Package:
areas/alife/systems/tierra/
Name:
Tierra
Summary:
Evolution of digital organisms
Version:
4.0 (16-MAR-94)
Description:
Tierra is an artificial life system for studying the evolution of
digital organisms. Tierra consists of a virtual computer and its
operating system, whose architecture has been designed in such a way
that the executable machine codes are evolvable. This means that the
machine code can be mutated (by flipping bits at random) or recombined
(by swapping segments of code between algorithms), and the resulting
code remains functional enough of the time for natural (or presumably
artificial) selection to be able to improve the code over time.
This system results in the production of synthetic organisms based on
a computer metaphor of organic life in which CPU time is the
``energy'' resource and memory is the ``material'' resource. Memory
is organized into informational patterns that exploit CPU time for
self-replication. Mutation generates new forms, and evolution
proceeds by natural selection as different genotypes compete for CPU
time and memory space. Diverse ecological communities have emerged.
Ready-made DOS executables may be purchased from
Virtual Life
Virtual Life
25631 Jorgensen Road
PO Box 625
Newman, CA 95360
Newark, DE 19715
for $65 on DOS disks.
[Virtual Life will also be offering a PC version of Karl Sims'
evolutionary art system, called Darwinian Art.]
Requires:
C
Ports:
UNIX, MSDOS
Origin:
tierra.slhs.udel.edu:/tierra/ [128.175.41.34]
life.slhs.udel.edu:/tierra/
[128.175.41.33]
Copying:
Copyright (c) 1990-92 Thomas S. Ray
Distribution of source code and documentation permitted.
Distribution of binaries for any platform is not permitted.
(See the file license.h for details.)
Please contribute an amount to "Virtual Life" (see
addresses above) that represents the program's worth to
you.
Updated:
CD-ROM:
Prime Time Freeware for AI, Issue 1-1
Bug Reports:
tierra-bug@life.slhs.udel.edu
Mailing List: To be added to either the
tierra-announce (official announcements only) or
tierra-digest (moderated discussion plus announcements)
mailing lists, send mail to tierrarequest@life.slhs.udel.edu.
Author(s):
Tom Ray <ray@life.slhs.udel.edu> or <ray@brahms.udel.edu>
[Tom's Current email is ray@hip.atr.co.jp; mail to
ray@udel.edu will be forwarded.]
Daniel Pirone <cocteau@tierra.slhs.udel.edu>.
Tom Uffner <tom@genie.slhs.udel.edu>
Marc Cygnus
Contact:
Tom Ray <ray@udel.edu> or <ray@santafe.edu>
University of Delaware
School of Life & Health Sciences
Newark, Delaware 19716
Fax: 302-451-2281
Tel: 302-451-2753
Keywords:
Artificial Life, Tierra, Authors!Ray, Evolution of Digital
Organisms, Virtual Life
Contains:
tierra/
alcomm/
beagle/
doc/
overview/
Source code for Tierra itself.
UNIX/X11 tool for observing Tierra while it is running.
DOS-only tool for analysis of Tierra output.
Lots of documentation files
Overview 1.0 is an X11R4 graphics tool for visualizing
Tierra data.
See Also:
areas/alife/systems/psoup/
References:
Ray, T. S. 1991. Is it alive, or is it GA?
{\it In} : Belew, R. K., and L. B. Booker [eds.], Proceedings of the
1991
International Conference on Genetic Algorithms, 527--534. San Mateo,
CA:
Morgan Kaufmann.
Ray, T. S. 1991. An approach to the synthesis of life.
{\it In} : Langton, C., C. Taylor, J. D. Farmer, \& S. Rasmussen
[eds],
Artificial Life II, Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of
Complexity, vol. XI, 371--408.
Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Ray, T. S. 1991. Population dynamics of digital organisms.
{\it In} : Langton, C. G. [ed.], Artificial Life II Video Proceedings.
Redwood City, CA: Addison Wesley.
Ray, T. S. 1991. Evolution and optimization of digital
organisms. {\it In} : Billingsley K. R., E. Derohanes, H. Brown, III
[eds.], Scientific Excellence in Supercomputing: The IBM 1990
Contest Prize Papers, Athens, GA, 30602: The Baldwin Press, The
University of Georgia. Publication date: December 1991.
Ray, T. S. 1992. Evolution, ecology and optimization of
digital organisms. Santa Fe Institute working paper 92-08-042.
Ray, T. S. 1992. J'ai jou\'{e} \`{a} Dieu et cr\'{e}\'{e}
la vie dans mon ordinateur. Le Temps strat\'{e}gique 47: 68--81.
Ray, T. S. In press. Evolution and complexity. {\it In}:
Cowan, George A., David Pines and David Metzger [eds.],
Complexity: Metaphor and Reality. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
Ray, T. S. In press. An evolutionary approach to synthetic biology,
Zen and the art of creating life. Artificial Life 1(1): xx--xx.
Ray, T. S. In press. Jugu\'{e} a ser Dios y cre\'{e} la
vida en mi computadora. {\it In}: Claudio Guti\'{e}rrez [ed],
Epistemolog\'{i}a e Inform\'{a}tica. San Jos\'{e}, Costa Rica:
UNED, 1993.
Ray, T. S. In press.
December 1993.
Title unknown.
Virtual (Italian magazine),
Ray, T. S. Submitted. Evolution, complexity, entropy,
and artificial reality. Physica D.
Ray, T. S. Submitted. How I created life in a virtual universe.
Natural History Magazine, American Museum of Natural History.