Abstract This work introduces formally the concept of statistical asymmetry (SA) of a system as an entropic measure of how much it fails to be fully symmetric under a given group of transformations. It is shown that it is able to provide an alternative classification of one-dimensional elementary cellular automata that closely aligns with known others only by measuring symmetry. The behaviour of SA can also be an useful indicator of complex behaviour on two-dimensional discrete processes by following the dynamics of configurations, which is demonstrated in the case of the Geenberg–Hastings model, Conway’s game of life, and the random evolution of discrete square matrices.

With the recent Nobel Prize awarded for radical advances in protein discovery, foundation models (FMs) for exploring large combinatorial spaces promise to revolutionize many scientific fields. Artificial Life (ALife) has not yet integrated FMs, thus presenting a major opportunity for the field to alleviate the historical burden of relying chiefly on manual design and trial and error to discover the configurations of lifelike simulations. This article presents, for the first time, a successful realization of this opportunity using vision-language FMs. The proposed approach, called automated search for Artificial Life (ASAL), (a) finds simulations that produce target phenomena, (b) discovers simulations that generate temporally open-ended novelty, and (c) illuminates an entire space of interestingly diverse simulations. Because of the generality of FMs, ASAL works effectively across a diverse range of ALife substrates, including Boids, Particle Life, the Game of Life, Lenia, and neural cellular automata. A major result highlighting the potential of this technique is the discovery of previously unseen Lenia and Boids life-forms, as well as cellular automata that are open-ended like Conway's Game of Life. Additionally, the use of FMs allows for the quantification of previously qualitative phenomena in a human-aligned way. This new paradigm promises to accelerate ALife research beyond what is possible through human ingenuity alone.

Teens and Screens: Game of Life, Indeed: "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin"

Wireless Sensor Networks are composed of a set of sensors distributed within an area that monitor physical variables of the environment and send back information to a central node. Nodes cannot always remain active since they would swiftly drain the system’s energy. As such, some works have proposed the use of different on/off schemes to monitor the phenomena of interest efficiently but also to conserve energy as much as possible. To this end, the use of on/off protocols has been used before, but has no relation to the characteristics of the monitored events. However, in scenarios where the phenomena to monitor occur in a certain pattern or specific region, the use of more suited techniques to activate the nodes can yield better results. In this sense, we propose the use of cellular automata (CA), based on the Game of Life (GoL), in order to turn the nodes on and off, according to the patterns described by the automata. Cellular automata are discrete models consisting of a lattice or grid of cells in a finite number of states that remain or change into another state following pre-established rules commonly associated with the states of their neighbors. As such, we propose to activate/deactivate the nodes following the natural behavior of the GoL scheme. Since the initial state of the cellular automata directly modifies the pattern evolution of the GoL, we consider several possible patterns that can occur in practical systems in order to prove the effectiveness of our proposal. We evaluate the system performance in terms of successful event report probability and energy consumption, comparing our results to the conventional on/off schemes with a certain probability of nodes being in the on state. With this premise, we think CA is a good alternative to determine the on/off process in WSNs. We compared the system performance of the GoL patterns compared to the classical approach and found the cases where the GoL scheme performs better.

Abstract Software-based artificial life methods use mathematical and computational models to mimic complexity in living systems. Although such methods seem promising pertaining to exploring emergent behaviour, obtaining the governing rulesets of such methods remains challenging. In this paper, we present a concept of combined use of methods targeting different levels/scales in an emergent behaviour to obtain software-based artificial life rulesets from observed data. Additionally, we investigate the consequences of using this combination of methods by proposing an instance of combining Cellular Automata and Agent-based modelling with Koopman-based linearization. Our experiments on systems of Elementary Cellular Automaton (Rule 30), Game of Life (GOL), and Vicsek’s flocking show that the combined method can learn the overall non-linear and emergent behaviour, and the underlying governing rulesets. Our research also indicates that by identifying several emergent scales or levels in a system, the combined method has the potential to shed light on the learnt system dynamics.

The innovation of multi-material offers significant benefits to architectural systems. The fusion of multiple materials, transitioning from one to another in a graded manner, enables the creation of fused space without the need for mechanical connections. Given that plastic is a major contributor to ecological imbalance, this research on fused space aims to recycle plastic and use it as a multi-material for building applications, due to its capacity for being 3D printed and fused with other materials. Furthermore, to generate diverse properties for the fused space, several nature-inspired forming algorithms are employed, including Swarm Behavior, Voronoi, Game of Life, and Shortest Path, to shape the building enclosure. Subsequently, digital analyses, such as daylight analysis, structural analysis, porosity analysis, and openness analysis, are conducted on the enclosure, forming the color mapping digital diagram, which determines the distribution of varying thickness, density, transparency, and flexibility gradation parameters, resulting in spatial diversity. During the fabrication process, Dual Force V1 and Dual Force V2 were developed to successfully print multi-material gradations with fused plastic following an upgrade to the cooling system. Finally, three test sites in London were chosen to implement the fused space concept using multi-material.

