How to get a physarum culture

[ian]

So you want slime? 

I can give you slime. I'll post physarum to anyone anywhere free of charge. 

"Free?" you say, surely that's too good to be true? 

Indeed it is, I said free of charge, not actually free. This is the slime mould collective, lone oat flakes do not get visited by physarum fairy. You must prove your worth if you want to join and engage with the network. Assimilation doesn't hurt, we promise and you might like it. 

Tell us why you want the slime, what are your hopes and fears for slimekind? Where do you you see your slime in five years time?

A paragraph, a short story, maybe a few lines of verse, how about an expressive dance? We don't mind we just want you to communicate.

In return we will let you have your very own slime sent discreetly in a plain envelope - your friends and family need never know! 

[Adrian Philip Davies]

Hello,

I have just joined the forum with a view to learning lots about slime moulds, and to photograph them in UV and also film them in time-lapse. I am a complete novice with them. I would like to get a culture to start the process please. Any advice on it's cultivation would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Adrian

[Katharina]

Hi there,

I am an Agile Coach and very excited to design a workshop for my teams on the agile mindset with the slime mould. My impression is that how the different nucleus' interact is similar to people in an agile team. They pass information quickly for full transparency, they communicate constantly and they act together for one goal. The outcome they produce is also more complex than what one nucleus could do. Therefore, there are three advantages of engaging the slime mould in a workshop:

1) The slime mould would be a fun way of learning about some of the basics of great agile teamwork.

2) The slime mould could live in our office as a reminder and an image of how we are going to work together.

3) The image of the slime mould would also make our communication on team work easier. We could simply say "just like the slime mould!" and everyone would know what set of characteristics we are talking about.

So I would be delighted to receive a slime mould (or two, or three :) ). How can I help you make this happen?

All the best

Katharina

[Carlos Oyarzabal]

Good afternoon: We are an amateur team from the Basque Country that film documentaries. We are new in the world of the slimes and our interest in them has started when rolling the invisible world in the forests and mountains of a Spanish national park that is located in Aragon, Ordesa National Park and Monte Perdido is the name,where we run into the exciting, tiny and silent world of myxomycetes, the more we know about them the more fascinating they seems to us. We wanted to include them in the movie we are shooting (see, if you want, the trailer on YouTube under the name "Ordesa invisible "), but not only in its amazing variability and beauty but in its dynamic, pulsating behavior of this living being. We have tried to shoot this in situ but logistic problems and the fear that it is the camera and the timelapse equipmente that crawls and leaves the place (glubs), forced us and inclined to do so under controlled conditions and under roof. Our interest is to roll to the slime by crawling, capturing its disturbing dance of life, spreading these invisible wonders in sight and at the time scale that we handle. That is why we would like a slime in loan that we will take care of as it deserves. Thank you in advance and congratulations on this initiative.

[RyChu]

Not quite experienced (small collection) enough to address that but there are definitely people here who can. It probably won't be a loan though bc there isn't a point in returning it.

[Carlos Oyarzabal]

Hello Raichu: the loan was a way of expressing it, ...hopefully we will be able to move forward, we will show you the progress here. Thank you

[ian]

Hi we'll happily send you some slimes and instructions. Pm me your address and there will be slimes heading to the Basque Country by Monday morning. I'd love to see the final result 

[William Grigg]

Hello Ian,

I am eager to start growing slime mould friends. I have 2 daughters, aged 9 and 10, who are interested in science. I'd like to start growing slime mould over our Christmas break - I have been teasing my daughters about getting them a pet. I don't know if that's a realistic time frame to get the mold delivered (I am guessing you live in the UK?). 

My older daughter, Lucia is especially interested in studying crawly, slimy things and is hoping to go into medicine, dentistry or another science. She is also an avid experimental baker. I think she would be fascinated by experimenting with mould behavior. I cannot promise the mould will not be named "Slimy".

Anyway, let me know if you need my address, any cash for shipping, or if you would like to compose a song about slime mold. I am a singer / songwriter as well as computer programmer. Some of my songs can be found at http://willygrigg.com - including one I wrote with my daughters called "Hey Little Buddy".

Thanks to everyone who has posted such helpful information and photos.

[RyChu]

I'm not sure if Ian has replied to you but consider Private Messaging him to get his attention? idk. 

[Michael Guggenbichler]

Hi,

I’m Michael, an art student at the University of applied Arts, Vienna, and i am also finishing a masters degree at the University of applied Science, St. Pölten. The aim of my thesis is to get the growing pattern and look of the slime mould into the digital world. I want to recreate it digitally and play with some of the parameters (light, food, temperature, etc.) and also try to do the same with a real slime mould to see the difference. Generally very curios about the slime.

thanks in advance,

all the best Michael

[Aurelie]

Hello!

I am Aurélie, I have been working with the slime for pratiquely a year in London (2016-2017) and had the chance to get some with Heather Barnett during a talk. My master project was to create an ephemeral network over London for a new kind of nomadic life. It was a successful project and I took very care of my slime. After my project, I failed the dry process and my slime unfortunetely died. I can't reanimate it.

Today a friend of mine would like to work with me for an artistic project around the slime. I would be very greatful if you could send me a simple. This slime would would be a beautiful tool of expression to embody the notion of life and scales.

Many thanks in advance,

I am living in France and I had a look at the forum where I saw your name. If you are agree to send to me some slime don't worries about the shipping cost I would transfert the money.

Aurélie

[Brent]

Hello Ian!

Amateur scientist here. I am looking to work with slime moulds to explore how they function and run experiments on how they interact within a controlled biosphere environment and vice versa
I'm also fascinated with how they function and work together and would love to experiment on how they deal with different situations.

I've been hesitant to try and obtain any before I knew exactly how to handle it and make sure it survives and I feel comfortable now after a month or so of research. Hopefully picking up a microscope within a year to compliment my obsession with slime and micro biology

I'm hoping to be a part of the community and learn more about the slimey friends before they become sentient and take over the planet :)
Thanks for the oppurtunity to get slime mould!

[Chris F]

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 and await, with great anticipation, as it reached out to...to...to connect with me in a meaningful way. 

Okay, really. I'm just a nerd. I spent years doing microbiology before selling out to work, marriage, and now fatherhood. I remember these things being amazing, and I want to share it with my kid and her class in the hopes that none, not a single one, will end up majoring in Marketing and Advertising. I'm also desperately trying to distract her from the distraction of American Girl (and the magazine, How to get your parents to accessorize your American Girl Collection) and the electronics my wife wants to get her addicted to. I'm hoping that my geeking out over a petri dish of slime mold will rouse her curiosity. 

I do want to pay you guys for this for sure tho. The biological supply warehouses make simple things like this practically inaccessible for many.