Not to kick you when you're down or anything, but there's a creature out there that's probably smarter than you and it doesn't even have a brain. The yellow slime mold Physarum polycephalum has managed to outwit researchers by performing feats of logical problem solving, despite the fact that it doesn't have a nervous system. When the scientists exposed the mould to a cycle of hot and cold periods, it sped and slowed its movements accordingly. When the scientists then stopped changing the temperature, the mould still pumped the brakes in anticipation of a cold spell. This demonstrates that it wasn't simply reacting to its environment, but anticipating events and even timing them. You know, in the same way things with brains do. The really mind boggling part, however, is what happened next. When slime moulds find food sources, they spread out and create connecting tunnels to distribute the nutrients, building a complex network of food tubes. It eventually pares these back and settles for the most efficient configuration. To test this, researchers plopped the slime down in the middle of a map of Tokyo and placed cornflakes over the locations of 36 surrounding towns. As the mould spread out in search of corn-based treats, it figured out the most efficient pathways between the towns. By the time it had settled, this brainless mould had produced an almost perfect map of the Tokyo subway system - a system that has taken humans with big brains nearly 100 years to get to where it is today. There are some who think that this could be a novel way of designing efficient systems in the future, using the mould as some kind of biological algorithm. Does science make you tingle in your special place? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for plenty more.Want to write for WhatCulture Science? Click here to find out how you could get paid to write about what you love.
