:PROFILE [image:https://slatesource-media.s3.amazonaws.com/8/b/0/8b09c98f-3fe9-438e-b239-4c2f1c7bd54d.webp?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20260701T214431Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6PWPI77XKVCG2MNW%2F20260701%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Signature=246b99a50d397d3c53df6270efd9a0fbab6c170868a13390b6467ce4ac766421]
Dr Iris Okonkwo
Bristol, England
Studies problem solving in brainless slime molds.
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:INFO
Abstract
Physarum polycephalum has no brain and no nervous system, yet it reliably finds the shortest route through a maze between two food sources. This notebook records sixty maze runs over four weeks, the protocol, the failures, and a working hypothesis for why a single celled organism behaves as if it can plan.


:CHECKLIST
Protocol per run
[x] Pour 1.5 percent agar and set the acrylic maze on top
[x] Inoculate plasmodium at the entrance
[x] Place oat flakes at the two exits
[x] Dark box at 22 C and 90 percent humidity
[x] Photograph every 2 hours for 48 hours
[ ] Repeat with the maze geometry mirrored (week 5)

:TIMELINE
🟡🔬🧫
2026-05-04 | Runs 1 to 12. The plasmodium explored every corridor before pruning. Mean solve 31 hours.
2026-05-11 | Runs 13 to 28. Humidity dropped by accident and six runs dried out and were discarded.
2026-05-18 | Runs 29 to 44. A reliable shortest path in 14 of 16. Mean solve fell to 22 hours.
2026-05-25 | Runs 45 to 60. Added a second food source mid run and the mold rebalanced its network within four hours.

:STATS
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:GALLERY

:NOTE
Working hypothesis. The mold lays down a chemical trail it avoids re crossing, so corridors it has already searched repel it. The shortest path is not planned. It is what remains once every dead end has been ruled out.
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:TASK [label:next, labelcolor:#7c3aed, deadline:2026-06-30]
[ ] Repeat the full set with the maze mirrored to rule out any left or right bias in the agar.

:QUOTE [quotetype:plain, subtitle:Dr Iris Okonkwo]
It has no neurons to think with. So either thinking is simpler than we believe, or the mold is doing something we do not yet have a word for.
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:LINK
https://www.google.com/search?q=Physarum+polycephalum+maze+solving+research
Read the preprint and raw data