Tom Ray - Project Tierra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5rRGVD0QI

Tom Ray, biologist, spent time in the costarican rainforest to study evolution.

Intention to simulate evolution in computer. Study evolution in terms of ecology.

Threw away the study of ecology and write computer program.

Digital organism - main goal reproduction

Started with simple program and wanted to incorporate advanced features later
What happend was that program itself generated these advanced features spontaneously

Assembler instructions

How to create evolution of computer programs?
Problem: Big diversity in alphabet (32 in bology vs billios in computer language)
Solution: Reduced alphabet of computer languages to 32
Pieces of biological instructions fit together by matching shape he did the same for pieces of computer programs, that meaningful parts match together by shape

Parasites = Incomplete genes

Project running = different creatures living together in a community
Evolutionary ecological interaction = cooperation in order to survive

Fight for resources = computer time / computer memory
Evolution, adaptations
Has to reproduce, eating, capable of dying

Trying to simulate evolution from simple sotware to parallel processes with enormous complexity