Biological organisms learn from interactions with their environment throughout their lifetime.
For artificial systems to successfully act and adapt in the real world, it is desirable to similarly …

Which systems/organisms are conscious? New tests for consciousness ('C-tests') are
urgently needed. There is persisting uncertainty about when consciousness arises in human …

Swimming microrobots guided in the circulation system offer considerable promise in
precision medicine but currently suffer from problems such as limited adhesion to blood …

All living systems perpetuate themselves via growth in or on the body, followed by splitting,
budding, or birth. We find that synthetic multicellular assemblies can also replicate …

Synthetic biology and bioengineering provide the opportunity to create novel embodied
cognitive systems (otherwise known as minds) in a very wide variety of chimeric …

One of the most salient features of life is its capacity to handle novelty and namely to thrive
and adapt to new circumstances and changes in both the environment and internal …

A critical aspect of evolution is the layer of developmental physiology that operates between
the genotype and the anatomical phenotype. While much work has addressed the evolution …

The remarkable anatomical homeostasis exhibited by complex living organisms suggests
that they are inherently reprogrammable information-processing systems that offer …

Bioengineering can address many important needs, from transformative biomedicine to
environmental remediation. In addition to practical applications, the construction of new …

Each of us made the remarkable journey from mere matter to mind: starting life as a
quiescent oocyte (“just chemistry and physics”), and slowly, gradually, becoming an adult …