Slashdot Mirror


Fungus Fire Spores With 180,000 G Acceleration

Hugh Pickens writes "Although a variety of spore discharge processes have evolved among the fungi, those with the longest ranges are powered by hydrostatic pressure and include 'squirt guns' that are most common in the Ascomycota and Zygomycota. In these fungi, fluid-filled stalks that support single spores or spore-filled sporangia, or cells called asci that contain multiple spores, are pressurized by osmosis. Because spores are discharged at such high speeds, most of the information on launch processes from previous studies has been inferred from mathematical models and is subject to a number of errors, but now Nicholas Money, an expert on fungi at Miami University, has recorded the discharges with high-speed cameras at 250,000 frames-a-second and discovered that fungi fire their spores with accelerations up to 180,000 g, calling it 'the fastest flight in nature.' Money and his students, in a justified fit of ecstasy, have created a video of the first fungus opera."

13 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. So Dr. Money... by Bananatree3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm guessing you've got little problems with receiving grants?

    1. Re:So Dr. Money... by fiordhraoi · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is it wrong to point out that this video of quickly expelled reproductive materials, taken by Dr. Money, could justifiably called a "Money shot?" :P

  2. Re:Nematocysts by aproposofwhat · · Score: 3, Funny
    The paper's quite interesting in it's own little way, but what made me grin was the description of the fungi as 'corprophilous'.

    Gotta love that shit...

    --
    One swallow does not a fellatrix make
  3. Zerg! by chill · · Score: 4, Funny

    Zerg Spore Colonies in Starcraft. Better get 'em while they're young, from a safe distance. Watch for the rush.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  4. Must...resist...obvious...joke... by nasor · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nicholas Money has taken some video "shots" of these fungi firing their spores everywhere?

    1. Re:Must...resist...obvious...joke... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Asci porn is so 80's. What's this doing on the Slashdot front page?

  5. Re:Fungus/fungi by Intron · · Score: 5, Funny

    Only you can prevent fungus fires.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  6. You are Non... by ungybungy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps, if we were to plant spore sacs in your brain organ and let its tendrils spread through your flesh, then you would truly understand Juffo-Wup... become part of Juffo-Wup.

  7. Re:Nematocysts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    makes me wonder if someone ever measured the speed of a pinched out zit

  8. Re:Material for Sci-fi Artists by StrawberryFrog · · Score: 2, Funny

    So long as the warhead only weighs as much as a tiny spore, that should work well.

    --

    My Karma: ran over your Dogma
    StrawberryFrog

  9. Re:Nematocysts by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 2, Funny

    makes me wonder if someone ever measured the speed of a pinched out zit

    What mass, and how many G's does it take for the discharge to break the mirror?

    (Score:-1, Disgusting!!!)

  10. This Side of Paradise by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Do any of these spores thrive under Bertold rays and have miraculous healing properties on humans, such as regrowth of a removed appendix?

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  11. Re:Fit of ecstasy? by WillDraven · · Score: 3, Funny

    You have clearly not eaten enough of the fungus to understand.

    --
    This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.