One thing I find fascinating about fungi is the apparent "intelligence" of wood-born mushrooms. I've been growing edible 'shrooms for a few years now, and there are a number of ways to get the organism to fruit. But my favorite has to be taking the log that the mushrooms have grown in, and giving it a good thump. The mycelium "thinks" that a tree has fallen near it, and produces caps to send out spores and infest the perceived downed tree. Pretty darn cool.
Psilocybin mushrooms and psychedelics, as a whole, have shown substantial promise as beneficial agents that can truly aid individuals grappling with mental health difficulties.
What's equally if not more astonishing is that the ants will recognize the odd behaviour of the infected ant and proceed to remove it from the rest of the colony as to try and prevent it from infecting more of them.
Not only that, but cordyceps is itself plagued by an as-yet unidentified hyperparasite that reduces it's (cordyceps) spores viability down to a measly 2%-5%
I would guess that it wasn't a single person that named it. More than likely, it came about over time by many people as a nickname, based on its reputation alone.
Want to know how it got that name? When the fungus is young, it looks almost exactly like an edible puffball mushroom - so much so that it has killed quite a number of people. The trick to distinguish the two is to cut open the “puffballs” and see if a mushroom cap is developing inside (which puffballs don’t have). As it happens, the developing cap inside a young destroying angel looks just like a pair of wings.
Thanks, Stephen, for pointing out the image for the Death Cap at 6:55 is mislabeled, and not actually a Death Cap. For an accurate image, click here: www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/deathcap.html.
That's not a death cap at 6:55, it's not even in Amanita genus. This is a type of milk cap, which is either perfectly edible (to the point of being a delicacy) or inedible and very bitter but not deadly poisonous.
+SamTheGr8est Lol, you wish ;) Seriously though, it's some type of Lactarius, probably Lactarius quietus. I've been picking mushrooms all my life. Death cap looks like this: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Amanita_phalloides_1.JPG
Arcadiy Ivanov I'm glad you pointed this out. I was going to say the same thing. I actually watched the video because the thumbnail had that picture and I thought he was going to tell me something about lactarius mushrooms.
It’s definitely not Amanita phalloides! it’s Lactarius Deterrimus. also known as false saffron milkcap. The large orange cap with the small developed green spots are a dead giveaway.
I only recently started bingeing this channel (at 2x speed of course) and was wondering a similar thing when I saw the image (especially because this channel is usually much more accurate). Death caps are, at least in my experience a shiny gold green without a depressed cap and lacking those concentric rings. In addition he literally said the deadly web cap cortinarius look like common brown mushrooms that you can eat. The first rule of mushrooms IS STAY AWAY FROM BROWN MUSHROOMS WITH LAMELLAE (gills). Also cortinarius is such a diverse genus that I tend to stay away from it entirely.
I want Hank to travel somewhere where eating psilocybin mushrooms is legal, ingest a medium dose and report in real time what's happening, in his analytical way. For science, Hank!
***** I was mostly going for just a fun video with Hank tripping. But that last part you wrote is totally right and could be worth a lot from an educational standpoint.
Childlike fascination with your surroundings and with learning. That's it. That's what a moderate dose of said mushrooms feels like. It might not seem magical to you, but innocence is magical to most, and is something you can never naturally get back, which makes a drug that can de-jade your mind remarkable.
@@notpulverman9660 closed eye hallucinations and the story your brain forms out of the stimulation and abnormal thought patterns stands out as the beneficial mystical experience that people benefit most from.
Ceyhun Dursun i have a pet slime mold there cool they can split into other ones and move mine is greenish the also come in white blue yellow and orange
Or check out the parasites that infect snails. They make their eyestalks bulge and pulsate and change their behavior to attract birds. It's crazy looking.
Hank, I'd like to let you know that I appreciate what you do here on RU-vid. I cannot tell you how many people that I've met that are scientifically illiterate and it saddens me to know that so many people can master the art of "Flip Cup", but don't know that the sun is a star. However, the content produced for this channel allows the masses to learn in an effortless manner and for that, I thank you.
+Nero Over on Facebook I saw people arguing over religion, then one of them started to bash science because "first they tell us Pluto is a planet, now it's a star!" *facepalm*
That's cause you are saying it out of the blue. First you have to guide the conversation to the topic first. (Never new I actually did learn social skills in junor high/high)
Those theories are controversial? Hank Green, let me tell you a little secret about ourselves: If humans find a way to get high, they get f@cking high. Solved.
