fungi Archives - usatoday24

The computers of the future have found an unexpected ally to store information: fungi

January 6, 2026 by usatoday24

Bioelectronics has been studying for some time the possibility of taking advantage of living organisms in order to produce electrical activity and, in some way, take advantage of it to make our machines work. Although at first glance it could be a topic worthy of the Matrix script, the truth is that there is a whole fascinating world in that of the memristors based on organic elements. Some researchers have found the key to demonstrate how the mycelium of mushrooms such as shiitake can function as a memristor, an electrical component with the ability to ‘remember’ past states. This discovery could be the key to a new generation of sustainable and biodegradable electronic devices. What is a memristor and why does it matter? A memristor is an electronic component that combines the functions of memory and resistance, capable of “remembering” previous electrical states. They are currently manufactured with materials such as titanium dioxide between two metal electrodes, but their production requires scarce minerals and polluting and high-cost industrial processes. Hence the importance of looking for more sustainable alternatives through organic materials. How mycelium works as memory. John LaRocco’s team at Ohio State University grew shiitake mushrooms in Petri dishes until complete development. They then dehydrated them in the sun, turning them into rigid disc-shaped structures that can be rehydrated when necessary. By connecting electrodes to these samples and applying different voltages, discovered that the mycelium presents conductive structures similar to conventional ‘memristors’. According to LaRocco, “if we could develop a microchip that mimicked real neural activity, we could dramatically reduce the amount of energy consumed when the machine is not in use.” The results of the experiment. After two months of testing, the shiitake-based memristor demonstrated the ability to change electrical state up to 5,850 times per second with an accuracy close to 90%. When they applied a specific sine wave, the characteristic figure-eight curve of an ideal memristor appeared, confirming that the mycelium indeed remembers electrical flow. Although performance eventually decreased at higher frequencies, connecting multiple samples improved stability, something the researchers compared to the network effect of neural connections in the brain. Vadvantages over traditional semiconductors. The main attraction of these biological memristors is its sustainability. Mushrooms are developed from organic biomass, they are biodegradable and their environmental impact is minimal. Furthermore, growing them is economical and their production can be easily scalable, from small laboratory experiments to industrial manufacturing. Additionally, fungi have exceptional radiation resistance, which could also make them especially valuable for aerospace applications. Potential applications and pending challenges. The flexibility and scalability of these components opens up possibilities in fields from extreme environment computing and space exploration to autonomous systems and wearable devices. However, significant obstacles remain. And just as they count from Wired, current samples are too large and need to be miniaturized to compete with existing microchips. Furthermore, the electrical properties of mycelium vary between samples even grown in the same medium, which makes its stable industrial manufacture difficult. Next steps in the investigation. The team plans to develop techniques to grow mycelium and give it an ideal shape using 3D printing and methods for incorporating electrical contacts during cultivation. They are also exploring the optimal way to preserve it long-term, combining techniques such as freeze-drying and special coatings. “Society is increasingly aware of the need to protect our environment and preserve it for future generations, and that could be one of the driving factors for new biocompatible ideas like these,” pointed out Qudsia Tahmina, co-author of the study. Beyond mushrooms. This is not the only organic material that has demonstrated ‘memristive’ properties. Researchers from other universities They have experimented with honey and human bloodexploring their possibilities as biodegradable electronic components. Honey, for example, can change resistance in just 500 nanoseconds and is completely biodegradable. In the case of blood, scientists in India discovered in 2011 that it could function as a memristor by applying different voltages, keeping the resistance stable for at least 30 minutes. Cover image | Yuval Zukerman In Xataka | In the midst of the RAM memory crisis, Samsung takes a leap with its HBM4 memory. It does not imply good news for the pocket

There are those who are adding fungi such as cordyceps to coffee to lose weight. Science has many reservations

