DailyDirt: Useful Fungus
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Fungus is a fascinating form of life. Mold grows almost anywhere, and it can survive some pretty extreme conditions. However, more often than not, it’s considered a nuisance that needs to be killed and removed. Some mushroom-lovers have come up with some ways to make fungus useful for us — taking advantage of how well mold can grow. Here are just a few examples of fungus that isn’t for eating, but still serves us.
- Maybe we can use fungi to clean up dispersed radioactive waste — Cladosporium sphaerospermum is a species of fungus that thrives in radioactive environments (near Chernobyl, for example). These kinds of fungus could help people collect and concentrate radioactive materials to prevent the spread of toxic radiation. [url]
- Mushroom insulation has similar insulating abilities as foam board insulation, but it can be composted (and made without the direct use of petrochemicals). Mushroom insulation can also have the same fire resistance as conventional materials, but presumably it isn’t as toxic. [url]
- One of the often-repeated examples of futuristic engineering is the ability to “grow a house” — and that possibility could become a reality with fungus growing into pre-determined shapes. The MyceliumChair is a step towards growing furniture with fungus and a 3D printed scaffold. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: 3d printing, biology, fungus, furniture, insulation, mold, mushrooms, myceliumchair, radioactivity
Comments on “DailyDirt: Useful Fungus”
I see a z-grade horror movie coming out of that first one.
And the next two, well, the Smurfs have known about those for years.
Re: Re:
The Smurfs only repurposed ordinary mushrooms. The Telvanni are the ones who truly mastered mycological engineering.
Super insulation(thermal/acoustic) on the horizon.
SEAgel made from Agar(aka vegetable gelatin), yes dude you can produce a lot of things using gelatin, not just deserts.
Funny how things are made, you freeze Agar then produce a vacuum strong enough so water instead of liquifying sublimates(freeze-drying) and tada! you have something with almost the same properties of aerogel, which can be composted use no harsh chemicals and it is much much more resistant than aerogel since it doesn’t crumble as easily, the problem with it may be that it is made out of a natural substance that fungus love to eat.
Other use of microorganisms that may be for mining metals.
All living things are incredible advanced factories.
Mushrooms are extremely helpful in reducing your social alcohol consumption too :
Psilocybin does not play well with alcohol. At small doses, the alcohol might override the psilocybin, meaning you wasted your mushrooms. At larger doses, the psilocybin negates the alcohol, but meaning you wasted your drink and maybe weaken your mushrooms. Worse, you might drink alcohol excessively because the psilocybin masks the effects. Never drink on mushrooms.
I’ve thus found the ultimate excuse for not drinking at crazy parties is :
“Sorry, I cannot drink. Alcohol might weaken my mushroom trip.”
It’d work as an excuse even if you weren’t on mushrooms of course, but small sub-hallucinogenic mushroom doses will make you quite happy and “on” for the party, but not sluggish or groggy like pot. Inexpensive low calorie night out. 🙂
Do not take fully hallucinogenic doses if you actually want to party because most people become withdrawn from overstimulation when they start hallucinating. Always carry healthy low or zero calorie food items like celery, tangerines, cherries, etc. when using hallucinogens because the stimulate your appetite, like pot. And it’s funny feeding tasty fruit to the nutters on MDMA.
“but presumably it isn’t as toxic”
You might want to reconsider that whole “natural = non-toxic” assumption when it comes to mushrooms.
Re: Re:
“..isn’t as toxic…” In no way implies non-toxic unless non-toxic = non-flammable.
Don't assume
Don’t assume that fungus must be less toxic — there are some true horrors in that direction. Granted, I can’t imagine someone using the nastier forms of fungus as building materials, but blanket statements are no one’s friend when it comes to the safety of fungi.