Apr 24, 2021 05:14 AM
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/b...-facts.htm
EXCERPT: For a long time, nobody understood slime molds. [...] these pulsating piles of jelly found on rotten logs in the forest are not fungi, but are, in fact, more closely related to amoebas. And though there's nary a neuron in a slime mold's entire gelatinous body, they seem to be able to solve relatively complex problems.
There are over 900 species of slime molds (phylum Myxomycetes) living in the soils, leaf litter and rotten logs of this planet. [...] Slime molds ... have probably been squishing their way around Earth for around a billion years. In fact, it's possible they're one of the first multicellular-ish organisms created by single cells joining together.
[...] "Slime molds and social insects are both 'decentralised' systems where there is no 'leader' in charge of decision making," says Latty. "However, in the case of insects, each individual operates both at the individual level — they have brains — and at a collective level. In slime molds it's much harder to even define what an individual is."
[...] slime molds don't have brains or even anything that resembles a neuron. Still, though, scientists can press plasmodial slime molds into solving mazes. One type of learning slime molds are capable of is habituation.
[...] Not only can slime molds habituate to less-than-ideal circumstances if it means they'll be rewarded, they also seem to be capable of memory. Physarum polycephalum — the same, oft-studied species from the habituation study — seems to be able to remember things. An experiment involving slime molds that were intentionally habituated to salt, a known repellent, before going into a dormant period, showed that they remembered how to become habituated to living in a very salty environment after a year of lying dormant. They also seem to be able to decide which direction to travel based on the food they've encountered there before... (MORE - details)
EXCERPT: For a long time, nobody understood slime molds. [...] these pulsating piles of jelly found on rotten logs in the forest are not fungi, but are, in fact, more closely related to amoebas. And though there's nary a neuron in a slime mold's entire gelatinous body, they seem to be able to solve relatively complex problems.
There are over 900 species of slime molds (phylum Myxomycetes) living in the soils, leaf litter and rotten logs of this planet. [...] Slime molds ... have probably been squishing their way around Earth for around a billion years. In fact, it's possible they're one of the first multicellular-ish organisms created by single cells joining together.
[...] "Slime molds and social insects are both 'decentralised' systems where there is no 'leader' in charge of decision making," says Latty. "However, in the case of insects, each individual operates both at the individual level — they have brains — and at a collective level. In slime molds it's much harder to even define what an individual is."
[...] slime molds don't have brains or even anything that resembles a neuron. Still, though, scientists can press plasmodial slime molds into solving mazes. One type of learning slime molds are capable of is habituation.
[...] Not only can slime molds habituate to less-than-ideal circumstances if it means they'll be rewarded, they also seem to be capable of memory. Physarum polycephalum — the same, oft-studied species from the habituation study — seems to be able to remember things. An experiment involving slime molds that were intentionally habituated to salt, a known repellent, before going into a dormant period, showed that they remembered how to become habituated to living in a very salty environment after a year of lying dormant. They also seem to be able to decide which direction to travel based on the food they've encountered there before... (MORE - details)