#one thousand american fungi

[godzilla-reads]

🍄 One Thousand American Fungi by Charles McIlvaine & Robert K. Macadam

[inkskinned]

how many times can you live through the apocalypse?

when you were little there was this beach that was free to go to. you didn't really like it on account of the litter. at one point, a white bag caught around your ankle, and for a moment (fish child), you panicked about jellyfish. on the foam, the red-pink words read thank you, stacked on top of each other, tangled in the kelp.

they have a new program (three thousand american dollars) to send your dead relative to the moon. there is a lot of evidence that our local orbit is becoming ever-more dangerously populated with "micro" satellites - debris in a round miasma becoming a thick web above us. maybe angels cannot hear us through the pollution.

you used to picture deep space like a thick membrane, or a blanket. someone said to you once the universe has no edge and that fucked with you for a long time, trying to picture what shape infinity has. your coworker is writing a short story about ecological collapse, which she is submitting for a little side-money so she can survive the current economical collapse.

the birds haven't gone to sleep this winter. that is probably bad. something that actually freaks you out is the natural temperature of human bodies versus the survival temperature of certain fungi. there is a podcast called s-town, in which a man kills himself over climate anxiety. he was probably meant to seem sort of unhinged. it just seems like it is becoming increasingly clear he was being honest.

space is not empty, we have put our dead into the stars. at some point they will figure out how to put ads into our sleep. you need to pay for the greenlife subscription service to be able to save the world.

there is a lot of ways this poem ends. but you have been wearing the same jeans and shirts since you were, like, 18. it is a hard life, sometimes, watching the entire foundation crack. there was this one moment over the summer, where you were shaking with heat exhaustion and dehydration. you were offered a nestle water bottle.

for three thousand dollars, you can send your ashes into space.

instead, you wash out the peanut butter jar. you put the avocado-toothpick spiked seed ball into water (even though they never grow very far). you borrow what you do not want to buy. you pick up any litter you find. you do not have a lot of control, really. but where you do - if there is one thing you can do, you do it.

something about that. you need to believe that must be true for the rest of humanity. or maybe - you need to believe that to be true, or else there will not be a rest of humanity.

[thefugitivesaint]

Val W. Starnes, ''Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous, One Thousand American Fungi'' by Charles McIlvaine & Robert K. Macadam, 1900 Source

[lesser-vissir]

Actually I want to make a longer post about it now that I've brought up Stillfleet and how absolutely terrible their module is with regards to their claimed vs analyzed politics.

First some background information on the game itself. Stillfleet is a sci-fi horror TTRPG written by Wythe Marschall and the Stillfleet Studio. The core gameplay loop of Stillfleet is about accepting missions working as an enforcer for The Company, going out and completing those mission, then returning with loot and experience so they can raise their standing in the company. The game also has themes of misdirection, wherein the company misleads the players and the players are expected to mislead the company in turn.

Now, the authors never explicitly label themselves as anarchists (though they do explicitly call themselves anti-capitalists) but the politics running through the game make it clear that they are, especially since the only faction the sourcebook treats as unambiguously good is a group of anarcho-socialists. They also, at least nominally, claim to be indigenous activists and start each of their sourcebooks with a land acknowledgement. This is relevant due to the themes to come later.

Anyways, the second module, The Rain Thieves, is about the players travelling to a forgotten colony of the company in search of samples of rare fungi. The central conflict of this story is that the world is a desert world with very harsh conditions and the fungi actually act as filters for the few water sources available making them safe to drink and as such are very fragile ecosystems that the players are likely to disrupt, which endangers all life on the planet.

A part of this setting is that there are two groups of humans living on the planet, the Radanaais who have lived there for a thousand years. They were originally a religious minority that was fleeing to another world to escape persecution. The second group, the Radanchi are the company settlers. It's been nearly 80 years since they last had contact with the company and many of them no longer feel any loyalty or sympathy for them.

Much of the gameplay for this module revolves around the conflict between the two local groups and the players, acting as proxies for the company.

The Radanaais are very clearly set up to be a parallel to north American indigenous groups. Compared to the Radanchi who are interested in trade with the company and are culturally similar to them, the Radanaais do not like these offworlders and see them as a threat to their wellbeing. Where the Radanchi are exploitative of the environment, the Radanaais live in harmony with it. ECT, ECT. It's really quite heavy handed.

This is where the big problem occurs. There are actually three separate sentient species that are native to the desert world and all three are in the game pretty much as target practice. They are spider-like aliens with "primitive" culture and little contact with the human population. You cannot interact with them on a social level and for at least one group, the sourcebook explicitly disallows using certain powers to force communication. Generally speaking, the game views killing them or disrupting their ecosystem as less bad than doing it to either human group because the aliens are hostile anyways.

Which leads to the biggest problem in the module: the Radanaais are implied to have committed genocide but this is unaddressed.

The planet has very few water sources, like, nine in total, and each one not under human control has a distinct megafauna that evolved near the water source and is unique to that area. Moreover, sentience developed several times among these groups and a minimum of three of these species are sentient, possibly more. The Radanaais control three water sources and none of them have a native megafauna that lives there.

Which means one of two things: either the water sources never developed megafauna like the others for some reason, or the Radanaais hunted them to extinction. Now I bring up genocide because one of the three listed sentient species, the Firespiders, does not control a water source. They are wanderers and attack anything they can find. Which begs the question, given we know life on this planet only evolves near water, how did the Firespiders develop? The answer, obviously, is that they are native to one of the Radanaais controlled water sources and we're driven from their homes a thousand years ago.

Anyways, point is these people recreated like, space Israel and set up the space Israelis as indigenous while ignoring and marginalizing the actual indigenous groups they created. Which is crazy cause they didn't need to create those groups at all. They could have made the desert actual Terra Nullis (which may have it's own issues) but they instead decided to be really really racist.

[ciphertology]

Some studies by C. McIlvaine compiled from Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi

[dumuzithemessiah]

A Gun is a Weapon Invented to Kill + Truth

A weapon is a weapon you dumbass American imbeciles! All you humans ever think the solution to a problem is shooting someone with a gun! Guns are the damn problem! Any damn weapon is!

You humans are nothing but a group of bloodthirsty hypocritical savages!

The fact that it takes any LITERAL GOD to tell you off that yes a damn weapon literally invented to kill is the problem…. it’s absolutely pathetic… especially considering the fact that I’ve been in a war before and have been fighting the Helveon War for these past thousands of years… as the Helveon War started close to half a million years ago starting with the evil elves betraying Nibirians which Nibirians are gods and goddesses aka yazata, tenshi aka regular angels, and demons…

WHICH DEMONS DID NOTHING WRONG YOU RACIST FUCKING BASTARDS!! YOU ALL JUST HATE DEMONS BECAUSE THEY AREN’T THE SAME SPECIES AS YOU!! YOU HATE ANYONE DIFFERENT FROM YOU!! HISTORY PROVES THIS AS FACT!!

Demons means “deity’s companion” they were never evil as calling demons evil is a hateful racist lie invented by humanity because majority of humanity thinks all who is advanced and not human has to be evil and wicked as somehow only humans are special snowflakes and totally not bad even though..

HISTORY IS COVERED IN BLOOD FROM HUMANITY’S HATEFUL EVIL WAYS!!!

