Richard Mayne

Drop-coated titanium dioxide memristors

The fabrication of memristors by drop-coating sol–gel Ti(OH)4 solution onto either aluminium foil or sputter-coated aluminium on plastic is presented. The gel layer is thick, 37 μm, but both devices exhibit good memristance I–V profiles. The drop coated aluminium foil memristors compare favourably with the sputter-coated ones, demonstrating an expansion in the accessibility of memristor fabrication. A comparison between aluminium and gold for use as the sputter-coated electrodes shows that aluminium is the better choice as using gold leads to device failure. The devices do not require a forming step.

Toward Hybrid Nanostructure-Slime Mould Devices

The plasmodium of slime mould Physarum polycephalum has recently received signi¯cant attention for its value as a highly malleable amorphous computing substrate. In laboratory-based experiments, nanoscale arti¯cial circuit components were introduced into the P. polycephalum plasmdodium to investigate the electrical properties and computational abilities of hybridized slime mould. It was found through a combination of imaging techniques and electrophysiological measurements that P. polycephalum is able to internalize a range of electrically active nanoparticles (NPs), assemble them in vivo and distribute them around the plasmodium. Hybridized plasmodium is able to form biomorphic mineralized networks inside the living plasmodium and the empty trails left following its migration, both of which facilitate the transmission of electricity. Hybridization also alters the bioelectrical activity of the plasmodium and likely in°uences its information processing capabilities. It was concluded that hybridized slime mould is a suitable substrate for producing functional unconventional computing devices.

Slime mould foraging behaviour as optically coupled logical operations

Physarum polycephalum is a macroscopic plasmodial slime mould whose apparently ‘intelligent’ behaviour patterns may be interpreted as computation. We employ plasmodial phototactic responses to construct laboratory prototypes of NOT and NAND logical gates with electrical inputs/outputs and optical coupling in which the slime mould plays dual roles of computing device and electrical conductor. Slime mould logical gates are fault tolerant and resettable. The results presented here demonstrate the malleability and resilience of biological systems and highlight how the innate behaviour patterns of living substrates may be used to implement useful computation.

On the Internalisation, Intraplasmodial Carriage and Excretion of Metallic Nanoparticles in the Slime Mould, Physarum Polycephalum

The plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum is a large single cell visible with the naked eye. When inoculated on a substrate with attractants and repellents the plasmodium develops optimal networks of protoplasmic tubes which span sites of attractants (i.e. nutrients) yet avoid domains with a high nutrient concentration. It should therefore be possible to program the plasmodium towards deterministic adaptive transformation of internalised nano- and micro-scale materials. In laboratory experiments with magnetite nanoparticles and glass micro-spheres coated with silver metal we demonstrate that the plasmodium of P. polycephalum can propagate the nano-scale objects using a number of distinct mechanisms including endocytosis, transcytosis and dragging. The results of our experiments could be used in the development of novel techniques targeted towards the growth of metallised biological wires and hybrid nano- and micro-circuits.

On the role of the plasmodial cytoskeleton in facilitating intelligent behavior in slime mold Physarum polycephalum.

The plasmodium of slime mold Physarum polycephalum behaves as an amorphous reaction-diffusion computing substrate and is capable of apparently ‘intelligent’ behavior. But how does intelligence emerge in an acellular organism? Through a range of laboratory experiments, we visualize the plasmodial cytoskeleton—a ubiquitous cellular protein scaffold whose functions are manifold and essential to life—and discuss its putative role as a network for transducing, transmitting and structuring data streams within the plasmodium. Through a range of computer modeling techniques, we demonstrate how emergent behavior, and hence computational intelligence, may occur in cytoskeletal communications networks. Specifically, we model the topology of both the actin and tubulin cytoskeletal networks and discuss how computation may occur therein. Furthermore, we present bespoke cellular automata and particle swarm models for the computational process within the cytoskeleton and observe the incidence of emergent patterns in both. Our work grants unique insight into the origins of natural intelligence; the results presented here are therefore readily transferable to the fields of natural computation, cell biology and biomedical science. We conclude by discussing how our results may alter our biological, computational and philosophical understanding of intelligence and consciousness.

