I suppose you’re right. The traditional term, evolution, almost doesn’t fit into Theo’s (and other scientist’s) modern interpretation. A new term, such as “technical evolution” seems to fit the bill a bit better.

Tyrone,

The vimeo video you posted is incredible. It really puts the above rendering Theo attached into perspective. Thanks for sharing it.

I was also inspired by his demonstration of the animal’s “brain”. The fact that he worked a little bit of binary memory into the beast really made me think.

As far as controlling evolution is concerned, I almost find the phrasing of that – in regards to Mr. Theo’s experiments with genetic / evolutionary algorithms – slightly incongruent with what he’s doing, but I would have to say that I find the idea of expediting evolution more than slightly perverse.

That said, I think the utilization of the inherent process of evolution in nature applied to some sort of artificial “evolutionary” mechanical-design particularly ingenious. It also makes me ponder the question of what characteristics and actions constitute thought / intelligence (as exemplified with the “brains” reaction to water).

I found this interesting animation of how the legs actually work:

http://vimeo.com/714206

Thanks for the post!