Nibirians are literally anthropomorphic bipedal magical multidimensional advanced animals! Advanced means level of intelligence is like humans or higher! Advanced is a good term to separate species from regular non advanced animals, plants, fungi, and AI species…

Robots on Earth aren’t as advanced as Nibirian ones which have souls and are as alive as other species on Nibiru! Same with cyber beings called navi! Which are like real Net Navis! Yes like from Rockman.exe they do exist on Nibiru! But more advanced that Rockman.exe ones obviously…

Much higher obviously in the case of Nibirians as Nibiru is the most advanced planet out there in the Universe and Multiverse! Nibirian adults are 2’0”-2’7” with females being taller than males and reverse gender standards!

Males are pretty, cute, beautiful, magical, elegant! Females are strong, tough, burly, macho, and proud of their strength!

Yazata aka deities are felines with manes and wings and a Y shaped tail! Look at my pfp if you wanna see an example of what a deity looks like!

We all have lemonade yellow fur with males having markings while females are more plain looking in terms of their fur!

Our manes work like hair works for humans except magical obviously…

Anyways… A weapon is a damn weapon! The main literal purpose of a weapon is to kill!

How you humans this dense?! Think! Humans! Think! Weapons are invented to kill so you’re “BAWWWW GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE!! PEOPLE DO!!! WAAAAHH I AM ENTITLED TO MUH WEAPON!!!” doesn’t fly as guns literally purpose is to kill!

Also you humans are full of false self entitlement! You entitle yourselves to everything and act like you’re above Universal and Multiversal Laws! Which in reality you’re gonna get your asses wiped off of Earth for your crimes against the Kosmos!

Zillions and still counting perhaps more accurately countless are dead because of you evil human bastards!! Damaging the Kosmos damaged other planets due to shockwaves out of self defense! Advanced species suffer and die because of you selfish human bastards!!

I’ve seen selfish human bastards claim the Kosmos should be destroyed because they think MURDERING ALL NON MAGICAL LIFE WOULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM!!

Destroying the Kosmos would blow up the Universe and damage other nearby universes! You humans are literally hatefully crying for the GENOCIDE of all non magical life as magical life can escape such destruction but non magical life cannot! All because your selfish asses want all other non magical life to die with you! Well you know what all other life aka advanced life has to say?

HUMANITY DESERVES EXTINCTION AS THEY CANNOT LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES AND ARE TOO SELFISH TO THINK OF OTHERS!!

On Judgement Day you humans will receive the “Big E” with only those chosen if they remained pure will be allowed reincarnation! You humans screwed yourselves over!

Don’t even think of blaming ME the REAL MESSIAH DUMUZI!!

Messiah means “Hero of Rainbows/Rainbow Hero” and I love Marduk whose name is correctly pronounced Mar-duke! I would never love the likes of Ishtayr the Fell Goddess and Reincarnation of The Great Evil Herself!! She hurt me!

Read previous posts I made if you really wanna know what she did to me and why I can never forgive her!

But she is responsible for spreading the lies of man made religions, specifically ones hating on demons, calling for the death and genocide or those different! The hate, sexism, racism, all those evils are her fault!!

[boggbitch]

This might be a pretty niche rant, I'm not sure - are other people's leftie queer circles as into nature and botany and environmentalism as mine?

But where I operate, the topics of nature/food justice/indigenous wisdom/liberation are all topics that are everyday conversation and people's passion and often occupation so I find myself surrounded by discourse relating to all of them either through online presence or you know, just like hanging out with my friends. Braiding Sweetgrass is basically the bible, closely followed by Parable of the Sower (the first one I agree with, it's a groundbreaking work of introducing alternatives to western ways of thinking about the world, the second I'm sorry. i just don't get it. not that exceptional or well written or revolutionary and in some ways even directly contradicting the supposed beliefs about social structures of its fans. that's fine. whatever)

And I think it's interesting to see a certain kind of person get really into aspects of this school of thought and adding it to their worldview as dogma, under the unspoken rule of "as North American colonizers we have the responsibility to accept into our hearts the wisdom of the Indigenous People as a way to bungle our way out of the colonialist way of treating the world and climate and environment collapse" -

Without interpreting those wisdoms as <drum roll> religious and cultural beliefs and frameworks, not the Ultimate and Truest Explanation for how the Universe Works -

Furthermore, religious and cultural beliefs that are not your own

Now as an atheist, former Catholic with what I humbly believe to be a strong set of moral and spiritual ideas, I think I am in an extraordinary position - I can pick and choose commandments from wherever the hell I please! And I can't pretend that my Judeo-Christian set of guidelines I was taught is 1. not relevant to who I am today and 2. in some way morally inferior to the Indigenous Wisdoms (insert image of Robin Wall Kimmerer in a robe with a harp and halo because blasphemy is fun). I respect the principle of Honorable Harvest but I do not believe that a plant or an animal or a fungi can consent to being eaten. This framework is not the ultimate truth, but a cultural concept that upholds the moral principle of "do not take more than you need. you're not alone in the universe". You know what else upholds this principle? "Thou shall not covet"/Greed as a deadly sin/Garden of Eden being given into the care of Adam and Eve. Boom. Arrived at the same value in the end.

But it's not that I give a shit if someone thinks the Honorable Harvest is a neat principle and appropriates it into their value system, whatever helps you be a better person, ask the blueberry bush for permission, great. But if you start extending the idea of Indigenous Wisdom into a kind of meaningless, rootless philosophy which is morally superior to all others, and extending its meaning from Indigenous (coming from specific North American Native nations) to Indigenous (all North America??) to Indigenous (all colonized peoples???) to Indigenous=Basically Just a Vibe, then congratulations, you've just reinvented yourself the Noble Savage archetype. You just backtracked yourself back into racism.

So yeah, yes we need to give stewardship over land to local native nations that historically cared for them better than your local US county. Yes we need to support communities and individuals to help them thrive after being horrifically oppressed for centuries. Yes we need to expand our understanding of the natural world beyond the concept of ownership and superiority. But we can (and must) do so without Inventing a Guy, meaning without mushing a thousand different cultures, and million varying and often opposing sets of opinions and principles, into a reductive idea of a philosophy that sounds cool when you put it in an Instagram graphic

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

(Photo from Denali Education Center)

Conservation Status- Vulnerable

Habitat- Greenland; Russia; Alaska; Northern Canada

Size (Weight/Length)- 180 kg; 2 m

Diet- Grasses; Mosses; Leaves; Fungi

Cool Facts- For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas! Reindeer, also called caribou, are one of the few deer species where both males and females have antlers. In addition, reindeer have the longest terrestrial migration. Populations in Canada travel up to 5,000 kilometers a year, hundreds of thousands of reindeer forming a single herd. Escaping both the cold and mass numbers of mosquitos, mother reindeer are forced to give birth on the move. Calves have to be up and running within a few hours to keep pace with their herd. While they may or may not pull Santa’s sleigh, reindeer are an essential part to several Native American lifestyles in Canada. In other areas, especially Russia and the Nordics, reindeer are bred for their milk.

Rating- 13/10 (If any of you have tried reindeer milk, you need to tell me what it’s like.)

[moiracolleenodell]

The Taxonomy of the Common North American Donut, aka I did this instead of sleeping

           Last night, my sister raised the subject of the 1957 Spaghetti Tree Harvest Documentary, recalling that this was the first time millions of British viewers learned the origins of the popular and, at the time, somewhat exotic dish. It occurred to me that many modern Americans also remain unaware of the origins of common foodstuffs. For example, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and a multitude of other plants are genetically identical, but selectively bred over the centuries to express wildly different traits. In this essay, I will discuss the taxonomy of another formerly wild species: the common North American Donut.

