Slime molds are smart too

Trichoderma purpureus
.

Photo credit: Written by Barry Webb | Translated by Leslie Nemo | Shi Yi When Barry Webb crawled around the wooded floor with a flashlight, of course passersby would throw in it Weird look
.

The British photographer was looking for something that others might have a hard time seeing: slime molds less than 2.
5mm tall
.

 For scientists, classifying slime molds is as elusive as its name
.

They were once thought to be plants, fungi, and even animals, but in fact they belong to a lesser-known organism called protists
.

Slime mold grows on damp and decaying surfaces, such as dead trees, fallen leaves, and feces
.

They often behave like a single-celled organism with multiple nuclei
.

Before dying, they form fruiting bodies for reproduction
.

Webb captured the scene on camera
.

 Each of Webb's images is a superimposition of 30 to 100 photos in different focal points
.

The resulting photo shows more detail than any single snapshot
.

Webb's home is in Buckinghamshire, England, and most of the samples he takes come from woods near his home, although some grow on rotting wood in his garden
.

The rotting wood was placed in his garden by Webb to see what would happen
.

Webb cautions that if you want to try something similar, it's actually pretty easy, just watch out for hungry slugs
.

Black fungus
.

Image credit: Barry Webb black hair fungus (Comatricha nigra) growing on a fallen beech log before releasing its spores
.

In fact, many slime molds, including black hair molds, use pseudopodia to scout around to find the perfect colony
.

Pseudopodia are protrusions of cells that project outward and enable the rest of the body to follow in search of companions and to gather together
.

 The sporangia (containing the spores) of Metatrichia floriformis open up when the weather is dry, and the spores are released
.

The spores travel with the wind and eventually form an amoeba-like creature
.

These organisms can also transform into other forms, such as hardening into a stationary cyst, or growing a "tail" and moving around, depending on the humidity of the place where they ultimately live
.

Cribraria aurantiaca produces brightly colored fruiting bodies
.

Slime molds such as S.
chrysanthemum will always "run" to new spots on surfaces like damp logs, and leave behind slime as they move, though they avoid areas that are already stained with slime
.

 Syphilis chrysanthemum
.

Image credit: Barry Webb Physarum leucophaeum lines the edge of a beech leaf
.

This slime mold is an impressive problem solver
.

Previously, other members of the Phytophthora genus were cultured in mazes and found that they always found the shortest path
.

There are even researchers who have developed a slime mold algorithm inspired by the genus Phyllodes to map the gas filaments in the dark matter web that connects galaxies throughout the universe
.

Click on the picture or read the original text when the new issue of "Universal Science" is on sale in March.
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