Chemical boundaries for Physarum polysepharum

[Miles Robertson]

Are hypertonic solutions or even solid salts detrimental for Physarum polysepharum? Does it stray away from them? Are there any other chemicals, solutions or any other type (acids, bases etc) that would create a chemical barrier for it? Thank you!

[Miles Robertson]

Apparently I'm having a hard time with this, one more try: *polycephalum

[Miles Robertson]

It turns out from my testing that high molarity salt solutions kill P. polycephalum, which isn't much of a surprise, but distilled water changes its morphogenesis considerably compared to a control. I ran some t-tests on the different data sets I got and can post results if anyone's particularly interested.

[Heather Barnett]

Hi Miles, I did a public experiment inviting visitors to an arts festival to feed the slime mould with whatever they fancied, in order to establish wider likes and dislikes http://slimoco.ning.com/video/physarum-experiment-no-016-likes-disl... (I thought it should broaden its culinary experiences beyond only oat flakes). Repellents included bicarbonate of soda, ibuprofen, chilli powder. Andrew Adamatsky has conducted a number of chemical substance experiments, detailed in his Physarum Machines book and in journal papers.

Bear in mind my experiment was not for scientific purposes but a means of engaging public audiences with biological behaviours. It is messy and without a control. Or any control for that matter… But it might offer you some other substances to test in a more rigorous manner.

And be great to share your results here, I'm sure many people are interested.