Slime Networks Are Better Organized than Railway Systems | The Institute for Creation Research

Slime Networks Are Better Organized than Railway Systems

What do the Tokyo railway system and slime mold have in common?

Answer: They both employ optimized networks. Researchers found that slime mold growth algorithms are so well-designed that they could be copied and used to improve computer and communication networks.

When conditions are good, the huge, single-celled slime mold spreads out in search of nutrients. Then when conditions sour, it thins out in spots to form veins that connect food sources to its main body using the shortest possible routes. These veins and the slime mold are in constant motion to make the best use of the changing environment.

Researchers tested this by arranging oat flakes in the same pattern as cities around Tokyo. They watched as the slime mold “connected these oat flakes by forming an optimized network closely approaching the purposefully designed Tokyo railway system.”1

The research was summarized in the January 22, 2010, issue of Science. A report on the study stated that “ self-organization, self-optimization, and self-repair as it naturally occurs in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum are capabilities that may be required for technological systems such as mobile communication networks or networks of dynamically connected computational devices.”1 But how did an algorithm that was applied in Tokyo by the “purposeful design” of human engineers come about in slime mold “naturally”—especially since the natural version is adaptive, and the man-made version is static?

The technical report in Science stated, “Unlike anthropogenic infrastructure systems, these biological networks have been subjected to successive rounds of evolutionary selection and are likely to have reached a point at which cost, efficiency, and resilience are appropriately balanced.” In addition to balancing the needs of cost, efficiency, and breakdown-resistance better than man-made systems, slime mold networks also “develop without centralized control and may represent a readily scalable solution for growing networks in general.”2

The researchers hope that their mathematical model based on the slime’s “adaptive self-optimization” will lead to the improved engineering of man-made networks.1 Their speculative “just so” story that this superior ability came about through “successive rounds of evolutionary selection,” however, is not a scientific conclusion, because its origin was not observed and therefore must be inferred.

Nature abounds with evidence of superior engineering. Even lowly slime mold provides a great example of complicated problem-solving abilities that, although they exist in nature, had to have come from a source outside of nature—since nature by itself is universally characterized by processes that degrade abilities instead of generating them.3 The Bible provides just such an informational source: a transcendent Creator. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”4

References

  1. Marwan, W. 2010. Amoeba-Inspired Network Design. Science. 327(5964): 419-420.
  2. Tero, A. et al. 2010. Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design. Science. 327 (5964): 439-442.
  3. For example, see Wood, T. C. 2002. The Terror of Anthrax in a Degrading Creation. Acts & Facts. 31 (3).
  4. Romans 1:20.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on January 29, 2010.

The Latest
NEWS
Liberty and the Word of God
“And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45). July 4th is called Independence Day here in our country because on...

NEWS
July 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome...

NEWS
Valued Longtime ICR Employee Mary Smith Retires
Mary Morris Smith, an employee of the Institute for Creation Research for many years, has retired. The second daughter of ICR founder Dr. Henry M. Morris...

NEWS
Man of Science, Man of God: George Washington Carver
Who:  George Washington Carver What: Father of Modern Agriculture When: 1864 or 1865 – January 5, 1943 Where: Diamond Grove,...

ACTS & FACTS
The Scopes Monkey Trial: A Battle of Worldviews
Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, and its statue of William Jennings Bryan Image credit: M. Mueller The Scopes Monkey...

ACTS & FACTS
Long Non-Coding RNAs: The Unsung Heroes of the Genome
Evolutionary theory holds that all living things came about through random, natural processes. So conventional scientists believe the genome has developed...

ACTS & FACTS
Yosemite National Park, Part 1: Tiny Clues of a Grand Picture
Yosemite National Park in California is a sure source of stunning scenery. It’s no wonder that American naturalist John Muir persuaded President...

ACTS & FACTS
From Inference to Theory: A Common Design Case Study
Without a doubt, humans, chimpanzees, and other organisms share similar features. An early explanation was that these features reflect similar designs...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: T. rex
by Michael Stamp and Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover...

ACTS & FACTS
Entering By The Door
Recently, I hosted a visiting pastor from a large church at ICR’s Discovery Center. As I guided him through our Dallas museum, one conversation...