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Sim Epidemic

Posted by Zonk on from the i-don't-see-this-one-as-a-bestseller dept.

Dotnaught writes "Scientific American has an intriguing story about EpiSims, an outbreak simulator. Designed by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), it deals with a social networking of a different sort: 'To understand what a social network really is and how it can be used for epidemiology, imagine the daily activities and contacts of a single hypothetical adult, Ann. She has short brushes with family members during breakfast and then with other commuters or carpoolers on her way to work. Depending on her job, she might meet dozens of people at work, with each encounter having a different duration, proximity and purpose.'"

3 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Zombies by LMariachi · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sounds a little like the Zombie Infection Simulator.

    1. Re:Zombies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      http://members.csinet.net/bernice/zomb3.html

      I like this one better

  2. Links and research papers by FleaPlus · · Score: 4, Informative

    First off, here's a link to the EpiSims site at Los Alamos National Labs. They have a neat (250 meg) video showing smallprox propagation, as well as several graphs.

    Here's a link to the general web page at LANL for Dynamic Simulation Science, which also includes information on things like simulation of transportation networks.

    A google scholar search turns up a few interesting-looking research papers:

    Structural and Algorithmic Aspects of Massive Social Networks (Eubank et al, 2004)

    Understanding Large-Scale Social and Infrastructure Networks: ASimulation-Based Approach (Barrett et al)

    BioWar: A City-Scale Multi-Agent Network Model of Weaponized Biological Attacks