gay-dhd&d ⚔ they/she ⚔ TTRPG creator, writer, mycophile, rabble rouser https://t.co/a0x0nr9PyX
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On 26 April 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. It destroyed the containment building and caused a reactor core fire that lasted 8 days, spraying airborne radioactive contaminants throughout the USSR and Europe 😨 
You really can't overstate how important fungi are to soil. 
Starting at the beginning: 
This cultural mycophobia is widely documented phenomenon. The term “fungophobia” was coined in 1887 by a British mycologist, William Delisle Hay, who was so frustrated at how the Brits hated mushrooms even while other europeans loved them. 
First: Is it red because it’s poisonous? Nope! You’re thinking of "aposematism": when animals use warning coloration to warn predators that they’re dangerous. Red is a fave colour, like with coral snakes or these cool frogs! But fungi don’t really use this. 
Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the Death Cap mushroom, is considered the world’s most poisonous mushroom. Just half of its sickly pale cap is enough to kill a human. I’ll get into the nitty gritty of poison, but first let’s talk about her ILLUSTRIOUS history. 
First off, the beautiful name. Destroying Angel is the common name for a few similar species of deadly all-white mushrooms in the genus Amanita (which host my favourite toxin, amatoxin -- more on that in a sec). 
Claviceps purpurea is an ergot fungus that grows on the ears of rye (it looks gross). And if you eat this infected rye, things are about to get real weird.
Important context: hyphae are the branching filaments that make up fungi. The mycelium (which is like the "root system") is made of these tiny tendrils, and the mushroom is too, all stacked up! They are long tubular structures, like a hose, but TEENY (4 to 6 microns thick). 
Contact information: 
First: it was never meant to replace trees. The viral tweet blatantly misrepresented this, as did a lot of the reporting. It's meant to be used in places where trees can't survive. Trees often struggle in urban areas and can cause lots of problems for the community. (2/14)
So those loci (like genetic buckets) can fit 2 kinds of alleles, called Alpha and Beta (I know, very original naming). So the mating type could be A1B1 meaning it has the alpha allele at both loci. With me so far? Now these alleles has specificities, like subgroups or variants. — 
Imma just keep posting more bangers I find as I browse because it's 6am, I'm wide awake, and these frogs are definitely in love. 
Coprinus comatus (shaggy ink cap) -- their cap is this textured white to black gradient that looks like a scene kids hair and I'm obsessed. AND they melt into useable ink after being picked! 