EVOLUTION IN ACTION

[Lardlad95]

I highly suggest that everyone pick up the February issue of Discover Magazine. The main article details a program developed at michigan state that somewhat proves most evolutionary principles.

The program, called Avida, creates computer organisms that can reproduce, adapt, and mutate. Basically you start off with these "organisms" and by changing certain conditions they will adapt, learn new abilities, and pass the abilities to offspring. Some of the mutations may be harmful, beneficial, or niether. Adaptations and conditions can effect how fast the organisms reproduce.

THe organisms show how complexity can evolve, how organisms can form niches, and they are working on the ability to transfer information to each other. Some researches have even got them to reproduce sexually.

When the program first started the researches tried to teach the organisms to add. The organisms were presented with two numbers and initially couldn't do anything with them. THe presentations were random and over time some were able to compute them...when they reproduced they passed this ability to off spring. What is interesting is that some organisms evolved the same ability but unsual or inefficient ways of doing them. Some evolved simple ways to add, others evolved complex ones.

I highly suggest you download this program and try it out...granted none of us can do the level of research that the college researches do...but it should be fun.

What's funny is that alot of creationists have been trying for ages to find significant flaws in the system to prove it wrong...so far none have.


Here is a link where you can get more info

Avida (http://dllab.caltech.edu/avida)

[encephalon]

look up artificial life on google.. it's a lot bigger than you think :)

[Malvinas Argentinas]

Wow, very interesting

[ComradeChris]

The program, called Avida, creates computer organisms that can reproduce, adapt, and mutate. Basically you start off with these "organisms" and by changing certain conditions they will adapt, learn new abilities, and pass the abilities to offspring. Some of the mutations may be harmful, beneficial, or niether. Adaptations and conditions can effect how fast the organisms reproduce.

Is that how evolution works? I was always told that the creature would mutate randomly and if it was beneficial it would obviously pass the gene on to their offspring. Environment doesn't force evolution; evolution helps in certain environments, but is still completely random. A creature doesn't think...well maybe it'd be better if I had an posable digit to allow me to grasp things and therefore adapts. Maybe that's what you're trying to say but it didn't seem like it.

[encephalon]

that's how the program works, at least if it's anything like other evolutionary algorithms. those that don't adapt via random mutation through successive generations die out. So, one might ask, what use might this have?

this, for one. (http://ehw.jpl.nasa.gov/NASA/EHWS/Documents/NASA_ITRS_EHWsensorReview-Final-forWEB.pdf) Note that they're talking about hypothetical possibilities as well as items already designed by computers through an evolutionary model based on natural selection.

I'm just waiting until someone makes a grid computing network to do this.. then the power to design anything, regardless of complexity, is pretty much in the hands of the people.

[Lardlad95]

Originally posted by [email protected] 1 2005, 02:53 PM

The program, called Avida, creates computer organisms that can reproduce, adapt, and mutate. Basically you start off with these "organisms" and by changing certain conditions they will adapt, learn new abilities, and pass the abilities to offspring. Some of the mutations may be harmful, beneficial, or niether. Adaptations and conditions can effect how fast the organisms reproduce.

Is that how evolution works? I was always told that the creature would mutate randomly and if it was beneficial it would obviously pass the gene on to their offspring. Environment doesn't force evolution; evolution helps in certain environments, but is still completely random. A creature doesn't think...well maybe it'd be better if I had an posable digit to allow me to grasp things and therefore adapts. Maybe that's what you're trying to say but it didn't seem like it.


When I say adapt, I mean that those that aren't capable of surviving in the enviroment die off and those that can do survive. I never meant that these adaptations were created after the enviroment. I interchanged adapatation and mutation which was a mistake.

The reason that the enviroment is so important is because it is the one thing that you can change on the program.