Games have long been an integral part of people's daily lives, offering an experience that captures attention, stimulates reflection, and promotes the acquisition of knowledge necessary for players' performance. In the current scenario, technological advancements have intensified the presence of games in everyday life, fostering a culture of engagement and learning that extends beyond entertainment to education. In the educational context, the use of educational games has proven to be an effective strategy for making learning more dynamic and meaningful, especially when adapting these resources to complex topics. Because of their interactive nature, games create an environment conducive to the development of interdisciplinary knowledge, connecting theory and practice. This work was conducted at Três Marias School, located in the municipality of Floresta, Pernambuco, with second-year high school students, and also at IFSertãoPE on the Floresta campus with students from the PROEJA Technical Program in Administration. The objective was to teach and consolidate the concepts of acids and bases through the use of the board game "Tabutrilha," adapted to the theories of Arrhenius, Brönsted-Lowry, and Lewis. The methodology included a diagnostic questionnaire, a condensed lecture, the game, and, finally, an evaluation questionnaire. The results showed a significant increase in student performance, demonstrating that the playful approach promoted more effective and engaging learning. It is concluded that educational games are fundamental tools for integrating theoretical content with everyday situations, fostering meaningful and interdisciplinary learning, in addition to motivating students in their academic and professional careers.

Structure and computability of preimages in the Game of Life

The 3D REThink Life Game, a Game-Based Intervention for Training Emotion Regulation Abilities

Game of Life is a two-state cellular automaton capable of displaying high complexity starting from simple rules. Taking inspiration from Game of Life, we introduce a new class of Cellular Automata with two types of alive states and one dead state. This broad class of cellular automata allows for more interesting behaviors, including replicators at relatively small scales. We develop an algorithm to search for rules that open for small-scale structures that exhibit self-replication. We also find replicators that emerge spontaneously from random initial conditions. We find several such rules, including some that even exhibit scale-free replication. This class of replicators, with repeated copying within growing structures, inspires origin-of-life discussions using diverse and cooperating building blocks.

Existing research indicates that life review is a crucial means of enhancing intergenerational communication. However, how to effectively facilitate this process through gamification in family settings remains unclear. This study explores how metaphorical life games can promote communication between older adults and adolescents during life review activities, highlighting the relationship between dialogue themes and game design elements that encourage meaningful interaction. We played a commercial game by recruiting 24 pairs of family members to play together. Younger partners asked older participants about their relevant memories during the game. The experimental data were analyzed inductively based on thematic analysis. This study identified the effectiveness of life review through metaphorical games in facilitating communication in intergenerational family relationships by three core mechanisms: communication climate creation, symmetrical intergenerational interaction, and metaphorical expression elaboration. Intergenerational family engagement in metaphorical life games can effectively improve mutual communion and provide game design inspiration for digital games that support intergenerational life review. These findings offer new insights into life metaphor game design strategies and the mechanisms that enhance intergenerational communication.

Based on understanding art as a “gaming trick” (Raoni Azevedo/A Noiva – Igreja do Reino da Arte), this essay approaches the strategies of Heitor dos Prazeres and Wellington Virgolino in their participation in São Paulo Biennial editions. Considered “primitive” by the institution and the critics of the time (1950s/60s), the artists managed to instrumentalize the Biennial, turning aesthetic and racial prejudices into strategies to “win at the game of life” as defined in A Noiva. This essay addresses themes such as primitivization, whiteness, agency, institutionalcritique, and chronopolitics.

