What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime
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0:01 - 0:04I'd like to introduce you to an organism:
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0:04 - 0:07a slime mold, Physarum polycephalum.
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0:07 - 0:10It's a mold with an identity
crisis, because it's not a mold, -
0:10 - 0:12so let's get that straight to start with.
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0:12 - 0:14It is one of 700 known slime molds
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0:14 - 0:17belonging to the kingdom of the amoeba.
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0:17 - 0:19It is a single-celled organism, a cell,
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0:19 - 0:21that joins together with other cells
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0:21 - 0:24to form a mass super-cell
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0:24 - 0:26to maximize its resources.
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0:26 - 0:28So within a slime mold you might find thousands
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0:28 - 0:30or millions of nuclei,
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0:30 - 0:32all sharing a cell wall,
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0:32 - 0:35all operating as one entity.
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0:35 - 0:37In its natural habitat,
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0:37 - 0:40you might find the slime mold foraging in woodlands,
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0:40 - 0:43eating rotting vegetation,
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0:43 - 0:45but you might equally find it
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0:45 - 0:46in research laboratories,
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0:46 - 0:51classrooms, and even artists' studios.
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0:51 - 0:54I first came across the slime
mold about five years ago. -
0:54 - 0:55A microbiologist friend of mine
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0:55 - 0:58gave me a petri dish with a little yellow blob in it
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0:58 - 1:01and told me to go home and play with it.
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1:01 - 1:03The only instructions I was given,
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1:03 - 1:05that it likes it dark and damp
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1:05 - 1:09and its favorite food is porridge oats.
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1:09 - 1:11I'm an artist who's worked for many years
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1:11 - 1:14with biology, with scientific processes,
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1:14 - 1:17so living material is not uncommon for me.
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1:17 - 1:19I've worked with plants, bacteria,
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1:19 - 1:21cuttlefish, fruit flies.
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1:21 - 1:23So I was keen to get my new collaborator home
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1:23 - 1:25to see what it could do.
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1:25 - 1:28So I took it home and I watched.
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1:28 - 1:31I fed it a varied diet.
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1:31 - 1:33I observed as it networked.
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1:33 - 1:35It formed a connection between food sources.
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1:35 - 1:38I watched it leave a trail behind it,
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1:38 - 1:40indicating where it had been.
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1:40 - 1:43And I noticed that when it was
fed up with one petri dish, -
1:43 - 1:46it would escape and find a better home.
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1:46 - 1:47I captured my observations
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1:47 - 1:49through time-lapse photography.
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1:49 - 1:52Slime mold grows at about one centimeter an hour,
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1:52 - 1:54so it's not really ideal for live viewing
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1:54 - 1:57unless there's some form of
really extreme meditation, -
1:57 - 2:00but through the time lapse,
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2:00 - 2:03I could observe some really interesting behaviors.
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2:03 - 2:06For instance, having fed on a nice pile of oats,
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2:06 - 2:11the slime mold goes off to explore new territories
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2:11 - 2:14in different directions simultaneously.
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2:14 - 2:16When it meets itself,
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2:16 - 2:18it knows it's already there,
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2:18 - 2:20it recognizes it's there,
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2:20 - 2:21and instead retreats back
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2:21 - 2:25and grows in other directions.
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2:25 - 2:27I was quite impressed by this feat,
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2:27 - 2:31at how what was essentially
just a bag of cellular slime -
2:31 - 2:34could somehow map its territory,
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2:34 - 2:37know itself, and move with seeming intention.
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2:37 - 2:41I found countless scientific studies,
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2:41 - 2:43research papers, journal articles,
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2:43 - 2:47all citing incredible work with this one organism,
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2:47 - 2:49and I'm going to share a few of those with you.
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2:49 - 2:52For example, a team in Hokkaido University in Japan
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2:52 - 2:54filled a maze with slime mold.
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2:54 - 2:56It joined together and formed a mass cell.
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2:56 - 2:59They introduced food at two points,
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2:59 - 3:00oats of course,
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3:00 - 3:02and it formed a connection
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3:02 - 3:03between the food.
