The secret life of slime mould

Writer Anita Heiss has based her novel Dirrayawadha on stories from the 1800s during the frontier wars in Bathurst, when martial law was declared. 

Award-winning Australian author, poet and essayist David Malouf died last week at the age of 92, he spoke with Richard in 2014.The first son of a Lebanese family, David spent his early years in South Brisbane, his vivid memories of life as it was then are captured in his classics ... Show More

The filmmaker on her series which documents a period some historians call the most important war Australia has ever fought in.Rachel Perkins is one of this country's great storytellers, translating distinctively Australian stories for the screen, including a television series fir ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss slime mould, a basic organism that grows on logs, cowpats and compost heaps. Scientists have found difficult to categorise slime mould: in 1868, the biologist Thomas Huxley asked: ‘Is this a plant, or is it an animal? Is it both or is it neither?’ ... Show More

If you’ve ever wandered past what looked like a pile of dog barf on a log during a hike in the woods, you’d just seen slime mold - one of the most perplexing organisms on Earth. Listen to this classic episode and get as amazed as Josh and Chuck were when they recorded it.See omny ... Show More

This week's critter is a species of slime mould that looks like ghostly forest coral. The coral slime mould (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) is one of our most distinctive and abundant slime moulds. 

Mucus is a miracle of evolution, and some researchers are trying to re-create what nature makes naturally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Why are women known as the slimier sex? How did the US Navy replicate hagfish slime for ballistics protection? In this episode we’re joined by science journalist Susanne Wedlich to look at the weird and wonderful, cultural and biological, history of slime. And for those of you wh ... Show More

Slime molds can navigate mazes, control robots, and make complicated decisions, all without a central nervous system. If this weird gooey blob can think, does that mean scientists are thinking about intelligence all wrong? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great ... Show More

If you take a journey into the depths of the slime all around us, you find yourself starting to understand that mucus is a miracle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Brian Cox and Robin Ince find out about the secret world of fungi, hidden beneath our feet. They are joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake and mycologist Katie Field. They hear about the hidden life of fungi, including their hundreds of mating types, predatory behaviour and crucia ... Show More

<p>There’s a black hole in the middle of the history of life: how did we go from tiny bags of chemicals to the vast menagerie of creatures we see around us? </p> <p>Today, we explore one of the most underrated mysteries of all time, and present one possible answer that takes us f ... Show More