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Biological Cellular Automata Laboratory (BioCA Lab)

Author(s): John R Jungck1, Jennifer A. Spangenberg

Interdisciplinary Science Learning Center at the University of Delaware

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Summary:
This Excel module includes both linear cellular automata and 2D cellular automata. The original 3 rules for survival, death, and birth are implemented in this module, but users with some Excel knowledge can implement variations on these rules.

Licensed under CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International according to these terms

Version 1.0 - published on 15 Aug 2024 doi:10.25334/X6WV-EX42 - cite this

Overview

This module includes both linear cellular automata and 2D cellular automata. For linear CA, users can choose from a set of popular rules or define their own. For 2D CA, examples of a toroidal, cylindrical, and walled spatial configurations are presented, with a library of preset patterns and the ability to customize patterns. The original 3 rules for survival, death, and birth are implemented in this module, but users with some Excel® knowledge can implement variations on these rules. Cellular automata have been extensively used in biology to model the development of pigmentation in textile cone shells, the spread of forest fires, and epidemics, for example.

Popular Text Citations

Wolfram, S. 2002. A New Kind of Science. Wolfram Media.

Adamatzky, A. 1995. Identification of Cellular Automata. CRC.

Wolfram, S. 1994. Cellular Automata and Complexity. Perseus Books Group.

Bentley, P. J. 2002. Digital Biology. Simon & Schuster.

Poundstone, W. 1985. The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge. Contemporary Books.

Gardner, M. "The Game of Life, Parts I-III." Chs. 20-22 in Wheels, Life, and other Mathematical Amusements. New York: W. H. Freeman, 1983.

Meinhardt, H. 2003. The Algorithmic Beauty of Sea Shells. Springer-Verlag.

Research Articles

Jimenez-Morales F., Crutchfield J. P. and Mitchell M. 2001. Evolving two-dimensional cellular automata to perform density classification: A report on work in progress. Parallel Computing 27:571-585.

Guy, R. K. 1982. John Horton Conway: Mathematical Magus. The Two-Year College Mathematics Journal 13:290-299.

Shmulevich, I.; Dougherty, E. R.; Zhang, W. 2002. Control of stationary behavior in probabilistic Boolean networks by means of structural intervention. Journal of Biological Systems 10:431-445.

Kerr, B.; Neuhauser, C.; Bohannan, B. J. M.; Dean, A. M. 2006. Local Migration promotes competitive restraint in a host-pathogen `tragedy of the commons.' Nature 442:75-78.

Data Sources

Eric Weisstein's Treasure Trove of the Life Cellular Automaton (Snapshot: 2016-02-17)

Tutorial & Background Materials

Weisstein, Eric W. "Life." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.

Cellular Automata FAQ, Tim Tyler.

David Griffeath's Primordial Soup Kitchen (Snapshot: 2016-03-04)

Patterns, Programs, and Links for Conway's Game of Life, Paul Callahan.

Cellular Automata Laboratory, Rudy Rucker and John Walker.

Citation

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Fundamental Mathematical Concepts

Fundamental Mathematical Concepts
Game of Life

Developed By

Developed by
John Horton Conway

Primary Reference

Gardner, M. 1970. MATHEMATICAL GAMES: The fantastic combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game "life". Scientific American 223:120-123