This information about the nature of planaria is fascinating. See also the work that Levin's lab is doing, e.g.: "What Bodies Think About: Bioelectric Computat

This information about the nature of planaria is fascinating. See also the work that Levin's lab is doing, e.g.: "What Bodies Think About: Bioelectric Computation Outside the Nervous System" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjD1aLm4Thg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjD1aLm4Thg and "xenobots": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenobot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenobot https://cdorgs.github.io/ https://cdorgs.github.io/ and "Growing Neural Cellular Automata, Differentiable Model of Morphogenesis" https://distill.pub/2020/growing-ca/ https://distill.pub/2020/growing-ca/ Also check out Trichoplax adhaerens, an organism on the cusp between single-celled and multicellular lifeforms: > Trichoplax are very flat organisms around a millimetre in diameter, lacking any organs or internal structures. They have two cellular layers: the top epitheloid layer is made of ciliated "cover cells" flattened toward the outside of the organism, and the bottom layer is made up of cylinder cells that possess cilia used in locomotion, and gland cells that lack cilia.[2] Between these layers is the fibre syncytium, a liquid-filled cavity strutted open by star-like fibres. > On both sides of the septa [fibre syncytium?] are liquid-filled capsules that cause the septa to resemble synapses, i.e. nerve-cell junctions that occur in fully expressed form only in animals with tissues (Eumetazoa). Striking accumulations of calcium ions, which may have a function related to the propagation of stimuli, likewise suggest a possible role as protosynapses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichoplax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichoplax You can push a trichoplax through a sieve that forces the individual cells to split apart and they will crawl around independently and reform the organism. You can dye two trichoplax different colors, split them, put the cells near each other, and the cells will form a single "piebald" organism together. > It is also possible to rub Trichoplax adhaerens through a strainer in such a manner that individual cells are not destroyed but are separated from one another to a large extent. In the test tube they then find their way back together again to form complete organisms. If this procedure is performed on several previously strained individuals simultaneously, the same thing occurs. In this case, however, cells that previously belonged to a particular individual can suddenly show up as part of another. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichoplax#Regeneration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichoplax#Regeneration