They turned mushrooms into a COMPUTER
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Description
today's PCS have a massive problem not enough fungus the unconventional Computing laboratory at Bristol's University of West England is hoping to change that and while it seems every article is only reporting this story so they can reference The Last of Us sometimes more than once the magic of a mushroom Mainframe is nothing to be scared of see fungi can form a network of threads called a mycelium that can connect Acres of forests together and can enable the transmission of nutrients and even warnings of danger between roots of plants the team at the UCL has found that mushrooms produce action potential like spikes similar to neurons in the human brain by using electrical stimulation UCL researchers coded logic gates and fungus and even established memory by stimulating a mycelium at two separate points sure they're just looking at feasibility now but maybe in the future we won't need fiber optic cables for internet we'll all be using the wood Wide Web [Laughter]
In this 58 second short, the video introduces a novel line of research where researchers are exploring how fungal networks could function as computing systems. The narrative notes that fungi form a vast network called mycelium, which connects large areas of forest and can transmit nutrients as well as warnings of danger between plants. The core idea presented is that mushrooms can exhibit neuron-like activity when stimulated, allowing researchers to implement logic gates and even establish memory using a mycelium at two separate points. While the work is still at feasibility-stage, the implication is clear: in the future we might bypass traditional fiber optic cables and access a new form of internet built on the wood wide web. The tone blends curiosity with a dash of humor, highlighting the science while nodding to popular culture references such as The Last of Us. The short concludes with a playful suggestion that this could herald a new era of biological computing, as opposed to conventional electronic networks.
Topics · science · technology · bioengineering · neuroscience · computing · future-tech
Questions answered
- Can mycelium form memory and logic gates in a computing system?
- Yes, the video notes that researchers stimulated a mycelium at two separate points to create memory and to implement logic gates, showing neural-like activity in the fungus.
- What is the wood wide web and how does it relate to computing?
- The wood wide web refers to the mycelial network that connects forests and facilitates communication between plants; the video suggests this network could inspire new forms of computing and data transmission.
- Could this mushroom based computing replace fiber optic cables in the future?
- The researchers describe the work as feasibility studies and suggest that, in the future, such biohybrid systems might reduce or alter the reliance on traditional fiber optic cables, though this is not yet realized.