# Lenia and Expanded Universe

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.03742 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.03742/

## Key facts

- Cited by 23 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 7 May 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 23 of 23)

- [Illuminating Diverse Neural Cellular Automata for Level Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05489/) (2021)
- [Automating the Search for Artificial Life with Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.17799/) (2024)
- [Flow-Lenia: Towards open-ended evolution in cellular automata through mass conservation and parameter localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.07906/) (2022)
- [Texture Generation with Neural Cellular Automata](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.07299/) (2021)
- [Arbitrarily Scalable Environment Generators via Neural Cellular Automata](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.18622/) (2023)
- [Discovering Sensorimotor Agency in Cellular Automata using Diversity Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.10236/) (2024)
- [From Text to Life: On the Reciprocal Relationship between Artificial Life and Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.09502/) (2024)
- [CAX: Cellular Automata Accelerated in JAX](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.02651/) (2024)
- [Differentiable Programming of Reaction-Diffusion Patterns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.06862/) (2021)
- [Hybrid Life: Integrating Biological, Artificial, and Cognitive Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.00285/) (2022)
- [Empowered Neural Cellular Automata](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.06771/) (2022)
- [Emergent Collective Reproduction via Evolving Neuronal Flocks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.13254/) (2024)
- [Flow-Lenia: Emergent evolutionary dynamics in mass conservative continuous cellular automata](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08569/) (2025)
- [Capturing Emerging Complexity in Lenia](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.09378/) (2023)
- [The Emergence of Complex Behavior in Large-Scale Ecological Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.18221/) (2025)
- [Selecting Continuous Life-Like Cellular Automata for Halting Unpredictability: Evolving for Abiogenesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.07541/) (2022)
- [Rethinking Self-Replication: Detecting Distributed Selfhood in the Outlier Cellular Automaton](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.08047/) (2025)
- [Complex System Exploration with Interactive Human Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.00794/) (2025)
- [Evolving Many Worlds: Towards Open-Ended Discovery in Petri Dish NCA via Population-Based Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.11248/) (2026)
- [Von Neumann Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.05780/) (2026)
- [Semantic Lenia: Emergence of Homeostatic Solitons within the Semantic Space of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.11657/) (2026)
- [The Artificial Experimentalist: Discovery and Control of Self-Organizing Phenomena with Autotelic Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.26116/) (2026)
- [Self-Replicating Neural Cellular Automata: Quantifying Emergent Phenotypic and Genotypic Diversity in an OpenEnded Substrate](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.19902/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We report experimental extensions of Lenia, a continuous cellular automata family capable of producing lifelike self-organizing autonomous patterns. The rule of Lenia was generalized into higher dimensions, multiple kernels, and multiple channels. The final architecture approaches what can be seen as a recurrent convolutional neural network. Using semi-automatic search e.g. genetic algorithm, we discovered new phenomena like polyhedral symmetries, individuality, self-replication, emission, growth by ingestion, and saw the emergence of "virtual eukaryotes" that possess internal division of labor and type differentiation. We discuss the results in the contexts of biology, artificial life, and artificial intelligence.