Entrepreneurial mycologist Paul Stamets seeks to rescue the study of mushrooms from forest gourmets and psychedelic warlords. The focus of Stamets' research is the Northwest's native fungal genome, mycelium, but along the way he has filed 22 patents for mushroom-related technologies, including pesticidal fungi that trick insects into eating them, and mushrooms that can break down the neurotoxins used in nerve gas.There are cosmic implications as well. Stamets believes we could terraform other worlds in our galaxy by sowing a mix of fungal spores and other seeds to create an ecological footprint on a new planet.
Take a listen and discover what mushrooms can do for the planet besides feed people! Find out why Stamets claims the preservation of old growth forests is a matter of national security. It's a fascinating 17 minute listen that offers a history of fungi as well as a number of key possiblities, including cleaning the soil, treating small pox and the flu, creating natural insecticides, and more...
Also check out Fungi Perfecti, founded by Stamets >>>
didn't he used to have something to do with psychedelic mushrooms?
ReplyDeleteFungi are an amazing species that we are only starting to understand. Stamets is a visionary as one of the few in the world to see the potential impact fungi can have on the world - socially and environmentally.
ReplyDeleteMushrooms truly are magic!
ReplyDeletePaul Stamets is brilliant. I saw him speak in in SF at the Green Festival back in 2006 and was amazed by the vast, untapped potential he's found in the mycelium kingdom.
ReplyDeleteOh man - that's awesome! I would love to hear him speak. He was supposed to be in Palenque at a conference I attended a number of years back, but he was a last-minute cancel as I recall.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes - he's certainly on to something with these mushrooms!