Monday, May 09, 2022
Links for "Self-Reproduction and Open-Ended Evolution" Lecture
Robot Self-replication
Cornell Creative Machines Lab: Self replication
Soft Robotics Evolution
An implementation of Von Neumann's Self_reproducing Automata. See Modifications by Tim Hutton.
Self-Reproducing Loops: from Langton's to Evoloop. Hiroki Sayama's Website and demos.
Self-reproducing loops
Langton's Loop Applet .
Self-reproducing Xenobots.
autocatalytic networks
Lack of evolvability in self-sustaining autocatalytic networks
Darwinian properties and their trade-offs in autocatalytic RNA reaction networks
Cornell Creative Machines Lab: Self replication
Soft Robotics Evolution
An implementation of Von Neumann's Self_reproducing Automata. See Modifications by Tim Hutton.
Self-Reproducing Loops: from Langton's to Evoloop. Hiroki Sayama's Website and demos.
Self-reproducing loops
Langton's Loop Applet .
Self-reproducing Xenobots.
autocatalytic networks
Lack of evolvability in self-sustaining autocatalytic networks
Darwinian properties and their trade-offs in autocatalytic RNA reaction networks
Labels: #Brenner, #open-endedEvolution, #self-reproduction, #Turing, #VonNeumann, Class Links
Full Lecture Notes: Evolutionary Systems
Chapter 7 Modeling Evolutionary Systems now available. The entire lecture notes for 2022 also available, including in a pdf booklet.
Labels: #evolution, #evolutionaryalgorithms, #selfOrganization, #Semioticclosure, #Semiotics
Monday, May 02, 2022
New Lecture Notes: Chapter 6 - Von Neumann and Natural Selection
6. Von Neumann and Natural Selection
Labels: #cellularAutomata, #Darwin, #evolution, #infomation, #Mendel, #self-reproduction, #Turing, #VonNeumann
links for "Immune System" lecture
Immune System
Overview of the Immune System
Immunology movies at Cells Alive!
An Interpretative Introduction to the Immune System. by S. A. Hofmeyr.
Immunology as information processing. by S. Forrest and S. A. Hofmeyr.
Labels: #adaptiveImmunity, #ArtificialImmuneSystems, #immunesystem, Class Links
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
links for Collective Behavior and Swarms lectures
Chemotaxis, Stigmergy, Termites and Ant Clustering and Sorting
Artificial Termites.
Mitchel Resnick
Ant-like task allocation and recruitment in cooperative robots
Cells Solving mazes and optimal paths
Self-generated gradients of chemicals and physical tension, cells in the body steer themselves to vital destinations.
Swarm Robotics @ Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
NetLogo
Artificial Ecosystems
Michael Conrad's Work
PolyWorld
Sim Life and Spore (More on Spore).
Collective Behavior
Boids
Boids Demo. Experiment with different interaction ruleson another demo.
Javascript for Boids. Implementing boids in Python.
EPFL Laboratory for Intelligent Systems
A Swarm of One Thousand Robots
Particle Swarm Optimization
Particle Swarm Optimization Paper by Kennedy and Eberhart..
Particle Swarm Optimization Demos.
Particle Swarm Optimization Visualization by Axel Thevenot.
Software Resources for PSO. PySwarm (Python code). Tutorial for coding PSO in Python.
PSO for prediction of protein-ligand interaction
Ant Colony Optimization Resources
Ant Colony Optimization Demo
Swarm-bots
Collective Robotic Intelligence Project (CRIP)
Braitenberg (reactive) Vehicles. A simulation of Braitenberg Vehicles.
Swarm Paintings and a conceptual update (using pheromone fields by Vitorino Ramos).
IdMind. Leonel Moura's robot art including RAP (Robot Action Painter).
Collective Dynamics
Dirk Helbing's Videos and Simulations
Traffic Dynamics in Urban Road Networks and Simulation of Multi-lane traffic. A video with stop-and.go dynamics
Mexican Wave
Simulate Escape Panic. Crowd Turbulence
Labels: #AntClusteringAlgorithm, #ants, #Artificialecology, #boids, #ClassLinks, #collectivebehavior, #flocking, #ParticleSwarmOptimization, #Swarms
Monday, April 11, 2022
Lecture Notes Chapter 5: Life is Stranger than Fiction
Reality is Stranger than Fiction: What can Artificial Life do about Advances in Biology?
