Slime mold may be one of the 'simplest' life forms on Earth, but it provides a new way to explore the universe.
Researchers are using the behavior of slimy mold, a strange single-celled organism, to map out the strands of dark matter that make up our universe.
Scientists have developed a computer algorithm, inspired by a unique creature, to try to trace the space network, which is the “large-scale foundation of space,” according to a NASA press release.
They applied the algorithm to data from 37,000 galaxies, which then created a 3D map of the 'intricate thread-like network' of the cosmic network.
Slime mold is a curious organism that attracts great interest from scientists and even the Paris Zoo. A single-celled creature can build thread-like webs in search of food, optimizing the paths it uses when searching. Notably, they lack a 'brain', but the mucus forms are capable of incredible feats such as finding the shortest path through the maze.
And oddly enough, the networks it creates resemble the cobwebs that gravity creates when the universe is shaping, linking galaxies and galaxy clusters along invisible bridges hundreds of millions of light years long.
The cosmic web consists mainly of dark matter and is permeated with gas. Astronomers have struggled to find the threads of the network, given that the gas is so dim and difficult to detect. This is why they turned to the humble form of slime. Using a computer algorithm, they were able to map the filaments in the universe within 500 million light years of Earth.
The researchers tested an algorithm for computer modeling of the growth of dark matter fibers in the universe. By applying the algorithm to data containing the positions of 37,000 galaxies, they were able to model a three-dimensional map of the underlying cosmic web structure.
However, everything is much more complicated than just writing an algorithm. The scientists then analyzed the ultraviolet radiation of 350 quasars recorded in the Hubble Spectroscopic Legacy Archive. Using extremely bright quasars, the researchers were able to illuminate the space network by seeing the gas it is composed of.
“It’s truly amazing that one of the simplest forms of life actually provides insight into the largest structures in the universe,” said lead researcher Joseph Burchett of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
'Using simulated mold to locate cosmic filaments, including far from galaxies, we then used archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope to detect and determine the density of cold gas at the very outskirts of these invisible filaments. Scientists have discovered signatures of the gas, and we have proven the theoretical expectation that this gas constitutes the cosmic network. '
The study confirms that denser patches of intergalactic gas are clustered into filaments that extend 10 million light-years from galaxies.
Sources: Photo: NASA, ESA, and J. Burchett and O. Elek (UC Santa Cruz)
