You can already turn mycelium into a form of leather, though the normal process of doing so outright kills the fungal cells in the material. Not so much living clothing that could heal itself.
Now, Newcastle University scientists have developed a new leathering process that keeps the chlamydospores alive.
An unexpected #fungus day for the #fungiverse - normally I'd expect small mushrooms like this to have vanished by midday, especially when it's warm, but this cluster was still there. Dog paw for scale 😃
🍄 ‘Prof Sarah Gurr, at the University of Exeter in the UK, a co-author of the report, said fungi had recently come to public attention through the hit TV show The Last of Us, in which fungi infect human brains.
“While that storyline is science fiction, we are warning that we could see a global health catastrophe caused by the rapid global spread of fungal infections. The imminent threat here is not about zombies, but about global starvation.”’
This flowering cherry was planted in 1974, so it's 50+ years old this Spring.
There's quite a collection of colorful lichen and/or fungus on this tree - please forgive the blurry red one! The yellow one failed to pass editorial muster altogether, alas. (will try again on another day)
Candida auris is a deadly fungus that is spreading around the world. It is difficult to detect and treat, as it is resistant to most antifungal drugs. Scientists suspect climate change may have helped it evolve and adapt to warmer temperatures, making it more infectious and dangerous.
According to Norwegian folklore, mare twigs ('marekvister') are structures that appear on a birch tree because a mare has been riding it. It was believed that hanging mare twigs in the bedroom would keep the nightmare inducing mares at bay. These structures are actually caused by the fungus Taphrina betulina.
OK team fungus, what's is it that exploded overnight in our front yard? Brilliant yellow. Started fading midmorning. Now in afternoon it's pale, dirty orange blob. Location: underneath our bird feeder in a part of our yard that gets a lot of sun. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The more I learn about advances in scientific knowledge regarding #fungi, the more I'm convinced that our general belief that humans are the apex of anything on this planet is pure insecure projection, and wrong.
A billion years old, fungi ate rock to create soil and life on land, more than once, including us.
And climate change is weaponizing fungi to kill us in a way less dramatic than #TheLastOfUs but perhaps just as surely, eventually.