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ON SLIME MOLDS AND ANTS. “Path optimization in Physarum when traversing a maze is related to ant algorithmics. Ants in a formicary undertake coordinated behavior for the location and transportation of food.” https://ukacc.group.shef.ac.uk/proceedings/control2008/papers/p246.pdf View in LinkedIn

LEARNED BEHAVIOR. “If Physarum polycephalum is subjected to a regular series of shocks, it can learn the pattern and modify its behavior in anticipation of the next stimulus.” https://ukacc.group.shef.ac.uk/proceedings/control2008/papers/p246.pdf View in LinkedIn

LOSS OF SAMENESS. "Also, different genes are contributed from each parent at every fusion that further contributes to loss of sameness. Finally, given equal distribution at each division, other molecules or atoms present in a founding cell are not likely to be present after the clone has produced a lineage of about fifty population doublings." (L. Haflick, contrarian). https://lnkd.in/esfPTAR View in LinkedIn

COMBINATION OF TWO FORMS. “In Physarum, amoebae are typically haploid. Two Physarum amoebae of different mating types combine to create a diploid cell, which then grows by a process involving repeated division without separation of the cytoplasm. The resulting large plasmodium is a single cell with multiple diploid nuclei.” https://ukacc.group.shef.ac.uk/proceedings/control2008/papers/p246.pdf View in LinkedIn

EXACTING POSITION. "Cells at the leading edge of any long lineage do not have the identical molecular content as existed in the founding cell. Even in non-dividing cells, molecular turnover must occur leading to the conclusion that, like dividing cells, non-dividing cells also are not molecularly identical after the passage of time." (L. Haflick, contrarian). https://lnkd.in/esfPTAR View in LinkedIn

FORMING NEW STRUCTURES. “The chemical waves of aggregating Dictyostelium are an excellent example of collective pattern formation. Waves induce chemotaxis towards their centres and can be either circular or spiral in shape; cells aggregating at the centre of each shape will ultimately form a spore body.” https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/40/6/798/2400841 View in LinkedIn

ARGUMENTATIVE POSITION. "There is a tenable argument that the germ plasm is not immortal because molecules at the end of a lineage of zygotes are not identical to those in the founding gametes." https://lnkd.in/esfPTAR View in LinkedIn

VIBRATING SIGNAL. “When the slime mold senses attractants, such as food, via specific binding to receptor molecules presented on the outer membrane surface, the oscillation frequency in the area closest to the food increases, causing cytoplasm to flow toward the attractant. Additionally, binding of attractant molecules to sections of the surface membrane reduces the tension at that section, leading to a difference in internal hydrostatic pressure, such that cytoplasm flows toward the source of attractants.” http://www.pnas.org/content/109/43/17490.full View in LinkedIn

ALL MOLECULES TURN OVER. "In 1891 August Weismann proposed that the germ plasm is immortal. Yet, the repeated replication and repair of DNA results in molecules that do not contain atoms of the same nucleotides present in the DNA of a founding cell." (L. Haflick, the brilliant contrarian, adopting an overly rigid definition of immortality). https://lnkd.in/esfPTAR View in LinkedIn

OSCILLATING UNITS. “The slime mold Physarum polycephalum is a unicellular, multinucleate protist that relies on reactive navigation to explore its environment. The vegetative state of P. polycephalum (known as a plasmodium) is composed of many smaller oscillating units. Each unit oscillates at a frequency dependent upon both the local environment and its interactions with neighboring oscillators.” https://lnkd.in/gxeWCUg View in LinkedIn