           The history of the Donut can be traced back to the city of Krakow, Poland, in the seventeenth century, when a parasite descended from yeast fungi laid waste to Krakow’s grain fields. The Jewish farmers of Krakow discovered that they could conserve the nutrients of the afflicted grain by harvesting the mature fruiting bodies of the fungus, and thus the Bagel was born.

           Bagels proved to be a Godsend for the hungry mouths of Krakow, and in following centuries the practice of Bagel cultivation spread across Europe, the Middle East, and eventually the Americas. However, the True Donut emerged relatively recently, after the fungus encountered the sugar cane fields of the American South in the mid-nineteenth century. Another cultivar, the Jelly Donut, developed convergently when the fungus infected the sugar beet fields farther north.

            The confections rose in popularity almost overnight, but the fruits spoil quickly once harvested and thus cannot be shipped over long distances. Now, at this point in history, Donuts were also still closely related to their Bagel cousins, manifesting as one or more rings on each grain of wheat, the most common grain grown in the United  States. However, only one or two fruiting bodies per plant actually reached maturity, which negatively affected the cost-benefit ratio of growing the delicacy. Nevertheless, demand for Donuts remained high in their native regions, so the crop persevered.

           It is interesting to note that, like some other fungi, the Bagel Fungus expresses more than one thousand distinct sexes which can combine in a variety of ways for astonishing results. Thus, over the decades many regional cultivars were developed, such as the Bavarian Cream and other “filled” Donuts. The Donut Hole derives from a fasciation of the True Donut.

           I must mention at this point that there exist other types of “Donuts” such as the Apple Crumble and the Cruller. However, these are not True Donuts; rather, they are man-made pastries created in parts of the country where True Donut production was impossible. Today, of course, modern technology has provided us with climate-controlled environments in which we can grow the various cultivars of Donuts virtually anywhere in the nation. The Apple Crumble and the Cruller remain popular, though, and can commonly be found anywhere True Donuts are sold.

           In 1941, Lester Borchardt of the General Mills Company developed a method of harvesting and drying the immature fruiting bodies, which the company introduced to mass markets as the breakfast “cereal” Cheerioats, which we know today as Cheerios. Further progress has been made in the GMO sector with the development of the Strawberry Shortcake Donut, an artificial hybrid of the Jelly and Vanilla Cream varieties. GMO Donut production is still in its infancy, however, and the Strawberry Shortcake Donut is available only in limited quantities from certain sellers.

           Another interesting development of uncertain origin is the Topped Donut, such as the Boston Cream, which is a Filled Donut with an unusual companion. The chocolate-flavored topping is in fact yet another type of fungus in the slime mold family. Theories abound as to how these two fungi came together, but the accepted version is that the Chocolate Slime Mold originated in the cocoa trees of Central and South America. As a slime mold, the Chocolate Slime Mold seems to possess some awareness both of the presence of food (specifically, the True Donut, which makes the Chocolate Slime Mold a type of hyperparasite) and of impending danger. Additionally, the Chocolate Slime Mold has a slime mold’s capacity for movement, which is the reason it inevitably tries to slip away when it senses its host Donut being eaten.

           In conclusion, large-scale production of the various cultivars of the True Donut has become popular all over the world. Some producers are even jealously guarded by law enforcement personnel, a remarkable form of symbiosis between fungus and mammal. The Bagel remains a dietary staple, of course, but the True Donut retains its gastronomical niche through careful human cultivation, and it is likely that both will survive well into the next century.

[maryisis]

Amanita muscaria- My sharing on cultivating a healing and empowering relationship with a magical mushroom, my Self and  Life.

(All photos by me)

Overview and Introduction

This beautiful mushroom has allured human beings for who knows how many millennia. Archaeological evidence shows that people carried this mushroom from the Eurasian continent over the Bering strait to North America during the last glacial era, which shows how important this mushroom must have been to them.

There are so many examples of this iconic mushroom being woven into humanity’s evolution- from ancient cave art etched in stone to carved stone statues of various indigenous cultures to frescoes painted on the walls of Christian chapels to the stained glass of Catholic church cathedrals.  This mushroom, no doubt, has played a significant role for humanity, just as many of the other powerful and healing plant and fungi allies: cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca, just to name a few. Just like a lot of things, over time, knowledge can be lost- and I could also say hidden or withheld from the populace. Over time this magical and majestic mushroom became misunderstood, judged and yes, feared.    

A seeker of truth will discover how knowledge has intentionally been kept from people, in the efforts to preserve an elite group of peoples’ power, and in other words, to prevent people from empowering themselves. This is what propaganda is for, and now, arguably, even our mass media is being utilized for this. “Fake news” is a real thing.

Many people are still emerging from the brainwashing of the “war on drugs” propaganda, that was unleashed on the American population, which unfortunately created a lot of stigma around psychotropic and entheogenic plants and fungi. It is now fairly common knowledge that the pharmaceutical industry had a major role in creating the majority of drug dependencies that led to the “opiate crisis” and now they’ve created even more drugs (such as methadone and naltrexone) to help us get off the other “bad” drugs (heroin, and other opiates). Terribly, these “drugs to help us get off the drugs” are actually even more difficult to get off from. I’d say, now there’s a full on “benzodiazepine crisis” going on.  Last year, when I finally got myself a primary care doctor, and I shared with her that I had been really struggling with anxiety, can you guess what was her response to that was? “I could prescribe you some medication to help with that.” I never returned to her.

It’s obvious that so many people are in dire mental and emotional support but sadly the hamster wheel reality that so many people are living in makes it very difficult for people to slow down and get the support they need.  Yet, I will say that once a person makes the decision to change and take charge of their own healing- support can and will show up from all directions. The reason why I know this is true is because I have experienced it myself. I believe that we are all here for a reason and the universe wants each and every one of us to stand in our power. As the saying goes, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way….”

Now that much more traction is being gained in the tremendous value of “entheogenic/psychedelic medicines” through scientific studies as well as the recognized value of indigenous wisdom ways, it seems that the knowledge of this powerful red mushroom has found its way back to our lives. As we the people, who evolved over thousands of years in close relationship with these powerful mushrooms and plant allies of Earth, is in not exciting to think, what role could this amazing mushroom could play for us now, in a society so filled with anxiety and depression? For several generations now, so many of us “civilized folk” have been disconnected from the medicines of earth, having been misled by a societal system that would have us rather be dependent on synthetically produced pharmaceutical drugs, to treat the conditions that often stem from the sick society in which we are living.

I feel it is crucial to emphasize here that in this “psychedelic renaissance” we must be careful with the way we approach these medicines of the earth. To approach them with the same mindset that “I want to take this thing to fix me and make me feel better” and not embrace the self-responsibility that it actually requires “to feel better” is actually disrespectful and devaluing of the self and the medicine. As a newly trained addiction recovery and integration coach, I am passionate about empowering people to be a conscious co-creator of their reality- to find ways of cultivating more connection in their life to self and nature, through ritual and embodiment practices. The precious medicines of earth can most certainly help us in our healing, but it is through our intentional efforts that we actually earn the peace and healing that we seek. We may be “creatures of habit,” but we are also courageous creatures with great potential to change!  

 Now, back to Amanita muscaria. In the last few years, it’s as if a veil has been lifted from our perceptual lens of this mushroom- more and more scientific studies are emerging about the active chemicals in this mushroom that can aid in anxiety and depression among other things. And there’s also the interesting folklore that has become more commonly known, even in our narratives around religious traditions, such as Christmas, and the relationship of the reindeer and jolly ol’ Santa Claus! There are numerous books and articles that can be found at our fingertips through the internet (which I will source at the end of this paper.) And there are online forums about it- On Telegram, YouTube, and I just discovered Reddit, and I’m sure there are many more. How far down the rabbit hole you want to go , is up to you!   Even though we have been told for generations to fear this powerful and beautiful mushroom, the time has come for the truth to be revealed.

