Playground Mushrooms

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli 

I was at the park with my kids, and saw these mushrooms popping up through the mulch. 

Recently I was listening to an epsisode of the Psychedelic Salon with Paul Stamets, and the information about the biology and environmental chemistry of fungi was amazing. The mushroom is just fruiting part of the fungus that produces the spores. The underground mycelia is a huge part of the organism that we don't even usually see. There are all kinds of complex signals and activity going on in the soil, spurred by the fungi's subterranean bionet.

Coral-like Puffball Mushroom

 

I saw this interesting puffball fungus in my lawn. It had a nice texture that resembled coral, & was about the size of a baseball.

After some research, I think it is Calvatia cyathiformis.

 See more nature photos in my album:

 Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

 Here is my hand for size comparison:

 

Strange Leaf Growths

I was walking along the woods in my backyard and saw one leaf covered in these weird protrusions:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

I don't know if it was some kind of fungus, parasitic plant, or tiny alien pods?

Here is a look at the rest of the leaves, showing they were unaffected.

Nature Photography at Scotland Run Park

My wife and I both love the outdoors and nature, and try to get outside any chance we get. For me, it is like a mental and physical recharge, especially when I can just quietly observe the sights, sounds, and other sensations of the natural world around me.
 
We've been going to a lot of state & local parks to swim and/or hike. Recently we went to Scotland Run, a local park, to walk the trails there. We went fairly deep into the woods, and I ended up getting a poison ivy rash up my right leg.

Otherwise, it was a great hike and I got a lot of nice photos of the plants and wildlife. I uploaded them to my photo album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

Wilson Lake @ Scotland Run Park

A tiny frog crossing our path

An orange fungus

 

I thought this moss was pretty cool. It was white with a branching structure.

This little caterpillar also had an intricate branching structure coming off its body.

I managed to capture this dragonfly resting on a branch.

This butterfly landed in the sand just long enough for me to snap a photo.

A closup of a large flower with little insects inside it.

A purple flower cluster over the cloud-reflecting lake surface.

 

My wife saw this and asked, "Are those beetles banging???"

A flower cluster 

Some of the freshwater snails on the lakebed.

Blooming Fungus

Last year around this time, I posted about a crazy-looking, large orange fungus I saw in the woods surrounding my parents' house.

Recently, I came across another bright orange fungus growing in their woods, standing out against the grey-browns and greens of the rest of the forest. I think fungi like this look awesome and are almost alien in their appearance.

I added the photos of this interesting lifeform to my nature photo album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

When I came back to check it out again in a few days, it had "blossomed" into an even bigger fungal form, resembling a flower. It became a more thorough shade of orange, with some yellow, to make it appear even brighter against the drab forest background.

Here is a photo with my hand next to it, for scale. It was about 12 inches across:

Large Orange Fungus

In front of my parents' house, there's a stump that has grown this large & awesome-looking fungus. It is bright orange & yellow. The size and color of the array of mushrooms makes it stand out starkly against the autumn forest.

The form of this bizarre living organism was so intriguing that I took photos from a bunch of different angles, & added them into my album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

 My hand for size!

Mushroom in Potting Soil

This yellow-white mushroom was growing in a potted plant. The fuzzy mycelium (or body) of the fungus is visible in the dirt.

I added these images to my photo gallery:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

 

 

Fungus Photos

UPDATE: More fungus photos added!

I've been taking a lot of nature photos, mostly of animals & plants. I thought it was time to add some pics of strange fungi to my album:

Nature Photography

by Paul Micarelli

 I got down on the lawn to get an elf's eye view of this mushroom in the grass.

 

This fungus that looked like orange flowers was growing in a linear cluster.

 

 This large fungus looked like a folded up pancake.

 

There were several protrusions of fungi growing from this rotting stump after a rainstorm.

 When I opened this photo up, I realized there was also a small slug right above the fungus:

Solving the Plastic Problem

One of the major technological & ecological issues that we meed to deal with is the ubiquitous use of plastic products.

Besides being created using non-renewable petroleum products, the pollution caused from plastic waste is causing massive, negative consequences on ecosystems.

I've posted before about efforts to clean up the plastic waste that has accumulated in the oceans:

The Monkey Buddha:

Ocean Cleanup

There are other solutions being studied & implemented to help address this serious problem that we are leaving for future generations.

