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What's the name of the short story? Sounds like it could be interesting.

"What Continues... and What Fails..." by David Brin, perhaps?

That's the one - thanks!

Not sure about a short story, but there's a novel with that idea: Learning the World: a Scientific Romance by Ken MacLeod

Gregory Benford also wrote a novel that touches on this topic called "Cosm", which is a pretty excellent read.