Multiple cell organisms are where the cool stuff begins to happen. There are plenty of interesting and diverse single cell organisms out there, each of which has some very fascinating characteristics and traits. We can and do continue to learn from these single cell organisms, but when it comes to developing higher level functions you need multicell organisms and cellular specialization. This is where I will continue the next phase of the Herbert 1701 evolution projects.
While I am not an expert in taxonomy, I do believe that a single cell organism and a multicell organism would probably be classified as different species, regardless of how close those cells are in all other regards. Of course, in layman terms algae is algae, whether it clumps into multicell plants or stays as a single cell plant life. Despite this, for my own classifications I will be keeping these next two circuit designs as part of Species A. I am sure this will not be the only Herbert 1701 classification that does not make sense from a taxonomic point of view, merely the first.
Herbert 1701 Species A Generation 2 represents the splitting of generation one into two identical, but joined structures. As you can see from the schematic, this generation shares a power source between the two "cells", but otherwise is just a duplicated design. For anyone familiar with solar engines, this is the base design for miller solar engine powered solarbots: one solar cell with two circuits feeding two loads.
The interesting thing that comes about as a result of this new generation of AL (artificial life form) is not in the design so much as the actual function of the circuit. Placed in an appropriate light source one might expect the AL to react with both green LEDs flashing in sync, but as most persons who have built an electronic circuit or two could have told you, it does not. Instead one of the two solar engines activate, flashing the green LED, while the other circuit stays dormant without flashing. In bright enough light (direct Florida sunlight), both cells do flash, but not in sync and not for the same durations.The reason for this phenomenon is the basis of evolution, and is the reason I bring it up. Despite both cells in the AL consisting of the same components, the two cells do not behave identically. This is because there is no such thing as a perfect copy. Each set of components has slight variations from the other, producing different electrical reactions; in this instance one cell activates at a slightly lesser voltage than the other, draining the source of energy before the other cell has the chance to activate. Were this to happen in nature, the second cell would die off; likely bringing the first, more dominant cell down with it.
In organic cells this behavior occurs on a fairly regular basis. When an organic cell splits, its sets of genetic coding split and duplicate. In the case of DNA there is a built-in mechanism that checks to ensure a near perfect copy; there is no such mechanism for RNA. RNA mutations are far more common and is the reason why RNA viruses are more difficult to fight against, they adapt too quickly.
Were Herbert 1701 Species A to have a chance of surviving this cellular multiplication, further mutation would be required. First, the original capacitors I removed in gen one from the standard miller solar engine across the 1381 leads would need to be added back. Basically this would be similar to an organic cell being able to store its own energy for use. The second change is the addition of a balancing mechanism that would have to appear during the split, in this case a 100K potentiometer between the circuits and ground. This balancing mechanism would be automatic in an organic life form, for the sake of keeping costs down it will have to be manually balanced.
Now we have a proper multicell artificial life form that can survive just as well as the single cell. In proper lighting the AL behaves as originally expected, the two green LEDs light up and dim in concert; gathering and expending energy as a single unit. Herbert 1701 Species A Generation 3 is a thing of beauty that, combined with the prior generations, has shown the very basis of evolution, as well as the difficulty in achieving successful new creatures through this process.