June 1, 2025 by usatoday24

Coffee is a food, with numerous positive effects on our body. We get more and more about this Positive coffee actionbut we have determined to improve it adding supplements as proteins either Spirulina. One of the latest trends? Enrich coffee with fungi. So that? To lose weight. And here the evidence is not so clear that this trend of ‘Mushroom Coffee’ is so healthy that invites a coffee with cordyceps to drink. The promise. Eating mushrooms or fungi has nothing weird, but a few years ago we began to see how the food industry It began to add them to other foods to create improved versions of them. One of the first brands that added fungi to the cocoa or coffee was FOUR SIGMICan American company that creates “functional foods” and well -being supplements. That is, coffee is not only coffee: it has a series of additions vegetables to relieve these, support the immune system or accelerate weight loss. The latter is what a more recent grabs Trend in networks like Tiktokthe baptized as ‘Mushroom Coffee’. There are several brands that sell coffee with fungi Cordyceps coffee. The defenders claim that coffee (and other foods) can be enhanced with medicinal fungi whose compounds carry a series of positive effects. Among those fungi are Reishithe León hairhe Maitake or the Shiitake (great in broths)but also the most famous cordyceps. Yes, that parasitic fungus that makes Some ants become ‘zombies‘And what is protagonist of the Apocalypse of ‘The Last of Us’. These fungi can increase energy production and improve metabolic function, helping in the burning of fats. They can also help control hunger, stabilize glucose levels and have Probiotic properties that favor both digestion and nutrient absorption. Market. And it is not a bizarre or the US thing: you can Buy coffee With cordyceps In Amazon If you want the healthy effects of coffee more, Chow they announcegreater energy and improvement in your mental clarity. There are different estimates, but this coffee market is expected to grow at a rate of between 5.4% and 5.7% during the next decade. There are studies that place their value at 1,203.4 million dollars in 2023 with a growth up to 1,833.4 million by 2031. They are considerable figures, but we compare, the estimate of specialty coffee is 62,500 million by 2032 and that of the entire market It will be of 632,000 million for that year. But well, it seems that this trend, little by little, is consolidated and grows. The small print. The logic here seems simple. In the case of protein: if it is a good supplement and coffee is a good food, mixing them works. With fungi and coffee the same thing happens, but something that should not be overlooked: there is a lack of research. The relationship between coffee and weight loss is well documented, being a good stimulating before performing some training and selling the caffeine as supplement. But, although the properties of these fungi are also documented, evidence on coffee with fungi and its action in weight loss or mental well -being is limited. Clinical trials are missing that confirm its direct effectiveness to lose weight and most of those available studies are in animals. Also, as we read in VogueNutritionist Marta Marcè comments that it is not usually specified whether the extract is from the fruiting body (rich in properties) or the roots (less powerful), in addition to using very low doses. And sometimes It is not even the real fungus. Dangers. Although cordyceps has a bad reputation due to fiction products in which it has been the protagonist and its effect on some insectsusually has no health hazards. Cordyceps coffee is approved by the USDA -The United States Department of Agriculture-, but you have to take some things into account. It may produce some allergies in certain people and it is necessary Influence when combining it With other stimulating products or drugs, but most importantly, above all, it is to know where those fungi that supplement chocolate or cocoa. Marketing, already such Because here the danger is how that fungus has been manipulated and the example we have had in Colombia, where a health alert on cordyceps supplements not regulated or fraudulent. And if you dare to try it, be from reliable and out of curiosity, not so much for its numerous promises, that millions move in the other part of the world. Images | Conasi, Four Sigmatic In Xataka | It turns out that the myth that marriage fattens is true. But only for men

In 2019 we discovered some fungi capable of metabolizing gold. There are already those who want to make it the key to space mining

