Cornell University researcher Hod Lipson (at right) and his doctoral student Michael Schmidt hold up a double pendulum, a simple device that follows deceptively complicated natural laws when it swings. Lipson and Schmidt used the device, and others, in their experiments to prove that an algorithm developed for self-repairing robots can uncover scientific laws hidden in raw data. The breakthrough may aid the discovery of new scientific truths, particularly for biological systems, that have until now eluded detection.

Credit: Jonathan Hiller, Cornell University

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Cornell researcher Hod Lipson and his doctoral student Michael Schmidt discuss their findings with reporters during a telecon on April 1, 2009.

Credit: National Science Foundation

The double pendulum used by Cornell researchers Hod Lipson and Michael Schmidt to test their algorithm for automatically determining natural laws from raw experimental data.

Credit: Cornell University

The airtrack used by Cornell researchers Hod Lipson and Michael Schmidt to test their algorithm for automatically determining natural laws from raw experimental data.

Credit: Cornell University

Cornell University doctoral student Michael Schmidt sets up testing equipment in the motion tracking laboratory of his adviser Hod Lipson. Lipson and Schmidt used the equipment to evaluate their new algorithm for finding fundamental laws by analyzing raw data.

Credit: Daniel Cohen, Cornell University

The researchers' findings were published in the April 3, 2009, issue of Science magazine.

Credit: Copyright 2009 AAAS