To strengthen practice-based evidence, pragmatic, yet rigorous, evaluation of real-world programs is necessary. This study sought to add to the evidence for the effectiveness of physical activity programs for middle-aged and older adults offered by publicly funded local sports partnerships (LSPs) in Ireland. We analysed data from 468 individuals aged 50 + years, who took part in the Move for Life cluster randomised feasibility trial. Outcomes were accelerometer-based moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA), light intensity physical activity (LiPA), standing time, and sedentary time; self-reported compliance with physical activity guidelines, body composition, physical function, and mental well-being. LSP programs included Women on Wheels/Bike for Life, Go for Life Games, Get Ireland Walking, and Men on the Move. We used a difference-in-differences approach to estimate program effects. We found evidence of positive program effects on accelerometer-derived MVPA (Women on Wheels/Bike for Life, Get Ireland Walking), LiPA (Go for Life Games), and sedentary time (Women on Wheels/Bike for Life, Go for Life Games) (p < .05), plus evidence of positive effects on self-reported physical activity for all LSP programs (p < .05). We did not find evidence of program effects on body composition. Outcomes related to physical function were mixed. Men on the Move was the only program where mental well-being scores increased significantly relative to the control group. Despite sample size limitations, the results support the effectiveness of LSP programs over a 6-month period, notably in terms of energy expenditure outcomes, while identifying areas for improvement regarding outcomes related to body composition, physical function and, particularly, mental well-being.

This paper proposes and assesses a replicable game (co)design technique to encourage social perspective taking in the higher education classroom. Fully embracing the potential of research creation approaches, this discursive game design methodology approaches games as mediators of knowledge, emphasising the process of (re)creating, modifying, and comparing different game iterations. The paper reports on two classroom exercises that draw inspiration from Dungeons &amp; Dragons and the Checkered Game of Life to foster perspective taking across different “learner personas” and different world views. Finally, this paper discusses how notating game modifications affords continuous game-based dialogue across student generations.

The reflections on the later Pound’s life and work as an émigré par excellence seem to reify the properties of the ancient parrhēsiast who daringly speaks truth to authorities. Such an approach can serve as a constructive key to describing Pound’s collaboration with and advocacy of the Italian fascism. Pound’s radio speeches and poetry of that period testify to the organic structure of his work, conditioned by an artistic embodiment of a specific form of cultural memory as an aesthetic European-American continuum. The creation of the author’s multicultural, heteroglossic “masks” dating back to antiquity in his early lyrics in the 1909 Personae culminates in the later Pound as a persona of a classical parressiast. Parrhēsia, defined by Michel Foucault as verbal manifestation of frankness, truth, danger, criticism, and duty, is embodied in the political and artistic representations of artist’s American identity. The argument of the article is that the perspective of the émigré writer as parrhēsiast that combines the historical specificity of the era, the national identity of the writer, and his biographical individuality, provides the meaningful critical optics to comprehensively apprehend the ideological position of Pound in his autobiographies, the broadcasts over the Rome radio, and the poetic features of his 1948 Pisan Cantos. In his 1949 “Autobiography”, Pound rationalizes his speaking on the fascist radio as a duty of the American citizen. Such a claim echoes Foucauldian political and ethical dimensions of parrhēsia. The former implies citizenship as a prerequisite in the institutionalized relations between democracy and truth, and the latter analyzes the relationship of an individual who publicly criticizes the mainstream. As a radio anchor, Pound takes on the image of the parrhēsiast and this persona acquires new overtones and meanings in the context of the Foucauldian “game of life or death”, leading to em-bodiment of logos. The airwaves serve as a vehicle for exercising speaker’s freedom of speech. The emphatic “Dr. Pound,” an academic title officially granted by an American university, underscores his sanction of truth-telling as the representative of a privileged elite, which resonates with the symbiosis of intellectual authority and personal moral credibility in verbal parrhēsiastic actsin Foucault’s texts. In the Pisan Cantos, the thesaurus of artistic and poetic personae of the epic is appended with an intertextual portrait of Villon whose “The Great Testament” functions as a counterpoint. The allusion to the burden of “The Epitaph in Form of a Ballad” in the original language and the reference to New Testament’s Barabbas point to an unapologetic confidence in poet’s case and rectitude, leaving no room for a feeling of deep remorse or hope for empathy. The textual excision of the supplication to God for mercy, which structures the ballad genre of the original text by Villon, articulates the denunciation of the genre of palinode. Such poetic gestures intensely and stoically mark the act of parrhēsia as a free and dutiful choice of a way of life that affirms Pound’s self and American identity as parrhēsiast through the combination of unconditional expression of views and discursive aestheticization of the autobiographic and epic genres.

Even though it is well known that emotion regulation skills play a crucial role in mental health outcomes, researchers are still developing and testing new interventions for training those emotion regulation abilities in line with the latest technologies. The REThink Life Game is such an intervention, it is a standalone online therapeutic game developed to train emotion regulation abilities in college students, within its four levels, and it also has an embedded assessment system. The aim of the present study was to examine the usability of the assessment system of the REThink Life Game in college student population. In this vein, we used the Serious Game Evaluation Scale that was completed by 208 first year college students that played the assessment system of the game. Overall, our results show that the assessment system of the REThink Life therapeutic online game has good usability, and can be used to evaluate emotion regulation abilities in college students.

