Modeling Utopia with Slime Mould

Could we model resource sharing, as it is done in a housing cooperative, with the slime mould networks? To investigate how communication flows and how resources are shared within a network of interdependent nodes using sustainable technological practices, Sarah Grant will work with Physarum Polycephalum (slime mould) during a short residency within the Thinking Toys for Commoning project. Slime mould is a living organism – a giant, motile cell made of many independently functioning nuclei that as a unit, exhibiting cooperative behavior to optimize conditions for the whole. Because it is a living organism, there is always a degree of uncertainty, in terms of how it will behave. However, its inherent property to exhibit a networked, resource sharing behavior makes it very interesting for studying scenarios relevant for housing or other cooperatives. How is information shared within a living, decentralized network? How can we keep track of information as it makes its way through these networks? What insights can be made about resource sharing and information flow, with regards to real-world scenarios beyond the life of a slime mould? Sarah will set up different experiments to observe how communication models made of slime mould evolve in different instances of the organism.