Title: Physarum Chip: Growing Computers from Slime Mould. Logical Aspects

Authors: Andrew Schumann, Krzysztof Pancerz

Reviewers: Prof. Andrew Adamatzky (Bristol, UK), Dr Andrzej Szelc (Rzeszow, Poland)

Publishers: University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow & Scientific Publishing House IVG in Szczecin Poland

ISBN 978-83-62062-73-7 E-Book PDF 

(downloading from the shop)

Physarum polycephalum we have studied in the project Physarum Chip: Growing Com-puters from Slime Mould belongs to the species of order Physarales, subclass Myxogastromy-cetidae, class Myxomycetes, division Myxostelida. It is commonly known as a true, a cellular or multi-headed slime mould. P. polycephalum has a complex life cycle. Plasmodium is a ‘vegetative’ phase, a single cell with a myriad of diploid nuclei. The plasmodium is visible to the naked eye. The plasmodium looks like an amorphous yellowish mass with networks of protoplasmic tubes. The plasmodium behaves and moves as a giant amoeba. It feeds on bacteria, spores and other microbial creatures and micro-particles. When foraging for its food the plasmodium propagates towards sources of food particles, surrounds them, secretes enzymes and digests the food. Typically, the plasmodium forms a network of protoplasmic tubes connecting the masses of protoplasm at the food sources which has been shown to be efficient in terms of network length and resilience. When several sources of nutrients are scattered in the plasmodium's range, the plasmodium forms a network of protoplasmic tubes connecting the masses of protoplasm at the food sources.

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