Where Mazie came from

[ian]

Some of you have already met Mazie - Amazing Mazie the Maze Solving Mucous so I thought I might share her life story with you. 

Many years ago - I can't recall quite when, I was asked to wrangle some slime mould for a lecture (and some jellyfish but that's another story) - I was appalled by the fifty quid charge for a few tiny bits of stained paper. I took some home because I was about to face some surgery and I might be amusing whilst I was getting over it. My first batch made spores so I set myself the challenge of completing the life cycle by just adding spores to mouldering bits of oats in petri dishes. Eight weeks later amid the blue and green fuzz I spied a tiny yellow blob, coaxed it onto a clean oat flake, a few more appeared so I picked the fastest growing and Mazie was born. She's just a selfed physarum from the Carolina strain but shows a little more vigour. 

A local school were in for a visit and their teacher said they'd like some - too expensive to justify buying, then another school got in touch and I figured I might as well commit to this. Several years, two Big Bang fair stalls and many bits of filter paper later I'm still at it - anyone anywhere in the world for nothing. The slime will be free! 

Of course when the cultures reach a critical density they will start to connect together and then you will see the true purpose of my plan.

Bow to your acellular overlord puny humans, the slime will rule!