But microscopic pond dwellers called Euplotes eurystomus have mastered a way to walk brainlessly – scurrying about like insects, with their 14 little appendages (View Highlight)
These protozoans – single-celled organisms with animal-like characteristics – have 14 stingy bundles of cilia that work together as legs called cirri. They can use these cirri to swim and walk while actively hunting for prey. (View Highlight)
Computer modeling revealed that tension and strain on the fibers dictated which set pattern of cirri positions was possible at each moment. (View Highlight)
This is a really fascinating biological phenomenon itself, but also could highlight more general computational processes in other types of cells," says Larson. (View Highlight)