Super Brainy Slime Mold

By Bora Zivkovic?| November 7, 2012 |??

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Video of the Week #68 November 7th, 2012:

From: by Ferris Jabr on the main site.

Source: NOVA and Scientific American.

Scientists have recently come to understand that slime molds are much smarter than they look. One species in particular ? the SpongeBob SquarePants ? yellow Physarum polycephalum, can solve mazes, mimic the layout of man-made transportation networks and choose the healthiest food from a diverse menu?and all this without a brain or nervous system. This video was produced through a collaboration between NOVA and Scientific American. To learn more about slime molds and other amazing creatures, watch ?What Are Animals Thinking?? on NOVA scienceNOW, airing November 7, 2012 at 10 pm on PBS.

About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f2ecc514f852fccc502ad95229917e93

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