8:52 _Saccharomyces cerevisiae_ isn't the only species. It's used to make ales, while lager style beers are made with _Saccharomyces pastorianus_. There are also some more special styles of beer made with other species
In addition, starches are not broken down into sugar during boil but at the mash (alpha and beta amylase). Just adding that for the sake of science :-)
A mushroom walks into a bar and says to the bartender, "Not mushroom in here tonight eh?" The bartender says back, "You're right so get out." The mushroom says, "but I'm such a fungi." The bartender says back, "fine pull up a stool." The mushroom tips is cap in thanks. I've been working on this joke for a long time.
Psilocin doesn't trick anything, it modulates activity in part of the limbic system by 5-HT2a, allowing new information to travel less accordingly by the rules of previous learned information. Hyper-neurogenesis.
I concur. It's definitely a Lactarius. Following the second link in the supporting material gives a good picture of A. phalloides. - A Club Mycologist for Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club.
"Probably" not a great idea to go around eating random wild mushrooms? The first rule you learn when gathering mushrooms is to leave anything you don't know for sure is edible alone, and preferably don't even touch it!
touch, pick. take home all the mushrooms you want. touching will do NOTHING other than maybe get a lil dirty, smell a lil earthy. ... It's a myth that touching can do anything. In fact most mycoligist even suggest a taste. a small portion to the tongue, just get the flavors, don't swallow it though! Smell and taste are huge in the I D process. DON'T FEAR THE SHROOM. 🍄💚
One of my favorite memories of my entire life is the times I wandered the northern California forests for mushrooms to eat. They were like finding Easter eggs and grew under ferns about 3 to 6 feet high. It felt like Alice in wonderland and was a great learning adventure for the children I took with me. Then the great feasts afterward only added to the pleasure. Yay Mushrooms!
Actually one of the most highly prized “Chinese medicine” mushrooms is Cordyceps militaris literally grows out of all sorts of insects including cockroaches.
I was waiting for the destroying angel, and there it was. I read a book about answers to absurd questions, and the destroying angel was in the chapter “how to get rid of your DNA” or something like that
Sonic uses gems to get power. Megaman defeats bosses and gets their abilities. The Dragonborn absorbs dragon souls to learn shouts. Link collects the most powerful pieces of energy in Hyrule. *What about Mario?* *shroooooms!!!*
The book "The Night of St. Anthony's Fire" by John G. Fuller is FANTASTIC. Describes some of the first modern-day ergotism and the effects. VERY well written and one of my serious home library books that get re-read regularly!
There is no reason to make Magic Mushrooms illegal apart from stopping people having a safe extra body experience. Sure some people will do extremes but that's far more the case for booze. Clearly if they were regulated and easily available people would not be poisoning themselves with random fungi
+brian whittle Must say I like the fact they talk about it and they put it at first place, admitting is the most extraordinary power fungi have. Times are indeed changing
+ShipIsLove ShipIsLife safe if taken as advised by professionals and experienced users. I know people who have gone crazy cus of taking 10 tabs of acid, and i know people who can't enjoy shrooms anymore because they took it with people they weren't close with, and those uninformed idiots thought she was having a seizure, and they all went along with it. It traumatized her. This is all because people are going to do the drugs either way, so why not provide proper education surrounding such drugs? Warn of the dangers, but also offer information incase people are truly fascinated with altered experiences of conciousness.
"The fungus produces some toxic nitrogen-containing compounds called alkaloids"... umm, yes, ish... Most English speakers would understand this sentence to mean "Alkaloids are toxic nitrogen-containing compounds, and the fungus produces them." That, however, would be false. Most alkaloids are not toxic at all. They do all, as far as I know, contain nitrogen, and are compounds... but tons of medicines contain alkaloids. Tons of completely harmless things contain alkaloids. Suggesting that alkaloids are toxic in general is extremely misleading. I can let slide your failure to mention that hallucinogenic mushrooms were made illegal purely on the grounds that they were fun, and not due to any negative health consequences from their use (though I do think it should be mentioned, as most people simply assume the drugs which are illegal are all such because they are bad for your health which is very much not true). But using tricky language to make alkaloids sound dangerous? That's just weird and does your viewers a great disservice. Also, whether it is safe to eat wild mushrooms relies heavily upon where you are in the world. In many parts of China, you can grab any little brown mushroom and have a tasty snack. That's why many immigrants to the US, where you are much more likely to end up grabbing a death cap or avenging angel, have died from poisoning due to wild mushrooms...