A more Personal Introduction….

Before I delve into my own story of how my life was so positively influenced by this mushroom, the “good biology student and teacher” in me desires to share about this mushroom’s bio-chemistry, ecology and ethno-pharmacology, so as to give a well rounded understanding to a person not knowing much about this mushroom. (Disclaimer: This is in no way a “scholarly essay” or research paper as I will not be properly using citations. I’m no longer in college after all, I am in the school of life. However, I will provide sources when I directly quote or use specific information and I will provide a list of resources at the end of this paper.)  

My educational background is in the Natural Sciences, having received a Bachelors of Arts from University of Hawaii at Hilo in Natural Science with a minor in Biology. Mycology was one of the fields of study that fascinated and inspired me in such a deep way- beyond my logical and analytical mind. There was something mystical to me about mushrooms. When I found out at age thirteen that there were mushrooms out there that could open up other dimensions of reality, I thought to myself “Where can I find them!?” (It didn’t take me long to.)  

I am an avid “mycophile” (lover of mushrooms) and I study mushrooms with a passion- I love trying to identify mushrooms and I derive great joy looking for mushrooms in the forests. I have also developed what I can only describe as a psychic connection with mushrooms, in the way that I actually have felt “guided” by them, to places where I can find them. I have woken up in the morning with the Amanita muscaria whispering into my consciousness “Come find me, I’m here….” As I will expand more upon later, the deepening of my relationship with A. muscaria began when I was really needing support and anxiety had begun to really diminish my quality of life. Thats when I went into the forest to find the mushrooms. It make me think of the quote of the Sufi poet Rumi: “What you seek is seeking you.”

About the Fungi

I remember learning in my mycology course how mushrooms are merely the “fruiting body” of a species of fungi- a body that mostly lives under the ground’s surface, as mycelium- which are a network of fungal threads called hyphae. By sensing the optimal conditions, the mycelium will then begin the formation of the mushroom, which will emerge from the ground (except truffle, which stay underground!) containing the spores, to then be dispersed into the environment. Fungi play such an important role in our ecosystems as they are “decomposers.” In the great circle of Life, we cannot leave out Death, because all that dies shall break down in composition, to become nourishment for more life! Yet, there are some fungi that have evolved away from their decomposing abilities and have come to depend on their symbiosis with trees, such as the Amanita genus.

Amanita muscaria has a symbiotic relationship with as many as 20 different tree species, including pine, oak, spruce, fir, birch, and cedar.

This means that the mycelium of this fungi grows along the roots of the tree, making mineral nutrients and water more available to the tree, while the fungi uptakes sugars from the roots of the tree. This relationship is known as a “mycorrhizal network.”  

The genus Amanita contains at least 400 species, a couple of which are the most known deadly mushrooms in the world, and some species of which are considered the most delicious to eat. A really unique signature of the Amanita’s morphology is the way it grows and emerges- from an egg-like sac called a “volva.” As the mushroom emerges, pieces of the volva can stick to the cap of the mushroom, like warts, as seen so clearly in the cap A.muscaria.

The Misunderstanding of this Mushroom

Amanita muscaria has been deemed “toxic” and “poisonous” and even “deadly” - all titles which are misleading and also simply not true. There are various reasons for the spread of this misinformation. Here, I will highlight on some scientific facts:

Because the Amanita genus contains some of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world, and people are afraid of being poisoned, this mushroom got lumped in with the “deadly’s.” What makes the deadly amanitas deadly is that they contain “amatoxins” and “phallotoxins.” Amatoxins are also found in two other genera of mushroom (Galerina and Lepidiota). To clarify here, Amanita muscaria does NOT contain either of these chemicals.

Because this is a powerful mushroom with potentially psychoactive effects, fear and curiosity can arise in many people. The fearful will likely stay away from it, and even stomp on the mushrooms when they see them (and that just hurts my heart!).  And even for the curious who venture to ingest this mushroom just for the sake of wanting to know what it will do to them, may end up having a very unpleasant experience, or they may have a profoundly enjoyable experience, OR they may have no experience at all! As I will discuss later on, relationship and intention are important when deciding to ingest psychoactive mushrooms and/or plants.

Because people have reported feeling sick and vomiting from ingesting this mushroom, it has been deemed “toxic.” There may have even been a death from a person who choked on their own vomit from having ingested this mushroom - but even in that case,  the mushroom itself was not the real culprit. Now, let’s get deeper into the chemistry….

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS & BIOCHEMISTRY

The active ingredients of Amanita muscaria, are Ibotenic Acid and Muscimol. Muscimol is derived from ibotenic acid by decarboxylation. Ibotenic acid is an analogue of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate is one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. It  also serves as a metabolic precursor to the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) According to one scientific study, people who suffer from depression may have had lower levels of GABA present in the brain. According to another 2019 study, GABA has anti-microbial, anti-seizure, and antioxidant properties and may help treat and prevent conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and insomnia. (source:https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326847#medical-benefits) I mention this because, muscimol binds to the same site on the GABAA receptor complex as GABA itself, as opposed to other GABAergic drugs such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines which bind to separate regulatory sites. (source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscimol).

Re-stated: Muscimol mimics the chemical GABA, which is a neurotransmitter responsible for calming the mind and easing anxiety, among other benefits.

So, could this mushroom be like “nature’s benzodiazepine,” yet safer because our bodies will not become chemically dependent? I feel it is not as straight forward as this and I would never want to diminish this mushroom by comparing it with a pharmeceutical. Also I feel it is more mysterious, requiring respect and even reverence, to the approach of “using”- or how I would rather refer to it as “working with” - this powerful and potentially healing mushroom. (more on that topic in the later section on “Cultivating Relationship”) There are other species of Amanita that contain these chemicals of importance (and in higher amounts) as well, which look similar to A. muscaria and those species are: A. pantherina (known as the “panther cap” or “false blusher”) and A. regalis (known as the “Royal Fly Agaric”)  

IBOTENIC ACID

“Ibotenic acid is an unstable compound; consequently, during extraction and subsequent processing large losses can occur. Also, in dried mushrooms the ibotenic acid content decreases gradually.” (https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1970-01-01_4_page005.html). This compound, when “decarboxylated” (heated to a specific temperature) becomes muscimol. According to studies, it has been shown that the highest percentage of this compound is found in the top yellow layer of the mushroom cap, just below the thin top colored skin. The concentrations of ibotenic acid are higher in the fresh mushroom, and when consumed (in the mushroom’s more raw state) can have potent effects that are responsible for the more “unpleasant” effects : nausea, vomiting and/or gastro-intestinal upset. And yet, it should be noted that there can also be very pleasant psychoactive effects as well- euphoria, and various other sensory altering effects.

MUSCIMOL

“Muscimol can be found in all Amanita species in which ibotenic acid occurs. However, since it is easily derived from ibotenic acid through the loss of water and CO2, which can occur during extraction or on paper chromatograms, one cannot say positively that it is a genuine compound in the mushroom.” (https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1970-01-01_4_page005.html). And so, interestingly, it may be that this compound is only found in the mushroom because it was created/converted from the ibotenic acid.

