This special issue displays some of the best articles presented at the Fourteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems (ALife 14), which was held in New York, USA, on July 30–August 2, 2014 (http://alife2014.alife.org/). ALife 14 was the fourteenth convening of ALife, one of the two largest conference series focusing on the study of artificial life, alternating with ECAL, the European edition.
ALife 14 attracted a total of 203 submissions, solicited in two formats: full article (up to 8 pages) and extended abstract (2 pages). Both types were evaluated through multiple peer reviews by the Program Committee. As a result, 102 submissions were accepted for oral presentations and 62 for poster presentations. These articles and abstracts were published in the open-access conference proceedings available from MIT Press' website (https://mitpress.mit.edu/index.php?q=books/artificial-life-14). The conference program was full of scientific, professional, and creative activities, including five...