The Blob: From the forest to space, the incredible journey of a unicellular organism

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The survival of every species depends on its ability to produce behaviors adapted to the challenges of its environment. For a long time it was believed that this required a brain. Yet unicellular organisms, lacking neurons, inhabit complex environments and face decisions remarkably similar to those of animals: finding food, adapting, avoiding predators, locating suitable microclimates. Myxomycetes have emerged as powerful models for studying basal cognition, this minimal form of cognition that emerges without a nervous system. In this ex…