Physarum polycephalum

I promised myself we would talk about fungus today, and here we are.

The slime mold, specifically Physarum polycephalum.

How on earth does a slime mold explain stock categorization?

It's incredible.

Slime molds baffled biologists for centuries because they break the rules of categorization.

When you observe a slime mold in a forest where food is abundant, lots of bacteria, plenty of moisture, it operates as entirely independent single-celled organisms.

Just floating around on their own.

Right.

No, we absolutely cannot.

Because if we look at real world slime molds on Earth, like Physarum polycephalum, they are mind-blowing.

They defy our understanding of intelligence.

They really do.

Simple is as simple does.

Of that first meeting, Nakagaki said, "I was just impressed with how fast it moved." Physarum polycephalum, the slime mold species in that Petri dish, has a top speed of one centimeter an hour.

For amoebic organisms, that's gold medal standard.

At first glance, Physarum seems to spread as irregularly as ink on blotting paper.

Which slime mold maps efficient networks without a brain? Answer.

Physarum polycephalum, the slime mold.

Physarum polycephalum forms branching networks that balance efficiency and resilience, famously approximating the Tokyo rail system in lab experiments.

Its behavior inspires algorithms for routing and network design.

Question 5.