煤泥的美好生活 (The wonderful life of slime)

Let me introduce you to slime molds: a group — actually three groups — of organisms that are, well, slimy. They look a bit like snot.

让我向您介绍粘液霉菌 ：一组-实际上是三组-粘稠的生物。 他们看起来有点像鼻涕。

(They are a polyphyletic group — organisms that are often lumped together but do not share an immediate common ancestor.)

(它们是一个多系群，通常被混在一起但不具有直接共同祖先的生物。)

Appearance notwithstanding, they are quite intriguing. Some of them, the cellular slime molds, exist in a single-celled state, happily wobbling along. Until food gets scarce, then they come together and form a larger single body. Their sensory capacities change and sometimes they form fruiting bodies that release spores which may (or may not) land in more resource-rich places.

尽管外观，它们还是很吸引人的。 其中一些(蜂窝状粘液霉菌)以单蜂窝状态存在，并愉快地摆动。 直到食物变得稀缺，然后它们聚集在一起，形成一个更大的单体。 它们的感官能力会改变，有时会形成子实体，释放出孢子，孢子可能会(或可能不会)进入资源丰富的地方。

Others, the plasmodial slime molds, exist as a literal bag of slime: a membrane-enclosed glob of cytoplasm with many hundreds of nuclei floating freely inside.

浆膜霉菌霉菌则以粘液袋的形式存在：膜包裹的细胞质团内部有数百个自由漂浮的核。

Especially the cellular slime molds have become popular pets for philosophers and biologists. Our slimy friends are great study systems to ask questions about, for example, individuality. If all the single cells are individuals, but then they merge and ‘dissolve’ into each other, is this an ‘individual’ as well? They’re also interesting to study the evolution of cooperation and cheating: not every previously amoeba-like cell’s genetic material contributes to the fruiting bodies and spores. Who gets to procreate?

特别是蜂窝状粘液霉菌已成为哲学家和生物学家的流行宠物。 我们的黏糊糊的朋友是很好的学习系统，可以询问有关个性的问题 。 如果所有的单个细胞都是个体，但是它们合并并彼此“融合”，这也是“个体”吗？ 他们也很有趣地研究了合作和作弊的演变：并非以前每个变形虫样细胞的遗传物质都对子实体和孢子有所贡献。 谁能繁殖？

Interesting as all these questions are, they’re not the focus of this post. Slime molds have another interesting quality: they’re ‘smarter’ (quotations matter) than they look (which, to be fair, isn’t that hard).

尽管所有这些问题都很有趣，但它们并不是本文的重点。 煤泥模具有另一种有趣的品质：它们比看起来更“聪明”(报价很重要)(公平地说，并不难)。

聪明的粘液？ (Smart slime?)

While there are many species of slime mold and only few have been thoroughly studied, Physarum polycephalum (pictured above) seems to be a particularly cunning one.

尽管粘液霉菌的种类很多，但只有很少的经过彻底研究，但多头Phys草 ( Physarum polycephalum) (上图)似乎是一个特别狡猾的品种 。

It can solve mazes, mimic human transportation networks, and optimize resource use. They/it can learn to avoid noxious substances and remember this for years, and they/it can exchange what they have learned through cell fusion. They/it can also learn to anticipate recurring events. Heck, the yellow blob is even better than most people at choosing and maintaining a balanced diet.

它可以解决迷宫，模仿人类运输网络并优化资源使用 。 他们/他们可以学会避免有害物质并记住这一点多年，并且他们/可以通过细胞融合交流所学到的知识 。 他们/它还可以学习预测重复发生的事件 。 哎呀，黄色斑点在选择和保持均衡饮食方面比大多数人都更好。

Now, of course, you can debate whether this actually constitutes ‘intelligence’, but it does at least allow the slime mold to adapt to changing circumstances in an effective and efficient way through what could be called a set of selected behavioral heuristics. Sounds pretty smart.

现在，当然，您现在可以辩论这是否实际上构成了“智能” ，但它至少允许粘液霉菌通过所谓的一组选定的行为启发法以有效和高效的方式适应变化的环境。 听起来很聪明。

苗条的电脑… (Slimy computers…)

Can we harness slime molds’ behavioral optimization routines? They are already able to quickly ‘design’ transportation networks mimicking the ones in Tokyo, the UK, the Iberian peninsula, and reconstruct a 3D version of ancient Roman road networks or elucidate the structure of the dark matter web in the cosmos… They’ve even been used to drive robots.

我们可以利用煤泥模具的行为优化程序吗？ 他们已经能够快速“设计”类似于东京 ， 英国 ， 伊比利亚半岛的交通网络，并重建古代罗马道路网络的3D版本，或者阐明宇宙中暗物质网的结构……他们已经甚至被用来驱动机器人 。

Indeed, there have been suggestions on how to use slime molds’ sensory skills, information processing capacities, and optimization talents to build logic gates, hybrid circuits, and even actual Physarum machines. Software, hardware, wetware… Time for Slimeware? (Much of this development was driven by the EU-funded PhyChip project.)

确实，有人建议如何使用粘液模具的感官技能，信息处理能力和优化人才来构建逻辑门 ， 混合电路 ，甚至是实际的Physarum机器 。 软件，硬件， 湿件 …需要Slimeware吗？ (这一进展大部分是由欧盟资助的PhyChip项目推动的。)

Now, there are limits. Really complex networks of slime mold logic gates seem to be difficult. We also don’t really know how they do what they do, which makes it challenging to ensure that there are no ‘hidden variables’ affecting their computations. Slime molds also get stressed, which affects their decision-making. In short, slime molds gonna slime mold.

现在，有限制。 粘液模逻辑门的真正复杂的网络似乎很困难。 我们也真的不知道他们如何做，这使得确保没有“隐藏变量”影响他们的计算变得具有挑战性。 粘液霉菌也会受到压力，从而影响其决策 。 简而言之，粘液霉菌会粘液霉菌。

… 在太空 (… in space)

Despite the limits (which are still being studied and potentially overcome) , the abilities of slime molds in path finding and network optimization are promising in several areas. Space missions are one of the fields where slime molds might find a new home.

尽管存在局限性(仍在研究中并且有可能克服)，但在几个领域中，粘液霉菌在路径查找和网络优化中的能力还是很有希望的。 太空任务是黏土模子可能找到新家的领域之一。

Mapping the most optimal communication networks between habitats, for example, or figuring out how to optimally make use of distributed resources. On a smaller scale, they might guide bio-inspired architecture of different types of dwellings, depending on specific environmental conditions. Smaller still, they might lay the groundwork for wearable devices attuned to the wearer. Zooming in once more, the design of electronic circuits itself may benefit from resource use optimization driven by slime mold-inspired design.

例如，绘制栖息地之间的最佳通信网络，或者弄清楚如何最佳利用分布式资源。 在较小的规模上，它们可能会根据特定的环境条件来指导不同类型房屋的受生物启发的建筑。 体积更小，它们可能会为适应穿戴者的可穿戴设备奠定基础。 再次放大，电子电路设计本身可能会受益于由粘液模具启发的设计驱动的资源使用优化。

To conclude, let’s zoom out. A lot. As the previously mentioned dark matter map made by slime molds suggests, the blobs might even be used to tweak future transportation networks between planets/moons/space habitats/…

最后，让我们缩小。 很多。 就像之前提到的由粘液霉菌制成的暗物质图所暗示的那样，这些斑点甚至可能被用来调整行星/月球/太空栖息地/…之间的未来运输网络。

To boldly go where no slime mold has gone before.

勇往直前，没有黏土霉菌的地方。