Category: Uncategorized

LARGE VOCABULARY. “Decoding chemical communication in nematodes. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces tens, if not hundreds, of different ascarosides as pheromones to communicate with other members of its species.” https://lnkd.in/dXsN6Pj View in LinkedIn

"SYNTHETIC LIFE should self-replicate, and evolve structures or processes that were not designed-in or pre-conceived by the creator. Core Wars programs, computer viruses, and worms are capable of self-replication, but fortunately, not evolution. It is unlikely that such programs will ever become fully living, because they are not likely to be able to evolve." (TS Ray). https://lnkd.in/eYcp73P View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE focuses this second and last weekend on worm talk. This discovery is quite remarkable, even in its early stages. Biologists have made disappointing progress decoding the language of vocal animals such as birds and dolphins. But here we have humble nematodes with what looks like a sophisticated language, with syntax, which was supposed to be uniquely human. One day, we might be able to have a conversation with a worm over a nice cup of tea, and discuss their view of the universe. Such a prospect! View in LinkedIn

THOMAS S RAY featured heavily in the early days of synthetic life by creating Tierra, the pre-eminent synthetic life program. He is an ecological biologist who went into synthetic modeling and came out the other end "using the genome databases to study the origin and evolution of gene families." The following few quotes are from his work. https://lnkd.in/ehJiKXf View in LinkedIn

NOT THERE YET. "A self-organizing system not only regulates or adapts its behavior, it creates its own organization. In that respect it differs fundamentally from our present systems, which are created by their designer. Self-organizing systems are intrinsically robust: they can withstand a variety of errors, perturbations, or even partial destruction." https://lnkd.in/dkkAEiE View in LinkedIn

NET AGENTS. "Many of the most promising visions of how to coordinate the far-flung communication and computing cycles of this emerging platform converge on a controversial solution: the use of self-replicators that roam the Net. Free-ranging, self-replicating programs, autonomous Net agents, digital organisms - whatever they are called, there's an old fashion word for them: computer viruses." https://lnkd.in/e6ExXVY View in LinkedIn

OUT OF THE BOX. "We are bound to face those risks whether or not we seek to harness the full power of the Net, since the teeming and inevitable population of uncaged digital organisms will in any case plow forward with its own relentless exploration of the Net's capabilities." https://lnkd.in/edrARjk View in LinkedIn

PRIMORDIAL NET. "This coming Net of distributed resources will be tremendously powerful, and tremendously hard to harness because of its decentralized nature. It will be an ecology of computing machines, and managing it will require an ecological approach." https://lnkd.in/e6ExXVY View in LinkedIn

OUT OF THE BOX. "We are bound to face those risks whether or not we seek to harness the full power of the Net, since the teeming and inevitable population of uncaged digital organisms will in any case plow forward with its own relentless exploration of the Net's capabilities." https://lnkd.in/edrARjk View in LinkedIn

UNIMAGINABLE. "Trying to imagine the marvels that pour forth once you've successfully tapped a computer as elaborate as the Net is as futile as trying to map the future of a society, or of a life – or of life itself." https://lnkd.in/edrARjk View in LinkedIn