Artificial Life: Borrowing from Biology 4th Australian Conference, ACAL 2009, Melbourne, Australia, December 1-4, 2009, Proceedings

Asweapproachthelimitsandcapabilitiesofmachines,we?ndthattheprinciple of diminishing returns is forcing scientists to turn their attention towardbiology to provide practical solutions to problems in our increasingly complex world.An emerging?eldofsciencethatstudies thesystemsrelatedtolife,its processesand evolution is known as Art?cial Life (ALife). It draws on the skills and talents of scientists from a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to, biology, psychology,evolutionand computer science. These researchersareshowingthat, by using even simple simulations of the basic processes of nature, much about our complex natural world and our own humanity can be revealed. Gatherings in the expanding Alife community are becoming more common. One such series, the Australian Conference on Arti?cial Life (ACAL), began in Adelaide in 2001 and was known as the “Inaugral Workshop on Arti?cal Life.” From these small beginnings, it has become a biennial event that has previously been held in Canberra (2003), Sydney (2005)and the Gold Coast (2007). ACAL 2009 received over 60 quality submissions of which 27 were accepted for oral presentation at the conference. Each paper submission was assigned to three members of the Program Committee. The Program Committe, as well as the conference delegates, came from countries across Asia-Paci?c, North America and Europe. In addition to the regular papers, the conference was fortunate enough to be able to have two renowned invited speakers – Mark Bedau (Reed College, USA) and Andries Englebrecht (University of Pretoria, South Africa).