Their first task was easy. Can the digital organisms I wrote, called “figures,” learn to call a good command and avoid a bad one? My first job was easy. It only took 6 lines of code. Each digital creature, each “figure,” has a certain amount of energy. Figure.energy = 12,168; Each time a figure has …
It’s about time I tried using my artificial life as an artificial intelligence. It’s been the goal since day one. Before I could do that, I had to come up with the algorithm in the first place, and then make sure that the figures could actually evolve. To evolve, they need to change, and some …
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:59 — 12.2MB) | Embed
A rough sketch or two, of you, inside of you. Inside your brain, there are individual neurons that correspond to specific places on your body. If you figure out which cell goes to what part, you’ll notice that the map in your brain looks like a nightmare sketch of you, drawn by a mad artist …
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:21 — 11.4MB) | Embed
right brain, left side body; left brain, right side body… why? Our brains have crossed wires. Each cerebral hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body. When I move my left hand, it’s my right brain that’s doing it. Today, Phil and I look at a theory about how and why that’s true for us, …
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:59 — 16.1MB) | Embed
How neurons find their home Even before birth, billions of brain cells have to figure out what sort of cell to be, where to be, and which other neurons to connect to. Today we talk about the complicated processes that help neurons find their home.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:17 — 11.1MB) | Embed
Baby’s brain before birth As we continue our close look at the human brain, we take some time to look at how it grows and develops. The story starts before you are born, when a man and woman love each other very much, and…
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:44 — 20.1MB) | Embed
The lowly, yet complex, neuron Finally done with natural history, today we start talking about the brain. It is extremely complicated. Even a single brain cell, one neuron, is an intricate little machine. Today we take a look at the neuron, and how it sends signals.
I’m sitting on the edge of a binary ocean, casting hyperdimensional nets into the infinite waters of possible programs. My digital creatures, which I call “figures,” will run on my computer for hours, until I finally catch something.
Written on Wednesday October3, 2018 Small sample sizes and all those caveats. I’m tossing out the number of figures being born as a threshold. That will pop out of any of them at any time, and it’s just luck. One of them starts reproducing very quickly, and happens to find a window of relatively few …
Written on Tuesday October 2, 2018 It seemed like a good idea. Let evolution solve the mutation problem for me. This is procrastination, as what I really need to do next is update the documentation and archive this version. It’s time to clean up the code and concentrate on making the system run faster. Still, …