# Technological Evolution > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this node within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Technology / Cultural Evolution **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Technological evolution is cumulative change and branching descent in tools, protocols and engineered systems through invention, copying, adoption and retirement. ## Nexus Context Semiconductor lineages, blockchain forks and software ecosystems preserve ancestry and undergo selection, but much variation is deliberate and horizontally transferred. ## Evidence Boundary The term is often analogical. Strict Darwinian claims require an internal reproducing population with heritable variation and differential success. ## Relationships [[wiki/Cultural Evolution|Cultural Evolution]], [[wiki/Digital Evolution|Digital Evolution]], [[wiki/Semiconductor Fabrication|Semiconductor Fabrication]], [[wiki/Technical Archaeology|Technical Archaeology]] ## Sources / Provenance - Technology-evolution literature; nexus synthesis.