I have witnessed a certain level of “judgement” of ibotenic acid,  being unfavorable to ingest and that the goal before ingesting is to convert as much of it as possible to muscimol, however, it has been argued that ibotenic acid plays an important role in the benefits of ingesting this mushroom- and that you can never really convert ALL the ibotenic acid anyways.

From what information I have gathered is that “ibotenic acid” has gotten a bad reputation and is considered by many to be unfavorable- which is why people take extra steps to decarboxylate the mushrooms so as to convert the ibotenic acid to muscimol.  One of the possible reasons for the “bad rap” is that it has actually been referred to scientifically as a “neurotoxin” but this was  because of a particular study’s outcome: it was found to cause brain legions when injected directly into the heads of rats.  When we ingest this mushroom, it obviously would not have the same effect as being injected into our brains, and so therefore, the title of “neurotoxin” is not accurate and is misleading.

Cultivating Right Relationship

As I shared a little bit earlier, prior to cultivating my deep relationship with A. muscaria I been struggling with anxiety, an over active mind and very debilitating control patterns that developed over the past couple years (due to personal and relational circumstances). I believe in the healing power of plant medicines and that they are amazing tools that can help us in our healing, and to interrupt addictions and our "normal" patterning (which is often times dis-functional!). However, we as individuals play the most important role in our healing- I truly believe the power is in our hands to become the “CEO’s of our own Health and Wellbeing,” as a nutrition coach mentor of mine says. It is our responsibility to put in our efforts to INTEGRATE the insights and new mind states we gain from plant medicines into our lives- so that we don't just become dependent upon another “substance” to shift our undesirable feeling state. We do this with courageous acts, by making the needed life changes to decrease stress and to nourish the conditions for our wellness and by cultivating nervous system regulating practices such as EFT/tapping, breath work, and so many others.  

I do not believe that any medicine or substance outside of ourselves can be a  "magic bullet" or "cure- all.” I believe it is crucial to be in "right relationship" with all medicines. That all being said- I greatly appreciate and value the plant medicine world and am vary cautious of the pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors which do NOT heal, but only treat the symptoms, and often cause more ill side effects and dangerous chemical dependencies. It is important to remember, “Big Pharma” profits from our un-wellness.

Working with A. muscaria

There are many ways one can work with A. muscaria. I will describe a way that I feel cultivates a relationship with this mushroom that is respectful and reverent of the mushroom, which may potentiate its healing benefits.

One can begin by working with it on the energetic and psychic level. I was guided by my curiosity and intuition to work with this mushroom, and have felt a joyous connection with this mushroom since I first saw it out in the forest. The elated feeling I would get from the mushroom actually was the indicator to me that I needed to learn more about it and so, my studies began.

It is important to do your own research- don’t just take my word for granted. I started finding and reading lots of articles, watching videos and I took a workshop from the Fungi Academy, featuring a woman who goes by the name “Amanita Dreamer.” I started to feel more and more confident that ingesting A. muscaria was not dangerous but could actually be in divine alignment for me. I started to align with certain people out there who’s perspective and knowledge of A.muscaria I found very helpful. (See resources at end.)

After the first big Autumn seasonal rains soaked the earth up where I live in northern California, I remember the day that I woke up and I just knew they were out there in the forest. I actually felt their presence in my psychic field. It had happened the season prior also, and so, my energetic connection had been developing for at least a couple of years before I felt it was time to actually harvest them.

Before harvesting I had already learned that the active ingredients are in the caps and the potency is most prime when the mushroom is relatively “young,” before the cap has fully flattened out.  I would always leave the older mushrooms so that their spores could be released into the environment. When harvesting, I did so with reverence and gratitude.

When I brought the mushroom caps home, I dehydrated them at about 130 degrees until “cracker dry” as Amanita Dreamer refers to it. I then scraped the gills out from the cap, since the gills don’t contain the desired active ingredients. Note: Its easier and less of a mess to scrape them out once dried. I saved this scraped out contents into a jar to then release back to re-spore the forest.  The scraped out caps went into another jar. I kept these dried caps in jars on my altar and connected with them energetically until the day came when I knew it was time.

Potency varies from mushroom to mushroom and so when it comes to ingesting them, the most reliable way to get a consistent dosage is to ingest either the powder of the ground up mushroom caps (via tea or capsule) or from a tincture. I personally wanted to work with the caps whole so that I could see them with their beautiful color and not grind them up. I did indeed notice how one gram of dried mushroom caps varied from day to day, while micro-dosing. I actually enjoyed that mysterious aspect. For example, one morning a noticed much more of an effect, to where I actually needed to lay down- and it was a very healing and learning experience for me in slowing down and receiving.  I also have tried breaking off pieces from multiple different caps to get a more average range of potency and weighing out my desired dosage that way.

Because I resonated with it, I decided to follow the guidance of Adam, a fellow A. muscaria advocate and magical herbal alchemist who runs balticalchemy.com. I started with 1gram in the morning and 1g at night, making a tea. I break apart caps onto a small scale to weigh out and then steep the mushroom pieces in my tea for up to 10 minutes. I then have a ritual of sitting down at my altar and speaking my words of gratitude to the mushroom tea and my intentions while they steep.

Making a respectful and reverent "daily practice” or ritual with this mushroom, and any plant or mushroom medicine, is very important to me and is an important, integrative part of any "microdosing protocol." This is where and how we RE-PATTERN and RE-PROGRAM ourselves. And this is how we also cultivate right relationship with our medicine.

I drink down the tea, with heart open in gratitude for the opportunity to commune with this mushroom. I also eat the mushroom pieces within it the tea.  I actually like to speak directly to the spirit of the mushroom, my gratitude and my prayers. I like to also do some EFT(Emotional Freedom Technique)/"tapping" and bodily stretching/movement and then I go about my day.

I usually feel the effects within the hour. Sometimes I feel a warmth in my heart space, or a warmth of peace and/or bliss sweeping through my body. There are many other subtle effects I have noticed and I feel it is important to keep certain things sacred and inside as it is my own mysterious journry I am on, which will be unlike any one else’s.

So far, My only experience in consuming a larger amount was in an Amanita muscaria ceremony which I attended and my experience was pleasant. Not only did we consume a strong tea of it but we also smoked it! That was rather harsh and I did not particularly like that but smoking of the top layer of the mushroom cap definitely does have an affect which can be described as childlike elation. I did notice my sense of taste become much more vivid and my perception became slightly warped. I definitely had a lot of energy which continued into the next day where I noticed how I was “talking a mile a minute” 😆

 Read more below about my own experience with micro-dosing ....

My Micro-dosing Testimonial

I noticed the positive benefits in only a few days- My anxiety, fight/flight sensations, worrying mind/thoughts- were simply GONE. My whole reality shifted just from being able to feel CALM again in mind and body. I realized how much a dis-regulated nervous system ("anxiety") was negatively impacting my perception of reality. A.muscaria also helped me to re-configure my long time habitual relationship with cannabis. I made the decision to completely stop smoking cannabis the day I began working with A.muscaria, which has also contributed greatly to my increased energy and clarity of mind.

Before this tremendous positive shift from A.muscaria, I could barely sit still. My outlook on life was very despairing and filled with self-doubt.   I have rapidly regained a positive outlook, more motivation and self-confidence and more focus. I have also been getting more sustained sleep through the night. I have felt more light hearted elation, and peace than I have experienced in the past couple of years.  

In summary, this beautiful mushroom has played a pivotal role in assisting me to get my nervous system back into a regulated place, after suffering the repercussions of being in “fight or flight” mode for an extended amount of time.don’t necessarily and I consider it to be such a powerful catalyst for me in my healing and coming into clarity and alignment with my truth. 

