Mushroom OS | Pee Shooter | Nanosniff

Since bananas are the best fruit, I put some thought into what I would eat if they disappeared. Apples felt like the obvious choice for portability. But then I remembered watermelon.

Still feeling good about dem apples, but could be swayed. What's your 2nd favorite fruit?

-Steve

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Mushroom OS

Your future computer might be a mushroom. Researchers are developing computing infrastructure using fungi mycelium.

• Mycelium = web-like fungal root structure

• Forms natural fungal networks to communicate underground

• Electrodes in mycelium track electrical signals as inputs

They won’t be as fast as traditional computers, but mushroom networks use less energy and can self-repair. This proof-of-concept will be built upon to bring us commercially viable mycelium computers. I hope it comes with mushroom keys.

MyCPUlium

Pee Shooter

Glassy-winged sharpshooters fling pee 10x faster than a Lamborghini. These leafhopper insects take efficient waste disposal seriously.

• Drinks up to 300x its weight in water, per day

• Forms a pee bubble and flicks it away with a spring-loaded stylus

• Uses 4-8x less energy than stream urinating

Researchers studied sharpshooters' mastery of superpropulsion (aka how you double-bounce on the trampoline). This principle could one day be used to shed water from small electrical devices. Or replace NOS in the new Fast & Furious movie.

"To pee, or not to pee"

Nanosniff

Researchers are using E. coli to sniff out kidney disease. Genetically engineered bacteria create nanowires that “smell” ammonia.

• Ammonia is a kidney disease byproduct

• Researchers spliced G. sulfurreducens' pilin gene (creates nanowires)

• E. coli + pilin + DLESFL peptide = 100x boost in ammonia sensitivity

Nanowires used in other disease identification methods are made of toxic, non-biodegradable materials. Bacteria-based detection reduces waste and can be tweaked to recognize other diseases. But can it tell me if food is good after the exp. date?

Nanowires or nose hairs?

Clickables

• Time to put a clock on the moon

• Scientific origin story of a playground staple

• Astronauts view of Earth’s green force-field

• Immunity paradox - what doesn’t kill you, makes you weaker

• How to throw a paper plane 290 feet

st3v on site

Mushroom OS

One issue with mycelium computers: cable management. (also...typing with claws)

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