IST reports, "Visionaries more than half a century ago imagined machines capable of growth, self-repair and self-replication. By digitally mimicking biological tissue's properties, European researchers recently demonstrated a platform for autonomous computer systems." The new platform is the POEtic chip developed by the POEtic Project of the EU IST Program. The chip contains a microprocessor made of reconfigurable cells, similar to an FPGA except that this chip reconfigures itself autonomously in real-time. The chip allows machines to take advantage of the three forces that shape biological life: development, learning and evolution (or ontogenesis, epigenesis and phylogenesis if you're writing a budget proposal). The first shipment of 80 chips will be delivered and tested in autonomous robotic applications this year.