Been Slimed

Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 16:00) Written by Raymond Nakamura

Lately, my four-year-old has been interested in mazes, so I was curious to see what she would make of a maze used by scientists to test a slime mould.

Slime moulds look like somebody spat up baby food on a hike in the woods.
I first heard about slime moulds way back when I worked at the Ontario Science Centre. My friend David would put out oatmeal and by the next day they had stretched their pseudopodia over it. Amazing.

I'll bet you never thought you'd ever see "cognitive science" and "slime mould" in the same sentence. But this year, the Ig Nobel prize for cognitive science went to researchers looking at the behaviour of slime mould in a maze.

Ig Nobel prizes celebrate "achievements that make people laugh and then make them think." I enjoyed the book about past winners.

Here is a picture of how slime mould reacted to the  maze.

At first, it spread out in all directions. Later it retracted to focus on the paths closer to the food. This is what my daughter did:

The slime mould maybe have stayed within the lines better, but it had actual little walls to make it easier. The route my daughter took might not be shortest, but I think if you were driving, it would be the fastest. She figured it out with her finger before drawing it with a pencil.

So as a proud parent, I think I can say that my daughter is at least as smart as a slime mould.

I'd like to hear your stories about either slime moulds or mazes.

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