Labels: #ArtificialLife, #biocomplexity, #biology, #genetics, #genomics
Lecture Notes (Chapter 4): Self-organization and emergent complex behavior
4. Self-Organization and Emergent Complex Behavior
Labels: #DynamicalSystems, #evolvability, #geneRegulation, #robustness, #self-organization
Links for "Evolutionary Algorithms" Lectures
Modeling Evolution
Introduction to Genetic Algorithms
Illustrating Evolutionary Computation with Mathematica
Genetic Algorithm Tutorial with Java Code
Simple Genetic Algorithm in NetLogo
Genetic Algorithm Walkers
PyGAD - Python Genetic Algorithm and paper with details
The Golem Project Genetic Programming Resources
Annual "Humies" Awards For Human-Competitive Results Produced By Genetic And Evolutionary Computation
Eureqa: a software tool for detecting equations and hidden mathematical relationships in data. Older version.
gplearn: Genetic Programming in Python
Biomorph demo and Python code
Biomorph Demo
Icosystem - The Hunch Engine™
From Artificial Evolution to Artificial Life (1999), Tim Taylor's PhD Dissertation. Check his overview of open-ended evolution.
BEACON: Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. biologists, computer scientists, and engineers study evolution as it happens and apply this knowledge to solve real-world problems.
Introduction to Genetic Algorithms
Illustrating Evolutionary Computation with Mathematica
Genetic Algorithm Tutorial with Java Code
Simple Genetic Algorithm in NetLogo
Genetic Algorithm Walkers
PyGAD - Python Genetic Algorithm and paper with details
The Golem Project Genetic Programming Resources
Annual "Humies" Awards For Human-Competitive Results Produced By Genetic And Evolutionary Computation
Eureqa: a software tool for detecting equations and hidden mathematical relationships in data. Older version.
gplearn: Genetic Programming in Python
Biomorph demo and Python code
Biomorph Demo
Icosystem - The Hunch Engine™
From Artificial Evolution to Artificial Life (1999), Tim Taylor's PhD Dissertation. Check his overview of open-ended evolution.
BEACON: Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. biologists, computer scientists, and engineers study evolution as it happens and apply this knowledge to solve real-world problems.
Labels: #Biomorphs, #evolution, #evolutionaryalgorithms, #evolutionaryComputation, #geneticAlgorithms, Class Links
Thursday, April 07, 2022
How Cells Conquer Mazes
"Researchers are beginning to understand more about how migrating cells navigate through the body." Full article @ Quanta Magazine.
Labels: #CellBiology, #Dynamics, #Movement, #Pathfinding
Monday, April 04, 2022
Links for "Genes as Turing Tape" Lecture
Brenner, Sydney. [2012]. "History of Science. The Revolution in the Life Sciences". Science 338 (6113): 1427-8.
Brenner, Sydney. [2012]. "Turing centenary: Life's code script. Nature 482 (7386) (February 22): 461-461.
The virtual Cell
Inside the Cell
Cell Biology at the Biology Project
More on Cells from Wikipedia
The Cell Image Library and highMag
Colonial Algae
Watson and Crick's Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids 1953 article
Journey into DNA
Cracking the Code of Life (PBS Show)
Explore a stretch of code
Translation and Protein Synthesis
Interactions between the Translation Machinery and Microtubules
Labels: #Cell, #dna, #evolution, #information, #SidneyBrenner, #Turing, #VonNeumann, Class Links
Monday, March 28, 2022
Links for "Design Principles of Computation" Lecture
The Lebombo Bone and Other Ancient Mathematical Objects
Turing Machine Simulator
Turing Machine Simulator 2
Turing Machine Simulator 3 (Java)
A Turing Machine Overview
BTW, my thoughts on the recent Turing Biopic and a related news article.
Some resources about the Abacus
The Abacus in Various Number Systems
Demo (The Chinese Abacus)
Mechanical Calculators
The Pascaline
The Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
NOVA: Ancient Computer
Babbage, Lovelace and the Analytical Engine
The Difference Engine
The Analytical Engine
9 Neat Facts About the World's First Computer Programmer, Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace and the Analytical Engine
Helping Ada Lovelace with her Homework: Classroom Exercises from a Victorian Calculus Course
Cool implementation of Babbage's Difference Engine using LEGO! Photos, description of adder and carry propagation logic, mechanical issues, etc. at: By Andy Carol
Turing Machine Simulator
Turing Machine Simulator 2
Turing Machine Simulator 3 (Java)
A Turing Machine Overview
BTW, my thoughts on the recent Turing Biopic and a related news article.
