Nathaniel Virgo
I am a post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany. I have a DPhil in artificial life from the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics at the University of Sussex, UK.
nathanielvirgo<at>gmail.com
I'm also an experimental electronic musician. I make music by interacting with complex systems on the edge of chaos, or something. You can find some of my work on the sc140 album, or you can watch a video of a live performance. More music-related information coming soon!
Research Interests
My DPhil work explored the effect of physical constraints, such as the second law of thermodynamics and a limited energy supply, on complex physical systems such as organisms and ecosystems.
In particular I'm interested in how lifelike properties can arise in non-living systems, and what this can tell us about biology.
This leads me to ask questions such as
- How do individual entities arise in certain physical systems? What do these phenomena have in common with biological organisms?
- How can lifelike structures and lifelike behaviour such as learning occur in purely physical systems? What does this purely physical organisation tell us about biological development?
- What can energetic considerations tell us about the structure of
ecosystems and the evolution of complexity?
I will continue to ask such questions in my work at the MPI.
Structurally complex entities in a reaction-diffusion system (modified Gray-Scott). Each consists of red and blue spots coexisting symbioticaly, mediated by an exchange of nutrients (green)