On the Computing Potential of Intracellular Vesicles

Collision-based computing (CBC) is a form of unconventional computing in which travelling localisations represent data and conditional routing of signals determines the output state; collisions between localisations represent logical operations. We investigated patterns of Ca2+-containing vesicle distribution within a live organism, slime mould Physarum polycephalum, with confocal microscopy and observed them colliding regularly. Vesicles travel down cytoskeletal ‘circuitry’ and their collisions may result in reflection, fusion or annihilation. We demonstrate through experimental observations that naturally-occurring vesicle dynamics may be characterised as a computationally-universal set of Boolean logical operations and present a ‘vesicle modification’ of the archetypal CBC ‘billiard ball model’ of computation. We proceed to discuss the viability of intracellular vesicles as an unconventional computing substrate in which we delineate practical considerations for reliable vesicle ‘programming’ in both in vivo and in vitro vesicle computing architectures and present optimised designs for both single logical gates and combinatorial logic circuits based on cytoskeletal network conformations. The results presented here demonstrate the first characterisation of intracelluar phenomena as collision-based computing and hence the viability of biological substrates for computing.

Representation of shape mediated by environmental stimuli in Physarum polycephalum and a multi-agent model

The slime mould Physarum polycephalum is known to construct protoplasmic transport networks which approximate proximity graphs by foraging for nutrients during its plasmodial life cycle stage. In these networks, nodes are represented by nutrients and edges are represented by protoplasmic tubes. These networks have been shown to be efficient in terms of length and resilience of the overall network to random damage. However, relatively little research has been performed in the potential for Physarum transport networks to approximate the overall shape of a data-set. In this paper we distinguish between connectivity and shape of a planar point data-set and demonstrate, using scoping experiments with plasmodia of P. polycephalum and a multi-agent model of the organism, how we can generate representations of the external and internal shapes of a set of points. As with proximity graphs formed by P. polycephalum, the behaviour of the plasmodium (real and model) is mediated by environmental stimuli. We further explore potential morphological computation approaches with the multi-agent model, presenting methods which approximate the Convex Hull and the Concave Hull. We demonstrate how a growth parameter in the model can be used to transition between Convex and Concave Hulls. These results suggest novel mechanisms of morphological computation mediated by environmental stimuli.

A cellular automata bioinspired algorithm designing data trees in wireless sensor networks

Several studies present methods to economize energy in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) which is one of the most confining resources in these systems. This paper presents a bioinspired, cellular automata (CA) based model for constructing data trees that connect all nodes with a sink node. Nonetheless, the proposed model takes into consideration not only the proximity between two nodes but also their remaining available energy. Consequently, by avoiding nodes with nearly depleted energy sources, the life time of the network can be prolonged. The plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum is the inspiration for the proposed model, as it has proved its robustness in graphically expressed problems. Moreover, CAs are able to encapsulate the parallel dynamics of the model and, thus, achieve a very fast execution.

Conducting polymer-coated Physarum polycephalum towards the synthesis of bio-hybrid electronic devices

This paper presents a generic method for the production of functionalized coatings on biological substrates. The specific method described involves the functionalization of the living plasmodial stage of Physarum polycephalum with the conducting organic polymer polypyrrole. The simple method involves localized treatment of tube sections with a solution of ferric chloride, followed by exposure to the vapour or a liquid solution of the pyrrole monomer. This technique enables the production of surface-coated conducting plasmodial tubes of certain lengths to be formed at specific points. Measurement of the electrical resistance of a 1 cm functionalized tube gave a value of 100 k. The use of this selective functionalization technique means that the majority of the growing plasmodium remains unfunctionalized and living; thus, a true hybrid device is formed. It can be seen how a range of functionalized polymers and materials whereby a chemical activator, for the formation of the product (or the pre-cursor) can be added to P. polycephalum (or other organisms) followed by reaction to form a hybrid material.

The physarum polycephalum actin network: formalisation, topology and morphological correlates with computational ability

The plasmodial form of slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a macroscopic acellular organism that is capable of apparently intelligent behaviour, yet it lacks any features usually associated with intelligence. In this investigation, we study the morphology of the plasmodial actin cytoskeleton and formalise its network topology in efforts to correlate cytoskeletal morphology with slime mould computational abilities. The plasmodial actin network is a highly abundant, complex structure which links the functional components of the cell, whose topology may be approximated with a range of proximity graphs, depending on the physiological and environmental conditions within the plasmodium. Its topology is highly dynamical and is likely to rapidly alter in response to environmental stimuli to maximise network efficiency. We conclude by discussing the nature of the computational process in organic networks.