It is not really true that Magic mushrooms were forbidden because they are fun, they were because people who took them were questioning the government, the Hippies. Not to say they are pretty powerful.
+Dustin Rodriguez SciShow has not rarely taken me aback by their lack of research or inaccuracies. I really like what they are doing in general, but I wish they would take it a little bit even more seriously.
HCN 27.0253g/mol And every substance is toxic at some dosage. The problem is that the way they said it implies to all but the most careful and parsimonious listeners that alkaloids are a class of chemicals populated exclusively by substances which are poisonous in low to moderate amounts to humans.
Y'all could do a whole episode on cordyceps. They infect a whole lot more than just ants and in some cases will even cause their hosts to behave in ways that help spread the fungus to other hosts.
Hey we're fungus, Why don't you bung us, Into your oesophagus. Some of us are dangerous, Some of us are poisonous, Some of us will make you high, Some of us will make you DIIIIIIEEEEEEEE! -Mr. Weeble, 'Fungus'
HOW COULD YOU! lol The starches are fully converted in the mash, the brewer can check with a simple iodine test. Scishow you failed me! Brewing is Malting, Milling, Mashing, Lautering, Boiling, cooling and fermenting, and finally packaging. Boiling coagulates proteins, isomerizes alpha acids, reduces the volume of water in the beer and can cause some mallard reactions too... If you are making a sour beer then MAYBE you left SOME starch in the boil, but it wont be broken down accept for by appropriate wild yeast and bacteria.
+thorhale and hops bitter properties are not why they were first added. hops were added to preserve the beer ... we just got used to the bitter taste and quite liked it...
not exactly true, Gruit was used for ages before hops and gruit definitely makes for a bitter beer, hops found favor we think because they helped to keep the beer from spoiling better, but the bitterness is key for making a well balanced and enjoyable beverage.
+thorhale beer has been made for many many years without any bittering agents. beer was produced as early as 5000 BC and evidence in china of 7000BC. earliest reference to hops or gruit is around 822 AD and not common until the middle ages.
+spud4242 you can argue some other point to feel right but I was only saying that hops replaced gruit as the bittering agent in beer because of its superior anti microbial action. Sure call sake "beer" if you want.
watched another scishow vid where hank said the biggest organism on earth is a bunch of trees in the US..cant remember what its called... look like birch trees. SO WHICH ONE IS IT HANK?!
He was speaking of the Quaking Aspens In a secluded valley, that may have an 80,000 year old root system. And since they all are genetically identical, and share the same roots they are the Heaviest life form.
Serotogenic hallucinogens such as psilocin or Lysergic acid diethyl amide or dimethyl tryptamine are some of the safest, most helpful substances known to man. They can also put you through an absolute hell, but even then people are generally better off afterwards. Sometimes people get PTSD and nobody should use these substances like toys but their potential to help any and everyone is absolutely incredible
Man I need to do some shrooms again. Changed how I look at life for the better. Even the bad trips are helpful. Each one reveals something about you or the world that you would never discover other wise, which scares some people, but fascinates me immensely.
It's a little worrying seeing a very good science show picture a 'Death Cap' that isn't even a death cap - the image you showed was actually a member of the Lactarius Genus (Milkcaps) which is SO RIDICULOUSLY FAR REMOVED from the Amanita Genus of which Death Cap (Amanita Phalloides) is part of. The fact that you are actively showing how deadly these are, you could at least get the right picture. I am speechless as to how you messed up that badly. Sort it out, that is a mistake that could kill someone.
Your picture of a death cap is very wrong a death cap ( Amanita phalloides) looks nothing like that the picture you have is of whats commonly called a safron milk cap they taste awesome just as their binomial name suggests ( Lactarius deliciosus)
Cheers , since scishow upped their output I've noticed a decline in their fact checking , which is really quite sad , I'm noticing at least one significant factual error per week in their videos which makes me question if its really a good source or education for me anymore as I am only detecting errors in things I personally already have significant knowledge in.
