"I couldn't persuade them to eat strontium aluminate! If you fed another culture rhodamine or eosin and had a couple of cameras you'd be able to follow the mixing ( with two cams you could use R & G filters to separate signals…"
An international network of/for intelligent organisms
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ian
- Birmingham
- United Kingdom
- Blog Posts (11)
- Discussions (283)
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- Photos (36)
- Photo Albums (1)
- Videos (16)
ian's Discussions
Slimelab 2020! welcome to big data
Started this discussion. Last reply by ian Feb 26. 7 Replies 4 Likes
Hey slime fans,I haven't posted up much recently but I've been busy with all things plasmodial. My dept has said they'll support me publishing what was initially a hobby; so suddenly I have work to…Continue
Mandy has babies!
Started this discussion. Last reply by RyChu Feb 2. 1 Reply 4 Likes
I wasn't expecting this to work but I tried the rancid oats method on spores from Mandy the badhamia ( that's still not a confirmed genus btw - way too much work to get a definite ID ). Four weeks…Continue
Into the fourth dimension! Physarum time plots
Started this discussion. Last reply by ian Jan 7. 3 Replies 2 Likes
Had some fun looking at ways to compare growth habits of different strains. I've been time lapsing them every minute on plain agar with no food to get a good idea of shape. Loading the movie into…Continue
ian's Page
Latest Activity
"Ian, we just got our slime molds yesterday and are looking forward to reviving them. I'm hoping to do some experiments via web cam for the kids in her class while their school is closed for COVID. Maybe their teachers will get into it enough…"
Rotifers!
RotifersIt's not a slime mould but since I'm confined to the house I've spent my time upgrading my microscopes with skip dived parts ( this only works if the skip you're diving into is outside an optics laboratory ). I found a thriving community of protista in the houseplants so I've started filming them. See More
"Hey there!
I'm one of the damned - started coughing on Tuesday night. It's mild in me - the cough's bloody awful but the fever and aches are so mild ( 'course taking opiates might have a hand in that ). Dog walking is now a…"
"Hello, I made an account about a week ago and just received my order of Physarum from Carolina and am hoping to get some more slime mold because i spent $30 to get the Physarum :(. I am currently trying to harvest the Physarum in order to maker…"
"OMG this! Thank you. I want the slime. I had it when I was young, but it dried up. My life has been lonely and empty since, I've become reclusive and sad, I live a meaningless existence. If I had the slime, I would put my finger on the plate…"
"Hi
I use petri dishes because I can just grab them from the lab but anything light and watertight is fine. I've accidentally used the inside of my bag on a few occasions ( they get sometimes and end up where they shouldn't ). Pretty much…"
"The slimes themselves are harmless - skin contact etc isn't an issue ( can't rule out allergy of course ) and we've had multiple cases of accidental ( and deliberate ) ingestion for physarum at least. ( Don't, it's like…"
"I should be in the lab right now but I'm not in the mood for handling lethal chemicals at the moment"
"If you want the matlab code you can have it but basically -
Low light camera images have a shed load of noise, noise is random but signal isn't (hopefully) so I averaged the pictures over five frames ( going from one min to five on the…"
"Yay! Near as dammit essence of pure slime!"
"Another run - this is all about removing everything but the slime from the image, This went blatantly wrong but it's just screaming at me to do some sort of a print"
Profile Information
- Name
- hardboiledparrot
- What is your interest in slime moulds? (we need to know you're not a bot or spamster)
- I'm a professional microscopist and amateur time lapse filmer. I'm looking forward to combining both disciplines with these fascinating organisms
- Academic Institution (if applicable)
- warwick
ian's Photos
ian's Videos
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Slime mould food choices
Added by ian 0 Comments 1 Like
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Wounded
Added by ian 0 Comments 1 Like
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Comment Wall (6 comments)
- At 15:36 on October 10, 2019,
Sean said…
- Hello! Thank you for the warm welcome! I’m excited to get working with some slime mould. Just spent the day hunting/photographing some in Epping forest but pretty sure I got 95% mushrooms. Any chance I could send you some pictures of what I think are slime mould spore capsules for your opinion?
- At 21:03 on January 16, 2018,
Oh that would be amazing. I was looking at ordering it from the US. Is there any issue with getting it through customs?
- At 16:05 on October 27, 2015,
Marijn Roelvink said…
- We received the Physarum today, thanks a lot!
- At 12:19 on October 14, 2015,
- Hi Ian, thank you for wanting to send the Physarum, I was just wondering if you could tell me when they will arrive, it'll help a lot with our planning :)
- At 10:37 on February 10, 2015,
- I received my samples today: thanks a lot!
- At 8:10 on February 3, 2015,
Sent you a pm with my address; thanks again!
Ian's Blog
Raising from Spores - Zero Tech Method
Posted on April 11, 2017 at 13:30 0 Comments 1 Like
I've been looking for a way to rear physarum from spores without resorting to bacterial lawns and needing autoclaves etc.
I've only done a couple of trials but this method seems to work ok, it does require a bit of patience.
I used petri dishes and filter paper but any container and a bit of tissue should work.
The idea is to let the food go off producing bacteria for the amoebal phase to feed off then slowly dry them out so they get persuaded to form…
ContinueBig bang, big disappointment :)
Posted on March 16, 2016 at 17:04 0 Comments 1 Like
Four weeks of crazy work, turning the spare room into a culture lab and time lapse studio I made enough culture for two thousand people and I should be there with my friends and colleagues on the stand inspiring the next generation of scientists, slime fans and eccentrics.
Unfortunately I'm stuck on a hospital ward with fifty stitches in my neck waiting until I'm allowed home. So it goes I suppose but damn I was looking forward to the Big Bang Fair, I couldn't even bring a slime…
ContinuePlotting and planning....
Posted on June 2, 2015 at 11:31 0 Comments 1 Like
Getting involved with several schools in my area running STEM club activities - I'm trying to design a six week course on our dear sticky friend that'll be adaptable to ages 12-17. Looks like it'll be fun ( and a lot of work ). My own cultures have been dormant for a while aside from raising the odd batch but I should start playing again soon.
Raising slime again..
Posted on May 18, 2015 at 14:17 0 Comments 1 Like
Blimey it's been a while, we've got the finals lab projects for the students at work on at the moment so I'm not getting time to play. I've got a session with 95 school kids booked in in June so I'm raising as much slime as I can cope with in preparation for that.
I'm planning on getting them to make Plasticine mazes in petri dishes for their cultures so they've something to take home.
I've also got these intriguing mycena cholorophos spores ( a glowing mushroom ),…
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