How smart are amoebas?(Brief article) From: Science News | Date: March 31, 2007 | COPYRIGHT 2007 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

A species of amoeba seems to possess a rudimentary form of memory that keeps it from walking around in circles.

Some microbes search for food by following its smell. In the absence of chemical clues, however, such creatures have appeared to wander randomly. But random walks aren't a very efficient foraging strategy, since they can bring the microbe back to the same place again and again.

By tracking the motion of Dietyostelium discoideum, a kind of slime mold...