One answer is to develop biodegradable packaging made from plant fibers.

SF Gate:

 Eco-conscious CEO 

Develops Alternatives to Plastic Packaging

Scientists are also looking into creating packaging materials made from compacted fungus mycelia.

Telegraph:

Ikea plans mushroom-based packaging 

as eco-friendly replacement for polystyrene

Another way to help eliminate existing plastic waste is to use bacteria or other organisms that actually consume plastic materials.

Gizmodo:

Scientists Have Discovered a Bacteria 

That's Evolved to Eat Plastic

I believe that human ingenuity can solve almost any problem that human greed and short-sightedness can create. We just need the drive and creative thinking to make it happen.

The Future is Fungi

 Discover Magazine:

How Mushrooms Can Save the World

I recently listened to this excellent presentation by mycologist & naturalistic innovator Paul Stamets, about the role that mushrooms and other fungal organisms will play in the future of humanity & the planet.

Paul Stamets - The Future is Fungi [how to save the planet] 

The talk is an hour and a half long, and well worth the time to listen. It is full of thought-provoking information and research about the vital role performed by these unique lifeforms in the natural ecosystem. Stamets also discusses some of his technological developments, using living fungal systems.

Some of the important mycological breakthroughs that he discusses include the following uses of fungi & mycelial matter:

• Cancer treatment through improved immune function
• Water filtration
• Antibacterial & antiviral properties
• Cleanup of oil spills 
• De-contamination of radiation zones
• Biopesticides to repel harmful insects
• Replenishment of depleted soil

The most unique aspect of the fungus is its mycelium- the branching, thread-like connective matter that is usually hidden within the soil or in its symbiotic partners. These are the chemical & enzymatic pathways that allow fungi to sense their environment and create novel strategies to deal with any situation they come across.

The visible forms we usually associate with fungi, such as the mushroom caps, are just the fruiting parts of the fungus that are used to release spores. The vegetative part of the fungus is actually the mycelium, within the soil.

The web-like structure of the fungal mycelia can be seen as a fractal representation of the interconnected nature of reality, which exists on all scales and in different forms.

This same kind of connectivity also defines the structure of large-scale cosmic network of galaxies, neural architecture in the brain, layouts of human cities, and the global distribution of The Internet.

Connectivity is a fundamental characteristic of The Universe.

Understanding Monkey Language

I came across this article about a paper outlining the gestures used to communicate between chimpanzees.

BBC:

Chimpanzee Language: 

Communication Gestures Translated

Humanity has generally assumed that other animals are incapable of meaningful language. Like tool-using, complex communication is one of the characteristics that we like to think separates us from "lesser" species.

However, the more we learn about the animal kingdom, the more we realize that these behaviors are not so unique to humans.

Many animals, especially mammals & primates, have been found to use tools for complex tasks.

Listverse:

10 Surprising Ways Animals Use Tools

More difficult to prove & decipher is the use of "language," for meaningful communication between members of a given species. With more study, this is also being shown to be a trait other animals possess.

Boundless.com

Animals and Language

Humans may have the most detailed and abstract use of language, but any living intelligence has the capability of experientially connecting to other living intelligence.

As we learn more about the rest of the life that inhabits this planet, we will continue to decode the languages of animals, and even non-sentient lifeforms such as plants.

BBC:

Fungus Network 'Plays Role in Plant Communication'

Perhaps there will eventually be software for us to translate these non-human languages, so we can begin to understand the inner worlds of other beings.

 The Atlantic:

Animal Behaviorist: We'll Soon Have Devices 

That Let Us Talk With Our Pets

The entire living world is talking... we just don't know how to listen.

I am currently reading an e-book from NASA, about how we would communicate with alien beings. If we can't even understand other life from our own planet, it would seem to be just as difficult to try decoding messages from another world.

NASA:
"Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication" 

Perhaps one day, there will be widespread inter-species communication, where animal, human, & alien life will all live in one harmonious family...

"The Link"

by Gary Soszynski

Microbial Meditations

This weekend my friend who I've know all my life & who's going to med school in NY, was in town. We basically stayed in his pool & drank beers all afternoon on Saturday, when the temp was 100º+. We always have great conversations & now he's becoming even more knowledgeable about medicine & science, in general.

