These machines, however, lack any computing and constructing capabilities, their sole functionality being that of self-replication. The 86-cell loop is basically a closed data path, consisting of a string of core cells in state 1, surrounded by sheath cells in state 2. In executing the instructions the arm extends itself and folds, ultimately resulting in a daughter loop, also containing the genome needed to replicate. A primary characteristic emphasized by Langton is the two different modes in which information is used, interpreted and uninterpreted, which he compared with the biological processes of translation and transcription , respectively. In Langton's loop, translation is accomplished when the instruction signals are executed as they reach the end of the construction arm, and upon collision of signals with other signals.
Transcription is accomplished by the duplication of signals at the arm junctions.
Langton's ant described in second article. Then the ant moves onto the cell, which is in this direction and follows the rules, depending on the cell's color. Then the ant moves onto the cell, which is in this direction and follows the rules, depending on the cell's color. The loops designed by Langton , Byl , and Reggia et al. lack any computing and constructing capabilities, their sole functionality being that of self-replication. Tempesti developed a self-replicating CA, similar to that of Langton's, yet with the added capability of attaching to the automaton an executable program which is duplicated and executed in each of its copies.