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
Human Evolution and the Inner Ear
The vain attempt by evolutionists to make an evolutionary connection between people and ape-like ancestors continues. This time, it is in regard to...

CREATION PODCAST
Defending the Faith with a Rocket Scientist | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How do engineering principles, biological complexity, and a solid understanding of apologetics work together to further the cause of Christ? Why...

NEWS
Aerobic and Anaerobic Hot Spring Bacteria
God designed a domain of prokaryotes called Archaea that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. In 1969, two microbiologists, Thomas Brock and Hudson...

CREATION PODCAST
The Soulless Hominid Theory: A Fatal Flaw in Old Earth Creationism...
Welcome to the second episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit...

NEWS
Humpback Whale Calls Echo Creation
There is nothing simple about the system of communication called language, whether animal or human.1 Human language is a very sophisticated...

NEWS
Mary Parker, Creation Ministry Partner of Dr. Gary Parker, Is...
Mary Parker, the wife and co-laborer of Dr. Gary Parker, went home to be with her Lord on March 20, 2025. Dr. Parker was a popular and effective...

NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...

NEWS
''Blood Worm Moon'' Total Lunar Eclipse 2025
Barring cloud cover, about 75% of the country saw the total lunar eclipse, aka the “Blood Worm Moon.” Texas had good weather conditions...

NEWS
Jupiter: The Mighty Guardian of Earth
NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently unveiled breathtaking images of Jupiter during its 66th flyby of the colossal planet. Juno has been exploring...