Human Uses and Biotechnology
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Over recent years, scientists have been discovering some fascinating ways in which slime molds can be useful to humans. For example, a researcher at the University of West England named Andrew Adamatzky has found that slime molds could be incredibly useful when designing highway systems. He did an experiment using a map, where he placed food on the major cities in Spain and Portugal (Zimmer, 2011). He then placed a sample of Physarum polycephalum on the map. Just like the study mention on a previous page, the organism moved according to the fastest way to get to the food. As a result the paths the slime mold took were almost exactly the same as the highway systems on the Iberian Peninsula. Adamatzky reportedly feels slime molds could be extremely useful for cities starting to build highway systems, by giving them an idea of the most efficient pathways for transportation (Zimmer, 2011).
Adamatzky did some other interesting tests involving Physarum polycephalum. He actually created electronic music using the slime mold by putting it on electrods, recording the electrical activity, which resulted in music (PhysarumMachines, 2010). Adamatzky also believes slime molds are extremely inspiring when creating new computer software (Zimmer, 2011). This is shared by Computer Scientist Selim Akl. He feels if the way “nature computes” is further discovered, the algorithms he, and other computer scientists design will be better at delivering information (Jacobson, 2012). Physarum polycephalum has many talents including being the brain for a robot. Scientists at the University of Southampton in England developed the robot which uses the slime mold to control its movements. The scientists grew the mold on a circuit and connected it to the bot through the computer. The light reached sensors on top of the bot which controlled the mold’s reaction to the light. The mold naturally wants to shy away from sunlight so the bot moves it’s legs to get away from it. The robot becomes “the mechanical embodiment of the mold” (The Worlds of David Darling, n.d.). |