A computer produces outputs from inputs, and to do so reliably, its internal noise and variability must be managed effectively. Traditional computer architecture requires hardware determinism , but such perfect repeatability is increasingly incompatible with large-scale and real-world systems. Natural living systems, without the luxury of deterministic hardware, manage variability across the computational stack—and using such principles, soft artificial life offers a route to much larger and safer manufactured computers. This paper describes the engineering development of C214 , a next-generation self-constructing digital protocell. C214 struggles to survive in a challenging environment that, while not literally malicious, goes well beyond merely non-deterministic to deliberately destructive. Improved self-repair mechanisms, as well as active defenses in depth, give the new cell’s membrane a median survival time more than ten times greater than that of the earlier C211 . A new grid-based cytoplasm is also presented, standing to offer a more stable environment for future layers of the ‘living computation stack’

We introduce a new sub-symbolic Artificial Chemistry, called the Meta-Atom Artificial Chemistry. It treats composite particles (composites of random boolean networks, RBN) as a new type of higher level atom, a meta-atom . These complex structures, together with a new kind of link, then form even larger, multi-level, structures. We show that Meta-Atom Artificial Chemistry exhibits rich behaviour, including reaction pathways that resemble catalytic reactions.

Our MetaChem framework supports the definition and combination of artificial chemistries. Here we describe an implementation of MetaChem in an object oriented language. We briefly define MetaChem, and provide an example in the form of a toy AChem: StringCatChem. We present the class hierarchy used to define MetaChem such that the implementation can run directly from a graph description of some AChem. This matches the description given by the formal framework definition. We also describe some generic functions of MetaChem that have been implemented and used in StringCatChem. This implementation is available on GitHub.

We introduce a modularisation of artificial chemistries (AChems). This allows us to define a standard linking method between AChems. We illustrate the approach with a system that nests a Jordan Algebra AChem (JA AChem) inside agents of SwarmChem, and show how our modular approach allows us to define and experiment with multiple variants in a standard manner. Potential for future formalisation is discussed.