An interdisciplinary team of researchers put a culture of the edible mushroom species Pleurotus eryngii (also known as the king oyster mushroom) in control of a pair of vehicles, which can twitch and roll across a flat surface.
By applying algorithms based on the extracellular electrophysiology of P. eryngii mycelia and feeding the output into a microcontroller unit, the researchers used spikes of activity triggered by a stimulus – in this case, UV light – to toggle mechanical responses in two different kinds of mobile device.
my rule not to eat anything smarter than i am is steering me worryingly close to mushroomless waters
They’re fruits. If you’re not eating the colony itself, I think it’s okay.
oh god it’s cannibalism then; sin compounded upon sin
Sunflowers move towards the sun on their own, this isn’t much different from that.