Fungi

Plants and animals get all the glory, but fungi are out there every day, breaking down leaf litter, making our bread nice and fluffy, and fermenting alcohols. They deserve a little thanks, so we did a whole episode about them!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Fungal Pesticides:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/04/12/522068205/fungal-pesticides-offer-a-growing-alternative-to-traditional-chemicals

https://agrochemicals.iupac.org/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=3&sobi2Id=31

https://phys.org/news/2019-02-virus-infested-fungus-chemical-pesticides.html

Tinder Fungi:

https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail-1345668003610.html?noticiaid=1345754508535

Egyptian Medicine:

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/nyregion/secrets-of-the-mummys-medicine-chest.html

[Fact Off]

Whiskey mold:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18065010

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315285/

https://www.wired.com/2011/05/ff-angelsshare/

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/78dyqb/kentuckys-whiskey-fungus-problem-is-out-of-control

Plastic-digesting fungus:

https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/fungi-research-lifts-lid-shy-organisms-break-down-plastic

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202047

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117300295

http://blog.worldagroforestry.org/index.php/2017/09/12/scientists-find-fungus-appetite-plastic-rubbish-dump/

[Ask the Science Couch]

“Zombie” ants:

https://www.pnas.org/content/114/47/12590

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187170

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204140/

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/how-the-zombie-fungus-takes-over-ants-bodies-to-control-their-minds/545864/

[Butt One More Thing]

Zygomycota:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003237

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8OAmcUnm4g