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ROUTING BY SLIME MOLDS. “In our protocol, we identify one key adaptation parameter to adjust the tradeoff between efficiency and robustness of network routes. Through extensive realistic network simulations and ideal closed form or numerical computations, we validate the effectiveness of both protocols, as well as the efficiency and robustness of the resulting network connectivity.” https://lnkd.in/d5Gtvbw View in LinkedIn

LIVING DEVICES. "Slime mold microfluidic logical gates. We explored the topologies of Physarum protoplasmic networks and demonstrated that basic logical gates can be implemented in living slime P. polycephalum. The Physarum fluidic gates are synchronized by propagating calcium waves. Slime mold P. polycephalum is a living microfluidic device. Even the diameter of Physarum protoplasmic tubes, approx. 100 μm, matches the width of most common man-made microfluidic devices.” https://lnkd.in/dweYfzS View in LinkedIn

MOLDY BINARY OPERATIONS. “The team has so far demonstrated that a slime mold network can carry out XOR or NOR Boolean operations. Chaining together arrays of such logic gates might allow a slime mold computer to carry out binary operations for computation.” https://lnkd.in/d7pZv9w View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first of two weekends untangling the Tomfoolery of using brain size as a proxy for intelligence. Beyond the howling methodological and assumptive errors, the elephant in the room is intelligence in creatures with no brain cells at all such as slime molds and plants. How we have got this so wrong seems closely related to 2,000 years of seeing nature as subordinate to man and man at the center of the universe favored by god. View in LinkedIn

CONSEQUENCES. “As a consequence of these different cellular scaling rules, a 10-fold increase in the number of neurons in a rodent brain results in a 35-fold larger brain; in contrast, a similar 10-fold increase in the number of neurons in a primate brain results in an increase in brain size of only 11-fold.” https://lnkd.in/d2aUKat View in LinkedIn

DOWNLOADING SKILLS. "Study of the Day: Soon, You May Download New Skills to Your Brain. It may someday be possible to use brain technology to learn to play the piano, reduce mental stress, or even master kung fu with little or no conscious effort.“ https://lnkd.in/duN_jZH View in LinkedIn

LISTENING TO ITSELF. "Martin’s project converts the natural electrical signals produced by slime mold into light and sound. But he then takes it one step further by creating a feedback loop. The system gathers the signal, feeds it to an evolutionary algorithm, converts the result into light and sound, then plays it back to the slime mold." http://singularityhub.com/2015/07/29/the-artist-whos-making-cybernetic-slime-mold-sing/ View in LinkedIn

BRAIN CONTROL. "Participants can be trained to control the overall mean activation of an entire brain region...or the activation in one region relative to that in another region." http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/scientists-achieve-matrix-style-subliminal-teaching View in LinkedIn

"FUTURE THERAPIES could decode the brain activity patterns of an athlete or a musician, and use them as a benchmark for teaching another person a new activity." http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/scientists-achieve-matrix-style-subliminal-teaching View in LinkedIn

HACKING LEARNING. "For the first time, researchers have been able to hack into the process of learning in the brain, using induced brain patterns to create a learned behavior." http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/scientists-achieve-matrix-style-subliminal-teaching View in LinkedIn