Translating Slimy Moldy Intelligence Into Gaming Design

The humble slime mold Physarum polycephalum is being used to advance computer game animations.
Translating Slimy Moldy Intelligence Into Gaming Design
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<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/slime-mold_Michal-Boubin.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-252268" title="Slime mold. (Michal Boubin/Photos.com)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/slime-mold_Michal-Boubin-676x450.jpg" alt="Slime mold. (Michal Boubin/Photos.com)" width="750" height="498"/></a>
Slime mold. (Michal Boubin/Photos.com)

The humble slime mold Physarum polycephalum is being used to advance computer game animations by a U.K. scientist.

Neither a fungus nor an animal, the slime mold has a complex life cycle consisting of fruiting bodies, spores, and amoeba-like cells with many nuclei. It inhabits the forest floor where it feeds on microscopic particles.

Described as a plasmodium in the foraging stage, P. polycephalum moves around with seemingly high intelligence, producing a network of tubes that follow the most efficient route for transporting nutrients across an area.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/mold.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-252373" title="Slime mold with a network of nutrient-transporting tubes. (Damon Smith/flickr)" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/mold-601x450.jpg" alt="Slime mold with a network of nutrient-transporting tubes. (Damon Smith/flickr)" width="350" height="262"/></a>
Slime mold with a network of nutrient-transporting tubes. (Damon Smith/flickr)