I was fortunate enough to attend a presentation by Mr. Stamets at my uni in '03. His ideas are off the wall (yet backed up) and I love it!
Here are some snippets from his website.
Quote:
After several years, and redundant experiments to prove to naysayers that our data was valid, we have made some astonishing discoveries. (I am continually bemused that humans "discover" what nature has known all along.) The first significant study showed that a strain of Oyster mushrooms could break down heavy oil. A trial project at a vehicle storage center controlled by the Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) enlisted the techniques from several, competing bioremediation groups. The soil was blackened with oil and reeked of aromatic hydrocarbons. We inoculated one berm of soil approximately 8 feet x 30 feet x 3 feet high with mushroom spawn while other technicians employed a variety of methods, ranging from bacteria to chemical agents. After 4 weeks, the tarps were pulled back from each test pile. The first piles employing the other techniques were unremarkable. Then the tarp was pulled from our pile, and gasps of astonishment and laughter welled up from the observers. The hydrocarbon-laden pile was bursting with mushrooms! Oyster mushrooms up to 12 inches in diameter had formed across the pile. Analyses showed that more than 95% of many of the PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) were destroyed, reduced to non-toxic components, and the mushrooms were also free of any petroleum products.
After 8 weeks, the mushrooms had rotted away, and then came another startling revelation. As the mushrooms rotted, flies were attracted. (Sciarid, Phorid and other "fungus gnats" commonly seek out mushrooms, engorged themselves with spores, and spread the spores to other habitats). The flies became a magnet for other insects, which in turn brought in birds. Apparently the birds brought in seeds. Soon ours was an oasis, the only pile teeming with life! We think we have found what is called a "keystone" organism, one that facilitates, cascade of other biological processes that contribute to habitat remediation. Critics, who were in favor of using plants (as in "phytoremediation") and/or bacteria, reluctantly became de facto advocates of our process since the mushrooms opened the door for this natural sequencing.
The novelty of mycofiltration is the purposeful introduction of fungi, saprophytic and mycorrhizal, to the wood chip buffers, enhancing effectiveness by accelerating decomposition. Spores infused into chain-saw bar oil or into the lubricating oil for chippers expose the wood immediately upon cutting to fungi that can begin the decomposition sequence. Or once in place, spores or spawn can be broadcasted onto the chipped wood as shown. In either case, accelerating the sequence of decomposition is essential for habitat evolution. Our method jump-starts the process of recovery, allowing nature to steer the course of species succession after inoculation. The benefits become soon apparent after application.
The advantages of using mycofiltration mats upon logging roads compared to the use of heavy equipment to achieve the tank-trap, scarification or 'terra interruptus' approach are listed below.
Advantages of Mycofiltration
vs.
Conventional Road Decommissioning
Sediment containment
–reduction of siltation/erosion into streams protecting spawning grounds & fisheries
Moisture enhancement
–restoration of aquifer function (allowing subsurface sheet flows of water)
–re-moistening of arid landscapes
Reduction/elimination of Hydrocarbon contamination
–reduction of diesel, oil, herbicides, pesticides, & other pollutants
Reduction/elimination of damaging downstream microorganisms
–mycofiltration of coliform bacterial, E. coli, Pfisteria, & protozoa
Temperature reduction
–cooling of water flowing into streams benefiting fisheries & marine systems
Minimal disturbance
–low impact on existing & adjacent ecosystems
Subsurface penetration by mycelium
–Subsurface growth of mycelium allows for mineral transport, aeration, without siltation flow
Aesthetic enhancement
–roads transformed into nature trails multi-use access
Educational showcase
–accessible educational showcase for habitat restoration
Bad bugs/Good bugs*
–breeding ground for grub for fish food chain
–mycopesticidal barriers for wood boring beetles & disease insects breeding grounds for beneficial bugs
Investment Protection
–road subsurface can be re-used in future at reduced cost compared to new construction
Obviously, we cannot perpetually draw from the ecological bank of forestlands without returning nutrition back to the system. We urge the establishment of a team to investigate and propose the concept of mycofiltration within a new economic model that synergistically combines the needs of Washington States' schools, timber harvests, fisheries, road reclamation, habitat recovery, and accessibility for recreational use.
