Slime mould might easily be one of the strangest life forms on our planet. They are neither plants, animals, nor fungi, but various species of complex, single-celled amoebas of the protist kingdom. Sometimes they form colonies able to grow, move, and even exhibit a strange kind of intelligence.
Slime mould might easily be one of the strangest life forms on our planet. They are neither plants, animals, nor fungi, but various species of complex, single-celled amoebas of the protist kingdom. Sometimes they form colonies able to grow, move, and even exhibit a strange kind of intelligence.
Even without a nervous system, they are able to learn about substances they encounter, retaining that knowledge and even communicating it to other slime moulds. Now a team of scientists at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has figured out how: slime moulds actually absorb the substance into their veins.
Researchers at the CNRS' Centre for Research on Animal Cognition conducted their experiments on a fascinating little fellow called Physarum polycephalum, a single-celled blob with multiple nuclei, and a popular candidate for studying slime mould intelligence. (Here you can see it navigate a maze. Cool!)
The team had a clue. They had previously observed that P. polycephalum communicated information about substances with other slime mould blobs when they reached out to each other and fused their venous networks.
Even without a nervous system, they are able to learn about substances they encounter, retaining that knowledge and even communicating it to other slime moulds. Now a team of scientists at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has figured out how: slime moulds actually absorb the substance into their veins.
Researchers at the CNRS' Centre for Research on Animal Cognition conducted their experiments on a fascinating little fellow called Physarum polycephalum, a single-celled blob with multiple nuclei, and a popular candidate for studying slime mould intelligence. (Here you can see it navigate a maze. Cool!)
The team had a clue. They had previously observed that P. polycephalum communicated information about substances with other slime mould blobs when they reached out to each other and fused their venous networks.