Amoebic communication

Brainstorm and Bitfiddle

Certain one-celled creatures, Paramecium caudatum, are able to communicate with each other "wirelessly". Researchers separated them in clear tubes which prevented the cells from communicating by passing chemical messages to each other. They were placed in total darkness and separated by the clear tubes. They were still able to communicate, as they are still able to influence the feeding behavior and growth rates of neighbors in other tube. This suggest that electromagnetic signals were involved. These one-celled creatures seemed to use at least two frequencies to communicate, one of which was in the ultraviolet (UV) range. This was discovered by running the experiment using glass for the clear tube, and then also by using a glass that blocks UV light. The blocked UV tubes seemed to inhibits communication. Scientific American - June 2009 page 32.