I'm writing an article about sustainable materials for an upcoming issue of our sustainability newsletter and I've just been doing some research on mycelium.

It's absolutely amazing stuff!

Apart from it's natural use of being an underground substrate for mushrooms and holding soil together, the number of things that we can make or 'grow' from it is amazing.

Packaging, a leather substitute, bricks or entire wall panels for the construction industry, etc. etc. Oh, and we can also grow plant based protein like steaks or burgers from it.

It's sustainable, biodegadeable, and not insanely expensive to produce, unlike many 'eco' materials, Plus it's low-density, light, and strong, also a great thermal and acoustic insulators and is highly fire-resistant.

Seems like an almost perfect material, I'm sure there are some downsides but I haven't found many of them yet.

Wow!! I consider myself a well-read, environmentally conscious, science-oriented guy and yet...I had never heard of it. Holy crap, now you have me going. Can't wait to see what you write.

The Mycelium Revolution Is upon UsIt's the fungus mushrooms are made of, but it can also produce everything from plastics to plant-based meat to a scaffolding for growing organs-and much moreblogs.scientificamerican.com

Don’t you watch Star Trek? Haven’t you heard of the mycelium network? This stuff is beyond amazing ;)

The Mushroom Planet book series with "Tyco M. Bass"

It should be noted that mycelium isn't so much a substrate for mushrooms. The mycelium is actually the organism that produces mushrooms, which are simply their fruiting bodies. The soil (or vegetative organic matter like trees, depending on the type) is the substrate for the mycelium. The mushrooms are simply the part we get to see, most of the time.

Mycelium is also crucial to many forest dwelling plants - especially trees, as far as I'm aware. Those in symbiotic relationships with trees are called mycorrhyza. It acts as a catalyst for nutrient uptake by their roots, which wouldn't otherwise be capable of drawing as much of the essentials from the soil. It also acts as a network, passing messages or even food between individual trees. The fungus takes a small portion of the sugars produced by the trees in return.

Yep all correct. 'Substrate' was a poorly chosen word.

Can't wait to see what you write.

You need wait no longer...

Nothing deep or amazingly insightful I'm afraid, but a few more amazing things about mycelium and some pretty disturbing numbers about the construction industry can be found in my article about it in the latest TS issue: https://platformaeko.com/towards-sustainability/

The article about using underwater speakers to regenerate coral reefs is pretty cool too, in case you don't know about that project.