans) about his genre-defining 1998 ‘small world’ paper with Duncan Watts.

It just goes to show that misguided, skeptical reports (see Referee 2 in the upper right) happen to the best of us.

Referee 2 was confused about the implications of the work to systems other than those studied (and possibly even to those applications)…

(The source is Steve's tweet. I posted the picture separately to orient it correctly.)

Googly Eyes, and Freshness of Fish

Well, this story is fishy. Wow. (And oy vey.)

The headline pretty much sums it up: Store shut down after owners caught sticking googly eyes on fish to look fresher

P.S. There are also other uses for googly eyes.

(Tip of the cap to Renée O'Rear Handley.)

Hindsight's 2020 Presidential Campaign

I don't know about you, but I'll be voting for the team of Hindsight/Forethought in 2020.

What Happens in Sydney Stays in Sydney

I am at LAX for my trip Down Under!

The only previous time I was in Australia was in 2005 for my interview at University of Sydney. (I am visiting a collaborator at Macquarie University, and I'll be giving one teach each there and at University of Sydney.)

"Isomorphisms in Multilayer Networks"

This paper first appeared on the arXiv in 2015 and was published in advanced access about a year ago. It finally has its final volume and page coordinates, so I am finally writing a blog entry about. At this stage, the paper certainly doesn't feel "new" anymore, but it has some useful ideas in it, and it's also my first paper in an IEEE journal. This paper is also rather unusual for me, in that my coauthor Mikko Kivelä and I decided that the clearest way to present things would be to write the paper in definition–theorem–proof format. I almost never write papers that way. Anyway, here are a few details.

Title: Isomorphisms in Multilayer Networks

Authors: Mikko Kivelä and Mason A. Porter

Abstract: We extend the concept of graph isomorphisms to multilayer networks with any number of “aspects” (i.e., types of layering). In developing this generalization, we identify multiple types of isomorphisms. For example, in multilayer networks with a single aspect, permuting vertex labels, layer labels, and both vertex labels and layer labels each yield different isomorphism relations between multilayer networks. Multilayer network isomorphisms lead naturally to defining isomorphisms in any of the numerous types of networks that can be represented as a multilayer network, and we thereby obtain isomorphisms for multiplex networks, temporal networks, networks with both of these features, and more. We reduce each of the multilayer network isomorphism problems to a graph isomorphism problem, where the size of the graph isomorphism problem grows linearly with the size of the multilayer network isomorphism problem. One can thus use software that has been developed to solve graph isomorphism problems as a practical means for solving multilayer network isomorphism problems. Our theory lays a foundation for extending many network analysis methods—including motifs, graphlets, structural roles, and network alignment—to any multilayer network.

The Winning Game and a Potentially Interesting Dodger Factoid

In franchise history, the Dodgers have never had a season in which none of their pitchers has won 10+ games.

This year, our win leader is Ross Stripling (with 8 wins), who is currently on the disabled list.

We have a good chance to make the playoffs, and there is an even better chance that none of our pitchers will get double digits in wins. "Accomplishing" both of these things in the same season is not easy.

(I found this out from Charley Steiner on tonight's broadcast.)

"Do Complex-Systems Scientists Dream of Emergent Sheep?"

I came up with this title earlier today, and I need to write an article (or book or something) with this title.

Do complex-systems scientists dream of emergent sheep? :)

— DynamicalSystemsSIAM (@DynamicsSIAM) August 30, 2018

Update: And, to complete the picture, note that there is also an old game called Netrunner.

Carpeting Dragon*Con

The old carpet at the Atlanta Marriott — which unfortunately was replaced with something much more boring — has become a big part of the legend of Dragon*Con. (It also appeals to me mathematically, of course.)

Many Dragon*Con costumes and related things still invoke the old carpet.

Here is an article (to which I can't get full access) that appears to be about carpet-related costumes more generally (though the front picture is one from Dragon*Con).

Scientific Journals are for Kids!

The journal Frontiers for Young Minds is very cool!

It is "an open-access scientific journal written by scientists and reviewed by a board of kids and teens."

Here is some text from their online blurb:

That is why distinguished scientists are invited to write about their cutting-edge discoveries in a language that is accessible for young readers, and it is then up to the kids themselves – with the help of a science mentor – to provide feedback and explain to the authors how to best improve the articles before publication.

As a result, Frontiers for Young Minds provides a collection of freely available scientific articles by distinguished scientists that are shaped for younger audiences by the input of their own young peers.

I approve!

(Tip of the cap to Petter Holme.)

Advice to Students: "Think for Yourself."

This statement gives excellent advice! In fact, it's the main thing that I try to convey to students.

