[imagesource:Picryl]
Fungus is soo hot right now. Whether it’s the legalisation of trippy magic shrooms or the hit show The Last of Us, it would appear that the world is becoming obsessed with the remarkable properties of this chef, and hippie, favourite.
Researchers at the aptly named Unconventional Computing Laboratory (UCL) at the University of the West of England in Bristol have now begun experimenting with ‘living computers’ in the form of ‘fungal computers’. Director at UCL, Andrew Adamatzky, believes that ‘the computers of the coming century will be made of chemical or living systems, or wetware, that is going to work in harmony with hardware and software.’ Sounds a lot like a fungal Terminator to us.
Integrating these complex dynamics and system architectures into computing infrastructure could in theory allow information to be processed and analyzed in new ways, as seen through experimental biology-based algorithms and prototypes of microbe sensors and kombucha circuit boards.
[imagesource:Twitter/AndrewAdamatzky]
Fungal computers use the branching, rootlike structures called mycelium as conductors and replacements for electronic parts of computers. This mycelium can receive and send electric signals, as well as retain memory.
“I mix mycelium cultures with hemp or with wood shavings, and then place it in closed plastic boxes and allow the mycelium to colonize the substrate, so everything then looks white. Then we insert electrodes and record the electrical activity of the mycelium. So, through the stimulation, it becomes electrical activity, and then we get the response.”
Adamatzky says this new method of incorporating living fungus with technology is still very new, with their lab being the only ‘wet lab’ in the UK.
Scientists already know that fungus works as connecting infrastructure for nature, creating a sort of internet for plants. By studying the ‘language’ they use to connect, scientists hope to tap into these networks and use them to improve our own computer and information systems.
Mushroom computers could offer some benefits over conventional computers. Although they can’t ever match the speeds of today’s modern machines, they could be more fault tolerant (they can self-regenerate), reconfigurable (they naturally grow and evolve), and consume very little energy.
For a better explanation on the workings of this plant/machine technology, check out the below video where Adamatzky explains the process in more detail:
This is exciting. At the moment the scientists are only experimenting with known fungi that have specific properties, but they believe that in the future, special fungi can be grown with specific properties that would allow better control.
[source:popsci/youtube]
