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Computer software (or simply software) is the programs and procedures that enable a computer to perform a specific task, as opposed to the physical components of the system (hardware). This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to perform a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run properly, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.
The term "software" was first used in this sense by John W. Tukey in 1957. In computer science and software engineering, computer software is all information processed by computer systems, programs and data. The concept of reading different sequences of instructions into the memory of a device to control computations was invented by Charles Babbage as part of his difference engine. The theory that is the basis for most modern software was first proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem. Hally, Mike (2005:79). Electronic brains/Stories from the dawn of the computer age. British Broadcasting Corporation and Granta Books, London. ISBN 1-86-207663-4.
Relationship to hardware
Computer software is so called in contrast to computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. In computers, software is loaded into RAM and executed in the central processing unit. At the lowest level, software consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions (object code), which change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is generally written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler. More on [ Computer software ]
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Life
EurekAlert! - Biology
Feats of strength begin a lizard's day
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(University of California - Davis) Male Jamaican anole lizards begin and end the day with displays of reptilian strength -- push-ups, head bobs and extensions of a colorful neck flap, or dewlap -- to defend their territory, according to a new study.
Great Ape Trust graduate student's paper sheds light on bonobo language
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(Great Ape Trust of Iowa) What happens when linguistic tools used to analyze human language are applied to a conversation between a language-competent bonobo and a human? The findings, published this month in the Journal of Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, indicate that bonobos may exhibit larger linguistic competency in ordinary conversation than in controlled experimental settings.
'Armored' fish study helps strengthen Darwin's natural selection theory
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400
(University of British Columbia) Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped a tiny fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a UBC study published today in Science Express.
AJ's Black Smoker - A java-based simulation illustrating natural selection in action, with a dynamic environment affected by simulated biological activity. Requires Java 2 plug-in. Contextual help, explanatory material available.
Altruist - Free PC software package for simulating evolution in structured populations. Includes models for group selection, group territoriality, Wright's shifting balance model of punctuated equilibria and speciation.
Meta Description: [ Simulation program for biological evolution in structured populations ]
Darwin at Home - Planetwide effort to create networked digital ecosystems. Information on participating teams, how to get involved, and news.
Meta Description: [ Working group for Digital Biology ]
DarwinBots - DarwinBots is an artificial life software in some ways similar to C-Robots and other programming games. Every simulated creature is a virtual robot with complex input and outputs and each DNA is in fact a program that acts on a memory cells array. Freeware.
evolution@home - Designed on the model of SETI@home, this project makes evolutionary data available for download to, and analysis on, personal computers. Splitting up the work among a variety of machines results in faster results generation.
Meta Description: [ Evolution@home is the first global computing system for evolutionary biology. It allows everybody with an Internet PC to contribute to evolutionary-research by running simulations of evolution. ]
Evolutionary Systems and Artificial Life - This course presents an overview of the field of Evolutionary Systems and its applied branch of Artificial Life. The historical and philosophical foundations of evolutionary thought are explored with particular emphasis on computational simulations of its models. Topics include: Self-Organizing Systems, Natural Selection, Dynamic Systems, Boolean Networks, Cellular Automata, Genetic Algorithms, and Evolutionary Robotics.
Food Chain - Open-ended simulation game of evolving species. Players design species of animals, which compete against each other in a virtual jungle.
GALife - Watch creatures based on a neural network learn to solve simple problems (eating the right foods, escaping traps) through random mutations and selection of the fittest. Highly configurable, with a modular structure.
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Gene Pool - In this artificial life simulation colourful creatures evolve the ability to swim in an aquatic environment.
Phylogeny and Evolution - This is a site for various projects in evolution, molecular evolution and phylogenetic epidemiology being carried out by members in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford.
Meta Description: [ This is a site for various projects in evolutionary biology, molecular evolution and phylogenetic
epidemiology being carried out by members of the evolutionary biology research group at the
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. ]
The Museum of Evolution and Artificial Life (MEAL) - MEAL demonstrates concepts in evolutionary biology to impatient visitors with modest hardware.
Meta Description: [ Demonstrating concepts in evolutionary biology to impatient visitors with modest hardware ]
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