Amanita muscaria has become my most beloved ally from the forest, showing me that I too have so much to offer to this world once I stand in my power, with my innate wisdom, mystery, beauty, truth and love.

Resources- (I encourage you to do your own research!)

Websites:

1. www.amanitadreamer.net

2. www.reindeeramanita.com

3.  https://fungiacademy.com/

4. http://www.amanitaceae.org/

5. https://jgi.doe.gov/retracing-roots-fungal-symbioses/

6. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/blog/harnessing-the-therapeutic-potential-of-muscimol-349541

7. https://www.mushroomstone.com/

8. https://themushroomcap.com/product/the-fungal-pharmacy/

9. https://www.ancientpages.com/2016/09/14/mysterious-ancient-mushrooms-in-myths-and-legends-sacred-feared-and-worshiped-among-ancient-civilizations-2/

10. https://www.balticalchemy.com/

11. https://harmonyacresfarms.org/

Books:

Fly Agaric: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, & Exploration,

by Kevin M. Feeney

The Fungal Pharmacy by Robert Rogers

Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast- a comprehensive guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California. Noah Siegel and Christian Schwarz

[driftwork]

hotel memoirs

Sometimes late at night just before the night staff took over the running of the hotel and the bars began to close, I used to spend  time in the lobby of the big hotel where the visitors from more economically secure nations come to stay.  On one such visit, before going up to my room to sleep, I stopped off for a drink and a sweet after seeing a Mid period Godard movie, at the last retrospective before socialist films were banned. A neatly dressed dandy traveler entered the bar from the reception hall, carrying in his hand a small case of soft leather, a night porter took his suitcase of matte black ribbed aluminum off to his room or suite. The traveler paid and thanked the night porter and without paying him any further attention sat down on a leather chair and gently gestures at the waiter to get his attention. The dandy takes off his dark blue gloves and puts them down on the leather case. He looks at them for a a few moments before opening the case and taking a small notepad out and a book. The traveler is dressed as I said in grey, a colour that in earlier decades would have been called discreet, even though it is late at night and the city is gradually disintegrating under his attention,  he is wearing a perfect and rather beautiful purple tie with iridescent threads running through it.  After ordering a drink from the waiter I examined his shoes and feet, leather walking shoes with elegant knots, tied I imagined for some reason by a servant. The traveler stretches out his legs and inspects some more things in his small case, useful things like scissors, a small knife, pens, chargers, cigarettes. The traveler seemed like Buchner's schizophrenic who has strolled into the hotel and whose organs have entered into an intense becoming with all the elements of his class and nature, to the extent that the distinction between self and non-self, inside and outside, man and nature has no meaning [...]  [The traveler searches through his pockets for the book of matches he'd brought with him from last nights hotel. He imagined that he'd arrived earlier in the day. ] He orders some tapas to eat with his bright green Margarita. Using a silver pen he is writing in his notebook. Perhaps its not the conference he is attending, perhaps he is an accountant, or a creator of AI systems, or a designer of the new dirigibles that are capable of carrying thousands of passengers across vast distances, slower than aircraft but faster than ships. Writing his plans on perfect paper, in exclusive notebooks that are worth small fortunes. As he leans forward and puts the pen and notebook down I  can see the unfamiliar characters of the language, unreadable by a human. The book seems to contain profane calculations only fungi might understand. The traveler puts a cigarette between his thin lips and his face turns olive yellow as he inhales the smoke.  "Here for the conference?" I ask the traveler.  Imagining that he'd arrived from the east earlier in the day, was staying a few days for the conference taking place on Equaliberty before leaving. The traveler smiled and nodded refusing to speak, perhaps because the question I'd asked was too commonplace to be answered without compromising oneself.  Perhaps he is here to present a paper on the politics of disintegration, the rise of new fascist political groups,  the printing of counterfeit monies, or simply to speak of an american princess has had sex and is expecting,  I have stretch marks and am beautiful the singer announces. I think  he looks like a  secret agent for the neo-managerialist parties.  “Are you here for the conference?” He asked me.  “No, I have a week of meetings at the head office, since I have some free time this week I thought I might go to a few sessions..” We didn’t speak again. Eventually we didn’t even acknowledge the others existence...

[godzilla-reads]

🍄 One Thousand American Fungi by Charles McIlvaine & Robert K. Macadam

[cardamomoespeciado]

Case fatality rate over 30%, super-resistant bacteria are spreading in the shadow of corona

National Geographic Japan version

Candida auris, difficult to treat and disinfect, warns doctors around the world

Case fatality rate over 30%, super-resistant bacteria are spreading in the shadow of corona

CG illustration of Candida auris. The unicellular fungus Candida auris was first reported in 2009. It has strong drug resistance, is easily spread by nosocomial infections, and has a high mortality rate. (SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO)

While the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is rampant worldwide, infection with the super (ultra-multidrug) resistant bacterium Candida auris (both Candida auris), which may be resistant to all drugs Is expanding in part, doctors are warning. Candida auris is particularly susceptible to nosocomial infections, which puts a heavy burden on the medical field, which is flooded with corona patients this year.

Candida auris adheres to sheets, bed railings, doors, medical equipment, etc. and survives for a long time, and when touched by human hands, the infection spreads. In addition, there is a high risk of infection when inserting a tube into the body, such as a catheter, ventilator, or liquid food. Patients hospitalized in Corona are often exposed to these measures because of respiratory problems.

"Unfortunately, Candida auris is expanding in some areas," said Tom Chiller, director of mycosis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Some have spread to emergency hospitals and corona wards. Once an infection is discovered, it's difficult to get rid of it completely, so I'm very worried."

The Candida fungus was originally known to cause mild symptoms such as white spots on the tongue and genitals. However, Candida auris has been reported in at least 40 countries since it was first reported by Professor Koichi Makimura of Teikyo University in 2009, and thousands of people have been infected. Although the pathogenicity of the Japanese type is low, there is also a type with a mortality rate of 30 to 60%.

Candida auris is not the only bacterium that is resistant to drugs. Already, millions of people worldwide are infected with various super-resistant strains, and the spread of Candida auris could exacerbate the crisis. In 2019, the CDC positioned Candida auris as one of the greatest threats among drug-resistant bacteria in the United States. By the end of August this year, 1364 cases have been confirmed in the United States. It is more than four times the number of infected people in 2018 as a whole.

However, this year, there are many cases of Candida auris that are overlooked behind the new Corona, and the actual number seems to be much higher than that. Even if the bacteria adhere to human skin, they may not show any symptoms. It is possible that the death toll from super-resistant bacteria is among the excess mortality surges during the new corona epidemic. That's why doctors around the world are ringing the alarm.

Severely ill corona infected in hospital or 6 out of 10 dead

It was 2011. Several blood samples have been sent to Anurada Chaudhry, who worked at a laboratory in New Delhi, India. A mysterious fungal infection was spreading in the intensive care unit and neonatal room of two hospitals in the city.

Mr. Chaudhry, a professor of medical mycology at the Valabby Patel Chest Institute at the University of Delhi, was asked to identify the fungus and propose a therapeutic drug. After seeing the results of the analysis, Mr. Chaudhry twisted his head.

"Candida auris? What's that?"

It's no wonder Mr. Chaudley didn't know. Candida auris was first reported only two years ago. Found in the ears of a patient, it was named "Auris," which means ear in Latin.

What surprised me most was that fluconazole, the first treatment used for fungal infections, had no effect on Mr. Chaudley's blood samples. In 2013, Candida Auris published a paper on the subject, which was later revealed to be resistant to fluconazole and other azoles. Also, even the other two major types of antibiotics may not work.

