Fact of the Day: 01/02/2023

You may know that when fungi reproduce, they release spores that are dispersed by the wind. When the spores land, new fungi will start growing, but how does the whole dispersion process happen? According to The Harvard Gazette, “One fungus, the destructive Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, spews thousands of spores nearly simultaneously to form a plume that reduces drag to nearly zero and even creates a wind that carries many of the spores 20 times farther than a single spore could travel alone” (par. 2). At first, scientists did not know how the spores spread so quickly, but they later found out that when a fungus releases more spores at a time, they travel further, because when many spores are ejected, the drag that would normally cause the spores to stop is reduced. But how are so many spores released at a time? Turns out that “while the spore sac that ejects first seems to be random, after the first one or two go off, a wave of ejection travels outward as successive rings of spore sacs rupture in sequence” (par. 17). Isn’t it fascinating how nature can evolve in these ways? If you found this interesting, you can try to make art out of mushrooms by using these spores (link for tutorial below)!

Reference(s): https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/09/more-from-spores-how-they-spread/

Extra Resource(s): How to make spore art: https://namyco.org/how_to_spore_prints.php#:~:text=Put%20a%20drop%20of%20water%20on%20the%20top,foil%20or%20glass%2C%20making%20a%20spore%20print%20pattern 

Fact Author: Bailey W.

Fact Editor: Ace

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