The complex behavior of systems in nature is rooted in intricate mechanisms of interaction that often supersede human-made systems in terms of reliability, power efficiency, and computational capacity. Researchers have begun to realize that natural systems are a great source of inspiration for novel algorithms in computation and communication systems. The International Workshop on Natural Computing (IWNC) is a platform that brings together computer scientists, biologists, mathematicians, electronic engineers, physicists, and social scientists to critically assess present findings in the field and to outline future developments in novel and emerging paradigms of computation and computing architectures. This compilation contains the papers from the most recent workshop, held in Himeji, Japan. Presented by scientists of worldwide reputation, the topics include DNA computation, cellular automata, physics and computation, evolutionary computing, neural networks, amoeba-based computing, artificial chemistry, noise-driven computing, chaotic systems, and unconventional models of communication.

Most natural and artificial systems transform information in a predictable or programmable way; such transformation can be interpreted as harnessing nature for computing. Recently we have witnessed a burst of research in unconventional computing, resulting in the development of experimental prototypes of natural computers, plasmodium computers, reaction-diffusion processors, and DNA computers as well as theoretical paradigms of natural computation such as cellular automata, artificial chemistry, evolutionary computing, and neural networks. The International Workshop on Natural Computing (IWNC) brings together computer scientists, biologists, mathematicians, electronic engineers, physicists, and others to critically assess present findings in the field, and to outline future developments in nature-inspired computing. This compilation of papers presented at the most recent workshop, held in Nagoya, Japan, makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of natural computing.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Cellular Automata for Research and Industry, ACRI 2008, which took place in Yokohama, Japan, September 23-26,2008. The conference, which was organized by YokohamaNational University, was the eighth in a series of conferences in- guratedin1994inRende, Italy, andfollowedbyACRI1996inMilan, Italy, ACRI 1998in Trieste, Italy, ACRI 2000in Karlsruhe, Germany, ACRI 2002in Geneva, Switzerland, ACRI2004inAmsterdam, TheNetherlandsandACRI2006inP- pignan, France. The ACRI conference has been traditionally focused on challenging problems and new research not only in theoretical but application aspects of cellular - tomata, including cellular automata tools and computational sciences. It is also concerned with applications and solutions of problems from the ?elds of physics, engineering, environmentscience, socialscienceandlifesciences.Itsprimarygoal istodiscussproblemsfromavarietyofscienti?c?elds, toidentify newissuesand to enlarge the research ?elds of cellular automata. Since its inception, the ACRI conference has attracted an ever-growing community and has raised knowledge andinterestinthe studyofcellularautomataforbothnewentrantsintothe ?eld aswellasresearchersalreadyworkingonparticularaspectsofcellularautomata. First invented by von Neumann, cellular automata models have been po- larizedandinvestigatedinmanyareasduring thelastfew decades.They provide a mathematically rigorous framework for a class of discrete dynamical systems that allow complex, unpredictable behavior to emerge from the deterministic - calinteractionsofmanysimple components operatinginparallelanddistrib

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 20th International Workshop on Cellular Automata and Discrete Complex Systems, AUTOMATA 2014, held in Himeji, Japan, in July 2014. The 10 regular papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 25 submissions. It also contains one invited talk in full paper length.