Paola S. Calderón/Project: Specimen ''Physarum Polycephalum''./Investigation around Physarum Polycephalum
Invesigation: Polycephalum/physarum
- Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physarum_polycephalum (general information around this specimen)
- TED: https://www.ted.com/speakers/heather_barnett_1 (a conference opening a window around experiments with this specimen)
- The Slime Mould Collective: http://slimoco.ning.com/
(here can be found experiments around the world around this specimen) really cool :) (personal opinion)
- Video educational video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40f7_93NIgA (Simon Garnier - assistant professor in NJIT talks about his studies)
- Slime Molds Remember - but Do they learn? https://www.quantamagazine.org/slime-molds-remember-but-do-they-learn-20180709/?fbclid=IwAR193K1ULzbxSq-BNUijJWsydeAbAHa6-Eq2sXZpdbLl9_ssvLel3Aph_GM " Most importantly, slime molds can be taught new tricks; depending on the species, they may not like caffeine, salt or strong light, but they can learn that no-go areas marked with these are not as bad as they seem, a process known as habituation." (This quote from this article, give me a hint, in order to experiment with salinity in the medium of the Polycephalum). Dussutour make an experiment placing oatmeal at the other side of a gelatine substance made with either caffeine or quinine in order to obligate the Polycephalum to cross, she learned that after the organism get used to a certain substance, they will cross to the food in this case in the same kind of medium that was located in the first time. (the Physarum have "memory" channels). She made also an experiment testing salinity environments, was the specimen adapted himself to this environment, (also she tested with her team if this information could be communicated to other samples that were not "trained" to this kind of environment).
- Video testing intelligence of the specimen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czk4xgdhdY4
- Video Polycephalum in technology (computer storage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKZ2LtfDrmg
- This specimen is found in the forest and is a type of amoeba.
- Grows at a temperature of around 22° - 24°.
- Medium:
- 100ml of distilled water
- 2g of agar
- Leaflets