Currently, Mr. Chowdley is studying a patient with candidaemia among the severely ill patients of the new corona who entered the intensive care unit in Delhi. It is a disease caused by Candida albicans entering the blood.

According to the results of a small study published in the November issue of the medical journal "Emerging Infectious Diseases" by Mr. Caudley et al., Candida auris was found in 10 out of 15 patients. Both are believed to have been infected in the hospital.

All blood samples were resistant to fluconazole, and 4 of the strains isolated from the blood did not respond to the other antibacterial drug amphotericin B. The last hope, Echinocandin, is difficult to obtain in India. Eventually, six people died.

Mr. Chaudley, like the new Corona, argues that testing and contact tracking are important to control the spread of Candida auris. The Candida auris test is done by rubbing the surface of the skin or by collecting blood or urine. Patients who test positive will be examined for the effects of three antibiotics.

In this way, it is possible to identify the number of deaths due to super-resistant bacteria to some extent, but the fact that it is easily infected in the hospital complicates the problem. In hospitals, patients already have other illnesses, such as corona, and it is difficult to determine whether the cause of death is due to the illness or drug-resistant bacteria.

Climate change and pandemics

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed drug-resistant bacteria as one of the top 10 threats to human health, returning to a world where tuberculosis and even gonorrhea, which are now easily treated, are out of control. He expressed concern that it would end up.

It is said that the abuse of antibacterial drugs in the medical field of livestock and humans worldwide gave birth to super-resistant bacteria. But climate variability predicts that fungal infections will spread further in the future, said Ramanan Laxminarayan, founder and representative of the Center for Pathological Economic Policy (CDDEP) in Washington, D.C.

A paper published last year in the American Society for Microbiology journal "mBio" stated that "Candida auris may be the first fungal infection born of climate variability."

Humans tend to have a fever as a defensive reaction when they get an infectious disease. This is because the fungus is sensitive to heat. However, if fungi such as Candida auris adapt to hot environments due to global warming, their defenses may be ineffective. This means that in the future, not only will existing fungi expand, but new fungal infections may emerge.

"Just as more bacteria aren't working with antibiotics, fungi that aren't working with antibacterial drugs may threaten humanity," Lacus Minarayan warns. Strong bacteria such as multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis and Clostridioides difficile, whose cases are rapidly increasing mainly in North America, account for 99% of the 2.8 million super-resistant bacterial infections in the United States annually. The death toll is about 35,000.

India, which has long been said to be a hotbed for fostering drug resistance, is now the center of the epidemic of the new coronavirus disease. In Mr. Chaudley's lab, about half of the staff were also tested positive for corona in recent tests, killing two. Mr. Chaudhry welcomes people as they begin to realize the threat of Candida auris in a difficult personal situation.

"Many people thought it was an Indian problem and had nothing to do with them. So far I've been studying alone and I've had a hard time, but now the world is working on it. Fungal infections are diseases that should never be ignored. "

[wisdomrays]

TAFAKKUR: Part 140

The Honeybee: Part 2

The intelligence of honeybees

Communication is crucial to developing multifaceted civilizations. Communication permits the honeybee to accomplish such amazing things, just as language is a crucial feature in human achievements. Intelligence is vital for both communication and language. Can we say the lowly honeybee, with a tiny brain, is intelligent? It’s a complicated attribute to describe. The American Psychological Association Task Force on Intelligence, describes it as the capability “to adapt efficiently to the environment and to learn from experience.” Bees are gifted enough to do this.

Together, bee and human communications suggest brain power or intelligence. There could be a mutual brain system between humans and honeybees. Bees have proven that you don’t need a big brain to be smart. Charles Darwin recognized this and wrote in 1871, “The brain of an ant is one of the most marvelous atoms of matter in the world, perhaps more so than the brain of man.”

We have learned how smart honeybees are from observing their conduct and by running experiments that prove their knowledge and recollection skills. They can recognize and recall colors and familiar sights. They are able to discriminate amongst diverse scenery, kinds of flowers, forms, and designs.

Bees can recall path particulars up to six miles, and over several days. They can visualize a map, ascertain the straight length connecting two points, and take a diverse path for their outbound and incoming voyages. They can traverse even in the dark of night.

Honeybees are able to perform numerous separate roles during their lifetime, each needing distinct talents. The youthful bees are nurture bees, nursing the family. Afterwards, they make the honey combs, creating perfect hexagonal shapes. Finally, they become hunters, discovering honey and transporting it back to the hive.

They can discern dangerous fungi from innocuous ones. They can also formulate medication (propolis) when destructive fungi are present.

Honeybees certainly have the capability to reason. They can acquire many new skills very rapidly. They have a superior ability to understand and reminisce, at least compared to other insects.

They are capable of intangible thinking, judgment-making, and organizing. They have demonstrated a proficiency at counting and an awareness of time.

The hunter bees have to do several chores that need intelligence: they must discover flowers, decide if they are a good foundation of nectar, find their return journey to the hive, and then impart this knowledge to the other explorers.

They do not utilize devices present in nature, but they can learn how to use tools. It is proven by experiments that when one bee was taught to pull a string to get a sugary reward, another bee acquired the technique just by watching the first bee. What is more astonishing is they could teach this technique to other bees.

How do honeybees make decisions?

Scavenging requires no predominant judgment making. Every bee recognizes only her own liquid source. If the food source is meager, she will swiftly abandon it and will not perform a waggle dance to guide her hive friends to that food source. As an alternative, she will observe the waggle dance of another bee who has discovered an abundant source of nectar and focuses her hunting endeavors on that source. On the contrary, if her source is abundant, she will work on that source constantly and engage other bees to join her.

Every bee formulates her own distinct cost-benefit analysis and makes a decision that influences whether or not she will forsake a source or engage other bees to it. If she vacates her source, she will shadow another bee indiscriminately; she does not match nectar sources.

Due to these transactions the whole hive has improved their foraging skills as a result of the judgments of thousands of separate bees.

The worth of a nectar source is not centered only on the sweetness of the source. It seems that remoteness from the hive, climate environments, the hive’s needs, the quantity of the source, and other relevant features are all taken into account.

What if humans had a bee brain?

One can imagine how clever humans would be if our much bigger brains had the abilities of a bee’s brain. Comparing the weights of brains, a bee brain is about 20,000 times smaller than a human brain. However, they are able to do more with less.

For instance, how do bees have an internal GPS? Scientists have speculated that bees have the ability to sense the earth’s magnetic fields or the divergence of the sun’s light. A latest theory is that bees may be talented enough to perceive quantum fields or quarks. Bees appear to have some inherent sense of the sun’s movement and position.

An international team of researchers has discovered that even a lowly honeybee can differentiate between and remember different human faces. “The more we study these creatures, the more we find they have abilities like ours,” says insect-vision researcher Professor Mandyam Srinivasan of the Australian National University in Canberra. “From bees to wasps, spiders and even sheep, other animals have proven they can not only recognize our faces, but they navigate mazes, match objects and shapes and even associate smells with previous experiences. Sometimes I wonder what we are doing with two-kilogram brains,” ponders Srinivasan.

Human beings are not the only species that can contemplate intangible mathematical ideas like nonexistence. That the number zero is less than one is understood by some other animals. It has been known that dolphins, African gray parrots, and primates also understand the idea of “zero,” but researchers were astonished to find that honeybees also understand this idea, bearing in mind the insects' minute brains, according to a report from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. “If bees can perceive zero with a brain of less than a million neurons, it suggests there are simple, efficient ways to teach AI (Artificial Intelligence) new tricks,” Adrian Dyer, an investigator at RMIT University said in the report.

