Heather is currently attempting to collaborate
with slime mould (Physarumpolycephalum)
because of its superb intelligence,
problem solving skills and good memory - not
bad for a little yellow slithery thing.
The collaboration is still in early days, but
results so far show some interesting behaviours
in response to trials and trails set in various
food stuffs - oats are a favourite.
The first 6 time lapse films show various attempts
to entice the slime mould to follow trails set
in oats and oat paste. It doesn't always behave
predictably.
(link
to Heather's
You Tube channel)
More public encounters with the pet slime mould
were created at the Brighton
Science Festival in
February 2009.
You can also see the results of 'Drawing
on Life',
a Big Draw event hosted by Wellcome Collection
and UCL in September 2008, which invited Heather,
and microbiologist and slime mould fan, Simon
Park, to share their experimental pets with
the public. People were invited to make their
own drawings from oat paste and unleash a slime
mould, in order to eat their creation. These
were photographed intermittently over a period
of a week to create short stop frame animations.
Want to find out more?
Download an info
sheet (pdf) on the clever slime mold.
