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Physarum, Quo Vadis?

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Advances in Physarum Machines

Part of the book series: Emergence, Complexity and Computation ((ECC,volume 21))

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Abstract

In the recent years, computer scientists have been inspired by biological systems for computational approaches, in particularly with respect to complex optimization and decision problems. Nature provides a wealth of evolved solutions to such challenges. As evolved by natural selection, biological processes are robust and able to successfully handle failures as well as attacks to survive and propagate. Biological systems are mostly distributed systems that coordinate to make decisions without central control. An example par excellence for such a biological system is given by slime molds. In this context, Physarum polycephalum emerged as a model organism which has attracted substantial interest in the recent years. In this chapter, I present new approaches to cultivate this organism, with the goal to establish a multipurpose experimental platform for biological information processing.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Michael Dirnberger (MPI Saarbrücken) for help with the NEFI image analysis program. Christian Westendorf and Christian Gruber (both Graz) are thanked for continued discussion of Physarum. Financial support was provided by the Phy-Chip project (EU-FP7).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Martin Grube

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  1. Martin Grube
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Correspondence to Martin Grube .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Unconventional Computing Centre, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Andrew Adamatzky

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Grube, M. (2016). Physarum, Quo Vadis?. In: Adamatzky, A. (eds) Advances in Physarum Machines. Emergence, Complexity and Computation, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26662-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26662-6_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26661-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26662-6

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