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http://io9.com/robot-simulations-show-mass-extinctions-may-accelerate-1724107663
By simulating a mass extinction on a population of virtual robots, researchers have shown that these cataclysmic events are an important contributor to an organism’s ability to evolve, a finding that has implications to evolutionary biology, the business sector—and even artificial intelligence.
It’s no surprise that mass extinctions exert a tremendous influence on evolution. If it hadn’t been for the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, for example, mammals would likely have never supplanted dinosaurs in many ecological niches. What’s less established, however, is whether or not mass extinctions produce consistent evolutionary outcomes with measurable effects. By using computer models, a research team from the University of Texas at Austin has presented compelling evidence in support of the hypothesis that repeated extinction events do in fact contribute to an increase in evolvability. The details of their research can now be found at PLOS ONE.
By simulating a mass extinction on a population of virtual robots, researchers have shown that these cataclysmic events are an important contributor to an organism’s ability to evolve, a finding that has implications to evolutionary biology, the business sector—and even artificial intelligence.
It’s no surprise that mass extinctions exert a tremendous influence on evolution. If it hadn’t been for the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, for example, mammals would likely have never supplanted dinosaurs in many ecological niches. What’s less established, however, is whether or not mass extinctions produce consistent evolutionary outcomes with measurable effects. By using computer models, a research team from the University of Texas at Austin has presented compelling evidence in support of the hypothesis that repeated extinction events do in fact contribute to an increase in evolvability. The details of their research can now be found at PLOS ONE.