On memfractance of plants and fungi

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that various biological media, including water and damp wood shavings, exhibit memristive properties, suggesting a continuum of memristance and potential for hybrid bio-electronic systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that memristance is a continuum and provides experimental evidence of memristive behavior in biological media like plants and fungi.

Findings

Biological specimens exhibit memristive properties.

Memristance exists on a continuum from 0 to 1.

Potential for hybrid bio-electronic systems.

Abstract

The key feature of a memristor is that the resistance is a function of its previous resistance, thereby the behaviour of the device is influenced by changing the way in which potential is applied across it. Ultimately, information can be encoded on memristors, which can then be used to implement a number of circuit topologies. Biological substrates have already been shown to exhibit some memristive properties. It is, therefore, logical that all biological media will follow this trend to some degree. In this paper we demonstrate that a range of yet untested specimens exhibit memristive properties, including mediums such as water and dampened wood shavings on which we can cultivate biological specimens. We propose that memristance is not a binary property {0,1}, but rather a continuum on the scale [0,1]. The results imply that there is great potential for hybrid electronic systems that combine traditional electronic typologies with naturally occurring specimens.