Slime Mold Recreated Tokyo’s Rail Network

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]This weird yellow blob is a better transportation planner than humans. No brain, no map, yet it recreated one of the most complex rail networks on Earth.

[00:00:08]In 2010, researchers placed oat flakes representing cities around Tokyo, then dropped a slime mold in the middle to see what would happen. The slime explored every direction, then slowly cut away inefficient paths, reinforcing only the best routes between food sources. After 1 day, the network looked almost identical to Tokyo's actual rail system with the same hubs, connections, and even backup routes. The slime mold, Physarum polycephalum, constantly strengthens nutrient-rich routes and abandons the rest, >> [music] >> naturally optimizing its entire network.

[00:00:39]A brainless organism solved a logistics problem that took human engineers decades. [music] Perhaps the future of infrastructure comes from biology, not blueprints.