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== '''1.2 Idea development''' == | == '''1.2 Idea development''' == | ||
'''1.2.1 Slime mold''' | |||
Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to several kinds of unrelated eukaryotic organisms that can live freely as single cells, but can aggregate together to form multicellular reproductive structures. | Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to several kinds of unrelated eukaryotic organisms that can live freely as single cells, but can aggregate together to form multicellular reproductive structures. | ||
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[[File:slime mold.jpg|400px]] | [[File:slime mold.jpg|400px]] | ||
'''1.2.2 The feature of 'intelligence'''' | |||
A very well-known feature of slime mold is the remarkable ‘intelligence’ it shows to adapt itself rapidly to a living environment. In many researches, scientists and curious students proved that by utilizing this function, slime mold can even solve many difficult problems, which usually take much more time for humans to do so. | A very well-known feature of slime mold is the remarkable ‘intelligence’ it shows to adapt itself rapidly to a living environment. In many researches, scientists and curious students proved that by utilizing this function, slime mold can even solve many difficult problems, which usually take much more time for humans to do so. | ||
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If the organism is chopped up and dropped into a labyrinth (a maze), they put themselves back together and start to move. At the same time, if a food source is placed at the entrance and exit to the maze, they avoid dead ends in the maze and form a connection (as a single tube) between the food sources. In all cases, the organism chose the path that was the shortest between the two food sources. In a way, it "solved" the puzzle of finding the shortest path through the maze. | If the organism is chopped up and dropped into a labyrinth (a maze), they put themselves back together and start to move. At the same time, if a food source is placed at the entrance and exit to the maze, they avoid dead ends in the maze and form a connection (as a single tube) between the food sources. In all cases, the organism chose the path that was the shortest between the two food sources. In a way, it "solved" the puzzle of finding the shortest path through the maze. | ||
'''1.2.2 The inspiration''' | |||
During the introduction course of slime mold, I was amazed by this experiment and it reminded me of a Hollywood movie called ‘Life’. | During the introduction course of slime mold, I was amazed by this experiment and it reminded me of a Hollywood movie called ‘Life’. | ||
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[[File:calvin2.jpg|400px]] | [[File:calvin2.jpg|400px]] | ||
I learnt from a Chinese knowledge communicating forum ‘Zhihu’ that the idea of Calvin was actually developed according to several organisms. And the idea of how smart it is came from slime molds. For it shows very strong adaptability and some sort of intelligence. Also for it is a single-celled organism so every part of it can grow and “analyze the change of living environment ”. The movie exaggerated about this feature but mainly the idea came from it. | |||
So after watching and learning from this movie, it is hard for me to imagine how strong a single-celled organism can be, even it is just a science fiction. Then I had this idea to tell people the intelligence of slime mold by building an art installation according to its form of growing patterns. | |||
[[:File:biolab-idea-jiannan-pdf.pdf]] | [[:File:biolab-idea-jiannan-pdf.pdf]] |
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