Mimic Nature to discover the most efficient routes for highways and disaster planning using molds that grow legs.
Dr. Adamatzky, the researcher who watched acellular molds form highwaylike patterns, has also used them to simulate a nuclear disaster. He and his colleagues grew a slime mold network of highways for Canada, then placed a crystal of sea salt — which repels slime molds — on the map where the Bruce nuclear power plant is located, on Lake Huron in Ontario.
The slime mold abandoned its tendrils near the salt and then grew a new highway pattern that efficiently rerouted food across Canada. “Reactions to spreading contamination may shed some light what would happen if real disasters occur,” Dr. Adamatzky said.
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