Mushrooms and fungi may look taciturn, but in reality they are real communicators. At least that should be apparent from the research of a computer scientist. In the professional journal Royal Society Open Science the researcher writes that the average lexicon of different fungi consists of no less than 50 words.
Previous research had already shown that fungi can indeed communicate with each other. They would do so using underground wire-like connections – hyphae – and electrical impulses. This is comparable to the way neurons process information in the human body.
eavesdroppers
The new study examined four types of fungi: the caterpillar fungus, the fang, the velvet foot fungus and the ghost fungus. This last fungus did not steal its name and is so called because of its bioluminescent properties: it glows in the dark.
Computer scientist Andrew Adamatzky (University of the West England) got to work with small electrodes that he connected to the hyphae of the fungi. And while the fungi communicated with each other, Adamatzky tried to eavesdrop.
Each fungal activity peak was linguistically analyzed. What turned out? Each peak or pulse varied in duration and length, allowing for a different meaning to be associated with it. Ultimately, for example, there would be a lexicon of up to 50 different words, of which 15 to 20 words are often used.
Why would fungi communicate with each other?
Perhaps fungi communicate for the same reason wolves howl: simply to let each other know they are there. In addition, they may also be able to signal new food sources to each other. “Or they say nothing at all,” Adamatzky suggests. Then the recorded pulses would be no more than a measured potential difference.
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Before we add the language of fungi to Google Translate, more research is required.
Criticism
Other researchers, not involved in the study, are therefore sceptical. “The research detects rhythmic patterns in electrical signals. These patterns are similar to feeding pulses seen in other fungi,” said Dan Bebber, senior lecturer in Biosciences at the University of Exeter. “Although it is an interesting study, interpreting the electrical signals as a language seems a bit over-enthusiastic. Before we add the language of the fungi to Google Translate, more research is required.”
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