Short Story with a simple form of machine evolution











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This story Starts out like the standard "Planet of the Apes" routine: Space voyagers from Earth get caught in some sort of warp and return to a recognizable Earth, but the civilization they knew is long gone. In this story, however, all macro biological life has disappeared completely, to be replaced by a wilderness of feral machines, many of them replicating the standard biological forms: amulatory predators/prey (analogous to animals), sessile energy accumulators (like plants), even sea "creatures". Some predators are able to use parts of their prey directly, although most incorporate some kind of smelter or other recycling feature that allows them to mine basic materials from prey. Explosives are part of the repertoire of prey defenses, hinting that some of this may have been kicked off by humans tinkering with autonomous machines meant for warfare. I think it was by a well-known SF author, like, say, Robert Silverberg. I believe it dates back to the 1980s, could have encountered it in a collection of older stuff, but it's definitely post-60s, as integrated chips are mentioned explicitly as a resource.










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    This story Starts out like the standard "Planet of the Apes" routine: Space voyagers from Earth get caught in some sort of warp and return to a recognizable Earth, but the civilization they knew is long gone. In this story, however, all macro biological life has disappeared completely, to be replaced by a wilderness of feral machines, many of them replicating the standard biological forms: amulatory predators/prey (analogous to animals), sessile energy accumulators (like plants), even sea "creatures". Some predators are able to use parts of their prey directly, although most incorporate some kind of smelter or other recycling feature that allows them to mine basic materials from prey. Explosives are part of the repertoire of prey defenses, hinting that some of this may have been kicked off by humans tinkering with autonomous machines meant for warfare. I think it was by a well-known SF author, like, say, Robert Silverberg. I believe it dates back to the 1980s, could have encountered it in a collection of older stuff, but it's definitely post-60s, as integrated chips are mentioned explicitly as a resource.










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      This story Starts out like the standard "Planet of the Apes" routine: Space voyagers from Earth get caught in some sort of warp and return to a recognizable Earth, but the civilization they knew is long gone. In this story, however, all macro biological life has disappeared completely, to be replaced by a wilderness of feral machines, many of them replicating the standard biological forms: amulatory predators/prey (analogous to animals), sessile energy accumulators (like plants), even sea "creatures". Some predators are able to use parts of their prey directly, although most incorporate some kind of smelter or other recycling feature that allows them to mine basic materials from prey. Explosives are part of the repertoire of prey defenses, hinting that some of this may have been kicked off by humans tinkering with autonomous machines meant for warfare. I think it was by a well-known SF author, like, say, Robert Silverberg. I believe it dates back to the 1980s, could have encountered it in a collection of older stuff, but it's definitely post-60s, as integrated chips are mentioned explicitly as a resource.










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      This story Starts out like the standard "Planet of the Apes" routine: Space voyagers from Earth get caught in some sort of warp and return to a recognizable Earth, but the civilization they knew is long gone. In this story, however, all macro biological life has disappeared completely, to be replaced by a wilderness of feral machines, many of them replicating the standard biological forms: amulatory predators/prey (analogous to animals), sessile energy accumulators (like plants), even sea "creatures". Some predators are able to use parts of their prey directly, although most incorporate some kind of smelter or other recycling feature that allows them to mine basic materials from prey. Explosives are part of the repertoire of prey defenses, hinting that some of this may have been kicked off by humans tinkering with autonomous machines meant for warfare. I think it was by a well-known SF author, like, say, Robert Silverberg. I believe it dates back to the 1980s, could have encountered it in a collection of older stuff, but it's definitely post-60s, as integrated chips are mentioned explicitly as a resource.







      story-identification short-stories evolution






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          This is probably Poul Anderson's story "Epilogue" which fits all of the details you mention. There's a discussion of the story at http://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2013/08/epilogue.html and another at https://polaris93.livejournal.com/2745134.html. It was first published in Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, March 1962 and has been reprinted many times, see the ISFDB: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?61784






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            This is probably Poul Anderson's story "Epilogue" which fits all of the details you mention. There's a discussion of the story at http://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2013/08/epilogue.html and another at https://polaris93.livejournal.com/2745134.html. It was first published in Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, March 1962 and has been reprinted many times, see the ISFDB: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?61784






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              This is probably Poul Anderson's story "Epilogue" which fits all of the details you mention. There's a discussion of the story at http://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2013/08/epilogue.html and another at https://polaris93.livejournal.com/2745134.html. It was first published in Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, March 1962 and has been reprinted many times, see the ISFDB: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?61784






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                up vote
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                This is probably Poul Anderson's story "Epilogue" which fits all of the details you mention. There's a discussion of the story at http://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2013/08/epilogue.html and another at https://polaris93.livejournal.com/2745134.html. It was first published in Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, March 1962 and has been reprinted many times, see the ISFDB: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?61784






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                This is probably Poul Anderson's story "Epilogue" which fits all of the details you mention. There's a discussion of the story at http://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2013/08/epilogue.html and another at https://polaris93.livejournal.com/2745134.html. It was first published in Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, March 1962 and has been reprinted many times, see the ISFDB: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?61784







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                answered 2 hours ago









                Mark Olson

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