To learn to improvise, GenJam relied on a computing technique known as a genetic algorithm.

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Designing so many microstructures manually would be a huge task, so the researchers apply an optimisation program, called a genetic algorithm, instead.

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The creature was evolved in a genetic algorithm using genetic programming trees as the control systems to manipulate servo motors at each body joint.

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Thus, when a genetic algorithm runs on the chip, the effectiveness of each configuration can be measured directly on the circuit rather than in some costly simulation.

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And it had done this despite the fact that the human experimenters were completely unaware of the physical quirks in the semiconductor that the genetic algorithm was taking advantage of.

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He created the genetic algorithm that runs the app after reading programming books and forums, writing the code during his summer vacation and sending mail shots to the tech press to get coverage.

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When a stone is identified as a borderline case between two grades, the system uses an optimisation technique, called a genetic algorithm, to explore the different ways in which the stone could be cut to maximise its value.

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Using a computer algorithm, the researchers focused on identifying unique genetic markers on the Y chromosome of men in the project.

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