Biologist and writer Merlin Sheldrake explores the fascinating world of fungi, discussing his book 'Entangled Life' and collaboration with Bjork on a film about fungi. They delve into the connection between Bach's music and fungi, reflect on childhood fascination with decomposition, explore the oscillating nature of reality through Steve Reich's 'Pulses', discuss the influence of jazz on the speaker's musical journey, and delve into the potential of fungi in medicine, environmental cleanup, and myco-fabrication.
Fungi have a transformative power, breaking down organic matter and playing a crucial role in chemical cycles.
The abundant and diverse fungal networks are often unseen, penetrating various substances and contributing to the ecosystem.
Deep dives
The Power of Fungi in Transforming Matter
Fungi have the ability to transform matter, seen through decomposition and recycling processes. This superpower allows them to break down organic materials and change their arrangement and identity. Fungi play a crucial role in the biosphere's chemical cycles and have symbiotic relationships with plants as mycorrhizal networks, exchanging nutrients and energy compounds. The diversity and complexity of fungal networks, similar to polyphonic music, are fascinating to explore and understand.
The Fascination with Fungi and their Hidden Lives
Fungi are abundant and diverse, yet often unseen. Most fungi live as mycelial networks, with mushrooms serving as their reproductive structures. These networks penetrate and extract nutrients from various substances, including soil, wood, and even our own bodies. Fungi have a decentralized form of coordination, integrating data streams from the environment without a central brain. Their intricate connections and contributions to the ecosystem are often underappreciated.
The Wonders and Applications of Fungal Kingdom
The fungal kingdom offers immense potential and benefits that are sometimes overlooked. Fungi can break down certain plastics and sequester heavy metals, playing a role in environmental cleanup. They produce essential drugs, like penicillin, and have potential in fabricating new materials. However, fungi also pose challenges as they can cause diseases in humans and plants. Despite their significance, research and attention given to fungal diseases and medical mycology fall behind bacterial and viral diseases, highlighting the need for more focus and resources in this field.
Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist and writer with a mission: to make us look at and understand fungi. While we’re familiar with mushrooms, truffles and toadstools, there are millions of varieties of fungi all around us; in the soil, in our bodies, in the air we breathe - and only 6% of them have been identified.
Merlin’s book “Entangled Life: how fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures”, was an international best-seller. It caught the eye of the Icelandic singer and musician Bjork, who recently released an IMAX film with Merlin, which she narrates. It’s called Fungi: the web of life, and follows Merlin to the Tarkine rainforest in Tasmania, on a quest to find an incredibly precious blue mushroom.
Merlin's choices include works by Chopin, Tallis, Bach and Purcell.
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