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3:03 - 3:06It retracted from empty areas and dead ends.
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3:06 - 3:08There are four possible routes through this maze,
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3:08 - 3:10yet time and time again,
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3:10 - 3:13the slime mold established the shortest
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3:13 - 3:15and the most efficient route.
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3:15 - 3:16Quite clever.
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3:16 - 3:18The conclusion from their experiment
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3:18 - 3:21was that the slime mold had
a primitive form of intelligence. -
3:21 - 3:25Another study exposed cold air at
regular intervals to the slime mold. -
3:25 - 3:27It didn't like it. It doesn't like it cold.
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3:27 - 3:28It doesn't like it dry.
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3:28 - 3:31They did this at repeat intervals,
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3:31 - 3:32and each time, the slime mold
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3:32 - 3:35slowed down its growth in response.
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3:35 - 3:37However, at the next interval,
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3:37 - 3:40the researchers didn't put the cold air on,
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3:40 - 3:43yet the slime mold slowed down in anticipation
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3:43 - 3:45of it happening.
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3:45 - 3:47It somehow knew that it was about the time
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3:47 - 3:49for the cold air that it didn't like.
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3:49 - 3:51The conclusion from their experiment
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3:51 - 3:54was that the slime mold was able to learn.
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3:54 - 3:55A third experiment:
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3:55 - 3:57the slime mold was invited
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3:57 - 4:01to explore a territory covered in oats.
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4:01 - 4:04It fans out in a branching pattern.
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4:04 - 4:07As it goes, each food node it finds,
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4:07 - 4:10it forms a network, a connection to,
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4:10 - 4:11and keeps foraging.
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4:11 - 4:14After 26 hours, it established
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4:14 - 4:15quite a firm network
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4:15 - 4:17between the different oats.
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4:17 - 4:19Now there's nothing remarkable in this
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4:19 - 4:22until you learn that the center oat that it started from
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4:22 - 4:24represents the city of Tokyo,
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4:24 - 4:28and the surrounding oats are
suburban railway stations. -
4:28 - 4:30The slime mold had replicated
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4:30 - 4:32the Tokyo transport network
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4:32 - 4:34— (Laughter) —
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4:34 - 4:37a complex system developed over time
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4:37 - 4:41by community dwellings, civil
engineering, urban planning. -
4:41 - 4:43What had taken us well over 100 years
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4:43 - 4:46took the slime mold just over a day.
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4:46 - 4:48The conclusion from their experiment
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4:48 - 4:51was that the slime mold can form efficient networks
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4:51 - 4:53and solve the traveling salesman problem.
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4:53 - 4:56It is a biological computer.
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4:56 - 4:58As such, it has been mathematically modeled,
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4:58 - 5:00algorithmically analyzed.
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5:00 - 5:03It's been sonified, replicated, simulated.
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5:03 - 5:05World over, teams of researchers
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5:05 - 5:08are decoding its biological principles
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5:08 - 5:11to understand its computational rules
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5:11 - 5:13and applying that learning
to the fields of electronics, -
5:13 - 5:15programming and robotics.
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5:15 - 5:17So the question is,
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5:17 - 5:19how does this thing work?
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5:19 - 5:21It doesn't have a central nervous system.
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5:21 - 5:23It doesn't have a brain,
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5:23 - 5:25yet it can perform behaviors
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5:25 - 5:27that we associate with brain function.
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5:27 - 5:29It can learn, it can remember,
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5:29 - 5:32it can solve problems, it can make decisions.
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5:32 - 5:34So where does that intelligence lie?
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5:34 - 5:37So this is a microscopy, a video I shot,
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5:37 - 5:39and it's about 100 times magnification,
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5:39 - 5:42sped up about 20 times,
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5:42 - 5:44and inside the slime mold,
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5:44 - 5:48there is a rhythmic pulsing flow,
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5:48 - 5:50a vein-like structure carrying
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5:50 - 5:53cellular material, nutrients and chemical information
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5:53 - 5:55through the cell,
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5:55 - 5:59streaming first in one direction
and then back in another. -
5:59 - 6:03And it is this continuous, synchronous oscillation
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6:03 - 6:05within the cell that allows it to form
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6:05 - 6:08quite a complex understanding of its environment,
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6:08 - 6:11but without any large-scale control center.
