Solving the mutation problem

Solving the mutation problem

This might solve everything. I’ll need to do some testing to make sure I’m right, but there’s a beautiful way around the mutation problem. It’s not the type of mutation; it’s the type of population. We’ve got two main types: the quick and the slow. The quick ones, like m1.pop, do their best to fill …

Read More Read More

Ep 191: A few fragments

Ep 191: A few fragments

A few fragments Though Phil is gone, his voice is not. Not quite yet. We spoke much more last time than made it in the episode. Some of what we talked about was interesting and/or amusing, so I stuck together another episode with it.

Zombie code

Zombie code

I’ve come up with a mixed bag of modifications to my artificial life system. I’m trying to get my digital creatures, which I call “figures,” more stable, quicker to emerge from randomness, and better able to tolerate mutations. As far as quicker emergence and greater stability goes, the tricks are working out. The system as …

Read More Read More

Ep 189: The Miocene, the right teeth for the right job

Ep 189: The Miocene, the right teeth for the right job

The Miocene, the right teeth for the right job Today we chat about the Miocene. During this epoch, kelp forest spread along the shoreline, creating habitat for otters and pinnipeds. The climate cooled and forest gave way to open grassland. Those grazing animals without the right kind of teeth died out, and the early apes …

Read More Read More

ep 188: The Oligocene, getting cold and growing huge

ep 188: The Oligocene, getting cold and growing huge

The Oligocene, getting cold and growing huge Today we talk about the Oligocene epoch, when the climate cooled and forest gave way to areas of open land. Grass spread beyond the lake shores and river sides where it had been living, and began to spread across the landscape. Many animal types changed their bodies to …

Read More Read More

Ep 187: The Eocene, giant birds and proto-herds

Ep 187: The Eocene, giant birds and proto-herds

The Eocene, giant birds and proto-herds We cover the Eocene epoch, including early horses that lived in forests, but didn’t climb trees. We also had early forms of bores, rhinos, whales and primates.