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Scientists investigate the bizarre “intelligence” of slime molds, which appear to learn and make decisions—without a brain. These cunning, single-celled blobs can navigate mazes and create efficient networks. Can they also redefine cognition?

Meet slime molds: the brainless blobs that can learn, make decisions, and navigate mazes.

Secret Mind of Slime

When presented with a buffet of custards with varying ratios of protein to sugar, slime mold selects its optimal food source.

The purpose of this experiment was to see how Physarum regulates its nutritional needs.

The Great Australian Slime Mold Bakeoff

Great Australian Slime Mold Bakeoff

Meet the charismatic slime mold Physarum—which can learn, make decisions, and go through mazes without a brain—and the researchers studying it.

Can a slime mold find food placed at the far end of a labyrinth?

Brainless Slime Molds Navigate Mazes and Make Decisions

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Who says you need brains to be smart? Extremely primitive life-forms called slime molds can navigate mazes, choose between foods, and create efficient networks—no brain required. New research on these organisms, which are neither plant nor animal, could help reveal the fundamental rules underlying all decision making. (Premiered September 16, 2020)

Meet slime molds: the brainless blobs that can learn, make decisions, and navigate mazes.

Nature

Follow along as NASA launches the Mars 2020 Mission, perhaps the most ambitious hunt yet for signs of ancient life on Mars. In February 2021, the spacecraft blazes into the Martian atmosphere at some 12,000 miles per hour and lowers the Perseverance Rover into the rocky Jezero Crater, home to a dried-up river delta scientists think could have harbored life. Perseverance will comb the area for signs of life and collect samples for possible return to Earth. Traveling onboard is a four-pound helicopter that will conduct a series of test flights—the first on another planet. During its journey, Perseverance will also test technology designed to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, in hopes that the gas could be used for fuel—or for humans to breathe—on future missions. (Premiered February 24, 2021)

NASA launches its most ambitious search yet for traces of ancient life on Mars.

Looking for Life on Mars

A person is tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site in Florida in July 2020. Image Credit: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto, Getty Images

Figuring out when to get tested after exposure requires understanding what happens once the virus enters your body. We’ve got you covered.

Figuring out when to get tested after exposure requires understanding what happens once the virus enters your body. We’ve got you covered.

I’ve been exposed to Covid-19. When should I get tested?

A statue of Zheng He at the Sam Poo Kong Temple in Java, Indonesia. Image Credit: Budianto Santosa, Shutterstock

In the 1400s, Zheng He sailed thousands of miles around Asia and Africa in ships the size of soccer fields, spreading Chinese innovations like compasses and gunpowder in the process.

In the 1400s, Zheng He sailed thousands of miles around Asia and Africa in ships the size of soccer fields, spreading Chinese innovations like compasses and gunpowder in the process.

Secret Mind of Slime

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Support Provided By

Explore More

The Next Green Revolution May Rely on Microbes

Would You Wear Clothing Made of Slime?

Slime Mold Smarts

Eight smart things slime molds can do without a brain

Brainless Slime Molds Navigate Mazes and Make Decisions

The Great Australian Slime Mold Bakeoff

Mushroom Material

Is There Such A Thing as Probiotics for Paintings?

Snail Slime

Secret Mind of Slime

Clothing from Slime?