VERY interesting stuff, by the way...

Here is a really good interview with Paul Stamets.

From Interview: I have long proposed that mycelia are the earth’s “natural Internet.” I’ve gotten some flak for this, but recently scientists in Great Britain have published papers about the “architecture” of a mycelium — how it’s organized. They focused on the nodes of crossing, which are the branchings that allow the mycelium, when there is a breakage or an infection, to choose an alternate route and regrow. There’s no one specific point on the network that can shut the whole operation down. These nodes of crossing, those scientists found, conform to the same mathematical optimization curves that computer scientists have developed to optimize the Internet. Or, rather, I should say that the Internet conforms to the same optimization curves as the mycelium, since the mycelium came first.

Take care,

Curt

Karadel,

 Nice to meet you - thanks for posting.  The work Paul Stamets is doing is truly amazing, and I'm really excited to see that other folks are interested in it as much as I am.  AS far as a local resource goes - I'd be happy to field your questions if you had any about mycology or growing mushrooms or anything of that nature (and I am sure other folks here would be equally as good a resource as I would).  I'd be interested to talk about it more as well, its something of a hobby of mine and one I would really like to share with others!

Yours,

Dominic

ASmuch as I am an educator of the role of Mycelium...

They aren't up to the task of saving the world!

It is we, who must dig ourseve out of this hole.

Every solution I used to think mushrooms would solve, I've realized there is a more systematic approach.

Now while mushroom farming and production and the health benefits are only now being re-discovered by americans, thousands of years of knowledge of fungi isn't exactly saving china from the path they are headed down...

What's important to remember is that mycelium, while amazing, only function with the other parts in pace.

The 'worlds internet' indeed! Imagine if resources could be communicated just like information is communicated! that is what mycelium does!

But without the trees and the plants, just like if there are no computers, a network is useless without users.

And what you'll find, is that organizally speaking, given time, and the immense spore count of the air you breathe, mycelium are more than equipped to do the work themselves.

And so, while domesticate mycelium may not be up to the job, plants innoculated with a host of microorganisms stand a better chance towards ecosystem integration.

Stamets, unfortunately, in his stand that he is taking for mushrooms, is seeing things from their point of view, and more systematic approaches to bioremediation are being neglected -- and this is a problem with scientists across the board. 

As a naturalist and remediator, when we plant oyster grass, we 'seed' the beds with real bayou mud! No need for fancy mycolabs, protozoa labs, or whatever the fad may be... just a bucket and a shovel!

AND!!! Not only do we get the mycelia and protozoa and bacteria that we need for heathy bayou soil remediatin ... we get all kinds of early life-cycle creatures still in larvae form! As we raise our oyster grass -- we are planting mussels and crawfish and who the heck knows else! we don't raise and plant oyster grass with our education groups -- we plant little tiny node of ecosystem we hope wil grow into hubs someday!

Because truly, all this work can be done intuitively, all mother nature needs is the opportunity to nurture life -- and voila! We're on the path to reversing the effects of industrialization!

Also, as a psychonaut, I've learned there are certainy more than red and blue pills to swallow.... And while a world internet is interesting to think about -- it's ony one of the infinite connections we have to the spirit world!