Physarum form exploratory networks made of tentacle-like veins, and have no central nervous system – or anything that resembles one. Yet they can ‘make decisions’ by comparing a range of possible courses of action, and can find the shortest path between two points in a labyrinth. Japanese researchers released slime moulds into petri dishes modelled on the Greater Tokyo area. Oat flakes marked major urban hubs and bright lights represented obstacles such as mountains – slime moulds don’t like light. After a day, the slime mould had found the most efficient route between the oats, emanating into
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I’m writing from lockdown in the UK and have two glass dishes of slime mould as part of my quaranteam. It’s amazing to watch them distribute themselves. A friend joked with me about a ’slime mould oracle’ that he liked to create, which I’m yet to try. You ask a question, and place two oats equal distances from the slime mould, one labelled ‘yes’ and the other labelled ‘no’. The slime mould network emanates outwards and whichever it reaches first is the answer. There is an active online community of slime mould enthusiasts (The Slime Mould Collective: “An international network of / for intelligent organisms”) who share their findings and experiences, and document the various unexpected feats of these paradigm-busting creatures. It’s well worth a visit.
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