In the physics of the natural world, basic tasks of
life, such as homeostasis and reproduction, are
extremely complex operations, requiring the
coordination of billions of atoms even in simple cases.
By contrast, artificial living organisms can be
implemented in computers using relatively few bits, and
copying a data structure is trivial. Of course, the
physical overheads of the computers themselves are
huge, but since their programmability allows digital
“laws of physics” to be tailored like a custom
suit, deploying living technology atop an engineered
computational substrate might be as or more effective
than building directly on the natural laws of physics,
for a substantial range of desirable purposes. This
article suggests basic criteria and metrics for bespoke
physics computing architectures, describes one such
rchitecture, and offers data and illustrations of
custom living technology competing to reproduce while
collaborating on an externally useful computation.
%0 Journal Article
%1 ackley-bespoke-physics-living-2013
%A Ackley, David H.
%D 2013
%I MIT Press
%J Artificial Life
%K alife artificial_physics living_technology wet_technology
%N 3_4
%P 347--364
%R 10.1162/ARTL_a_00117
%T Bespoke Physics for Living Technology
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/ARTL_a_00117
%V 19
%X In the physics of the natural world, basic tasks of
life, such as homeostasis and reproduction, are
extremely complex operations, requiring the
coordination of billions of atoms even in simple cases.
By contrast, artificial living organisms can be
implemented in computers using relatively few bits, and
copying a data structure is trivial. Of course, the
physical overheads of the computers themselves are
huge, but since their programmability allows digital
“laws of physics” to be tailored like a custom
suit, deploying living technology atop an engineered
computational substrate might be as or more effective
than building directly on the natural laws of physics,
for a substantial range of desirable purposes. This
article suggests basic criteria and metrics for bespoke
physics computing architectures, describes one such
rchitecture, and offers data and illustrations of
custom living technology competing to reproduce while
collaborating on an externally useful computation.
@article{ackley-bespoke-physics-living-2013,
abstract = {In the physics of the natural world, basic tasks of
life, such as homeostasis and reproduction, are
extremely complex operations, requiring the
coordination of billions of atoms even in simple cases.
By contrast, artificial living organisms can be
implemented in computers using relatively few bits, and
copying a data structure is trivial. Of course, the
physical overheads of the computers themselves are
huge, but since their programmability allows digital
“laws of physics” to be tailored like a custom
suit, deploying living technology atop an engineered
computational substrate might be as or more effective
than building directly on the natural laws of physics,
for a substantial range of desirable purposes. This
article suggests basic criteria and metrics for bespoke
physics computing architectures, describes one such
rchitecture, and offers data and illustrations of
custom living technology competing to reproduce while
collaborating on an externally useful computation.},
added-at = {2014-02-10T16:08:03.000+0100},
author = {Ackley, David H.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2ecb757338108d551fc34bfbe06b6aed5/mhwombat},
doi = {10.1162/ARTL_a_00117},
interhash = {42407084f9a71086ec3f326cde9a5657},
intrahash = {ecb757338108d551fc34bfbe06b6aed5},
journal = {Artificial Life},
keywords = {alife artificial_physics living_technology wet_technology},
month = oct,
number = {3_4},
pages = {347--364},
publisher = {MIT Press},
timestamp = {2016-07-12T19:25:30.000+0200},
title = {Bespoke Physics for Living Technology},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/ARTL_a_00117},
volume = 19,
year = 2013
}