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Slime Mold

All articles tagged with #slime mold

science-and-nature2 years ago•5 min saved

When Sci-Fi Meets Reality: The Imitation of a Bizarre Species in a Classic Monster Movie

The iconic horror movie "The Blob" from 1958, starring Steve McQueen, bears resemblance to a real-life species called slime mold. Slime mold, a type of protist, engulfs bacteria and small organic molecules for food and forms a structure called a plasmodium. It moves by pulsating waves created by proteins found in animal muscle tissue. Slime mold can solve mazes and leaves an extracellular slime trail to navigate its surroundings. While slime molds can take up space, they are harmless to humans and typically grow to about five centimeters in the wild.

via Inverse|

#protists #science-and-nature #science-fiction

science2 years ago•11 min saved

"Mind-Blowing Discoveries by a Biologist: Nautilus Unveils"

Michael Levin, a developmental biologist at Tufts University, has been studying the remarkable abilities of various organisms. He has shown that frog skin cells can reassemble into a new organism called a xenobot, demonstrating the latent abilities of living things. Levin also discovered that flatworms can regrow two heads and that electrical signaling is pervasive in nature. He found that diseases might be cured by retraining gene and protein networks, similar to training a neural network. Levin's research on slime mold revealed that it can make decisions based on a calculus of payoff and can slow down other organisms to its level. He believes that organisms have latent abilities that can be coaxed out by altering their circumstances, and that there are degrees of agency all around us.

via Nautilus Magazine|

#bioelectrical-signaling #decision-making #developmental-biology