Logic gates form the basis of modern digital computers, and from a theoretical perspective they are the unit of computation since they are the fundamental discrete logic element. By creating circuits of interconnected logic gates, computers can calculate more complex operations, such as adders, multiplexers, flips-flops, and eventually processing and control units. Herein, we use a 3D-printed platform consisting of a rectangular 2D-array of interconnected cells containing the Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. This reaction can be made to oscillate between two states to simulate the binary codification of digital electronics. Within the platform each cell contains a magnetic stirrer that can be individually stirred to control the local oscillations of the BZ reaction in that cell, but all the cells are also weakly interconnected through the common medium, and here we used the convolution of their individual oscillations to perform heterotic computations. Moreover, the 3D-printed vessel can be fabricated using different architectures, to for example define how the cells are connected, and thus controlling how the oscillations propagate between them. We took advantage of these features to simulate the ”AND”, ”OR, and ”XOR” logic gates. We also implemented a 2D Cellular Automata. To do so we defined the cells where the BZ reaction oscillates as “on”, and set the transition rule as the propagation of oscillations from the “on” cells towards “off” ones. These results pave the way towards the development of more sophisticated unconventional computers, which might potentially enhance future Artificial Life implementations more effectively than current silicon-based advancements.

Life’s origin and chemical evolution requires continuous and substantial selective processes at the molecular scale. However, the spontaneous emergence of selection, its mechanism and system-level influence are still insufficiently explored. To address this, an automated experimental framework has been devised to identify selection in a recursive system of oligomerizing molecules with closed-loop analytics. The approach is based on Assembly Theory, using Molecular Assembly (MA) index as an inherent complexity measure of molecules and molecular networks. A string-based MA model was developed to assist in the efficient analysis of diverse lengthy oligomers and to allow string information procedures. Coupled with smart algorithmic decision-making, the system will attempt to maximize the molecular network’s complexity in the reactor over recursive cycles. Following patterns of increasing chemical complexity in the molecular system could reveal definite traces of selection and determine the conditions and agents that promote it. This work elucidates why improbable complex states emerge, pertinent to life’s origin and its major evolutionary transitions.

This paper describes possible applications of a two dimensional array of programmable electrochemically active elements to Alife. The array has been developed as part of the MICRE-Agents project, and after several design phases, is now a mature enough device for general use beyond the project. Here we describe the general properties of the device based on the first two design phases, some of its capabilities, including portable experimentation, and discuss its potential application to ALife and in education.