Not long ago I had a remarkable experience: I got to visit the nursery for what might prove to be a new form of life. At Michigan State University, a group of computer scientists, biologists, and philosophers run the Digital Evolution Laboratory. There, they are developing software called Avida which allows them to create virtual…

When you consider a tapeworm or an Ebola virus, it is easy think of them as being evil to their very core. That’s a mistake. It’s true that at this point in their evolutionary history these species have become well adapted to living inside of other organisms (us), and using our resources to help them…