cgl@LANL.GOV (C G Langton) (05/09/87)
About a year ago, I posted a query about work being done on the computer simulation of life. From the replies to that query and from what I have been able to dig up in the literature, it has become apparent that there is an imminent explosion of research in the simulation and synthesis of life, both in computers and in the laboratory. Therefore, I am organizing the following workshop: ARTIFICIAL LIFE An Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems organized by Chris Langton Center for Nonlinear Studies Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 September 21-25 1987 Artificial life is the study of artificial systems that exhibit behavior characteristic of natural living systems. This includes computer simulations, biological and chemical experiments, and purely theoretical endeavors. Processes occurring on molecular, cellular, neural, social, and evolutionary scales are subject to investigation. The ultimate goal is to extract the logical form of living systems. Microelectronic technology and genetic engineering will soon give us the capability to create new life forms "in-silico" as well as in-vitro. This capacity will present humanity with some of the most far-reaching technical, theoretical, and ethical challenges it has ever confronted. The time seems appropriate for a gathering of those involved in attempts to simulate or synthesize aspects of living systems. This workshop will provide a forum to address the fundamental problems inherent in such an enterprise. The goals of this first workshop on artificial life are: To bring the field of artificial life into focus. To present current work in artificial life, and to provide an historical perspective. To open a channel of communication between researchers from disciplines whose work is relevant to artificial life. To produce a list of fundamental questions that the field should address. To identify ways in which work on artificial life can contribute to theoretical biology. To organize the literature in the field by compiling an annotated bibliography. -------- (cut here and post above on appropriate bulletin boards) ---------- I have posted a more complete announcement to "news.announce.conferences", which contains further information about the workshop and includes a registration form to fill out and return. In the interest of brevity, I have not included the full posting here. If you are interested in attending or contributing to a workshop on computer - and other - models of life, its constituent processes, or the processes that living systems support, please see the more complete posting in "news.announce.conferences". One of the primary activities at the workshop will be an "artificial 4H show" with prizes for the most life-like models or simulations submitted. You need not attend the workshop to submit an entry to the "4H-show". So, if you have some simulation of a living system, an origin of life model, an evolving population of "bugs", a model of social dynamics, a self-replicating Meccano set, or something else you have been working on - whether as your primary line of research or as a project that you've been doing on the side - dust it off, polish it up, and send it (or a brief description) to the address listed below. I am hoping for a workshop with a large number of hands-on demonstrations and exhibits, combined with a few selected talks and panel discussions, so that we can really exchange ideas on a personal level in a computater-rich environment, allowing us to test new ideas or model parameters on the spot. I want to avoid the typical format of bumper-to-bumper talks with little time for discussion in between. I will provide a number of Sun workstations running 4.2 BSD UNIX, Apple Macintoshes, IBM PC's, and a CAM-6 cellular automaton machine. If your system requires other equipment, let me know the details and I will try to obtain it. More information will be available as the workshop evolves. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Langton email: cgl@lanl.gov Center for Nonlinear Studies phone: 505-665-0049 (office) Los Alamos National Laboratory 505-667-1444 (messages) Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545