It has been shown that the honeybee is able to accomplish instantaneous calculations quicker than even the fastest computers. For navigation, honeybees must perform very complex calculations. Honeybees are able to execute about 10 trillion calculations in a second, which is 625 times quicker than the 6 billion calculations per second of the fastest computer. A honeybee has a brain that is more advanced than the most cutting-edge super-computer that has ever been produced.

Conclusion

The honeybee is a lowly animal that is still recognized by many religious scriptures. The honey it produces has many medicinal and therapeutic values. The intelligence of the honeybee, with its tiny brain, is astonishing. And yet, we should reflect that however remarkable the honeybee’s brain is, the human brain is millions of times more complex.

[merismo]

Sorry everyone, but tardigrades (water bears) aren’t as cool as you think they are

A number of science blogs/instagrams/facebook pages/etc have jumped on the tardigrade craze in recent years, to the point where water bears have even become something of a household name. As the world’s biggest number 1 fan of invertebrates (data not yet published), I find this is pretty exciting. I always love it when obscure and fascinating inverts get the attention of the public. But the amount of misinformation being spread has gotten out of control. And boy howdy do I hate to be that guy, but... 

-TARDIGRADES DIE REALLY EASILY

No, really. They do. Throw a living, active tardigrade into a jacuzzi and it will die. Teleport it to the Sahara desert and it will die. Launch it into the moon and it will very much die. 

Here’s the thing: living and growing tardigrades are delicate and squishy creatures. They die all the time, be it from drying out, disease, predation, temperature extremes, or even just being squished between microscope slides (see above picture. Sorry little guy). In order to survive extreme conditions, they need to enter a state of anhydrobiosis, This is the process where their bodies slowly desiccate and enter a state of suspended animation. Only once they have entered this state can they survive all sort of extremes.

The internet will have you believe that tardigrades can not just live but thrive, grow, and reproduce in the vacuum of space or in boiling water or what have you. But they can’t. They have to be in an anhydrobiotic state. And even then, many of them will fail to resuscitate once exposed to these extreme conditions. Not to mention...

-TARDIGRADES KINDA SUCK AT ANHYDROBIOSIS

Water bears can’t just turn indestructible at a moment’s notice. Only under specific conditions can they turn into tuns (which is the term for a water bear in its desiccated state). One study showed that the tardigrade species Macrobiotus areolatus requires a relative humidity of 70-95% in order to successfully become a tun. Any drier, and they just flat out die. Not only that, but it took them 4 whole days for them to reduce their bodily water content to the amount needed for the tuns to survive extreme conditions. But once they enter this state they can survive up to a century and then  oh wait nevermind they only last like a decade.

-THEY ONLY LAST LIKE A DECADE

The oft-repeated factoid that they can stay dried out for over a century only to spring back to life after being sprinkled with water comes from an exaggeration of a single case from a study in the 1940′s. What happened was that a 120 year-old sample of moss was rehydrated and inspected under the scope. Some of the tuns in the sample extended a bit in size, but otherwise remained in their state (presumably long dead). However, a single tun did re-hydrate and some movement of the limbs was noted for a short moment. It was observed over the next few days and no more movement was noted, with it eventually decomposing. The likely explanation is that water re-entering the organism caused it to inflate like a water balloon, and thus appear to show some movement. 

From current scientific literature, the record-holders are certain species of moss piglets that can last up to 7-8 years in suspended animation an antarctic tardigrade that resurrected after 30 years, which was still beat by a nematode resurrected after 39 years. On the other hand, several species can only last up to a few months before no longer being viable.

And last but not least...

-THEY AREN’T THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN SURVIVE EXTREME CONDITIONS WHILE IN A STATE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION

Thousands of other species of invertebrates, fungi, and protozoans can do it too, sometimes better than tardigrades can. This isn’t to say that tardigrades aren’t fascinating or unique, but that other, less-conventionally-cute organisms sometimes get ignored as people often imply that extreme survival is somehow unique to tardigrades. 

But let’s end this on a more tardigrade-positive note. Even active water bears are amazingly good at handling radiation, and in some cases can withstand higher doses while active than while in anhydrobiosis. A number of species can also withstand large swings in salinity and temperatures as low as -20 C and still thrive. 

Sources below!

Eliana Beltrán-Pardo, K. Ingemar Jönsson , Andrzej Wojcik, Siamak Haghdoost, Mats Harms-Ringdahl, Rosa M. Bermúdez-Cruz, Jaime E. Bernal Villegas (2013). Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Embryos of the Tardigrade Milnesium cf. tardigradum at Different Stages of Development. September 6, 2013 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072098

John H. Crowe and K. A. Madin (1974). Anhydrobiosis in Tardigrades and Nematodes.Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, Vol. 93, No. 4, Symposium: Perspectives on the Biology of Dormancy (Oct., 1974), pp. 513-524

N. Møbjerg  K. A. Halberg  A. Jørgensen  D. Persson  M. Bjørn  H. Ramløv  R. M. Kristensen (2011). Survival in extreme environments – on the current knowledge of adaptations in tardigrades. January 2011 https://doi.org/10.1111/j

E. J. CHARLOTTA NILSSON, K. INGEMAR JO¨ NSSON, & JAN PALLON (2010). Tolerance to proton irradiation in the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer – a nuclear microprobe study. Int. J. Radiat. Biol., Vol. 86, No. 5, May 2010, pp. 420–427

K. Ingemar Jönsson  Roberto Bertolani (2001). Facts and Fiction about long-term survival in tardigrades. Volume 255, Issue 1 September 2001 Pages 121-123

Horikawa, Daiki & Sakashita, Tetsuya & Katagiri, Chihiro & Watanabe, Masahiko & Kikawada, Takahiro & Nakahara, Yuichi & Hamada, Nobuyuki & Wada, Seiichi & Funayama, Tomoo & Higashi, Seigo & Kobayashi, Yasuhiko & Okuda, Takashi & Kuwabara, Mikinori. (2006). Radiation tolerance in the tardigrade Milnesium tardigradum. International journal of radiation biology. 82. 843-8. 

See also: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/44745400/Long-term_survival_of_microscopic_animal20160414-22559-171gyhb.pdf?1460683649=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DLong_Term_Survival_of_Microscopic_Animal.pdf&Expires=1603907286&Signature=VTCGWIL~9EX-4uLyVFl~0EKU6htwxlqs3nuXAl1O~5NuuW~DaVRrHJAaWeBIN0PsbNmrTm5uba5fSCKfIKMnXjfYqad1lAm6G~GXX8XzEFQWY1FgZucOITZ8fO-eOP9ByGGVCP3w2NZeT7Mfr8gA7p1yMLhZaTwoUSCez41YFZdL626QVCfS5yebiVjgEkb9rOAB~W8r6n4XDvTC5p~~BJCQq6YnPK795RdqSxE1vb93OhdMK6GKTgDB0~c3XnkrZ0TkdzrP1wNZRHFK1Wh0A~gCOgZIVxRV4fj1IsGjbDmKVD07g4ow6dG4LN2-iAm8dZH2qPn77gM4Nq49-s6TXQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

[wapiti3]

Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi. ; 

By McIlvaine, Charles, 1840-1909   Macadam, Robert K.

Publication info Indianapolis,The Bowen-Merrill Company[c1902] BHL Collections: MBLWHOI Library, Woods Hole