Mysterious Brainless 'blob' That Can Learn And Eat

[naomi24]

Not a question - just a curiosity for the curious.

A yellow organism, which looks like fungus but acts like an animal, has gone on display at a Paris zoo. Unfortunately they don't say where it was found.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-50081057/why-a-brainless-yellow-blob-that-can-learn-is-mystifying-scientists

[davebro]

And it's not even 1st April!

[Theland]

It's probably a relative of Sir Nicholas Soames.

[Old_Geezer]

Oh I've come across many that fit the title description. Well... being a bit generous with the "learn" part.

[naomi24]

Haha! That's exactly what I thought, dave.

[10ClarionSt]

Found in 10 Downing St. Last week. ;o)

[10ClarionSt]

Just to beat y'all to it, maybe 10 Clarion St.! ;o)

[hereIam]

Ha ! 9.12 made me laugh out loud !

[naomi24]

More information here:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/paris-zoo-unveils-bizarre-brainless-blob-capable-learning-180973363/

Physarum polycephalum is known as a slime mold, but it is not in fact a fungus. It’s also not a plant. Or an animal. …Experts have classified them as protists, a label applied to “everything we don't really understand,” … a bizarre creature that has surprised and puzzled scientists for decades.

[Rationalist]

Hardly mysterious.

Nor are they rare.

As soon as I read your description, I thought it was a slime mould; the image and the accompanying text s text confirms it.

They are amazing assemblies of many individual simple organisms, in which different individuals change their function, according to their role in the combined whole.

They are school science projects:

https://www.scienceinschool.org/2014/issue30/slime_moulds

https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/biology_cultivating-slime-molds/

https://www.exploratorium.edu/turbulent/slime.html

https://herbarium.usu.edu/fun-with-fungi/slime-molds

[Rationalist]

Ah. you found that out. Your response was not there when I composed mine.

[Ellipsis]

> It's probably a relative of Sir Nicholas Soames.

Is that meant to be a Churchill reference?

[ichkeria]

Exactly what I was thinking Rationalist. Don’t we already know in any case that fungi are more like animals that plants?

[naomi24]

Thanks for that Rationalist. As for 'hardly mysterious', according to one of your links 'whether these phenomena prove that the mould is intelligent remains to be answered. Pretty mysterious then.

[spathiphyllum]

"The slime mould - Physarum polycephalum - has almost 720 sexes "


Jhee... i do wonder what those are.

[Rationalist]

haha!
//whether these phenomena prove that the mould is intelligent remains to be answered//

A bit like "intelligence", "life" and "consciousness", then.

Of course there are mysteries associated with slime moulds – just as there are mysteries associated with life and consciousness, but only because we do not understand life and consciousness at any worthwhile level.

The organisation of a slime mould is similar to the organisation of a colony of ants, or bees, or perhaps a sussuration of starlings. Or the organisation of a forest, in which there are chemical signals passed along the fungal mycellae

It appears to have direction and focus, but that might simply be the apparent effect of simple behavioural rules displaying in a way that humans interpret as intelligent.

Because we don't understand what consciousness is, we can't say whether there is a consciousness or intelligence at work.



What I was trying to say is that slime moulds are known as interesting organisms, to the point where there are many school science projects designed to investigate them.

The news story seemed to imply this was the first time such a colony of organisms has been seen, which is patent rubbish.

[naomi24]

Rationalist, //The news story seemed to imply this was the first time such a colony of organisms has been seen, which is patent rubbish. //

Yes, it did. Fascinating nevertheless.

[Prudie]

"The slime mould - Physarum polycephalum - has almost 720 sexes "
Has to be a woke ABer

[THECORBYLOON]

Seen a video describing an experiment where the organism was subjected to lower temperature and humidity at regular intervals.

The activity reduced but after a while, the organism anticipated the changes and began slowing down before they happened as if it were able to judge time.

[beso]

Slim moulds are common and are among the most fascinating of life forms. Basically they are agglomerations of amoeba. As Eukaryotes they are far more sophisticated than bacteria.

Some are assemblages of separate cells while others merge into an acellular form with multiple nuclei sharing a single huge blob of cytoplasm.

Often in their unicellular form they are essentially gametes and assemble into a huge orgy under the right conditions. The 720 sexes clearly attests the importance of the swarming phase.

It isn't really so surprising that they are capable of learning though not having a brain. Even singular cellular organisms are quite capable of making decisions and modifying their behaviour despite not having a single neuron let along a brain.

It also shows how easy it is for single cells to cooperate. Multi-cellular organisms really are no more than colonies of cells specialised to maximise the benefits of living in a colony.