Mushrooms

Researchers in Switzerland have developed a new film-like material that incorporates living cells from fungi, so it's biodegradable and can help break down waste too. Oh, and you can eat it, if you're curious like that.

Oyster mushrooms and bits of bamboo sound more at home on a Chinese menu than stuck to the wall, but scientists have used this mix to make aesthetically pleasing tiles with bumps and textures that help regulate temperature much like elephant skin does.

The white button mushroom has cancer-fighting abilities, according to the results of a human clinical trial on the use of food as medicine. Not only does it slow tumor growth, but it also allows cancer-fighting immune cells to do their job effectively.

Citizen scientists have been key to the discovery of two new species of hallucinogenic fungi, joining the ranks of 140 known types of these psychoactive mushrooms. One even has longstanding roots in traditional healing medicine in mountainous Lesotho.

Your boots may soon have a tropical touch, with a breakthrough in using pineapple leaves to make a strong, 100% natural, sustainable leather. It comprehensively outperformed mushroom leather, and has serious potential for scalable, commercial use.

Laws are opening up to support the use of medicinal psilocybin – and that requires new technology to ensure accurate, consistent dosing. Researchers have now developed a fast and reliable method of determining the potency of magic mushrooms.

A healthy frog has been spotted with a mushroom growing out its side, the first time such a growth on live animal tissue has been seen. Not surprisingly, it stunned scientists (and had us wondering if this is how a real-life The Last of Us begins).

When it comes to cleaning up marine oil spills, it's best if you can use a material that separates the oil from the seawater. Scientists have created a new organic membrane which does exactly that, and it's derived from oyster mushrooms.

The communications and nutrients support system of fungi, mycelium, can stretch hundreds of miles beneath our feet. Now, researchers have harnessed another of its bio-superpowers to engineer a sustainable, safe and effective fire-retardant material.

Scientists have identified a potential antidote to the poisonous mushroom, the death cap. Using CRISPR, a team found that a chemical already approved by the FDA can neutralize the toxin and save lives in mouse tests – but there are a few catches.

Whether they’re hacking the brains of bugs or mining gold, fungi are craftier than we give them credit for. Now researchers in Japan have studied how forest mushrooms communicate with each other, and found that they're mostly chatty when it rains.

Stunning nature, craft breweries, marionberries and Voodoo Doughnuts are some of the things the Pacific Northwest state is famous for, but with new licenses rolling out, it'll soon be known as the unofficial home of the burgeoning psilocybin industry.