                                TIERRA UPDATE:
           (Version 3.12 Now Available, Unified License Agreement,
       FTP Site Reorganized, Bug Fixes, Resolution Toggle, Phylogeny,
   Tierra in the News, Tierra Publications, Mailing Lists, What Tierra Is)

Note: V3.12 has been released because of an additional bug fix, the
      template search bug.  See section 4) below.

This message contains:

1) Availability of Tierra V3.12 Source Code
   a) by ftp
   b) by snail mail on disk
2) Unified License Agreement
3) FTP Site Reorganized
4) Bug Fix
5) Resolution Toggle
6) Future Phylogeny
7) Tierra in the News
8) Tierra Publications
9) Mailing Lists
10) What Tierra Is

1) Availability of Tierra V3.12 Source Code

     The Tierra V3.12 source code; and the source code, and DOS executables of
all tools is available now.  Please note that the source code in the ftp
site and the source code provided on disk will each compile and run on either
DOS or UNIX platforms.  It is exactly the same source code in either case.

     If you purchase this program on disk, thank you for your support.
If you obtain the source code through the net or friends, we invite you to
contribute an amount that represents the program's worth to you.  You may
make a check in US dollars payable to Virtual Life, and mail the check to
one of the two addresses listed below.

   a) by ftp

     If you use the software, be sure to pick up new versions from the ftp
site.  The source in the ftp site will be replaced on a roughly monthly or
bi-monthly basis.

     The complete source code and documentation is available by anonymous
ftp at:

tierra.slhs.udel.edu [128.175.41.34] and
  life.slhs.udel.edu [128.175.41.33]

in the directories: DOS/, almond/, beagle/, doc/, and tierra/.

To get it, ftp to tierra or life, log in as user "anonymous" and give your
email address (eg. tom@udel.edu) as a password.  Be sure to transfer binaries
in binary mode (it is safe to transfer everything in binary mode).
Each directory contains a compressed tar file (filename.tar.Z) and a SRC
directory that contains all the files in raw ascii format.  You can just
pick up the .tar.Z files, and they will expand into the complete directory
structure with the following commands (Unix only):

uncompress tierra.tar.Z
tar oxvf tierra.tar

   b) by snail mail on disk

     The source code, documentation and the beagle.exe file can be distributed
freely, however, the executables (the .exe files in DOS) are for sale and
cannot be freely distributed (with the exeception of beagle.exe).

     If you do not have ftp access you may obtain everything on DOS disks
by making a check for $65 (US dollars drawn on a US bank) payable to
Virtual Life.  Specify 3.5" or 5.25" disks.  Send the check to one of the
following addresses:

Tom Ray                  (January through August)
Santa Fe Institute
1660 Old Pecos Trail
Suite A
Santa Fe, NM 87501

Virtual Life             (September through December)
P.O. Box 625
Newark, Delaware 19715

     The DOS disks contain everything but ALmond (ALmond can be provided on
disk by request, but it only runs on a Unix platform).  The disks include DOS
executables, source code and documentation.  The DOS disks include an easy
installation program.  This is the same source code available in the ftp
site.  If you have ftp access, there is no need to buy the disks.

2) Unified License Agreement

     If you have seen the earlier versions, you may have noticed that there
were different license agreements for the DOS and Unix versions.  There is
now a single and perhaps more coherent license agreement.

3) FTP Site Reorganized

     With Version 3.11 the ftp site was reorganized.  The files are no
longer distributed in shar format.  They are in both raw form, and in
compressed tar files.  All the documentation has been moved to the doc/
directory.  The doc/ directory also includes manuscripts on Tierra in LaTeX
and Postscripts formats.

4) Bug Fix

template search - Version 3.11 and earlier had a bug in the bi-directional
     template search algorithm.  God intended that the search should move
     outward at equal rates in both directions.  However, some situations
     caused one direction to get ahead of the other.  This does not matter
     to the creatures or evolution; evolution makes due with whatever
     physics or chemistry it has at hand.  However, it makes it difficult
     for the observer reading the genome files to tell what the outcome of
     a bi-directional template search might be.  Another problem with the
     same algorithm is that the limit on the distance of the template
     search was not properly implemented, they tend to search farther than
     the intended limit.  Both these bugs are fixed in V3.12.

