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It seems that evolution had not merely selected the best code for the task, it had also advocated those programs which took advantage of the electromagnetic quirks of that specific microchip environment. The five separate logic cells were clearly crucial to the chip's operation, but they were interacting with the main circuitry through some unorthodox method-- most likely via the subtle magnetic fields that are created when electrons flow through circuitry, an effect known as magnetic flux. There was also evidence that the circuit was not relying solely on the transistors' absolute ON and OFF positions like a typical chip; it was capitalizing upon analogue shades of gray along with the digital black and white.

http://www.damninteresting.com/on-the-origin-of-circuits/




This sounds fascinating!

Have these results been reproduced? And if so by whom? I'm looking at the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolvable_hardware), and it contains no citations.


According to this presentation, several people have discovered similar results, albeit in other areas

http://www.cartesiangp.co.uk/papers/gecco2004-tutorial-mille...

• Gordon Pask - Ferrous sulphate • Adrian Thompson - silicon • Adrian Stoica, Didier Keymeulen, Riccardo Zebulum - silicon • Huelsbergen, Rietman and Slous - silicon • Derek Linden - reed switch array • Paul Layzell and Jon Bird - silicon • Simon Harding and Julian Miller - Liquid Crystal




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