On hybrid circuits exploiting thermistive properties of slime mould

Journal article

Slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a single cell visible by the unaided eye. Let the slime mould span two electrodes with a single protoplasmic tube: if the tube is heated to approximately ≈40 °C, the electrical resistance of the protoplasmic tube increases from ≈3 MΩ to ≈10,000 MΩ. The organism’s resistance is not proportional nor correlated to the temperature of its environment. Slime mould can therefore not be considered as a thermistor but rather as a thermic switch. We employ the P. polycephalum thermic switch to prototype hybrid electrical analog summator, NAND gates and cascade the gates into Flip-Flop latch. Computing operations performed on this bio-hybrid computing circuitry feature high repeatability, reproducibility and comparably low propagation delays

Authors: Walter, XA; Horsfield, I; Mayne, R; Ieropoulos, IA; Adamatzky, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 23924-23924
• Publication date: 2016-04-06
• DOI: 10.1038/srep23924
• EISSN: 2045-2322
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Language: English
• Keywords: Physarum; Tube (container); Logic gate; Optoelectronics; Materials science; Electrical engineering; NAND logic; Computer science; Physarum polycephalum; Composite material; Biological system; Thermistor; Biology; Slime mold; Chemistry; Cascade; NAND gate; Engineering; Algorithm