Here are five stories from the week’s news on our beloved fungi.
1) Mushroom Leather?
Step aside heffers, Smithsonian reports on a new type of leather that looks, feels, and is durable like the real thing. It’s called Reishi. MycoWorks engineers mycelium cells to grow into 3-D structures and create some badass leather. Check out the article here and the video below.
2) Get Your Genius On: Mushroom Supplements
Guess what the hippies out west are doing now? And guess what everyone else is gonna be doing soon?
You guessed it (or maybe not): mushroom supplements. These Mushroom Brain Focus nootropics (drugs that used to enhance memory or other cognitive functions) “improve your mental faculties by boosting cognition, promoting faster recall, improving memory, and skyrocketing attention and concentration,” according to this article in Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber.
3) Merry Mushroom Gravy Christmas
Porcini Mushrooms. If you live in California, go hunt for them!
Want a good recipe with a unique mushroom? Check out this story on the porcini mushrooms, which comes complete with a Christmas Eve gravy recipe. Mmmm
4) See the Ghost of Summer in Australia
Ghost Mushroom (img: Boaz Ng)
Missing summer here in the US? These ghost mushrooms that are causing a spooky stir down under right at the start of summer. Ghost mushrooms are typically seen in the autumn—but due to some wet conditions down there—are making a scene right when beach season is starting in Australia. Check out the article for some awesome pictures and the story.
5) Alaska is weird.
According to this article, some dude in Alaska got caught selling hallucinogenic mushrooms to an undercover cop. But that’s not all. He decided to put some swastika stickers on the packaging. So it looks like the last frontier has itself a Nazi drug dealer…. or had.
There ya have it. Check back next week for more mushroom news!