Wearable electronic sensors, like those in Fitbit watches and pedometers that detect biological signals, could be replaced with … mushrooms in the future.
No, that’s not a typo. In a proof-of-concept study, mycelium was able to detect various external stimuli, such as light, temperature and moisture, as well as certain chemicals in the environment and even electrical signals.
Oyster mushroom mycelium, the fibrous fungal mainframe tissues that colonize underground and from which mushrooms sprout, could sense electrical signals in such a way that they replicate that part for sensors and processors, which can be read by a computer.
In other (fantastic) words, the mushroom’s perceptions of the environment would become the data that gives you the number of beats per minute on your heart rate monitor.
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In nature, mycelium organizes itself in geometric structures in and through the soil. While fungal mycelium doesn’t have many reasons to detect electrical signals in nature that we know of, reprogramming oyster mushroom mycelial genes to form various geometric structures that optimize the detection capability of electrical signals is the ticket to drive that Prof. think it is worth investigating.
“We have shown that it is possible to distinguish the nature of stimuli from the electrical responses of fungi,” wrote Adamatzky, who famously used slime molds to solve mazes and optimize urban road planning in Tokyo and France, in his novel. research report.
“The results paved the way for the future design of intelligent patch plasters for use in reactive mold wearables.”
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The patches referred to were hemp tissue colonized with mycelium and then connected to computer sensors.
By spraying different chemicals on the patch and exposing it to different stimuli mentioned above, Adamatzky got the certainty of his voice.
It is not something that will seize control of the markets anytime soon, but it is another fascinating application of mycelium, which GNN has reported can be used to make building blocks, coffins and canoes and to great effect in nuclear cleanup. waste.
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