Contriving

This is a super fascinating article peering into the work of Adrian Thompson at the University of Sussex.  

Dr. Thompson is using natural selection to create novel microchip designs.

One interesting insight involves one evolved design that didn't seem like it should work at all:

It seems that evolution had not merely selected the best code for the task, it had also advocated those programs which took advantage of the electromagnetic quirks of that specific microchip environment. The five separate logic cells were clearly crucial to the chip's operation, but they were interacting with the main circuitry through some unorthodox method– most likely via the subtle magnetic fields that are created when electrons flow through circuitry, an effect known as magnetic flux. There was also evidence that the circuit was not relying solely on the transistors' absolute ON and OFF positions like a typical chip; it was capitalizing upon analogue shades of gray along with the digital black and white.