April 6, 2025 by usatoday24

The story Start more than five years ago In Boddington, south of the Australian city of Perth. Over there, Between murderous animals and gold mines, a team of researchers from the Australian Csiro discovered something truly rare: that certain fungus strains Fusarium oxysporum Not only could they extract gold from its surroundings and integrate it into their structure, but in doing so they managed to spread faster than the rest. It seemed a curiosity without more, but in recent years the situation has begun to change. But, a moment, why is something so “weird”? Good question. After all, we know of good ink that fungi “play an essential role in degradation and recycling of all types of organic material (Like leaves or bark), but also in the cycle of certain metals such as aluminum, iron, manganese and calcium. “Why would it be different with gold? Because, as Tsing Bohu explained, a researcher in charge of the project, “Gold is so inactive (chemically speaking) that this type of interactions is unusual and surprising, he had to see him to believe it.” And he saw it. In fact, lo published in Nature Communications. It was the first solid evidence that fungi could have a relevant role in the gold cycle in the earth’s crust. The “mushroom” of golden eggs. Quickly the mining industry put his eyes on the investigation. Especially right there, in Australia. The continent island is the second largest gold producer in the world, but The consensus among analysts It is that without new deposits the production was going to fall (and much) in a short time. Initially, the industry thought that CSIRO’s investigation could serve to locate these new deposits. As we explained years agoin Australia it is relatively common to do prospects in forests of the Aucaliptos family or near termites because they have a close relationship with the precious metal. Why not analyze the land in search of those strains of Fusarium oxysporum? But there is one more possibility. As Eduardo Bazo explained to Eugenio Fernández In a very interesting interviewin recent years there have appeared companies that work on what we could call “Metabolic mining“That is, in using organisms to extract gold. “And what do you want that?” You could ask. “Isn’t it easier to identify where gold is and extract with industrial methods?” Yes, here on earth, yes. But these companies look a little further: in space mining. For years we have talked about the existence of huge mineral deposits in the solar system and, for almost the same, We have fantasized to be able to exploit them. The problem is that, Beyond the current technological limitationsS, to the danger of normal mining, is added the fact that we talk about processing metal in space. But and if we use ‘metabolic mining’? The idea of sending modified strains of these fungi (or other microorganisms) that They will process the mineral for useverything would become easier. I don’t know if more viable, but simpler. It is much less rare than it seems (this type of approaches we use to innumerable products that we usually use), however to take it to the world of mining seems a little more complex by pure efficiency. However, that’s ‘now’. While I write (and while The era of cheap materials ends) Several research groups They are cultivating all kinds of microorganisms with the idea of being able to grow gold sooner rather than later. Image | Dominik Vanyi | Jaap Straydo In Xataka | The next richest person in the world will come from space: the future millionaire of space mining

There are more and more intrusions of Saharan dust in southern Europe. Now we know that fungi and bacteria are accompanied

February 20, 2025 by usatoday24

Since 2021, Calima’s episodes They have been increasingly frequent and intense. In fact, in these few years, the intrusions of Saharian dust in Spain have doubled. We already knew that this was becoming A huge public health problem And that, at the same time, it was a key factor in fertilization of large areas of the planet. What we just discovered is, in addition to dust, there are many more things in that calima. How are “more things”? A joint research team of the Blanes Advanced Studies Center (CEAB-CSIC) and the Ecological Research and Forest Applications Center (CREAF) He has discovered that “bacteria and fungi from the soils of the deserts of North Africa occupy the skies of southern Europe continuously.” They do, in fact, “even long after the great injections of Saharian dust produced by the episodes of Calima.” Analyzing 30 years of rains. To discover it, researchers They have studied Rain samples between 1987 and 2014 and have compared the results with the soils of the deserts of North Africa. In addition, they have recreated the main atmospheric dynamics that are in charge of dispersing microorganisms globally. And this is important? The truth is that yes. Until now It was thought that the microbiota present in a specific ecosystem was basically derived from that ecosystem and its neighbors. Now we have experimental record that continental distances can travel without major problem. On a practical level, all this not only has an impact on soil fertilization, but also on the spread of antibiotic -resistant genes or allergies. Could it be that the growth of allergies among the population was linked to that growth in dust intrusions on the peninsula? The increasingly small world. During the last decades we have believed that new information and transport technologies have made the world smaller and smaller. And it’s true. What we did not know is that the world was already very small before all this. And that changes the preconceived ideas we had been handling. Therefore, it is getting clearer, that we will have to assume the complicated task of manage comprehensive all ecological systems of the earth. And we better be prepared to do it well. Image | Copernicus In Xataka | More pollen, more deaths behind the wheel: the unexpected effect of the allergies season on traffic accidents

Log In

Sign In

Forgot password?

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections