This article was taken from the November 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
These 600 billion soil bacteria, known as Paenibacillus vortex are one of the most elaborately structured bacterial communities in nature. "These bacteria have a great social life, they work like a team, using chemicals to communicate in a very sophisticated way," says biophysicist Eshel Ben-Jacob, who captured these images in his lab at Tel Aviv University.
Recently, he found these swarms have a social intelligence similar to that of humans. The bacteria use algae as a 'tool' to produce food; they transport algae towards light-rich places, where the algae produce biofuel. They also move fungal spores to locations where the spores can germinate and put out roots. "The bacteria use these roots to cross into places they could otherwise never get to," says Ben-Jacob.
His team also found that the microbes can adapt to environmental dangers (such as antibiotics), distribute tasks, make collective decisions about risk and hoard food. "Compared to disease-causing bacteria, who live comfortably in humans, these bacteria have to survive in much more complex ecosystems," Ben-Jacob says. "Just think how much smarter that makes them."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
