j.carlock

This year marks a decade since I published my first scientific article, “Fractality à la carte: a general particle aggregation model” (Scientific Reports, 2016). Give it a check! Open access: doi.org/10.1038/srep...

New blog post:

"Higher orders need higher standards"

skewed.de/lab/posts/hi...

I discuss our current work disentangling misconceptions around "higher-order" networks: arxiv.org/abs/2602.16937

Explainer thread for the paper here: bsky.app/profile/tiag...

Violent and non-violent death tolls for the Gaza conflict: new primary evidence from a population-representative field survey This first independent population survey of mortality in the Gaza Strip shows that violent deaths have substantially exceeded official figures whereas the demographic composition of casualties aligns ...

This new Lancet study would indicate that the death toll in Gaza is actually around 120,000 at minimum, if the undercount rate is similar since January 2025.

Using hypergraphs for your data?

Believing that hypergraphs “generalize” standard graphs to “higher order” structures?

Maybe you are conflating structure with mechanism, and this podcast is for you!

🎧 Spotify: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/com...
🎧 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Genuary day 20: One (noisy) line
Made with #python #numpy #matplotlib
#genuary #genuary20 #genuary2026

A long-overdue interactive version finally done
(Huge thanks to Google Gemini)
Complex Systems Topic Network: Interactive Visualization
bingdev.binghamton.edu/sayama/compl...

*The architecture of living systems*
Ambitious treatment of the physics of living systems
Some quibbles but impressive!
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
#complexsystems

Network Medicine is entering a new phase: one that demands we rethink how we study, model and ultimately treat complex diseases.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#ComplexSystems #NetworkScience #Medicine #MedSky 🧪🧬🌐

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✍️ ¡Nuevo artículo! Issa Luna Pla, @jrncarlock.bsky.social y Harald_Waxecker muestran por qué las redes criminales deben investigarse como sistemas, no como casos aislados. Enfrentarlas exige análisis de relaciones y acciones contra actores centrales.

Léelo completo en: dplf.org/repensar-la-...

How “intelligent” is a slime mold? When it solves mazes, it might not be thinking:it’s obeying physics. Our new paper with
@jordiplam.bsky.social shows how it follows a least action principle,letting physics do the job arxiv.org/pdf/2511.08531
@drmichaellevin.bsky.social @docteur-drey.bsky.social

What if we could chart all cell types across the tree of life?
In @nature.com, @arnausebe.bsky.social and colls launch the Biodiversity Cell Atlas, a global effort to map eukaryotic cell diversity using single-cell & genomic data.
drive.google.com/file/d/1G4zZ... @crg.eu @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social

The Bak-Sneppen model: species in a circle, each with random fitness. Replace the weakest species (and its neighbors) with new random values. Cascading evolutionary avalanches emerge, showing self-organized criticality from simple rules.
Made with #python #numpy #matplotlib

Prosecution of Complex Criminal Networks: A Multilevel ERGMs Approach to CICIG’s Judicial Cases - Journal of Quantitative Criminology Prosecutors are essential in combating organized crime, making key decisions about prosecution, target selection, and structuring imputation strategies. Despite their importance, the configuration of ...

New article in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology with Issa Luna-Pla and Harald Waxenecker: Prosecution of Complex Criminal Networks: A Multilevel ERGMs Approach to CICIG’s Judicial Cases. Open Access: doi.org/10.1007/s109...

What is the physical basis of death? Can we manipulate cellular rules to avoid it? What does death mean for a machine? Is immortality possible? What does it mean for language, thought, or information to die? My new book @princetonupress.bsky.social is coming soon. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Come join us in Boston this summer!

It's the 20-year anniversary of one of my absolute favorite conferences — we'll be planning some exciting events/discussions to celebrate how far this field has come and where it might go next.

Watch this space: www.netsci2026.com

Updating the Complex Systems Keyword Diagram Using Collective Feedback and Latest Literature Data The complex systems keyword diagram generated by the author in 2010 has been used widely in a variety of educational and outreach purposes, but it definitely needs a major update and reorganization. T...

It took 8 months to write up this short piece
"Updating the Complex Systems Keyword Diagram Using Collective Feedback and Latest Literature Data"
arxiv.org/abs/2509.11997

In complex systems, linear tools fail against nonlinear phenomena. You can’t fight smoke with a sword, nor bite water with your teeth—because complexity dissolves brute force. It demands sensitivity, adaptability, and systemic understanding. #complexity

Postdoc job! I expect to have an opening at Johns Hopkins for a postdoctoral researcher working somewhere in the broad realms of physics, philosophy, and complexity. Apply at Academic Jobs Online:

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30496

A very straight line on a loglog plot. So straight that even Aaron Clauset would call this a power-law

Super excited about our new paper on mobility that's out in Nature Human Behavior www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I love this paper for many reasons, but one is that we find beautiful 1/x power-law that spans 6 orders of magnitude hidden within the "ugly" distribution raw mobility data.

Very cool postdoc opportunity (at intersection of physics, philosophy, and complex systems) ⬇️

Why is universality such a central concept in complex systems? How does it connect Turing Machines and Spin Systems? In this new paper, Tomáš Gonda and @gemmadlc.bsky.social present an accessible account on how to identify and compare different universalities arxiv.org/pdf/2406.16607

Two relevant and classic Special Issues on Complexity:
(1) Science (Volume 284, Issue 5411, 1999): www.science.org/toc/science/...
(2) Nature Physics (Volume 8, No 1, 2012): www.nature.com/collections/...

What is emergence? This is one of the most central ingredients of complexity, and a challenging one to formalize. Here's a paper by @seanmcarroll.bsky.social & Achyth Parola that attempts to classify different forms of emergence. @manlius.bsky.social @sfiscience.bsky.social arxiv.org/pdf/2410.15468

Complexity science is multidisciplinary in structure, interdisciplinary in practice and transdisciplinary in purpose. #complexity

GitHub - hsayama/PyCX: PyCX is a Python-based sample code repository for complex systems research and education. PyCX is a Python-based sample code repository for complex systems research and education. - hsayama/PyCX

I finally had time to update PyCX to ver. 1.2! Many new models and bug fixes. Enjoy!!
github.com/hsayama/PyCX

What is complexity? Complex Systems made of many interacting units display "emergence", i.e. global properties that cannot be reduced to the properties of the units. A new idea? WM Wheeler was one of the advocates of emergence, back in 1927 @sfiscience.bsky.social
books.google.es/books/about/...

Models of the mind. #ComplexityThinking

Julia set using Lagrangian Descriptor
Made with #python #numpy #matplotlib