The Biophysics of a Brainless Animal

Trichoplax adhaerens is a species of placozoa, the simplest animals at the base of the tree of life. It doesn't have a nervous system, yet it exhibits complex behaviors. How is this possible? The answer could illuminate the origins of the nervous system—and the future of robotics. “It’s a tour de force of biophysics,” said Orit Peleg of the University of Colorado, Boulder.