And his real name Vesarum polycephalum, Dot is a single-celled organism that is neither an animal, nor a plant, nor a fungus. He has no mind but can learn, even transmitting information by merging with its congeners. It is widespread in the bushes of temperate countries and does not like to be very hot. So the question arises what will be the effects of climate change on the point, but also on the species of her family that, like her, are involved in enriching the soil with minerals to maximize the happiness of plants.
And when a question arises, what do researchers do? They try to answer it by testing their hypotheses through experimentation. The National Center for Scientific Research invites the general public to slip into place during the scientific program “Beyond the Point, Research,” led by Audrey Dussautur, a biologist at the National Center for Scientific Research and winner of the CNRS Mediation Medal in 2021.
Altogether, 10,000 amateur scientists are required! Interested persons must register before November 12 to indicate the number of days they can participate in the trial during the spring of 2022, from March to May. The minimum is five days and the experiment will require about one hour of daily manipulation, at a set time. dots Vesarum polycephalumor their cousins Badhamia utriculariswill be sent to the participants who will have to get the rest of their devices themselves (maximum budget 30-40 euros).
A photograph should be taken every day, which will determine the growth of the point under the indicated experimental conditions. The idea is to change the temperature every day more or less quickly, by bringing the heating bulb closer to or away from the Petri dish where the dot is.
The goal is to involve volunteers in all stages of the experiment: data manipulation, collection and interpretation, article writing with results presentation, even submission to a scientific journal.
If you are an individual and would like to ask your questions To the “Beyond Point, Research Team” team, please write to behind the blob[arobase]cnrs.fr
to share To the participatory science project “Beyond the Point, the Research”, Register here.
More information About “Beyond the Point, Search,” here.
Follow the process on Twitter with the hashtag # bloopers
“Subtly charming problem solver. Extreme tv enthusiast. Web scholar. Evil beer expert. Music nerd. Food junkie.”