Most of these questions have now received at least some attention, but still none can really be considered solved. My own research over the past several years would lead to me to formulate slightly different questions, but I think the ones above are nevertheless a useful starting point. And if anyone manages to come up with a definitive solution to any of these questions, I can say that I at least will be very interested in hiring them!
- Stephen Wolfram McIntosh: Possibly the field is less active than it used to be, something which can be judged by the volume of CA-Mail in comparison with past years. For one thing, lattice gasses have split off from cellular automata, and then the support for the kind of hydrodynamics which requires lattice gasses may have diminished. For another, the a-life group was created, carrying with it an activity which was related to cellular automata, although not strictly a part of it.
And then there are neural networks, Petri nets, Lindenmayer systems, ... more.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.