We might think we're something special with our global communications network,
and we're right, but bacteria are able to grow electrical connections out of
their own bodies.
The recent discovery of biological nanowires has opened a whole new field in bacterial investigation. Still in its early stages, the research has already discovered organisms which build tiny electrical connections out of rust and others which can extrude their own thin wiring. These are used by some bacteria to acquire metal atoms, but it seems they may have many more uses.
The concept of single-cell semaphore isn't so unlikely - we already know that
bacteria can exchange chemical signals, and if they're also connected by a
conducting wire they could use that too.
The implications are incredible.
Anything we can learn about energy distribution and communication at this level
would be fascinating, quite apart from the movie potential of a mass-minded
bacterial army.
clipped from: www.dailygalaxy.com 