5) Resolution Toggle

     In V3.12 on DOS machines with a VGA display, the simulator will come
up in low resolution mode.  If you select a histogram or size list display,
it will toggle into high resolution mode.  When you return to the plan
display, it will toggle back into low resolution mode.  This is easier
on the eyes.

6) Future Phylogeny

     At the moment, the primary effort in new code development is dedicated
to an extension to the genebanker that will produce an ironclad phylogeny.
The requires that we trace the genetic source of every instruction written
into every creature.  Stay tuned.

7) Tierra in the News

The Tierra Simulator has been widely reported in the media.  Below is a
list of most of the national or international reports that I am aware of.
If you know of some news report not on this list, please send me a hard
copy.

Nature (John Maynard Smith, UK) February 27, 1992: ``Byte-sized evolution.
...we badly need a comparative biology.  So far, we have been able to study
only one evolving system and we cannot wait for interstellar flight to
provide us with a second.  If we want to discover generalizations about
evolving systems, we will have to look at artificial ones.  Ray's study is a
good start.''

New York Times (Malcolm Browne, USA) August 27, 1991: ``Lively Computer
Creation Blurs Definition of Life.  Software forms, obeying Darwin's rules,
vie to avoid the `reaper'.''

Science News (John Travis, USA) August 10, 1991: ``Digital Darwinism:
Electronic Ecosystem.  Evolving `life' flourishes and surprises in a
novel electronic world''.

Scientific American (John Rennie, USA) January 1992: ``Cybernetic Parasites...
Tierra... has been hailed as the most sophisticated artificial-life program
yet developed...''

New Scientist (Roger Lewin, UK) February 22, 1992: ``Life and death in a
digital world.  No one can turn back the evolutionary clock, but we can
follow the fate of a rich menagerie of artificial organisms as they evolve
in a model world.''

The Economist (Anon, UK) January 4, 1992: ``The meaning of `life'.
In order to understand the origin of life, scientists are switching from the
chemistry set to the computer.  In the process, they are beginning to
understand what it means to be alive.''

Actuel (Ariel Kyrou, France) April 1992: ``Visite Guidee Aux Extremes De
La Science: La Vie Artificielle.  Etes-vous pr\^{e}ts \`{a} entrer dans
l'univers vertigineux de la vie artificielle?  Un champ scientifique tout neuf
sur lequel se penchent les grosses t\^{e}tes et les Nobel de labos
am\'{e}ricains.''

The Chronicle of Higher Education (David Wilson, USA) December 4, 1991:
``Approaching Artificial Life on a Computer.  Survival-of-the-fittest
electronic organisms dramatically illustrate Darwinian principles.''

Mikrobitti (Pekka Tolonen, Finland) November 1991: ``Olemmeko humanoiden
biologinen koe?  Tierra simuloi el\"{a}m\"{a}\"{a}.''

Europeo (Giovanni Caprara, Italy) September 1991: ``Anche il computer ha
fatto un figlio.  Un biologo americano ha creato un software capace di
elaborare programmi che si evolvono da soli.''

GenteMoney (Riccardo Orizio, Italy) November 1991: ``Cos\`{\i} ho dato
la vita al software.''

Computerworld (Michael Alexander, USA) September 30, 1991: ``Tierra adds to
evolutionary studies.  A computerized world created on an IBM PC could
have real-world benefits for scientists.''

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Konrad Peters, Germany) October 21, 1991:
``Die Evolution im Computer.  `K\"{u}nstliches Leben' hilft Biologen und
Informatikern auf die Spr\"{u}nge.''

Super Interessante (Anon, Brazil) November 1991: ``A vida dentro do
computador.''

Technology Review (Susan Scheck, USA) April 14, 1991: ``Is It Live Or Is
It Memory?''

