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The Fungi Guy gives us tips and tricks for finding fungi in the Autumn and which trees to look under (especially birth, beech, pine and oak) and other hotspots, such as graveyards.

Made at Woods Mill Nature Reserve in Sussex, Amy King's short film showed some of the extraordinary forms that mushrooms take, and the ingenious ways they disperse their spores.

Do mushrooms talk to each other? A study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, suggests that they do, through the use of electrical signals – and that their language is complex. In observing the spikes of electrical activity in particular species of fungi, computer scientist Andrew Adamatzky at the University of the West of England found patterns that were strikingly similar to human language. Through experiments, he translated the spikes into a lexicon of 50 ‘words’ based on patterns typically associated with human speech. The electrical signals responded to changes in the environment such as food and injury.

However, in Mycelium, Mycology, and Metaphor, Eugenia Bone warned that, despite the best of intentions, the metaphor of mycelial networks undermines connection between people and the natural world lead people to believe hypothetical, even fictionalised characterisations of the role of fungi in nature and in particular, the notion that mycelium is selfless, compassionate, and generous, whereas in fact, from the fungal point of view, life is as much about opportunism as collaboration. Bone says, let’s not confuse metaphor with mycology. Because inspirational as metaphor may be, it doesn’t solve real world problems like forest and soil degradation, carbon release, and mineral-deficient crops.

Scientists use mushrooms to power living computers: Scientists from Ohio State claim to have turned edible fungi into working RAM, using dehydrated shiitake mushrooms to function as organic memristors (components that retain memory of previous signals). Unlike traditional semiconductors that rely on rare earth minerals and energy-intensive production, fungal networks are cheap to grow and environmentally friendly. 

Scientists claimed to have genetically modified Metarhizium fungus to emit longifolene — a sweet-smelling compound that mosquitoes find irresistible. In lab tests, the fungus killed 90-100% of mosquitoes by luring them in and infecting them with deadly spores. If true, it offers a potential solution for communities battling mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue, with the added advantage that mosquitoes are unlikely to develop resistance.

A trial in Devon found that Turkey tail mushrooms could help clean up rivers. The fungi managed to filter out 80% of E. coli bacteria from river water. 

See also:

• Holy essence: chasing the truffle’s powerful, mysterious allure
• How our ancestors used mushrooms to change the course of human history
• The Understory, by Robert Macfarlane (extract)