
A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World - anarbadalov
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-poetic-mind-bending-tour-of-the-fungal-world/
======
0xdeadb00f
Great read. I love this part, in particular

> Yes, I’m very fond of fermentation. Besides the fine flavors and health
> benefits, there’s the satisfying confusion of who —microbe or person—is
> domesticating who, a perspective shift that I find to be good medicine for
> my human-centeredness.

~~~
OnACoffeeBreak
The concept that I took for a ride was this one:

    
    
        > If nothing decomposed, the earth would pile up kilometers-deep with the bodies of animals and plants. I remember trying to wrap my head around this idea as a child and feeling dizzy: Our lives take place in the space that decomposition leaves behind. Composers make; decomposers unmake. And unless decomposers unmake, there isn’t anything that the composers can make with.
    

Coal was mainly formed during a period of time between trees evolving and
fungi evolving the ability to break down lignin inside tree cellulose. In that
time period composers (trees) made (grew and died), but decomposers (fungi,
bacteria) could not unmake (decompose lignin). So, I imagine trees piling on
top of each other as they died.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal#Formation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal#Formation)

~~~
bryanrasmussen
So this means that the often repeated idea that it will take millennia to
build up coal supplies once depleted is incorrect because they will not ever
be replaced? (not that I care, just find it interesting)

~~~
klyrs
Peat bogs still exist; so the world is still slowly producing (low grade)
coal. OTOH peat itself has quite a lot of stored energy and humans gonna
exploit... so who knows what the future will hold.

------
josefdlange
Just finished reading Sheldrake's book. It's truly a spectacular read.
Engaging use of language, clear but not condescending expertise, and a great
sense of humor to boot. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to extend
their (metaphorical) mycorrhizal tips.

------
black_puppydog
That article could definitely use more pictures of fungi. Just for the beauty
of them. Missed opportunity. :)

------
beepboopbeep
I am happy to see that this isn't another Stamets hand waving woo generator
article on fungi. This is well written and interesting.

>Our lives take place in the space that decomposition leaves behind.

Great quote

------
ta1234567890
> If nothing decomposed, the earth would pile up kilometers-deep with the
> bodies of animals and plants.

But the opposite is also not true. We do have pretty deep layers of mostly-
decomposed animals and plants.

Along this line, what happens to all the radiation/energy the planet absorbs
from the sun (is it radiated away, or is it somehow building up as matter)?

~~~
headsupernova
fossil fuels!

~~~
ta1234567890
So have fossil fuels somehow made the planet bigger?

------
neonate
Son of the possibly great and certainly controversial (I think great) Rupert
Sheldrake.

------
42droids
I just love mushrooms. When I am going to be old and have nothing better to
do, I will be growing all sorts of edible mushrooms haha. Most fascinating
creatures of all.

------
MKais
>I made a cider with apples harvested from Isaac Newton’s apple tree—called
Gravity.

I will definitely read a book written by a guy like this.

------
tzury
if you got the time, this movie will take you in the fasinating world of Fungi
and the amazing work of Paul Stamets

[https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fantasticfungi](https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fantasticfungi)

