• CitizenKong@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I always liked the theory that fungi are actually aliens that came from some asteroid from another planet and have just been around long enough that nobody bats an eye at them anymore. I mean, look at slime mold and tell me that not basically Venom!

    • Doxatek@mander.xyz
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      8 months ago

      Slime mold is a protist not fungi :0. I’m just being a jerk here doesn’t matter lol. I love the slime molds they’re so cool I always liked having them in the lab each year as a teaching tool. Definitely venom

        • Doxatek@mander.xyz
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          8 months ago

          It’s just nit picking but I put in here because it’s somewhat interesting that it isn’t. I try not to be the well ACKSHULLY guy haha

  • RegalPotoo@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    This is the sort of thing the cranky old wizard says to the hero before inevitably teaching them about mushrooms so they can go on a magical adventure

    • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      The way in which organisms recognize “their own” vs outsider stuff is a different and complex topic, at least as fascinating as fungi.

      Liquid brains, solid brains | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

      Cognitive networks have evolved a broad range of solutions to the problem of gathering, storing and responding to information. Some of these networks are describable as static sets of neurons linked in an adaptive web of connections. These are ‘solid’ networks, with a well-defined and physically persistent architecture. Other systems are formed by sets of agents that exchange, store and process information but without persistent connections or move relative to each other in physical space. We refer to these networks that lack stable connections and static elements as ‘liquid’ brains, a category that includes ant and termite colonies, immune systems and some microbiomes and slime moulds. What are the key differences between solid and liquid brains, particularly in their cognitive potential, ability to solve particular problems and environments, and information-processing strategies? To answer this question requires a new, integrative framework.