Slime Mould - Rethinking Intellegince
Slime Mould - The name really doesn't do these organisms justice, it rather sounds like an insult you would use to describe the guy that revs his motorbike 5 am on a Sunday morning, but do not let the name fool you. These single-celled organisms without a brain are changing the way we define intelligence.
The name slime mould actually refers to more than 900 species found on every continent on the planet. Despite the name, they do not fall under fungus but rather under Protists. These guys have been around for at least 600 million years. These single-celled Amoeba-like organisms have their own DNA just like humans and animals. (Side Note: Mushrooms also have their own DNA)
They come in all shapes and sizes, but the ones we are seeing in Knysna the fires of June 7, 2017, are bright orange in appearance. All Slime mould start life as single-celled organisms, but when food (Microbes) is scarce, they join up to form a bigger mass, using chemical signals to find each other.
Using chemical signals they can solve problems without a brain or complicated computer algorithms.
In 2008 a study was done on a type of Slime Mould, where they would lower the temprature and humidity every 30 min, the Slime Mould would then slow down its movement to conserve energy. Eventually, the slime mould would slow down just before the change happened. It "learned" to expect the change and also had an "understanding" of the passing of time. How freaky is that!
Something Biochemical is going on to store information without neurons. which is baffling scientists around the world.
So look twice before you take your steps in the Knysna Forests, for all we know, maybe they are capable of remembering the person that stepped on them :)
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For a very interesting Video on Slime Mold, click here:
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