Corriere Della Sera (Giovanni Capara, Italy) August 28, 1991: ``Pronto in
USA il programma che si riproduce.  Il computer `padre' crea vita
informatica.''

Fakta (Tom Ottmar, Norway) March 1992: ``Den Lever!  En `skabning', der
best\aa r af nuller og \'{e}nere, er vokset ud af indamaden p\aa \ en
computer og er blevet en videnskabelig sensation i USA.''

Associated Press (Theresa Humphrey, USA) October 1991: ``Bringing life to
computer.  U of D biologist's program is self-replicating, shows evolution.''

Hovedomr\aa det (Jakob Skipper, Denmark) December 6, 1990: ``Kunstigt liv.
Nu kommer det kunstige liv.  En voksende gruppe af dataloger, biologer,
fysikere, psykologer og mange andre forskere efterlinger p\aa \ computer
det naturlige liv.''

8) Tierra Publications

Ray, T. S.  1991.  ``Is it alive, or is it GA?''
Proceedings of the 1991 International Conference on Genetic Algorithms,
Eds. Belew, R. K., and L. B. Booker, San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 527-534.

Ray, T. S.  1991.  ``An approach to the synthesis of life.''
Artificial Life II, Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of
Complexity, vol. X, Eds. Farmer, J. D., C. Langton, S. Rasmussen, &
C. Taylor, Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley, 371-408.

Ray, T. S.  1991.  ``Population dynamics of digital organisms.''
Artificial Life II Video Proceedings,  Ed. C.G. Langton,
Redwood City, CA: Addison Wesley.

Ray, T. S.  1991.  ``Evolution and optimization of digital organisms.''
Scientific Excellence in Supercomputing: The IBM 1990 Contest Prize
Papers, Eds. Keith R. Billingsley, Ed Derohanes, Hilton Brown, III.
Athens, GA, 30602, The Baldwin Press, The University of Georgia.

9) Mailing Lists

     There are two mailing lists for Tierra users.  The first list is for
people who only want to get the official announcements, updates and bug-fixes.
The other will carry the official postings, and are intended for discussion
of Tierra by users.  This one is distributed in digest form, when there is
enough material.  The lists are:

tierra-announce    official updates, patches and announcements only
tierra-digest      discussion, updates, etc. (digest form)

The addresses are: 

tierra-request@life.slhs.udel.edu   the list administrator (Tom Uffner). to
                                    be added, removed, or complain about
                                    problems with any of these lists.

tierra-digest@life.slhs.udel.edu    to post to the list.

tierra-bug@life.slhs.udel.edu       for bug-reports or questions about the
                                    code or installation.

     You may also be interested in the Artificial Life mailing list.
Subscribe to the list by sending a message to:

alife-request@cognet.ucla.edu

     Post to the list by sending a message to:

alife@cognet.ucla.edu

10) What Tierra Is

     The C source code creates 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.

     Along with the C source code which generates the virtual computer, we
provide several programs written in the assembler code of the virtual
computer.  One of these was written by a human and does nothing more than make
copies of itself in the RAM of the virtual computer.  The others evolved from
the first, and are included to illustrate the power of natural selection.

     The operating system of the virtual computer provides memory management
and timesharing services.  It also provides control for a variety of factors
that affect the course of evolution: three kinds of mutation rates,
disturbances, the allocation of CPU time to each creature, the size of the
soup, etc.  In addition, the operating system provides a very elaborate
observational system that keeps a record of births and deaths, sequences
the code of every creature, and maintains a genebank of successful genomes.
The operating system also provides facilities for automating the ecological
analysis, that is, for recording the kinds of interactions taking place
between creatures.

     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.  These digital communities
have been used to experimentally examine ecological and evolutionary
processes: e.g., competitive exclusion and coexistence, host/parasite density
dependent population regulation, the effect of parasites in enhancing
community diversity, evolutionary arms race, punctuated equilibrium, and the
role of chance and historical factors in evolution.  This evolution in a
bottle may prove to be a valuable tool for the study of evolution and ecology.