Some of our talking about physiology & also the microscopic world made me think of a few articles I've seen recently. They're about micro-organisms, the tiny lifeforms that make up most of our 'being'.

Wikipedia:

Composition of the Human Body

We "human beings" are more of an ecology of life, rather than 'individual' entities.

NYTimes:

In Good Health? Thank Your 100 Trillion Bacteria

Bacteria aren't the only symbiotic life forms within our skin...

Gizmodo: 

The Weird Fungus That Lives In Your Gut

Here is a clickable graphic, showing the various things throughout our body:

Scientific American:

 Explore the Human Microbiome [Interactive]

On a more disturbing note, there's evidence that micro-organisms may also be able to directly effect a more complex animal (like a human).

 Raw Story: 

Studies Suggest That Microbes Can Control Our Minds

People gave George Lucas alot of crap for adding the 'Midi-chlorian' concept to the Star Wars universe, but I thought it was an interesting angle. The idea of trillions of tiny, living things creating energy fields that can be sensed or manipulated is an explanation that mirrors the vital necessity of these unseen organisms in the real world.

One thing I love about modern computing is the ability to visualize the reality that lies beyond our immediate senses. There've been many animations created that make processes on the cosmic & microscopic scales able to be easily understood. 

This is a good video showing the life of the dreaded flu virus:

Finally, here's a remix of a Bjork song I came across while searching Google for things in this post. Leave it to her awesome craziness to write a song comparing love to a virus.

Mushroom Styrofoam

I found an excellent example of the type of 'green' eco-friendly packaging solutions that I mentioned in my last post.

On Disinfo I saw a video demonstrating the use of fungus mycelia to grow a dense packing material.

Low-tech organic processes like this are the future of materials science & will allow us to leave a less harmful legacy on the planet.



Perhaps Terence McKenna was right about The Archaic Revival- the idea that our journey into the future is going to partly be an exploration of our primitive cultural & ecological roots (no mycelial pun intended).

Panspermia: Life from the Heavens?

Scientific American:

"Did Life Come from Another World?"

I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel about meteors (also known as shooting stars), pieces of cosmic debris that can range from the size of a speck of dust to the size of a boulder.

The show touched on a theory that I have heard before called "Panspermia." Essentially, the theory is that microbial life can survive and be transported through space on meteoroids. Certain bacteria and fungus spores have been proven tough enough to survive the vacuum & temperature extremes of outer space.

As they were discussing this, they showed a video of a meteor approaching Earth, and I saw a fascinating fractal visual relationship to microscopic images of human fertilization that I've seen.

Another physical explanation for the generation of life is the primal energy of lightning fusing molecules into complex forms that result in rudimentary, yet energetic and self-replicating processes known as life.

The similarity of form between all 3 destructively creative events is evident in their profound simplicity, the merging of the two most basic forms recognized by human consiousness... the line and circle:

I remember a different show I was watching about early Christianity, and on an ancient stone wall they had drawn a Vesica Piscis in the form of the 'Jesus Fish' and a Cross. I realized that Christianity had two of the most powerful symbols known to man. Here again, symbolically, are the merging of the basic forms of the circle and the line, which are the essence of our mind's visual organization:

Template for the Flower of Life,
the metaphor for the self-replicating nature of living things,
containing the secret of the 'Jesus Fish' in red.
(click)

Mysteries of Ergot

Since I posted about Dr Hoffman's discovery, I thought I'd also add this info about the ritual use of sacred psychedelic plants and fungi in the ancient mystery religions,... the Mysteries of Eleusis in particular:

"Some scholars believe that the power of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from the kykeon's functioning as a psychedelic agent; this was argued most extensively in The Road to Eleusis, by R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hoffman, and Carl A. P. Ruck. Barley may be parasitized by the fungus ergot, which contains LSA, a precursor to LSD. It is thus possible that the initiates, sensitized by their fast and prepared by preceding ceremonies, were propelled by the effects of a powerful psychoactive potion into revelatory mind states with profound spiritual and intellectual ramifications. "

The Elusinian Mysteries
from Wikipedia

Eleusis: Temple of Demeter