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1/ Reading Entangled Life by @MerlinSheldrake
“How fungi make our worlds, change our minds, and shape our future”
Thread containing some insights
“How fungi make our worlds, change our minds, and shape our future”
Thread containing some insights
2/ The difference between animals and fungi is simple...
Animals put food in their bodies.
Fungi put their bodies in the food.
Animals put food in their bodies.
Fungi put their bodies in the food.
3/ Some mushrooms are bioluminescent.
Benjamin Franklin proposed growing bioluminescent mushrooms (panelists stipitcus) in a jar, known as Foxfire, to illuminate the compass and depth gauge of the first submarine in 1775 during the Revolutionary war.
Benjamin Franklin proposed growing bioluminescent mushrooms (panelists stipitcus) in a jar, known as Foxfire, to illuminate the compass and depth gauge of the first submarine in 1775 during the Revolutionary war.
4/ In search of food, Mycelial networks constantly change shape.
“Mycelium is a living, growing, opportunistic investigation — speculation in body form”
This amorphous tendency is called “developmental indeterminism”
What shape is mycelium? Like asking what shape is water?
“Mycelium is a living, growing, opportunistic investigation — speculation in body form”
This amorphous tendency is called “developmental indeterminism”
What shape is mycelium? Like asking what shape is water?
5/ mycelial mats are transportation networks and fungi are great industrial engineers.
They design analogs of highways, motors, scaffolding, and escalators to ensure fast and efficient transport of resources and information.
Everything is built with a single cell type “hyphae”
They design analogs of highways, motors, scaffolding, and escalators to ensure fast and efficient transport of resources and information.
Everything is built with a single cell type “hyphae”
6/ OK, taking a break from reading. Heading out to the woods to forage.
Will continue this thread over the coming days/weeks.
Will continue this thread over the coming days/weeks.
7/ A portion of the minerals in your body passed through a Lichen at some point.
Lichens, ancient and peculiar fungal-algae symbionts, mine minerals from rocks.
These freshly liberated minerals are then used in metabolic cycles of the living.
Lichens, ancient and peculiar fungal-algae symbionts, mine minerals from rocks.
These freshly liberated minerals are then used in metabolic cycles of the living.
8/ Fungi challenge our dogmatic, human-centric, notion that “intelligence comes from brains.”
Fungi respond to their environment, solve problems, make decisions between alternative courses of action.
Complex information processing is not restricted to brains.
Fungi respond to their environment, solve problems, make decisions between alternative courses of action.
Complex information processing is not restricted to brains.
9/ Remeber Mitocondria? The “energy production center” of the cell.
The first multicellular organism (Eukaryote) arose when a single-celled organism engulfed a bacterium which continued to live symbiotically.
Mitochondria are descendants of that bacterium
“Endosymbiosis”
The first multicellular organism (Eukaryote) arose when a single-celled organism engulfed a bacterium which continued to live symbiotically.
Mitochondria are descendants of that bacterium
“Endosymbiosis”
10/ Speaking of lichens...
(part fungi+plant/bacterium)
-interesting for astrobiology
-small biospheres containing both photosynthetic + non-photosynthetic organisms (both main metabolic processes on
)
-survive space travel (extreme radiation/drought)
-reproduce multiple ways
(part fungi+plant/bacterium)
-interesting for astrobiology
-small biospheres containing both photosynthetic + non-photosynthetic organisms (both main metabolic processes on
)-survive space travel (extreme radiation/drought)
-reproduce multiple ways
