This gooey, brainless blob can store memories
By Nicoletta Lanese - Staff Writer 12 hours ago
This video clip shows a single-cell slime mold rapidly reorganizing its tubular structure as it hunts for food. (Image credit: Mirna Kramar)
A neon-yellow slime mold can store memories, even though it lacks a nervous system. Now, scientists have found a new clue as to how the brainless blob manages this impressive feat.
The single-cell organism, known as Physarum polycephalum, belongs to the taxonomic group Amoebozoa, the same group as amoebas, Live Science previously reported. The blobs can exist as one tiny cell with one nucleus, the cell's control center, or multiple cells can fuse together to form one gargantuan cell with many nuclei. These fused cells can grow to cover dozens of square inches (hundreds of square centimeters) in area.
When fused, the huge cells form a complex network of internal tubing; these tubes contract, similar to blood vessels, to push fluid and nutrients through the brainless blob.
The new study, published Feb. 22 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the diameters of these branching tubes can encode information, such as where the slime mold has recently found food. When the blob finds food, it rapidly reorganizes its tubular network, widening some tubes and shrinking others, and this architecture remains in place even after the blobs have eaten the food.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/slime-mold-memories.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
I thought you were referring to Trump.
Fascinating article. Ty, Judi Lynn!
