Fungi Friday's - September 9th, 2022
Issue #47
Hey Fungi Friday fam, welcome back to a fresh release of Fungi Fridays!
While I wasn’t personally able to make it down to the farm over the past long weekend, glad to let you all know that one of three gents that make up the Iowa Fungi’s was, and he reported all good thus far. Batteries are holding up, humidity in both chambers reading it’s highest level ever, and the most recent batch of spawn looking solid. One more week til we move it into fruiting and hopefully (fingers crossed) we’ll FINALLY have those long awaited mushrooms popping. We’ve been waiting anxiously, and i’m sure y’all have as well.
Busy weekend ahead for me, so won’t be getting down there again, but the third Iowa Fungi should have us covered, so if there’s anything to share next week, we’ll certainly still have an update for you all. With that note though, on to the weekly features!
Mushrooms inspire engineers to build a better future
Growing buildings from mushrooms may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but scientists are turning the fantasy into reality. As discussed in feature number one from this week’s Fungi Friday, using mycelium (root-like filaments) of various kinds of fungi—of which mushrooms are the fruiting bodies—scientists are growing bricks and other materials used in the construction industry.
Fungi, the kingdom of organisms including rusts, molds, mildews and yeasts, are natural and abundant, and that the construction industry is responsible for just over 10 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, of which a significant portion comes from cement production, they offer hope for a far more environmentally friendly building solution.
And it’s not only the construction industry that is experimenting with mycelium. Innovators in everything from fashion to furniture production, and medical supplies to electronics, are being inspired by the circularity of nature, where waste is continually broken down to create something new in a closed-loop system. This article goes into details on many of these different industries and how they’re experimenting with fungi, so check it out for more details!
How Close Is The US To A Legal Psychedelics Market?
Remember a few years back when cannabis has just recently started to gain mainstream acceptance and it seemed like advertisements for products popped up what seemed like out of nowhere? Well we may be in for round two… in fact, chances are that you have already seen some of the marketing attempts for psychedelics. There are posters and printouts and popups for recreational “magic mushrooms,” with Amsterdam-based Red Light Holland one of the early promoters.
While the future of recreational psychedelics is still an open question in the U.S., more and more cities and states are following Oregon’s lead, as they were the first to legalize psilocybin under supervised use back in 2020. And while recreational psilocybin likely will see its first commercial products sold and marketed in micro-doses, similar to the 10-, 30- or 100-milligram cannabis doses seen in edibles and concentrates, these products are most likely only 2-3 years away from hitting mainstream shelves.
According to a National Institute of Health survey, recreational psychedelics are being used in greater amounts than ever by 19- to 30-year-olds. While not legal in most places, essentially anybody can order a bottle of psilocybin capsules right now for as little as $40, packaged in a way that looks like any vitamin supplement. And at the same time this is happening, more and more legitimate, medical psychedelic studies are gaining ground as an acceptable mental health therapy in clinical trials. Therefore, it seems like the genie is out of the bottle on this one and it’s only a matter of time before we finally see a thriving U.S. psychedelic market, and as it does become closer and closer to a reality, you can be sure we’ll be here to keep you informed on it.
Bio-based packaging companies say mushrooms and seaweed are the next alternatives to plastic
For the final feature article of the week, let’s cover one of the more innovative uses that we touched on in article number one above… while bio-based packaging isn’t new, companies in the sphere today are making the case that packaging made from natural components is a circular economy-oriented solution to climate change that reduces reliance on fossil fuels while offering products as durable as their plastic counterparts.
One of such companies is Ecovative. They’re a company that makes packaging made with a mixture of mycelium – the root structure of mushrooms – and a hemp byproduct. And their result? A lightweight material similar to expanded polystyrene foam. It’s not secret that the world is trending towards a more sustainable future, and Ecovative is doing nothing short of playing their part in bringing this future to a reality. They work with companies that need protective packaging for products ranging from small, flask-size containers to “1,000-pound industrial servers” and while there are still a few minor hurdles in bringing their product to mass market usage, there is no doubt that this more sustainable model will be adopted by many companies, large and small, as they attempt to get away from the plastic alternatives that have dominated the packaging industry for so long.
Want even more? Here are some other interesting, mushroom focused reads of the week:
Psychedelics Are Making Big Strides in the Academic and Business World
Mushrooms to be happy? The fashion of the subtle dose between medicine and mysticism
As always, thank you for reading this weeks edition of Fungi Friday’s! If you enjoyed what you found, please feel free to forward to friends also interested in the Fungi Community!
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