A critical aspect of evolution is the layer of developmental physiology that operates between
the genotype and the anatomical phenotype. While much work has addressed the evolution …

The emerging field of soft robotics presents a new paradigm for robot design in which
“precision through rigidity” is replaced by “cognition through compliance.” Lightweight and …

The intertwined processes of learning and evolution in complex environmental niches have
resulted in a remarkable diversity of morphological forms. Moreover, many aspects of animal …

One of the key differentiators between biological and artificial systems is the dynamic
plasticity of living tissues, enabling adaptation to different environmental conditions, tasks, or …

This chapter reviews the ecological conditions that favor the evolution of plasticity, and the
costs and limits that constrain the evolution of plasticity. Variable environments tend to select …

In recent years, the scientific community has increasingly recognized the complex multi-
scale competency architecture (MCA) of biology, comprising nested layers of active …

We report a new system of artificial life called Lenia (from Latin lenis" smooth"), a two-
dimensional cellular automaton with continuous space-time-state and generalized local rule …

Modular robots can be rearranged into a new design, perhaps each day, to handle a wide
variety of tasks by forming a customized robot for each new task. However, reconfiguring just …

When the history of life on earth is viewed as a history of cell division, all of life becomes a
single cell lineage. The growth and differentiation of this lineage in reciprocal interaction …

Modularity in robotics holds great potential. In principle, modular robots can be
disassembled and reassembled in different robots, and possibly perform new tasks …