The factors contributing to the persistence and stability of life are fundamental for understanding complex living systems. Organisms are commonly challenged by harsh and fluctuating environments that are suboptimal for growth and reproduction, which can lead to extinction. Many species contend with unfavourable and noisy conditions by entering a reversible state of reduced metabolic activity, a phenomenon known as dormancy. Here, we develop Spore Life, a model to investigate the effects of dormancy on population dynamics. It is based on Conway's Game of Life (GoL), a deterministic cellular automaton where simple rules govern the metabolic state of an individual based on the metabolic state of its neighbours. For individuals that would otherwise die, Spore Life provides a refuge in the form of an inactive state. These dormant individuals (spores) can resuscitate when local conditions improve. The model includes a parameter [Formula: see text] that controls the survival probability of spores, interpolating between GoL ([Formula: see text]) and Spore Life ([Formula: see text]), while capturing stochastic dynamics in the intermediate regime ([Formula: see text]). In addition to identifying the emergence of unique periodic configurations, we find that spore survival increases the average number of active individuals and buffers populations from extinction. Contrary to expectations, stabilization of the population is not the result of a large and long-lived seed bank. Instead, the demographic patterns in Spore Life only require a small number of resuscitation events. Our approach yields novel insight into what is minimally required for the origins of complex behaviours associated with dormancy and the seed banks that they generate.

Labyrinths in video games serve not only as navigation tools but also as complex design elements that combine technical, aesthetic, and gameplay functions. The use of procedural generation, interactive elements, and adaptive systems enables innovative approaches to construct virtual spaces. The purpose of this study is to develop a systematic classification of algorithms for the procedural generation of labyrinths for use in video game development and to determine their functional characteristics, advantages, and limitations, considering technical and game design requirements. The relevance of the research lies in the growing importance of procedural content in modern game development, which enhances replayability, adaptability, and reduces the cost of manual level design. This study presents a review and comparative analysis of modern maze generation algorithms, including classical approaches (DFS, Prim’s, Kruskal’s, Eller’s, Wilson’s, Aldous-Broder), cellular automata (Rule 4/5, Conway’s Game of Life, Maze CA, Mazectric, Hybrid CA), noise functions (Perlin, Simplex, Worley), fractal systems (L-systems, Hilbert curves), and machine learning-based algorithms (neuroevolution, Wave Function Collapse, Markov models). A classification of algorithms by the type of underlying structure (graph, grid, automaton, noise, ML model) is proposed, allowing for the systematization of maze generation approaches based on architectural and functional characteristics. It is established that classical algorithms offer high predictability and performance, while cellular automata and hybrid methods enable the creation of complex, organic, or decorative structures. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of a unified classification of maze generation algorithms that consider both structural and gameplay parameters, thus enabling informed choices of optimal solutions for specific game design tasks. The practical significance of this work lies in its applicability to build adaptive level generation systems, creating educational platforms for studying algorithms, and developing recommendation systems for selecting algorithms based on game genre, technical constraints, and desired complexity.

Game of Life based Critical Security Key Mechanism infrastructure in Internet-of-Things (IoT)

Antibiotic resistance has been and remains a major problem in our society. The main solution to this problem is to search and study the mechanisms of antibiotic action. Many groups of secondary metabolites, including antimicrobial ones, are produced by the Actinomycetota phylum. The actinobacterial strains isolated from habitats that have not been well studied are of great interest. Due to high resource competition, antibiotics are now considered a 'trump card in the game of life' due to their presence in natural substrates with limited nutrients. Potentially, strains isolated from such habitats can be producers of novel or poorly studied antibiotics. In the current research, we identified the strain Streptomyces sp. AP22 from the soils of the Akhshatyrsky Gorge, which is capable of producing pentalenolactone. This study describes the phenotypic and morphological characteristics of Streptomyces sp. AP22 and its biological activity. Pentalenolactone is a known inhibitor of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), an important enzyme involved in glycolysis. We identified a previously unknown mutation in the gapA gene encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase that confers resistance to this antibiotic compound. This antibiotic is not used in clinical practice, so its application as a selectable marker will not lead to the creation of pathogens resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics. In this case, the selectable marker is based on a genetic construct containing the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene with a resistance mutation. The use of this selectable marker can be applied to various genetic and molecular techniques, such as cloning and transformation. This can help to facilitate genetic and molecular biology studies of strains resistant to standard selectable markers such as kanamycin or ampicillin.