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♪

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NARRATOR:
It creeps!

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It crawls!

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It's this big,
blobby yellow thing.

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NARRATOR:
It's slime mold!

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♪

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A slithering shape-shifter
like no other on this planet.

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AUDREY DUSSUTOUR (translated):
It reminded us

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of this alien organism
from a '50s movie

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that ate people.
(people screaming)

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MOVIE ANNOUNCER:
"The Blob"!

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NARRATOR:
This one-celled wonder
has no brain.

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TANYA LATTY:
No brain, no organs,
no neurons.

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Yet it's able to do
some of the behaviors

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we normally associate
with animals with brains.

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NARRATOR:
How does it solve a maze?

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It is amazing.

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NARRATOR:
Escape captivity?

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Compete for resources?

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Build efficient networks?

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DUSSUTOUR (translated):
You start to think,
does this organism

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possess intelligence?

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MICHAEL LEVIN:
All of these are
fundamental components

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to being smart.

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NARRATOR:
No brain?

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No problem.

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LEVIN:
Clearly now, we see

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that this can be done
by one cell.

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NARRATOR:
Can this ancient organism
shed new light

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on the evolutionary origins
of intelligence?

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LATTY:
We can think of them
as how intelligence started

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way back.

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NARRATOR:
"The Secret Mind of Slime,"

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next, on "NOVA."

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♪

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ANNOUNCER:
Major funding for "NOVA"
is provided by the following:

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♪

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NARRATOR:
Lurking in the forest's
shadowy undergrowth

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lies an unlikely predator.

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It creeps along,
stalking its prey.

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Yet it is not an animal.

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It has a fondness
for dark, humid places,

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yet it is not a fungus

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nor a plant.

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It's a single-celled organism,

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but not a bacterium.

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♪

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It's known as slime mold.

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It has no eyes, no mouth,
no stomach,

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no legs.

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Yet it can "see," "smell,"

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and move around

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through its pulsating network
of veins,

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gorging itself on bacteria,

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fungi,

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yeasts,

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and growing exponentially.

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This strange yet humble creature
holds secrets that have

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biologists, neuroscientists,
and mathematicians

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scratching their heads.

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Because this organism, without
a brain or a nervous system,

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seems capable of making choices,

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solving complex problems,

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and devising strategies.

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And it is forcing scientists
to rethink intelligence

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as something that does not imply
a need for a brain.

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♪

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Tanya Latty is a researcher
at the University of Sydney

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who studies slime mold.

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LATTY:
You can find slime mold
all over the place.

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They're in leaf litter,
they're in the soil,

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they're on bits of wood.

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They're small structures
that almost look like mushrooms.

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NARRATOR:
Not only is Tanya an expert
on slime mold,

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she's one of its biggest fans.

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How could you not love them?
(laughs)

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It's this big, blobby,
yellow thing, you know,

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it's just
fundamentally cool.

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(laughs):
I stand by that!

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"Slime Mold Identification
and Appreciation."

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There it is.

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NARRATOR:
She even follows them
on Facebook.

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LATTY:
The spores are gorgeous.

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They're, they're beautiful.

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♪

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The slime molds might be one
of the most abundant things

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in the soil.

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There are spores everywhere.

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♪

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NARRATOR:
Biologists have puzzled

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over where exactly
this creature fits

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into the great tree of life.

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LATTY:
Slime molds branched off
from that tree

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before the plants,
the fungi, and the animals.

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They're single-celled organisms,
but the type of cell they have

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is quite different
from bacteria.

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There's at least 900 different
species of slime mold

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that we know about,

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and that number is probably
a massive underestimate.

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♪

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The slime mold
most people think about

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is Physarum polycephalum.