Francis Gooding · From Its Myriad Tips: Mushroom Brain · LRB 20 May 2021
“From the mycelial ‘wood wide web’ to smart slime molds and political honeybees, science is demonstrating that humans don’t monopolize language or intelligence.”
Longreads • Interspecies Communication, an Ultra-Incredible Recovery, and Our Top 5
Fungi, like plants, are decentralized organisms. There are no operational centers, no capital cities, no seats of government. Control is dispersed: Mycelial coordination takes place both everywhere at once and nowhere in particular. A fragment of mycelium can regenerate an entire network, meaning that a single mycelial individual—if you’re brave en... See more
It appears that nutrient exchange and helping neighbors in times of need is the rule, and this leads to the conclusion that forests are superorganisms with interconnections much like ant colonies.
Peter Wohlleben • The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from A Secret World (The Mysteries of Nature Book 1)
Fungal ‘Brains’ Can Think Like Human Minds, Scientists Say - Popular Mechanics
Jackie Appel • Fungal ‘Brains’ Can Think Like Human Minds, Scientists Say — Popular Mechanics
As insurance, they extend many filaments parallel to each other, and they simply switch the connection to neighboring threads. Incidentally, that’s why when you’re out collecting ceps, boletes, or chanterelles in the fall it doesn’t matter whether you twist the mushrooms or cut them off (a perennial bone of contention among nature lovers). Any dama
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