Why wouldn’t you study slime molds? Heh, well, seriously, why? For starters, they may give humans insight on how to build smarter transportation networks. Some experiments have been done in Japan where small bits of food were arranged like cities. Then slime mold was unleashed in the area. Scientists observed how the slime molds spread and found a shocking similarity between the slimy networks and the Tokyo railway system. Nature is very inspiring, and I think slime molds are one of many examples of nature showing us the way to higher thought.

Mycetozoa from Ernst Haeckel's 1904 Kunstformen der Natur (Artforms of Nature)