The Manchester Baby (1948)
MESM 1950 (Kyev)
Some resources about the Abacus
The Abacus in Various Number Systems
Demo (The Chinese Abacus)
Mechanical Calculators
The Pascaline
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
NOVA: Ancient Computer
Babbage, Lovelace and the Analytical Engine
The Difference Engine
The Analytical Engine
9 Neat Facts About the World's First Computer Programmer, Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace and the Analytical Engine
Helping Ada Lovelace with her Homework: Classroom Exercises from a Victorian Calculus Course
Cool implementation of Babbage's Difference Engine using LEGO! Photos, description of adder and carry propagation logic, mechanical issues, etc. at: By Andy Carol
Labels: #babbage, #Computation, #Computers, #Lovelace, #Turing, Class Links
Monday, March 21, 2022
Links for "Computation in Cellular Automata" lecture
Conway's Game of Life
Game of Life Demo
Game of Life Applet
3-D Game of Life
Turing Machine Implemented in Game of Life
Rule 110
Rule 110 and Universal Computation
Computation Theory of Cellular Automata
A Computational Mechanics Reading List by Cosma Shalizi
Game of Life Demo
Game of Life Applet
3-D Game of Life
Rule 110 and Universal Computation
Computation Theory of Cellular Automata
A Computational Mechanics Reading List by Cosma Shalizi
Labels: #cellularAutomata, #Computation, #DensityTask, #emergentComputation, #GameofLife, #UniversalComputation, Class Links
links for "Cellular Automata and Edge of Chaos" lecture
Boolean networks beyond Systems Biology: Musical Morphogenesis
Devin Acker's Elementary CA Demo
Cellular Automata rules lexicon
Cellular Automata Rules
Cellab
New Kind of Science Applets
MCell
Wolfram CA Demos
Langton's Lambda Parameter
Edge Of Chaos CA
Lambda Parameter Applet
Devin Acker's Elementary CA Demo
Cellular Automata rules lexicon
Cellular Automata Rules
Cellab
New Kind of Science Applets
MCell
Wolfram CA Demos
Langton's Lambda Parameter
Edge Of Chaos CA
Lambda Parameter Applet
Labels: #cellularAutomata, #complexity, #Computation, #edgeOfChaos, #selfOrganization, Class Links
Monday, March 14, 2022
Engineered Biological Switches
Scientists created DNA nanotube rails that branch in multiple directions, with each unique track made up of unique DNA patterns. Protein motors designed to recognize these patterns then carry their cargo down the desired tracks. Nanoswitchyards should help scientists better test and understand the real thing inside cells. They may also eventually help researchers steer different drug cargoes to different tissues or engineer novel DNA computers that respond to their environment. In the video, proteins called dyneins have been engineered to glide along DNA tracks. At a branch point, different DNA patterns of the tracks steer dyneins carrying orange fluorescent cargo to the left and dyneins carrying cyan fluorescent compounds to the right.
Labels: #dna, #MolecularComputers, #Switches
Monday, March 07, 2022
Links for "Boolean Networks and Self-Organization" lecture
Random Boolean Networks Tutorial by Carlos Gershenson
Random Boolean Network Simple Examples
Random Boolean Networks Demo by Wolfram
BooleSim by Mathias Bock
Discrete Dynamics Lab
Booleannet tool for simulating biological regulatory networks in a boolean formalism by Istvan Albert.
CANA Control and Redundancy in Boolean Networks by Rion Correia and CASCI.
Muramator Robot
Spontaneous Order and Self Organization @ Scholarpedia
Random Boolean Network Simple Examples
Random Boolean Networks Demo by Wolfram
BooleSim by Mathias Bock
Discrete Dynamics Lab
Booleannet tool for simulating biological regulatory networks in a boolean formalism by Istvan Albert.
CANA Control and Redundancy in Boolean Networks by Rion Correia and CASCI.
Muramator Robot
Spontaneous Order and Self Organization @ Scholarpedia
Boolean NK Networks from the Wolfram Demonstrations Project by Garrett Neske
Labels: #BooleanNetworks, #cellularAutomata, #edgeOfChaos, #self-organization, Class Links
Companion Links for chaos and logistic map lecture
Logist Map Plots and Analysis by Dirk Brockman for Complexity Explorer
Wolfram demo for the Logistic map and detailed study.
Java Code for Time Series of Logistic Map
GDScript Code for Logistic Map
Andrew Clem ~ Chaos theory contains a very nice explanation of the logistic map and the white bands of periodic behavior inside the chaotic range. Try r=3.84 in the demo used in class, to see a cycle of 3 arise.
