Luis Bettencourt on the Universal Properties of Self-Organizing Cities

People who live in large cities produce more patents per person than those who live in small towns. They also walk faster down the street, and use less infrastructure per person. Indeed, the relationships between these quantities and city population obey power laws with apparently universal exponents, reminiscent of scaling laws is biological organisms? Luis Bettencourt argues that they can be explained in similar ways, using ideas from complex systems and network theory.

https://preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/07/27/362-luis-bettencourt-on-the-universal-properties-of-self-organizing-cities/

AI Reference Verification

A pipeline for checking whether references produced by large language models actually exist, by resolving each one against Crossref and OpenAlex and scoring how well the generated metadata agrees with the real record.

https://github.com/yajiwang/AI-Reference-Verification

#Phd in Complexity Science
https://csh.ac.at/education/graduate-program/

We are looking for students who want to use their exceptional knowledge and skills to make a meaningful difference in society – whether supporting the green transition, combating crime and misinformation, improving healthcare outcomes, or building more equitable economies.

#Postdoc Fellow in Social Reinforcement Learning and Human-AI Hybrid Systems
https://careers.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/jobs/8112072-postdoctoral-fellow-in-social-reinforcement-learning-and-human-ai-hybrid-systems

Surface Data vs. Deep Data
Alyosha Efros (UC Berkeley)

https://youtu.be/vk6lgHjjGp8

Jitendra Malik challenges the "bitter lesson" doctrine, arguing that simple scaling is insufficient for true artificial intelligence. By contrasting passive surface data with active, hard-earned deep data, this talk explores the necessity of curiosity-driven exploration and physical embodiment in creating systems that move beyond mere mimicry to genuine understanding of our world.

#PhD position in computational drug discovery
https://kidoktorand.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:957832/

#PostDoc position at the intersection of AI genetics
https://ukaachen.concludis.de/prj/shw/aba25a9fda63263672f8e84b6d7a4c6e_0/56159/Post-Doktorand_-in_m_w_d_fuer_den_Bereich_und_quot_Kuenstliche_Intelligenz_in_der_Genomik_und_quot_.htm

#Postdoc Researcher in Data Stewardship
https://jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki-Postdoctoral-Researcher-in-Data-Stewardship/1369609457/

Limits of Inference in Complex Systems: When Stochastic Models Become Indistinguishable
https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/tmkr-9kl2

#Postdoc to join the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University London on a new 3-year Leverhulme Trust-funded project:
🦠 Rethinking Epidemic Models: Integrating Human Behaviour and Psychology
The project will develop a new generation of agent-based epidemic

https://northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/GBR_NULondonCareers/job/London-UK/Research-Assistant_R141807