Alpha slime mould

Space research can be conducted in a school laboratory. Students aged between 10 and 18 years are invited to investigate the Blob, a naturally-occurring slime mould, or Physarum polycephalum, that is capable of basic forms of learning and adaptation.

Blob is neither plant, nor animal, nor mushroom. Composed of just one cell and without a brain, it is still able to move, feed, organise itself and even transmit knowledge to like-minded slime moulds.

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will conduct an experiment on the International Space Station to see how the Blob’s behaviour is affected by microgravity. Students will replicate the experiment in their classrooms, comparing their results to a timelapse video from space, to see differences in the Blob’s speed, shape and growth.

Blob is an educational experiment ran by France's space agency CNES.