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How This Blob Solves Mazes | WIRED

Physarum polycephalum is a single-celled, brainless organism that can make “decisions,” and solve mazes. Anne Pringle, who is a mycologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains everything you need to know about what these slime molds are and how they fit into our ecosystem. Also, check out the free WIRED channel on Roku, Apple TV,…

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Physarum polycephalum is a single-celled, brainless organism that can make “decisions,” and solve mazes. Anne Pringle, who is a mycologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains everything you need to know about what these slime molds are and how they fit into our ecosystem.

Also, check out the free WIRED channel on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV. Here you can find your favorite WIRED shows and new episodes of our latest hit series Tradecraft.

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How This Blob Solves Mazes | WIRED

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77 Comments

77 Comments

  1. Can I have subscribers

    October 26, 2019 at 5:08 am

    The blob is smarter than me

  2. zac w.

    October 26, 2019 at 6:28 am

    Dude just shave ur head.

  3. Josiah Morris

    October 26, 2019 at 7:06 am

    Reminds me of the movie “Life”

    • The Angriest Cat In The World

      October 26, 2019 at 3:33 pm

      That was a bizarre film, if I’m thinking of the same one. 😨
      💕 >^. .^< 💕

  4. WhiteRu55ian

    October 26, 2019 at 7:26 am

    Let’s alter it genetically and teach it war so we can have fungi death matches. Set two dishes in a maze and let them find each other and consume each other. Then let’s inject it into things let’s get umbrella with it yea let’s start the foundation and bring in some D class. YEA!!!

    Sorry my gamer brain is a little excited

    • The Angriest Cat In The World

      October 26, 2019 at 3:36 pm

      I like the way your weird gamer brain thinks. My feline brain had a few twisted ideas of it’s own, hehe
      💕 >^. .^< 💕

  5. Amanda Adlem

    October 26, 2019 at 7:47 am

    If only it was red, it could be the Red Weed of ‘War of The Worlds’.

  6. Smilin Pupils

    October 26, 2019 at 9:20 am

    It is the creature that is very biologically different to DNA based animals like us, that used to prey on fungi and other things. Kinda like how a lion preys on the deers.

  7. rianna yong

    October 26, 2019 at 9:22 am

    I thought yall talking bout the slime that ppl play with growing moled

  8. iop erty

    October 26, 2019 at 10:50 am

    I clicked on it hoping that wasn’t alive

  9. iop erty

    October 26, 2019 at 10:52 am

    Let’s name all new found organisms after memes

  10. iop erty

    October 26, 2019 at 11:02 am

    Its a *fusion*! I didn’t know it was a real thing!

  11. Shrestha Bageshwar

    October 26, 2019 at 11:16 am

    This reminds me of the intro sequence of the The Last Of Us!

  12. bepsi-noose

    October 26, 2019 at 12:03 pm

    Bruh this straight out of The Last of Us

  13. 정민서

    October 26, 2019 at 12:27 pm

    7:21 I don’t understand what she said. Liosa? Loisaid? Lowsai?

    • Hoi Nguyen

      October 26, 2019 at 4:55 pm

      loci (plural) – specific positions on chromosome where gene located.

  14. fire destroyer56

    October 26, 2019 at 1:29 pm

    #teamtrees

  15. Jamie Den Adel

    October 26, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    ZO-ological. There’s not 3 Os. Edit: in a row.

  16. King of Fun

    October 26, 2019 at 2:30 pm

    I want it in my coffee ☕

  17. P R

    October 26, 2019 at 3:49 pm

    When a brainless blob is smarter than you ._.

  18. Alvar Lagerlöf

    October 26, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    What’s with these skype interviews. Same format all the time.

  19. Chriscam !

    October 26, 2019 at 4:08 pm

    So u telling me this is an alien

  20. Balentino Bonifacio

    October 26, 2019 at 4:28 pm

    I can’t wait till that thing takes over the world.

  21. Chase

    October 26, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    Is it just me or does this guy look a lot like Mr. Beast?

  22. Luis Peña

    October 26, 2019 at 6:04 pm

    The stuff about 600 sexes then is complete bologna, it is asexual reproduction with a high rate of loci recombination.

  23. YASHGIRI GOSWAMI

    October 26, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    That’s just Yellow Venom with reduced steps

  24. Dario

    October 26, 2019 at 10:39 pm

    We could just easily have destroyed that, like we do with many species before we are able to understand them. I literally cried seeing this video

  25. Nick C

    October 26, 2019 at 11:20 pm

    The Creeping Garden is a documentary about these creatures. It’s very interesting and very boring at different times, but overall worth a watch if you’re “into” this subject.

  26. Naldific

    October 27, 2019 at 4:52 am

    Put it in your brain and it will map your neurons.

  27. Naldific

    October 27, 2019 at 5:00 am

    Did they even listen to the expert? Fck wired not even trying to edit their video properly and still presenting the blob as something more than it is just to do some clickbait.

  28. Ryan

    October 27, 2019 at 5:55 am

    KILL IT

  29. The Kayne

    October 27, 2019 at 6:21 am

    A symbiote

  30. JERIEL WILLIAMS

    October 27, 2019 at 6:24 am

    This makes me feel uncomfortable

  31. Frank Holowka Jr

    October 27, 2019 at 7:57 am

    This is a blob that solves mazes according to Doctor Pringle.

    Thank you, Internet. Never change.

