I was aware of most of this, but it segues nicely with my latest interest in Adam Adamatzky's research using the slime mold, Physarum polycephalum, in a form of

I was aware of most of this, but it segues nicely with my latest interest in Adam Adamatzky's research using the slime mold, Physarum polycephalum, in a form of bio-computing [1]. The demos where oatmeal flakes are placed on a highway map of major cities in various countries, and the Physarum optimize the paths in ways that closely resemble some of the existing major roads is compelling. I am holding out on how correlated it actually is given highways have developed not only from old horse paths and such, but from civic planning. My daughter is a Chemistry/Bio major, and I have told her about this, and asked her advice on how I might go about doing this at home. It seems easy enough under controlled circumstances, and it it just seems fun checking in hours later for a 'result'! So much so, I ordered his book "Physarum Machines: Computers from Slime Mould". [1] http://uncomp.uwe.ac.uk/adamatzky/research.html http://uncomp.uwe.ac.uk/adamatzky/research.html