Stuff You Should Know Selects: Slime Mold: 0% Mold, 100% Amazing
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Sep 20, 2025 Explore the fascinating world of slime molds, those strange organisms that resemble piles of goo. Discover their unique classification as protists and their vital ecological roles. Learn about their altruistic behavior and complex life cycles, including how they form aggregates and search for food. Be amazed by experiments that showcase their problem-solving skills, like navigating mazes and mimicking Tokyo's rail systems. Dive into their learning mechanisms and the potential applications of their algorithms for urban planning!
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Giant Blobs That Are One Cell
- Some plasmodial slime molds can reach pizza-size while remaining one giant cell with many nuclei.
- They lack cell walls so the cytoplasm flows as a single organism rather than distinct cells.
Cells That Team Up Like A Flock
- Cellular slime molds are single-celled but aggregate into a pseudoplasmodium under stress.
- They retain cell walls when aggregated and can disperse again when food is abundant.
Slime Trails As External Memory
- Plasmodial slime molds move slowly by cytoplasmic flow and leave slime trails that serve as spatial markers.
- Those trails act like memory, helping avoid explored, unproductive areas.
