{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T19:58:51Z","timestamp":1790971131771,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"MIT Press","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Artificial life in-materio is the exploration of emergent life-like phenomena within physical material substrates. A rich variety of physical phenomena may support life-like behaviours, exploiting fundamentally different principles than biology. Here, we uncover life-like behaviours in artificial spin ice, a nanomagnetic metamaterial. In artificial spin ice, virtual creatures can be defined as spatio-temporal magnetic patterns that exist in the collective state of interacting nanomagnets. Pairing magnetic simulations with a genetic algorithm, we discover a diverse set of creatures, with behaviours including still life, oscillators and gliders. Beyond our initial discoveries, we show that a subset of the creatures can coexist under the same conditions, opening for the possibility of complex interactions. Finally, we provide a physical real-world experimental demonstration of two simple creatures interacting. In artificial life in-materio we strive to find the life that arises naturally within a material, transforming exotic materials into potentially habitable worlds.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/artl.a.466","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T19:23:18Z","timestamp":1790968998000},"page":"1-18","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Artificial Life\n                    <i>in-materio<\/i>\n                    : Creatures in a Nanomagnetic Metamaterial"],"prefix":"10.1162","author":[{"given":"Arthur","family":"Penty","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Computer Science arthur.penty@ntnu.no"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johannes H.","family":"Jensen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Computer Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thea Marie","family":"Dale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Electronic Systems"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erik","family":"Folven","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Electronic Systems"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gunnar","family":"Tufte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Computer Science"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]]},"container-title":["Artificial Life"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/artl\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1162\/ARTL.a.466\/2630937\/artl.a.466.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/artl\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1162\/ARTL.a.466\/2630937\/artl.a.466.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T19:23:18Z","timestamp":1790968998000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/artl\/article\/doi\/10.1162\/ARTL.a.466\/139247\/Artificial-Life-in-materio-Creatures-in-a"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/artl.a.466","relation":{},"ISSN":["1530-9185"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1530-9185","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]]}}}