  32. Renee Janssen

    October 27, 2019 at 8:03 am

    I love that Wired is making videos about topics like these, fascinating! Also, how environmentally friendly and efficient not to fly out to the people you interview but just Skype – it works fine and I imagine it leaves editors with more time to develop other interesting stories.

  33. Josh Ellis

    October 27, 2019 at 8:27 am

    It’s real life venom.

  34. niva zero

    October 27, 2019 at 10:28 am

    6:20 that’s very diplomatic

  35. A Nocco

    October 27, 2019 at 12:44 pm

    Venom is here

  36. Xavier Gray

    October 27, 2019 at 1:26 pm

    Do you understand?

  37. Adam A.

    October 27, 2019 at 1:50 pm

    It’s similar to parallel processing, it tries every approach to the maze simultaneously instead of 1 at a time, and then chooses the shortest 1.

  38. korpse6rinder

    October 27, 2019 at 4:38 pm

    It looks like a circulatory system without a body.

  39. Josh Hwang

    October 27, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    Zerg creep

  40. Jerrad Hinton

    October 28, 2019 at 7:34 am

    LOL one of my suggested videos was “molly and carla make perfect mashed potatoes” on bon appetit. I was coming to make a thoughtful comment about this fascinating video, but then i forgot when I saw those yellow mashed potatoes.

  41. DJ Akademiks Supreme Hoodie

    October 28, 2019 at 1:42 pm

    Cell’s still alive… *i thought he died*

  42. SumriseHD

    October 28, 2019 at 10:16 pm

    I AM

    VENOM.

  43. Clutchyfinger

    October 29, 2019 at 4:36 am

    You can get slime molds in your yard if its been raining a lot. Sometimes it looks like puke, but you poke it, and the inside is black and crumbly.

  44. Ayylmao

    October 29, 2019 at 9:32 am

    “It has so many sexes”
    You wanna elaborate on that one? I only know of male, female, hermaphrodites like certain coals etc, and rare genetic mutations that result in both genitals (intersex).

  45. ǝɥʇǝɾɹʇ

    October 29, 2019 at 12:13 pm

    Slime girls

  46. Studio Semantics

    October 29, 2019 at 1:04 pm

    The blob is just a slow motion of death.

  47. Retro .Spekta

    October 29, 2019 at 3:22 pm

    They made a movie about this… Venom (2018)

  48. Nicolas Laine

    October 30, 2019 at 12:12 pm

    Next video: “How this water solves mazes”

  49. Paul McCartney

    October 30, 2019 at 2:12 pm

    This is very alien

  50. Paul McCartney

    October 30, 2019 at 2:19 pm

    It looks delicious and disgusting at the same time

  51. Paul McCartney

    October 30, 2019 at 2:21 pm

    Okay now it reminds me of the venom symbiote

  52. Alex

    October 30, 2019 at 4:53 pm

    this is basically bfs pathfinding. that’s awesome

  53. wowwowweebs

    October 30, 2019 at 6:52 pm

    viruses in movies be like

  54. Jason Robinson

    October 30, 2019 at 8:02 pm

    Can it do the washing-up?

  55. rforrestg

    October 30, 2019 at 8:34 pm

    The echo in your audio makes it really hard to listen to on my phone

  56. aphrican boi

    October 30, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    It looks like the clearish stuff the squirts out of the mustard bottle first

    *mustard precum*

    • John Peterie

      November 3, 2019 at 4:12 pm

      Musquirt

  57. Stan van der Voort

    October 30, 2019 at 10:18 pm

    That’s amazing

  58. Matt Voyer

    October 30, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    name of pringle

  59. Trebor Ironwolfe

    October 30, 2019 at 10:45 pm

    Sounds a bit like Physarum is a biological quantum computer, at least in the sense that it problem-solves in a parallel way rather than serial.

  60. Trebor Ironwolfe

    October 30, 2019 at 10:49 pm

    Wow.. Quaker Oats.. seems I may have more in common with this organism than at first glance.

  61. nrowe99

    October 31, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    Interesting topic but this video raised more questions than answers. I don’t feel like it really explained anything about what slime mold is, how it solves mazes, what it’s reproduction is, and why it’s not exactly a fungus.

    • Ashley Willrich

      November 1, 2019 at 2:23 pm

      nrowe99 it explains in the video

  62. Jintaker

    October 31, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    Brachydios?

  63. Smoke Bomb

    October 31, 2019 at 5:31 pm

    Bruh y’all scientists copied the last of us intro credits SMH

  64. Przymiotnik

    October 31, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    the slime channels have gone too far

  65. Andrew Dussault

    October 31, 2019 at 9:00 pm

    Probably shouldn’t have watched this while eating peanut butter.

  66. Jenga

    November 1, 2019 at 1:18 pm

    he looks like a bald mr beast with glasses

  67. Jamy Chong

    November 2, 2019 at 2:13 am

    Good now just engineer the blob to eat plastic. Problem solved

  68. Jason Cr.

    November 2, 2019 at 7:35 pm

    So…it will fill a space?

  69. Static Nexus

    November 3, 2019 at 4:07 am

    Venom’s cousin?

  70. Drakonus

    November 3, 2019 at 11:21 am

    I’ve seen many of these yellow blobs in my grandparents’ house

  71. Sophia Shen

    November 4, 2019 at 6:44 am

    It reminds me of venom

  72. Yea Probably

    November 4, 2019 at 7:36 am

    This dude look like virgin Mr.beast

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