Is it the trees rustling in the wind? Nope, it's something even more bizarre and fascinating: mushrooms chit-chatting with each other!
That's right, after a refreshing rain shower, these fungi come to life and start sharing their thoughts and feelings. It's like a secret little mushroom party happening right under our noses.
Who knows what kind of juicy gossip they're swapping? Maybe they're chatting about that one time they almost got picked for someone's dinner plate. Or maybe they're just reminiscing about the good old days when they were still spores. We may never know, but one thing's for sure - mushrooms are definitely not as quiet and boring as we thought!
New Atlas reported that researchers at Tohoku University in Japan conducted field tests on a type of ectomycorrhizal fungi known as Laccaria bicolor, small tan-colored mushrooms that grow on forest floors. The team attached electrodes to six of the mushrooms in a cluster and measured the electrical signals they passed between each other
They noticed that the electrical signals fluctuated over time, and seemed to correlate with changes in temperature and moisture. In fact, the signals spiked after rainfall, and were found to be stronger between mushrooms that were closer together.
“In the beginning, the mushrooms exhibited less electrical potential, and we boiled this down to the lack of precipitation,” said Yu Fukasawa, lead researcher on the study. “However, the electrical potential began to fluctuate after raining, sometimes going over 100 mV.”
The team says these findings indicate the need for future studies investigating electrical communication between fungi in real-world locations.
Warning: reading this story may cause you to feel guilty about munching on mushrooms in the future. But hey, if it makes you feel any better, at least they got to have a good chat before becoming part of your meal!
