Will Mushrooms Make Styrofoam Obsolete?
The New Yorker, May 2013
excerpted by Shea Moss
The May 2013 issue of New Yorker magazine had an article by Ian Frazier about a mycelium-based packaging material destined to make styrofoam packaging obsolete. Gavin McIntyre and Eben Bayer, two students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, grow all-natural substitutes for plastic from chitin molecules found in polypores.
McIntyre and Bayer were taking a class from Professor Burt Swersey called Inventor’s Studio. When McIntyre and Bayer took the class in the fall term of their senior year, neither came up with anything very workable at first. Gavin’s idea for a car-exhaust attachment that would burn off emissions with charged plasma was ingenious but probably unsafe. “Like driving around with a lightning bolt in your tailpipe.” Eben’s idea for a no-moving parts turbine that could generate electricity in high winds by means of sound did not impress Swersey at all.
Galerina autumnalis, aka “The Deadly Galerina” (by Douglas Smith)
Mushroom of the Month: October, 2013
This month we take a look at a little brown job, that is dear to my heart but probably not to most of yours. Galerina autumnalis is a small brown job, growing on well rotten logs and stumps during wet months. And as a small brown job, why do people care at all here, since for most people those are the mushrooms you do best to ignore? This species has been shown to contain the same toxins as that of Amanita phalloides, a.k.a. “the Death Cap”. That species has been associated with the most cases of deadly poisonings around the world. But in the case of G. autumnalis since it is a LBJ (little brown job), it is rarely the case of mushroom poisonings, since who wants to eat LBJs anyway? But it comes up positive in tests for amanita-toxins, and in lists of poisonous mushrooms it always makes the cut. And people are always fascinated with deadly things, now, aren't they?
Marshall Fields Habitat Walk Summary 9/28/13
To open the 2013 - 2014 mushroom season the Fungus Fed of Santa Cruz held a habitat walk of Marshall Fields (upper UCSC campus) on the morning of Saturday, September 28th. Though significant amounts of rain had yet to fall, the event was well attended by an enthusiastic group of around 20 fungiphiles.
A Very Mushroomy Halloween To You, Too!
Halloween is fast approaching, and this is Santa Cruz’s favorite holiday. Are your kids dressing up? Are you?
Julian and Gabriel sported magnificent Muscaria costumes while out trick-or-treating with their family and some friendly elves last year.
September, 2013
"Hygrocybe miniata group" by Hugh Smith
Date: September 14, 2013
Camera: Canon Canon EOS REBEL T3i
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure: 0.50 sec
Focal Length: 50 mm
Aperture: f/32.0
Flash Used: No
Camera: Canon Canon EOS REBEL T3i
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure: 0.50 sec
Focal Length: 50 mm
Aperture: f/32.0
Flash Used: No
It takes a sharp eye to find this little waxy cap, especially for those of us that are color-challenged! Hygrocybe miniata, or those in that group differing in minute ways, are very colorful little mushrooms that grow in a variety of habitats including rotting wood and moss, as these were. These were fresh since they are still quite red. As they age, they frequently fade to dull orange to yellow, which often leads to mis-identification when found in this state...
Echo Summit Foray (by )
It was a lot of fun.
"Then you were one big happy family!"
"Eh?"
"I said, there uh were fun in a lot of you there."
Phalluscybe
Hugh (Who) Smith
Echo Summit Foray Recap
Our 2013 Echo Summit foray was met with stunning early Autumn weather, warm sunny days and clear night skies. The view from the California Alpine Club lodge was amazing and the company exceptional.
Although little rain had yet blessed the Sierras, over 35 species were found as we sought out moisture-hoarding locales...
General Meeting, October 16: Sydney Glassman
WHAT:
Sydney Glassman is interested in the interactions between aboveground and belowground terrestrial communities, in particular the effects of mycorrhizal symbioses on plant community composition and function. She is also interested in understanding broad patterns of fungal and microbial diversity and the role of dispersal in shaping ectomycorrhizal communities...
Albion I Foray
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Marshall Fields Habitat Foray
WHEN:
|
09/28/2013, 9 am - 12 pm |
WHERE:
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Marshall Fields |
There will be a Habitat Walk hosted by the FFSC on Saturday 9/28 at 9:00 am, at the Marshall Fields area of the UCSC campus located off of Empire Grade Road. This walk will have an emphasis on mushroom ecology, as well as tree identification and their associations with some of our most beloved local mushrooms. This will be a great opportunity to learn how to recognize the places where you can likely find mushrooms when the season is upon us.