See also The birth of period 3, revisited.
Wolfram demo for the Logistic map and detailed study.
Java Code for Time Series of Logistic Map
GDScript Code for Logistic Map
Andrew Clem ~ Chaos theory contains a very nice explanation of the logistic map and the white bands of periodic behavior inside the chaotic range. Try r=3.84 in the demo used in class, to see a cycle of 3 arise.
See also The birth of period 3, revisited.
Labels: #chaos, #logisticMap, Class Links
Thursday, March 03, 2022
How We Can Make Sense of Chaos
"Dynamical systems can be chaotic and impossible to predict, but mathematicians have discovered tools to help understand them". Full article by David S. Richeson at Quanta Magazine.
Labels: #chaos, #DynamicalSystems
Monday, February 28, 2022
Companion links for "Dynamical Systems and Attractor Behavior" lecture
Gravitational Pendulum
The Icosystem Game
Turing Reaction-Diffusion Model of Morphogenesis by Kele W. Cable: a demo by Chris Jennings .
Graphics Research on Reaction-Diffusion
synthetic texture using reaction-diffusion
Reaction-Diffusion in gene expression of digit determination (in mouse)
Validation of predicted patternsin Turing diffusion (in abiological droplets)
Revising the Turing model with biological evidence (in zebrafish)
Turing-type polyamide membranes for water purification
Expanding theoretical models (ABM and others)
Reaction-Diffusion in various areas.
3-Body Gravitational Problem 3-Body Problem in JavaScript
Lorenz Attractor Demo
Wolfram Projects Demo
Plotting Edward Lorenz's 1963 "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow" in a 3-dimensional space using mplot3d.
Sensitive dependence on initial conditions in the Lorenz Attractor (Python code). Wolfram Sensitivity To Initial Conditions Demo.
Turing Reaction-Diffusion Model of Morphogenesis by Kele W. Cable: a demo by Chris Jennings .
Graphics Research on Reaction-Diffusion
synthetic texture using reaction-diffusion
Reaction-Diffusion in gene expression of digit determination (in mouse)
Validation of predicted patternsin Turing diffusion (in abiological droplets)
Revising the Turing model with biological evidence (in zebrafish)
Turing-type polyamide membranes for water purification
Expanding theoretical models (ABM and others)
Reaction-Diffusion in various areas.
3-Body Gravitational Problem 3-Body Problem in JavaScript
Lorenz Attractor Demo
Wolfram Projects Demo
Plotting Edward Lorenz's 1963 "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow" in a 3-dimensional space using mplot3d.
Sensitive dependence on initial conditions in the Lorenz Attractor (Python code). Wolfram Sensitivity To Initial Conditions Demo.
Labels: #chaos, #DynamicalSystems, #ReactionDiffusion, #Turing, Class Links
Monday, February 21, 2022
Lecture notes (Chapter 3): Formalizing and Modeling the World
Formalizing and Modeling the World. CHapter 3 of lecture notes now online.
Labels: #Hertz, #information, #modeling
Companion links for Self-Similarity and L-Systems Lecture
Fractals
L-Systems
Evolutionary Robots
3D Genbots using L-systems
The GOLEM Project.
See also the research pages pages of Karl Sims, Jordan Pollack, Hod Lipson, Josh Bongard, and Dario Floreano.
- The Koch Curve Fractal, and a generator.
- The Koch Snowflake, and a demo and another.
L-Systems
- A good description and demos by Chris Jennings
- Source Code from Gary Flake's Computational Beauty of Nature Book
- Generate an L-System. An alternative generator, and Another HTML Generator.
- Code for a L-System Explorer
- The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants
- Self-similar syncopations: Fibonacci, L-systems, limericks and ragtime.
- Musical L-Systems by Stelios Manousakis and the Symbolic Composer
3D Genbots using L-systems
The GOLEM Project.
See also the research pages pages of Karl Sims, Jordan Pollack, Hod Lipson, Josh Bongard, and Dario Floreano.
Labels: #development, #fractals, #Lsystems, #morphogenesis, Class Links
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Lecture Notes (Chapter 2): The Logical Mechanisms of Life
The Logical Mechanisms of Life
Labels: #ArtificialLife, #BiologicalTheory, #ComplexSystems, #GeneralSystems, #SystemsScience, #Theory
Monday, February 07, 2022
Companion links for "Modeling Principles of Organization" lecture
Pi the Movie
Fibonacci Sequence
D'Arcy Thompson
- Fibonacci numbers in Nature. The Romanesco Vegetable.
