Neither plant nor animal, shapeshifting plasmodial slime mould was once considered a fungus, which it sometimes resembles. The mould crawls 1/25th of an inch per hour in search of life-sustaining nutrients and, despite lacking a brain, displays basic forms of computation and intelligence. This trailer for the feature-length documentary The Creeping Garden gives a brief glimpse into what has made plasmodial moulds such a point of fascination for scientists, mycologists and artists, including whether the moulds could hold clues to the origins of intelligent life.
Could organless plasmodial slime mould hold secrets about intelligent life?
Directors: Tim Grabham, Jasper Sharp
2 January 2015
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