blob intelligence
Basal Cognition 101: Intelligence as a Viability Constraint Solution
How basal cognition frameworks define intelligence in non-neural organisms, and why Physarum behavior can be modeled as viability-preserving problem solving.
Bio-Computing: Turning a Single Cell into a Multi-Core Processor
The future of wetware: how the slime mold’s parallel vascular processing allows it to function as a biological logic gate.
Chemical Patterns: ATP and pH Gradients at the Advancing Front
How ATP, protons, calcium, and cAMP gradients coordinate contraction-relaxation dynamics at the Physarum growth front and shape directional behavior.
Defying Dogma: Why Neuroscientists are Skeptical of Brainless Learning
Why the Physarum learning debate still divides biology, and how definitions of intelligence shape what scientists are willing to call cognition.
The Edge of Chaos: Why Slime Molds Need an Attentive Resting State
How spontaneous oscillatory activity keeps Physarum poised between rigidity and randomness, enabling fast adaptation without a central brain.
External Spatial Memory: Why the Blob Never Steps in the Same Place Twice
How the slime mold uses a 'ghost trail' of mucus to remember where it has been, solving complex mazes without a single neuron.
Instant Smart: Exploring the Injectable Memory Hypothesis
How memory transfer in Physarum may work through cytoplasmic chemistry, why fusion needs time, and what remains unresolved.
The Memory Fusion: How One Blob Teaches Another Through Vascular Integration
The science of 'uploading' experience: how slime molds physically share knowledge through the merger of their internal vascular systems.
The Kuramoto Model: Phase Transitions in Biological Synchronization
How coupled-oscillator theory explains synchronization in Physarum, from local pulse variability to coherent whole-cell coordination near critical coupling.
Bayesian Mechanics: The Markov Blanket Boundary of the Blob
How Markov blanket ideas describe the organism-environment interface in Physarum, and where this formalism helps or overreaches in empirical work.
Neural Analogies: How Slime Molds Mimic Brain-Like Frequency Coupling
What is genuinely analogous between Physarum and neural systems in oscillatory coordination, and where the analogy breaks at architecture and signaling layers.
Nutritional Nationalism: Why Some Blobs Reject Foreign Oatmeal Brands
How prior diet, strain differences, and chemical sensing shape food preference in Physarum, from oat brands to protein-carbohydrate balancing.
Risk vs Reward: Decision-Making Logic in the Brainless Blob
How a single cell performs complex multi-attribute analysis, choosing between safe starvation and risky abundance.
The Salt Bridge Experiment: A 10-Hour Timeline of Cellular Habituation
A step-by-step look at how Physarum shifts from fear to tolerance, and what this teaches you about learning in a brainless cell.
The Symphony within a Cell: Synchronizing 90-Second and 12-Hour Waves
How Physarum coordinates fast contraction oscillations and slower cell-cycle rhythms to produce whole-body integration, transport, and adaptive behavior.