The new species is called a xenobot and it’s unlike anything else in nature. The researchers call it a “living robot” because, though it’s made entirely of organic material, it’s not so much grown as “developed.” Joshua Bongard, a researcher from University of Vermont who co-led the research, said: Xenobots are made using an artificial intelligence system that relies on, aptly enough, evolutionary algorithms. The scientists program the cells using a supercomputer at the University of Vermont and then researchers at Tufts assemble the creatures and… life finds a way. Per a press release from University of Vermont: The robots can be assembled into numerous configurations and, according to the team’s research paper, they’re capable of self-healing, locomotion, and working together. Theoretically, the xenobots could function as biodegradeable nanobots. This would make them useful for functions like delivering drugs inside the human body. Here’s another theory: Jurassic Park. In the 1993 film (spoilers ahead, but it’s been almost 30 years) a team of scientists cobble together some dinosaur DNA with stem cells from modern creatures including, you guessed it: frogs. All hell broke loose in the movie once the frog cells started going haywire. However, we’re quite sure this won’t be the case here. Here’s the full study just in case you want to check for yourself.
