2 research outputs found
Programmable reconfiguration of Physarum machines
Plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum is a large cell capable of solving
graph-theoretic, optimization and computational geometry problems due to its
unique foraging behavior. Also the plasmodium is unique biological substrate
that mimics universal storage modification machines, namely the
Kolmogorov-Uspensky machine. In the plasmodium implementation of the storage
modification machine data are represented by sources of nutrients and memory
structure by protoplasmic tubes connecting the sources. In laboratory
experiments and simulation we demonstrate how the plasmodium-based storage
modification machine can be programmed. We show execution of the following
operations with active zone (where computation occurs): merge two active zones,
multiple active zone, translate active zone from one data site to another,
direct active zone. Results of the paper bear two-fold value: they provide a
basis for programming unconventional devices based on biological substrates and
also shed light on behavioral patterns of the plasmodium