TOKYO, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The gelatinous slime mold Physarum polycephalum could influence future computers and communication networks, Japanese scientists say.
Scientists at Hokkaido University placed oat flakes on a wet surface in locations that corresponded to cities surrounding greater Tokyo.
P. polycephalum mold placed in the center replicated and spread to reach the flakes in a network comparable in efficiency and reliability to the infrastructure of the communication system that guides Tokyo's public train network, researcher Atsushi Tero wrote this week in the journal Science.
The mold established the shortest path with great networking efficiency and a high degree of tolerance for accidental disconnection between cells, Tero said.
Learning how the mold cells communicate could influence the design and construction of self-organizing and cost-efficient networks in the real world, such as remote sensor arrays and wireless mesh networks, he said.
