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DTSTAMP:20261106T040144Z
SUMMARY:Special Biomathematics Seminar – Yasmine Meroz (TAU)
DESCRIPTION:Title:Plants as a Window on Decentralized Computation and Mecha
 nical Intelligence\n\nAbstract: Plants continuously solve complex navigati
 onal problems\, negotiating heterogeneous and changing environments while 
 lacking a brain or nervous system. How can a completely decentralized orga
 nism sense its surroundings\, process information\, and generate coherent 
 behavior? In this talk\, I present plants as a model system for decentrali
 zed computation\, where information processing emerges from the physics of
  growth rather than centralized control. I first show how plants integrate
  sensory information. We find that plants represent directional light as v
 ectors and respond to a nonlinear vectorial sum of multiple light sources\
 , giving rise to systematic perceptual distortions analogous to optical il
 lusions. I then turn to the role of mechanics in plant behavior. I present
  recent work demonstrating that climbing plants actively assess the mechan
 ical stability of newly encountered supports. Circumnutations generate con
 trolled loading on candidate supports\, allowing plants to evaluate their 
 stiffness before committing to twining\, in a manner reminiscent of whiski
 ng in rodents. Together\, these examples illustrate how sensing\, computat
 ion\, and behavior can emerge from the coupled dynamics of growth\, transp
 ort\, and mechanics in decentralized living systems.\n\n\n\n
URL:https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/216244/special-biomathematics-seminar
 -yasmine-meroz-tau/
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261111T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261111T140000
LOCATION:130\, Huxley Building\, South Kensington Campus\, Imperial College
  London\, London\, SW7 2AZ\, United Kingdom
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