cgl@beta.lanl.gov (C G Langton) (07/27/89)
ARTIFICIAL LIFE II
The Second Workshop on the Synthesis
and Simulation of Living Systems
February 5-9, 1990
Santa Fe, New Mexico
-- organized by --
J. Doyne Farmer
Christopher Langton
Steen Rasmussen
Chuck Taylor
We are pleased to announce that the Center for Nonlinear Studies and
the Santa Fe Institute are sponsoring the second Artificial Life
workshop, which will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, during the week
of February 5-9, 1990.
Artificial Life is the study of man-made systems that exhibit behaviors
characteristic of natural living systems. It complements the traditional
biological sciences concerned with the analysis of living organisms by
attempting to synthesize life-like behaviors within computers or other
artificial media. By extending the empirical foundation upon which
biology is based beyond the carbon-chain life that has evolved on Earth,
Artificial Life can contribute to theoretical biology by locating
life-as-we-know-it within the larger context of life-as-it-could-be.
The first workshop, held at Los Alamos in September of 1987, provided an
overview and served to bring into focus work in this field, identifying
the essential theoretical and practical problems that must be solved in
order to bring about artificial life.
The second workshop will include a mixture of lectures, live demonstrations,
posters, panel discussions, and a contest for artificial life forms. We
hope to equal or surpass the free-flowing atmosphere and excitement of the
first workshop. Topics to be discussed include self-organizing structures,
collective phenomena, and emergent behavior; the origin of life; natural,
artificial, and cultural evolution; ecological dynamics; computer viruses;
and the social and philosophical implications of artificial life.
Only some of lectures will be by invited speakers. We have purposefully
left space for new contributions in order to ensure that there will be time
for the presentation of any exciting new developments in the field, from
sources that may be unknown to us now.
Thus, we are soliciting your contribution. If you have something that
you would like to present, please send us an abstract. You may request a
talk, a demonstration, a poster, or any creative alternative. Live
demonstrations or videos will be considered favorably. Acceptance will
be an ongoing process -- we would prefer to make decisions as early as
possible, so that we can plan the schedule. However, December 31, 1989
will be the final deadline for submissions.
The registration fee will be in the neighborhood of \$100. There is
limited financial aid available to cover travel and subsistence for
participants who cannot obtain funds from other sources. We will give
preference to graduate students, postdocs, or otherwise impoverished
individuals.
As at the first meeting, one of the central events will be an artificial
``4-H'' show, with prizes for the ``liveliest'' artificial life forms.
With two years of progress, we expect some stiff competition. An emphasis
will be placed on emergent and self-organizing life-like behavior.
Note that this year there will be no cash prizes; fame, glory and a
shiny blue ribbon will be the only rewards other than the thrill of
creation itself.
If you are planning a demonstration and need special hardware, software,
or wetware, please let us know. We will do our best to accomodate all
requests, within reason. We expect to provide SUN, APOLLO, and Silicon
Graphics workstations, IBM PC's, Macintosh's, facilities for large screen
video display of video tapes and live computer demos, as well as standard
audio-visual equipment.
We intend to publish a proceedings following the workshop. Anyone will be
allowed to submit a contribution. Contributions will be refereed. We also
plan to produce a video tape which will accompany the written volume.
The final deadline for submission of papers will be roughly three months
after the workshop. Note that the proceedings of the first artificial life
workshop were edited by Chris Langton, and are available from Addison-Wesley,
ISBN-0-201-09356-1 (\$20, paperback) or 0-201-09346-4 (\$40, hardback).
For further information about purchasing copies call 800-447-2226.
If you are interested in attending or contributing to the workshop,
or in just being on the mailing list, please fill out and return the
enclosed information and registration form as soon as possible.
Housing will be in local Santa Fe hotels. Please contact Andi or Ginger
at the address below for a hotel reservation form.
Questions about the workshop should be addressed to:
Andi Sutherland
- or -
Ginger Richardson
Santa Fe Institute
1120 Canyon Rd.
Santa Fe NM 87501
(505) 984-8800
ginger@sfi.santafe.edu
There has been a great deal of active research in artificial life during the
last two years. We hope that this meeting will demonstrate several exciting
steps toward true artificial life forms and an understanding of the general
principles underlying life and evolution.
We hope that you can attend.
-------------------------(cut here and mail)--------------------------------
Pre-Registration Form
Second Artificial Life Workshop
February 5-9, 1989
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Co-sponsored by
----------------
The Santa Fe Institute
The Center for Nonlinear Studies, LANL
I. PARTICIPANT INFORMATION
---------------------------
Name (last, first, middle):
Institution/Affiliation:
Full Mailing Adress:
Telephone (work/home):
Email address:
II. WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION
---------------------------
Please check one of the following:
----- Yes, I want to attend and make a presentation.
( If you plan on presenting a talk, poster, or demonstration
of some kind, please attach a separate note giving tentative
title, an abstract, ot other description of your contribution
and indicate your audio-visual or other hardware requirements. )
----- Yes, I want to attend the workshop, but I will not be making
a presentation.
----- I am unsure about attending, but keep me on your mailing list.
----- No, I will not be attending.
PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT NO LATER THAN
DECEMBER 31, 1989, TO:
Andi Sutherland
- or -
Ginger Richardson
Santa Fe Institute
1120 Canyon Rd.
Santa Fe NM 87501
(505) 984-8800
ginger@sfi.santafe.edu
FAX: (505) 982-0565