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6:11 - 6:14This is where its intelligence lies.
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6:14 - 6:17So it's not just academic researchers
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6:17 - 6:20in universities that are interested in this organism.
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6:20 - 6:23A few years ago, I set up SliMoCo,
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6:23 - 6:25the Slime Mould Collective.
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6:25 - 6:28It's an online, open, democratic network
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6:28 - 6:30for slime mold researchers and enthusiasts
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6:30 - 6:33to share knowledge and experimentation
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6:33 - 6:36across disciplinary divides
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6:36 - 6:40and across academic divides.
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6:40 - 6:43The Slime Mould Collective
membership is self-selecting. -
6:43 - 6:46People have found the collective
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6:46 - 6:50as the slime mold finds the oats.
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6:50 - 6:51And it comprises of scientists
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6:51 - 6:53and computer scientists and researchers
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6:53 - 6:55but also artists like me,
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6:55 - 7:00architects, designers, writers, activists, you name it.
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7:00 - 7:05It's a very interesting, eclectic membership.
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7:05 - 7:06Just a few examples:
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7:06 - 7:09an artist who paints with fluorescent Physarum;
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7:09 - 7:11a collaborative team
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7:11 - 7:14who are combining biological and electronic design
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7:14 - 7:17with 3D printing technologies in a workshop;
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7:17 - 7:20another artist who is using the slime mold
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7:20 - 7:22as a way of engaging a community
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7:22 - 7:25to map their area.
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7:25 - 7:27Here, the slime mold is being used directly
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7:27 - 7:30as a biological tool, but metaphorically
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7:30 - 7:32as a symbol for ways of talking
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7:32 - 7:36about social cohesion, communication
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7:36 - 7:37and cooperation.
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7:37 - 7:40Other public engagement activities,
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7:40 - 7:42I run lots of slime mold workshops,
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7:42 - 7:44a creative way of engaging with the organism.
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7:44 - 7:46So people are invited to come and learn
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7:46 - 7:48about what amazing things it can do,
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7:48 - 7:51and they design their own petri dish experiment,
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7:51 - 7:53an environment for the slime mold to navigate
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7:53 - 7:55so they can test its properties.
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7:55 - 7:57Everybody takes home a new pet
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7:57 - 8:00and is invited to post their results
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8:00 - 8:02on the Slime Mould Collective.
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8:02 - 8:04And the collective has enabled me
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8:04 - 8:06to form collaborations
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8:06 - 8:09with a whole array of interesting people.
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8:09 - 8:10I've been working with filmmakers
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8:10 - 8:14on a feature-length slime mold documentary,
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8:14 - 8:17and I stress feature-length,
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8:17 - 8:18which is in the final stages of edit
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8:18 - 8:21and will be hitting your cinema screens very soon.
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8:21 - 8:23(Laughter)
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8:23 - 8:26It's also enabled me to conduct what I think is
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8:26 - 8:29the world's first human slime mold experiment.
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8:29 - 8:32This is part of an exhibition in Rotterdam last year.
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8:32 - 8:37We invited people to become
slime mold for half an hour. -
8:37 - 8:40So we essentially tied people together
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8:40 - 8:42so they were a giant cell,
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8:42 - 8:45and invited them to follow slime mold rules.
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8:45 - 8:49You have to communicate through oscillations,
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8:49 - 8:50no speaking.
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8:50 - 8:55You have to operate as one entity, one mass cell,
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8:55 - 8:56no egos,
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8:56 - 8:59and the motivation for moving
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8:59 - 9:01and then exploring the environment
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9:01 - 9:03is in search of food.
