Sublime slime

摘要

A WOODLOUSE feasts on a gelatinous slime mould in this mystifying shot by photographer Barry Webb. The image, taken in Buckinghamshire, UK, was the overall winner in this year's New Scientist Photography Awards, as decided by public vote. Slime moulds are organisms that can exist as single cells, but clump together to form larger, moving bodies, either to reproduce or hunt for food. Once considered a type of fungi, members of this diverse group of organisms are now classed as protists, an enigmatic and diverse kingdom that includes amoebas.