"We are scholars and teachers at Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and other institutions who have some thoughts to share and advice to offer students across the country. Our advice can be distilled to three words:

Think for yourself."

The full statement, which I signed, is worth reading.

The Karate Club Will Long Live in Network-Science Infamy

Especially with the new Karate Club lore that has made it into the 2nd edition of Mark Newman's textbook.

(However, Mark misspelled "awesome" as "dubious", for some reason.)

Snarky Karate Club lore (t-shirt + ZKCC) has made the 2nd edition of Mark Newman's textbook on networks (the closest thing we have to a standard introductory text).

Should I be happier about having papers & research cited in the 2nd edition, or about the t-shirt being cited? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/yCjq4MCzer

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) August 27, 2018

P.S. You can see the history of the ZKCC at this website and buy ZKC memorabilia at The Power Law Shop.

Infinite Loop

well played pic.twitter.com/KVZV799qmB

— Leon Fayer (@papa_fire) August 16, 2018

(Tip of the cap to Manlio De Domenico.)

What Happens at WorldCon 76 Stays at WorldCon 76

I am at the airport — experiencing a lovely 2.5-hour delay in my flight — and will be flying to San Jose, California to attend this year's WorldCon. Several of my friends will be there, so it should be lots of fun.

I am looking forward to geeking out!

(I am also looking forward to getting out of this crowded, shitty airport. LAX is awful.)

A Wassermanian–Faustian Bargain

Earlier today, I was looking for 'balance' in "Social Network Analysis" by Wasserman & Faust, but instead I found the 'beast'.

(I suppose that social network analysis is sometimes a Wassermanian–Faustian bargain.) pic.twitter.com/cm4jZiupeW

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) August 13, 2018

"Network Analysis of Particles and Grains"

Our review article on granular and particulate networks, which appeared in advanced access a few months ago, is now out in final form (with its page numbers and other coordinates). Here are some details.

Title: Network Analysis of Particles and Grains

Authors: Lia Papadopoulos, Mason A. Porter, Karen E. Daniels, and Danielle S. Bassett

Abstract: The arrangements of particles and forces in granular materials have a complex organization on multiple spatial scales that range from local structures to mesoscale and system-wide ones. This multiscale organization can affect how a material responds or reconfigures when exposed to external perturbations or loading. The theoretical study of particle-level, force-chain, domain and bulk properties requires the development and application of appropriate physical, mathematical, statistical and computational frameworks. Traditionally, granular materials have been investigated using particulate or continuum models, each of which tends to be implicitly agnostic to multiscale organization. Recently, tools from network science have emerged as powerful approaches for probing and characterizing heterogeneous architectures across different scales in complex systems, and a diverse set of methods have yielded fascinating insights into granular materials. In this article, we review work on network-based approaches to studying granular matter and explore the potential of such frameworks to provide a useful description of these systems and to enhance understanding of their underlying physics. We also outline a few open questions and highlight particularly promising future directions in the analysis and design of granular matter and other kinds of material networks.

A Touching Song about a Matrix Entry that is not Well-Defined

This is a touching song about a matrix entry that is very sad because it is not well-defined.

Workshop on Evidence-Based Diversity Initiatives

I hope that some of my mathematics, networks, and complex-systems peeps attend this workshop! It looks good.

Tired of expensive diversity initiatives that haven’t really changed much? So are we 😴. We want to give you 💰 to work on projects based on evidence. Meet new people, change the game. Join us on Sept 21 + 22 @turinginst: https://t.co/gOH4KvRQM7 #womeninSTEM x @STEMGamechange pic.twitter.com/PPgDvIqqy9

— Dr Jess Wade 👩🏻‍🔬 (@jesswade) July 25, 2018

(P.S. Jess Wade has been doing amazing things in her prolific writing of Wikipedia entries.)

What Happens in San José (Costa Rica) Stays in San José (Costa Rica)

I am heading off to Costa Rica for a visit related to an epidemiology project related to combatting Dengue Fever, Zika, and Chikungunya using mathematical modeling and network analysis.

An Author Named "Tapas Bar"

The first author of this new paper is named "Tapas Bar".

Suddenly, I feel hungry.

Our Physics Today Obituary of Norman Zabusky

David Campbell, Alan Newell, and I wrote an obituary of Norman Zabusky for Physics Today. It just came out.

Previously, we wrote an obituary of Zabusky for DSWeb.

2018 Fields Medals

The 2018 Fields Medals in mathematics have been announced!

You can also read short prize citations for the four Fields Medalists and the Nevanlinna Prize (in theoretical computer science).