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9:03 - 9:06So a chaotic shuffle ensued
as this bunch of strangers -
9:06 - 9:10tied together with yellow ropes
wearing "Being Slime Mold" t-shirts -
9:10 - 9:13wandered through the museum park.
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9:13 - 9:17When they met trees, they had to reshape
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9:17 - 9:20their connections and reform as a mass cell
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9:20 - 9:24through not speaking.
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9:24 - 9:27This is a ludicrous experiment in many, many ways.
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9:27 - 9:29This isn't hypothesis-driven.
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9:29 - 9:31We're not trying to prove, demonstrate anything.
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9:31 - 9:34But what it did provide us was a way
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9:34 - 9:36of engaging a broad section of the public
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9:36 - 9:40with ideas of intelligence, agency, autonomy,
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9:40 - 9:43and provide a playful platform
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9:43 - 9:46for discussions about
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9:46 - 9:49the things that ensued.
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9:49 - 9:51One of the most exciting things
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9:51 - 9:54about this experiment
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9:54 - 9:56was the conversation that happened afterwards.
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9:56 - 10:00An entirely spontaneous symposium
happened in the park. -
10:00 - 10:02People talked about the human psychology,
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10:02 - 10:04of how difficult it was to let go
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10:04 - 10:07of their individual personalities and egos.
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10:07 - 10:10Other people talked about bacterial communication.
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10:10 - 10:12Each person brought in their own
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10:12 - 10:15individual interpretation,
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10:15 - 10:17and our conclusion from this experiment was that
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10:17 - 10:21the people of Rotterdam were highly cooperative,
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10:21 - 10:24especially when given beer.
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10:24 - 10:26We didn't just give them oats.
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10:26 - 10:27We gave them beer as well.
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10:27 - 10:29But they weren't as efficient as the slime mold,
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10:29 - 10:31and the slime mold, for me,
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10:31 - 10:34is a fascinating subject matter.
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10:34 - 10:36It's biologically fascinating,
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10:36 - 10:37it's computationally interesting,
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10:37 - 10:39but it's also a symbol,
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10:39 - 10:43a way of engaging with ideas of community,
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10:43 - 10:47collective behavior, cooperation.
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10:47 - 10:49A lot of my work draws on the scientific research,
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10:49 - 10:52so this pays homage to the maze experiment
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10:52 - 10:53but in a different way.
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10:53 - 10:56And the slime mold is also my working material.
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10:56 - 11:01It's a coproducer of photographs, prints, animations,
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11:01 - 11:03participatory events.
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11:03 - 11:05Whilst the slime mold doesn't choose
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11:05 - 11:07to work with me, exactly,
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11:07 - 11:09it is a collaboration of sorts.
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11:09 - 11:12I can predict certain behaviors
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11:12 - 11:14by understanding how it operates,
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11:14 - 11:15but I can't control it.
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11:15 - 11:17The slime mold has the final say
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11:17 - 11:19in the creative process.
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11:19 - 11:23And after all, it has its own internal aesthetics.
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11:23 - 11:24These branching patterns that we see
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11:24 - 11:27we see across all forms, scales of nature,
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11:27 - 11:30from river deltas to lightning strikes,
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11:30 - 11:34from our own blood vessels to neural networks.
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11:34 - 11:36There's clearly significant rules at play
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11:36 - 11:38in this simple yet complex organism,
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11:38 - 11:42and no matter what our disciplinary
perspective or our mode of inquiry, -
11:42 - 11:44there's a great deal that we can learn
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11:44 - 11:46from observing and engaging
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11:46 - 11:49with this beautiful, brainless blob.
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11:49 - 11:52I give you Physarum polycephalum.
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11:52 - 11:54Thank you.
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11:54 - 11:55(Applause)
- Title:
- What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime
- Speaker:
- Heather Barnett
- Description:
-
Inspired by biological design and self-organizing systems, artist Heather Barnett co-creates with Physarum polycephalum, a eukaryotic microorganism that lives in cool, moist areas. What can people learn from the semi-intelligent slime mold? Watch this talk to find out.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:11
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime |