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You’re not wrong, but I think your point is missing the most interesting aspect of the article. Which is fair, I don’t think this article was written very well.
by 40four 6y ago
You’re not wrong, but I think your point is missing the most interesting aspect of the article. Which is fair, I don’t think this article was written very well. The thing that stands out to me the most is the realization that mycelial networks generate electricity at all, just from applied pressure.
The article stated that this is the piezoelectric effect, which by definition is a very minuscule amount of electricity. I can’t imagine anyone is seriously considering this effect could be tapped reduce carbon emissions. They suggested if more buildings were constructed from wood that might reduce carbon, but it’s sort of a tangent to what should have been the headliner if you ask me :)
The fact that the fungus is generating an electric charge, albeit very small seems incredible to me! Add it to the list of incredible things fungus and mushrooms are capable of, and the important role they play in our environment. Is no surprise the show ‘Star Trek Discovery’ chose a ‘mycelial network’ as the ships basis for teleporting around the universe.
- tprice7 6y agoI got the impression, both from this article and the original (here: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/11/eabd9138 https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/11/eabd9138) that the electricity wasn't generated by the fungus, but instead the increased compressibility of the wood after being rotted enhanced its pre-existing piezoelectric properties. The original article does mention "mitigation of climate change" as a possible application, by the way.
- akavel 6y agoI heard that squeezing "possibly related to climate change" somewhere in academic work increases chances of getting grant money nowadays, could it be it's the only reason why this phrase is there in this case?
- 40four 6y agoOh dang, Yeah I think you’re right! Maybe I got to excited for the fungus part from my own bias, maybe I’ve been watching to much Star Trek haha :) So it’s the resulting structure of the wood, not the mycelium itself. Thanks for setting me straight. It’s a little unclear how, or what types of devices could be powered by this, but they would be very low power. The biggest is mitigation to climate change come from selecting wood as the primary building material, versus steel which produces a lot of greenhouse gas.
- agumonkey 6y agoInteresting, cellulose is not conductive, the molecular changes must be subtle.