6:54 My cousin died from eating death cap. The parents were stupid enough to think they know mushroom types. All of them went to hospital, the youngest member couldnt make it.
+Viktor6665 Except that's not a death cap in the video. Death cap are Amonitas, the mushroom in the picture is Lactarius. Death cap looks like this: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Amanita_phalloides_1.JPG
+Spartan0430 What's your diet like? If your body doesn't get essential minerals and cells don't get the proper energy from what you eat you will always be tired. If you can try taking coQ10 enzyme its kinda expensive but it helps your cells change ADP to ATP.
+Spartan0430 What's your diet like? If your body doesn't get essential minerals and cells don't get the proper energy from what you eat you will always be tired. If you can try taking coQ10 enzyme its kinda expensive but it helps your cells change ADP to ATP.
Person Smith my diet is pretty poor. i am an extremely picky eater and just don't enjoy eating for the most part. i mostly responded because i thought the dude's answer was silly but thanks for the advice
I'm surprised you guys didn't include that slime mold that can control a robot!! The mold also maps out the most efficient distances to places and it recreated the map of a japanese subway.
+KiddPenn Slime molds are not actually fungi, they belong to a bunch of different groups in the pseudo-kingdom protista. The one you are talking about is a type of amoeba .
cows manure seems to know how maybe that why the cow is sacred if you had soemthing giving you magic mushroom you wouldn't kill and eat it now , but ya would prize the milk(I love rashamali).
I am allergic to the penicillin antibiotic. What is the correlation between the antibiotic and the penicillium mold in blue cheese? Would someone with an allergy like mine to the antibiotic also be allergic to the cheese?
"Sketchy anthropological evidence" that magic mushrooms "could have been used" in some ancient religious practices? "But this is controversial?" I thought this was a science show but, more and more I'm noticing politics seems to be woven into the fabric. Why not just say, "some anthropological evidence."? Why the value judgements? Anyone can google ancient mushroom stones or art. There is plenty of it around.
@Michael Sauve, may I assume your comment is directed to me? I think you may have misunderstood the "meaning" of my comment. I am not debating between proven fact and theory. It's not necessary to. Much of science is theory. Science recognizes the legitimacy of theory. E.g. "The Big Bang theory, the theory of evolution, the theory of general relativity" Science has no problem with theory. What I am talking about is "political value judgments". I spot them a mile away. It is perfectly neutral and scientific to say, "there is evidence that suggests that some ancient cultures may have incorporated the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms into their mythology or religious practice".
Michael Sauve Fairly isolated indigenous peoples in central and South America use psilocybin mushrooms as part of their spiritual practices and artwork today, it seems ridiculous to say that this is a modern innovation.
Fungi are also good for various medical and environmental issues. Including cancer, oil spills, pest control, and saving declining bee colonies along with many other vitality important things we should all care about. Paul Stamets has done tons of research for many years and has found some amazing discoveries. He has plenty of videos on RU-vid, many conferences and even forest foraging videos.
How surprised I was to learn about the origin of cyclosporin, I've been taking it for years for my eczema. It's one of the only things that works on a long term basis for me.
Loved the pun intro and all that followed. I have to admit that after reading Carlos Castenada back in the day, I experimented with the magic, several times, in the 60's. Mind expanding.
You forgot "Make it rain!" - seriously, fungal spores are a significant contributor to particulate matter at altitudes where clouds can form and give the water something to cling to forming droplets that grow to become rain. All hail the fungal rain gods!
In beer brewing mashing is what converts the starches to sugars (using enzymes from the malted barley) for the yeast, boiling is purely for pasteurizing and releasing bittering alpha acids from the hops
Eastern Europeans (and not only us) have special relations with mushrooms. We eat them. Fun fact: mushroom picking is sometimes poetically called a "quiet hunt". Favorite pastime of a lot of people I know. You have to clean and cook them afterwards, but if it's not you doing the boring stuff (probably your wife, your mother, kids...), it's very enjoyable, especially if you have company. The most important thing is to know your mushrooms. At least learn fool-proof edibles and know deadly shrooms. And never pick, and definitely don't cook mushrooms you are not certain about.
Might I suggest: The Christmas Island Yellow Crazy Ant epidemic be solved; deploying Ophiocordycep Unilateralis inoculations throughout the archipellego.
