Moss Waves Hint at a Living Biocomputer Substrate
Researchers led by computer scientist Andy Adamatzky measured electrical activity in mats of the common moss Brachythecium rutabulum, recording fast spikes, slower rhythms, and neuron-like spike trains that propagate across the cushion over days. The patterns imply moss cushions function as a dynamic, interconnected excitable system rather than a collection of unrelated cells, raising the possibility that moss could be used as a low-power substrate for biohybrid sensing and unconventional computation. However, the study has limitations—no inert-control recordings and natural variability in wild-collected moss—and more work is needed to determine whether these signals meaningfully encode information; the work was published in Royal Society Open Science.