If we are going to destroy, then we need some help.
Fungi are truly amazing!
What else can they do? I'm sure we have not even scraped the surface of their potential.
__________________ Hypography Science Forums Moderator
--- "There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan
"We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it." - Marie Curie
One thing I love and always keep in mind
is how the roots of fungi look like our neural networks.
Consciousness on a whole different scale!
Funny you should mention that!
At his lecture, he posted a picture of the mycelia of a certain strain and went on to discuss how the mycelia reacted when it encountered different situations. He described it as a kind of consciousness. To the observers, it appeared that the fungi was making intelligent decisions based upon accrued data!
__________________ Hypography Science Forums Moderator
--- "There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan
"We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it." - Marie Curie
i, to, am constantly impressed by that mans work. Unfortunately i am unable to attend his lectures. but i have grown some mushrooms from his strains, good stuff
__________________ Stephen Robert Irwin: 22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006. Rest In Peace.
Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a mystery to be lived. -Kierkegaard
__________________ Hypography Science Forums Moderator
--- "There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan
"We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it." - Marie Curie
Thank you for introducing me to Paul Stamet's work.
Anyone interested in fungi should try to read some of the books by Gordon Wasson, a merchant banker, and his Russian wife Valentina.
Now all out of print, I think, and old copies are expensive and highly sort after. Bookride: Mushrooms, Russia and History, 1957. MetaHistory - Metahistory: Lexicon W
We have our most intelligent organ -our stomachs-on the inside, fungi have them on the outside . So fungi "intelligence" seems possible. The slime mould seems to be at least as bright as some rats?? Healing Mushrooms - Google Book Search
Here is a good link about Paul Stamets work Fungal Intelligence and Bioremediation | Bioneers
I like his (outrageous?) staement
Quote:
I believe that mycelia are Earth's natural Internet, the essential wiring of the Gaian consciousness. The recent creation of the computer Internet is merely an extension of a successful biological model that has evolved on this planet for billions of years.
Fungi Perfecti®: Mushrooms and the ecosystem
his story of mushrooms taking over the ant brain is facinating. It makes you wonder what their agenda is when they get us to "see god".
i never knew Flammulina velutipes was used for intelligence. it is eaten a lot here!!! cheap as anything too! everyone eats it...people here i would say are "smart" but totaly lack comon sense lol.
i have not read Wasson that much, just snippets. but i have to say i have 3 people i really look up to in the science world. Steve Irwin, Richard Shultz, and this crazy Stamets fella. all world class leaders in their feilds if you ask me! the thing i liek about all of these guys is they make a big public "stink" in the RIGHT direction, and prove everything they beleive in with real science....love it!
__________________ Stephen Robert Irwin: 22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006. Rest In Peace.
Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a mystery to be lived. -Kierkegaard
i never knew Flammulina velutipes was used for intelligence. it is eaten a lot here!!! cheap as anything too! everyone eats it...people here i would say are "smart" but totaly lack comon sense lol.
I found it interesting that it is suggested for adolescents.. This is the time the brain is developing and changing like no other time in life. Also the time they say people should avoid illegal (and some legal e.g. anti-depressants) drugs.
It would not surprise me if we had drug warnings for adolescents in the future similar to the ones we now have for pregnant women (another time when the brain is developing!)
Quote:
i have not read Wasson that much, just snippets. but i have to say i have 3 people i really look up to in the science world. Steve Irwin, Richard Shultz, and this crazy Stamets fella.
Unfortunately all Wasson's books are out of print and cost a fortune to buy second hand. Perhaps Dover will re-print them one day.
If you like Shultz you would also like "The Shaman's Apprentice" my Mark Plotkin, he was a student of Shultz, I think.
Irwin is a great loss but there are many doing similar, but less publicised, work in Australia.
Re: Mycological innovations 
Re: Mycological innovations 