- Fibonacci Spiral Demo. Another Demo.
- Fibonacci Music
The magic of Fibonacci numbers by Arthur Benjamin
Peter Hilton (1923-2010) discusses intriguing number tricks that can be explained by analysing the properties of Fibonacci numbers and the related Lucas numbers. The explanations themselves benefit from further explanations which, in their turn, lead to further discoveries. Recorded at Imperial College London during the 1996 London Mathematical Society Popular Lecture series.
D'Arcy Thompson
- In retrospect: On Growth and Form by Phillip Ball.
- D'Arcy Thompson's Affine Fish Transformations @ Wolfram
- S.J. Gould. [1971] "D'Arcy Thompson and the Science of Form". New Literary History, 2 (2): 229-258
- W. Arthur [2006]. "D'Arcy Thompson and the theory of transformations".Nature Reviews Genetics 7, 401-406.
- Geometry of Growth and Form: Commentary on D'Arcy Thompson
- Java applet for shell sketching
Patterns of Life – D’Arcy Thompson, Structuralism and the Shape of Life
Treasures of the Library 5. D'Arcy Thompson, On growth and form
BLOOMS: Strobe Animated Sculptures Invented by John Edmark from Charlie Nordstrom on Vimeo. "This series of 3D printed sculptures was designed in such a way that the appendages match Fibonacci's Sequence, a mathematical sequence that manifests naturally in objects like sunflowers and pinecones. When the sculptures are spun at just the right frequency under a strobe light, a rather magical effect occurs: the sculptures seem to be animated or alive!"
Labels: #DArcyThompson, #Fibonacci, #modeling, #morphogenesis, #recursion, ClassLinks
Monday, January 31, 2022
Links for Information Lecture 2
Lectures Slides: What is Life? and Uncertainty-based Information
Information Basics
Entropy Applet
Letter frequency in English
Word and Letter Frequency in English
Entropy of English
Text Mechanic - Text Manipulation Tools
1952 – “Theseus” Maze-Solving Mouse @ cyberneticzoo.com
Information Basics
Entropy Applet
Letter frequency in English
Word and Letter Frequency in English
Entropy of English
Text Mechanic - Text Manipulation Tools
1952 – “Theseus” Maze-Solving Mouse @ cyberneticzoo.com
Claude Shannon Demonstrating Theseus
Labels: #entropy, #information, #life
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Lecture notes (chapter 1): What is Life?
Welcome to Life-Inspired, SSIE 483X/583X Spring 2022 Class. On this blog you will see many types of posts related to the class, from links to multimedia materials used in class, to breaking research on related topics. The first chapter of the course's lecture notes is now available:
SSIE483X/583X: What is Life?
Labels: #bioinspiredcomputing, #life
Monday, January 18, 2021
3D underwater collective behaviors in a fish-inspired robot swarm
"most underwater robot collectives rely on centralized, above-water, explicit communication and, as a result, exhibit limited coordination complexity. Here, we demonstrate 3D collective behaviors with a swarm of fish-inspired miniature underwater robots that use only implicit communication mediated through the production and sensing of blue light. We show that complex and dynamic 3D collective behaviors—synchrony, dispersion/aggregation, dynamic circle formation, and search-capture—can be achieved by sensing minimal, noisy impressions of neighbors, without any centralized intervention." Full paper @ Science Robotics.
Labels: #collectivebehavior, #collectiveIntelligence, #Robotics, #Swarms
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Programmable organisms
Exciting work bridging biology and computing from josh Bongard and Michael Levin, who "present a method that designs completely biological machines from the ground up: computers automatically design new machines in simulation, and the best designs are then built by combining together different biological tissues." Full article @ PNAS.
Labels: #BioRobots, #ProgrammableMatter
Friday, October 18, 2019
Self-healing, path solving mould
"A yellow organism which looks like fungus but acts like an animal has gone on display at the Paris Zoological Park. The slime mould - Physarum polycephalum - has almost 720 sexes and has been described as one of "nature's mysteries" by scientists. It can heal itself in two minutes if cut in half, and detect and digest food despite not having eyes, a mouth or a stomach." From BBC News.
Labels: #Intelligence, #SlimeMould
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Robotic collectives inspired by biological cells
"A robotic system has been demonstrated in which the random motion of individual components leads to deterministic behaviour, much as occurs in living systems. Environmental and medical applications could follow." News article and full paper @ Nature.
