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Rice Cultivation

The environmental basis for AP1C3 hails from Asia, where farmers have harnessed this naturally occurring symbiosis for centuries. Folklore dates Azolla usage in Vietnam back to the 11th century, where a Buddhist monk supposedly dropped a basket of the fern into the rice fields around the Red River. [1] The three nearby villages all began to see an increase in rice yield production, which is attributed to the "green manure" produced by the decaying Azolla as well as by the Anabaena bacteria that lives in symbiosis with live Azolla. In fact, through more recent studies, Azolla green manure is known to increase these yields by as much as 30-40% while reducing the dependence on chemical fertilizers. [2]

Azolla's fertilization properties are due in part to the symbiosis between the micro fern and the cyanobacteria Anabaena, which lives in cavities on the underside of the leaves. Anabaena is a bacterial aglae that has the ability to fix nitrogen - specialized cells called heterocysts can convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to organic nitrogen compounds, such as ammonia (NH4). Being attached to the Azolla, the nitrogen fixing process not only preserves the Anabaena but also provides rich nitrogen compounds to its surrounding environment.

Deconstruction of the Environment

The rice growing process is deconstructed in AP1C3 into three distinct phases, each of which becomes its own micro-ecosystem. First, Anabaena cultures are isolated from the Azolla and placed into test tubes.

This system is then linked to a synthetic bacteria colony that is in competition with the real bacteria. This organic-to-bits linkage is performed by an array of sensors, valves, and pumps that detect the gas flow out of the anabaena cultures and control the gaas flow into the cultures, respectively. The gas output from the live bacteria cultures are transformed into software analogs that appear in the electronic environment. Similarly, electronic sensors are placed in the electronic petri dish that detects the output emissions of the synthetic bacteria. This in turn controls pumps that provide gas flow to the live cultures. In theory, there is a fine line between symbiosis and parasitism in this relationship, as the health of each participant is dependent on the health of the other. Over time, the system should oscillate between the brink of death and global prosperity. As in nature, the outcome of this relationship affects peripheral ecosystems; for example the downstream system is dependent on the outcome of this bacterial confrontation.

Preserving the natural linkage between the Anabaena and the Azolla, tubes stretch across the installation to the central plinth that contains a culture of Azolla. The presumed nitrogen rich output bubbles into the pool of Azolla, which mimics the natural rice cultivation process. The Azolla is left to its own devices in this pool, relatively free of outside influence with the exception of robotic arms that periodically scoop up small quantities of Azolla and drop them onto one of four slides that extend from the plinth to a moat of rice plants.

Surrounding the plinth is a moat of dirt and soil where rice plants are sowed. This represents the rice paddies that are the eventual end point of the traditional cultivation practice. Growth rates increase due primarily to the green manure that is the dead Azolla. Preserving this process, metal blades are housed at the base of the slides to chop up the Azolla to kill them as they descend to facilitate in the decomposition.

The Role of Machines

Breaking up this natural cultivation technique has obvious overtones of mechanization and the Industrial Age. The robotic arms that scoop up the Azolla and drop them onto the chutes to be fed to the rice plants alludes to modern day factory processes and the continual automation of these environments. As automation increases, the level of control over the environment appears to increase. Concerns of efficiency, consistency, and quality drive programs like Six Sigma to further control the environment. This control is exerted through isolation and manipulation as illustrated in AP1C3.

Introducing a synthetic bacterial colony into the rice production process blurs this clear cut distinction between the role of man and nature. As a machine, the synthetic bacteria are man's creations and do our bidding, yet by becoming an integral part of the production process, they also become part of nature. This is apparent in AP1C3 as the Anabaena must adapt to their new environment that includes a competitive/cooperative relationship with the synthetic bacteria. Through this relationship the synthetic bacteria is absorbed into nature. This type of subsumption on the part of nature is common when machine and other man-made artifacts are left to waste once their utility has been reached. Sunken ships, cars, houses, all become new habitats for life.

It is less common to see this subsumption take place while machines are still in operation since this is the realm where the maxim of control is strongest. What makes the environment in AP1C3 unique is that the "machine" is given greater prominence and freedom to operate independent of man-made control. This is embodied in the GCS system that executes the synthetic bacteria applications. Each bacterium is in fact its own software application that is independent of all other bacteria. Each bacterium runs its own artificial chemistry sub-system to manage the reactions that occur between it and its environment. Man's machines are increasingly more sophisticated, so much so that man begins to transfer control to the machines. As this transfer happens, man relinquishes control and machines in the process become more lifelike as they become less predictable. This is evolution into life and intelligence, and hence nature.

Fractals, Nature, and Intelligence

Another area of interest for me is how intelligence can potentially be viewed as a fractal phenomenon insomuch that intelligent behavior can be observed at many levels, and regardless of the level, there appear to be self-organizing effects. Group dynamics is a recent example that explores behavior of social groups and mobs, which is level up from humans. In contrast, as one descends below humans, examples of intelligent behavior are seen at both the group and individual level in such disparate creatures as birds [3] and bacteria [4]. The behavior in bacteria that can be qualified as intelligent relates primarily to the phenomenon of quorum sensing, where leagues of bacteria all vote simultaneously and change their behavior based on the result of the vote. This is seen in Anabaena to a limited degree in the formation of heterocysts [5]. The use of GCS was inspired by the desire to simulate this property of bacteria.

GCS itself takes this concept of fractal intelligence a step further by using the same software model to represent bacteria and neurons. Since both rely on chemical signaling as a major form of communication, there is possibility that intelligence can appear in both formats. At this time, no tests have been conducted to compare the behavior of two similarly constructed networks where the differentiating factor is the type of cell being used.

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