Labels: #collectiveIntelligence, #Robotics
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
A neural data structure for novelty detection
"Novelty detection is a fundamental biological problem that organisms must solve to determine whether a given stimulus departs from those previously experienced. [The authors show] the algorithmic basis of an important neurobiological problem and offers strategies for novelty detection in computational systems." Full paper @ PNAS.
Labels: #bioinspired computing, #NoveltyDetection, #Olfaction
Thursday, July 05, 2018
Programming self-organizing multicellular structures
"A common theme in the self-organization of multicellular tissues is the use of cell-cell signaling networks to induce morphological changes. We used the modular synNotch juxtacrine signaling platform to engineer artificial genetic programs in which specific cell-cell contacts induced changes in cadherin cell adhesion. Despite their simplicity, these minimal intercellular programs were sufficient to yield assemblies with hallmarks of natural developmental systems: robust self-organization into multi-domain structures, well-choreographed sequential assembly, cell type divergence, symmetry breaking, and the capacity for regeneration upon injury. The ability of these networks to drive complex structure formation illustrates the power of interlinking cell signaling with cell sorting: signal-induced spatial reorganization alters the local signals received by each cell, resulting in iterative cycles of cell fate branching. These results provide insights into the evolution of multi-cellularity and demonstrate the potential to engineer customized self-organizing tissues or materials."
Labels: #self-organization, #SyntheticBiology
Thursday, May 03, 2018
Fractal-like hierarchical organization of bone
" By combining three-dimensional electron tomography with two-dimensional electron microscopy, Reznikov et al. observed structural ordering from the nanoscale upward. At the smallest scale, needle-shaped mineral units form platelets that organize into stacks bridging multiple collagen units." Full article @ Science.
Labels: #fractals
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Robot that can change its texture on the fly
"Most robots stick out in nature like a sore thumbdrive. Now, scientists have found a new way to help them blend in—by changing not only the color, but also the texture of their skin. Inspired by cephalopods—squid, octopus, and cuttlefish—which use ring-shaped muscles to squeeze small bumps on their skin into large bulges that mimic rocks and algae, researchers created similar reversible protrusions with sheets of stretchy silicone. " Full news @ Science.
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Octopus embodiment and intelligence
"Even asking how much the body contributes to intelligent action presupposes a division between brain and body that seems not to apply to the octopus. The octopus’s body is pervaded by nervousness: it is not a thing controlled by the animal’s thinking part, but itself a thinking thing". Full book review at London Review of Books. Thank you to Thiago Carvalho for sharing.
Labels: #Embodiment, #Intelligence, #Octopus
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
mathematical sculptors create compelling forms
"[...] many math sculptors also aim to connect their pieces to the observable, natural world. A gypsum sculpture by David Bachman, for example, looks just like a seashell in both shape and color. But it’s wholly artificial: Bachman first drew—on a computer screen—a curve representing the profile of the shell. Then, he used a computer program to generate equations to describe the spiral shape seen on the outside, as well as the twisting internal structure. Bachman sent his design to a 3D printer, and a convincingly real shell emerged layer by layer. It’s so convincing that the first thing people do when they see it, he says, is put it to their ear. “I wanted to prove the point that you can create a very natural looking thing with mathematics,” he says." Full article at PNAS.
Friday, March 03, 2017
DNA Fountain enables a robust and efficient storage architecture
DNA Fountain approaches the theoretical maximum for information stored per nucleotide. Efficient encoding of information is demonstrated by storing a full computer operating system, movie, and other files with a total of 2.14 × 106 bytes in DNA oligonucleotides and perfectly retrieved the information after multiple rounds of polymerase chain reaction. Full paper @ Science
Labels: #Computation, #dna
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Studying swarms of ants could help speed up your commute
Studying collective behavior could be used to manage traffic in urban areas. Full news article @ Wired.uk.
Labels: #collectivebehavior, #collectiveIntelligence, #Swarms
Monday, January 09, 2017
Efficient Switches in Biology and Computer Science
"Biological systems are adapted to respond quickly to changes in their environment. Signal processing often leads to all-or-none switch-like activation of downstream pathways. Such biological switches are based on molecular interactions that form positive feedback loops. [...] We discuss here how the structure and dynamical features of a computational algorithm resemble the behaviour of a large class of biological switches and what makes them work efficiently." Full article @ PLOS Computational Biology
