When people talk about crazy zombie fungi that hijack bug bodies, they're usually talking about cordyceps. I recently learned about this similar fungal pathogen that lives in dank basement and likes to attach itself to common cellar spiders through the joints in their legs, slowly consuming their insides until all that's left is a fuzzy white ghost husk hanging in your basement. — Read the rest

This clip from BBC Planet Earth contains amazing/disturbing macro time-lapse footage of cordyceps fungi growing on all kinds of plants and insects. Watch before the clip gets infected by a DMCA takedown fungus. Video link. — Read the rest

Esteemed mycologist Paul Stamets claims that science fiction TV series The Last of Us is "exploiting mycophobia: the fear of fungi" when mushrooms could actually "save the world," as he explains in the TED Talk below. From the Daily Grail:

The use of a zombifying fungus in the storyline was reportedly inspired by a segment on [the mushroom genus] Cordyceps and how they control insects' minds, that was first broadcast in 2006 in the David Attenborough hosted BBC series Planet Earth…

On his Facebook page, [Stamets writes]:

All organisms must eat.

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Serenity now! That's the phrase Seinfeld MVP dad Frank Costanza was instructed to say whenever he needed to avoid high-stress situations and keep his blood pressure in check. — Read the rest

The science journal BMC Ecology and Evolution published the winners of its annual photography competition featuring images captured by researchers in the field. "The competition attracted entries from ecologists and evolutionary biologists from around the world eager to use their creativity to highlight the wonder of nature, the challenges facing our planet and their research," the editors explain. — Read the rest

Meet Murph! You know the type of zombie which is a human completely taken over by a cordyceps-like fungus? Murph is like that, but the pathology is Morgellons. Murph could star in one of those unsettling animated videos that attaches the latest advances in computer graphics and material science to human models as an exercise in goreless yet skin-raking body horror. — Read the rest

Leaning on the likes of caffeine is an antiquated way to get through the day. We all know that downing coffee can give us a concentrated caffeine boost to help power through the day. And most people know caffeine is a stimulant — but the drug doesn't actually set your body up for optimal performance. — Read the rest

Mushrooms may be among the most misunderstood living organisms on planet Earth. That's partially due to their exotic, almost alien-like look. It's also partially due to their age-old connection to mysticism and folklore from centuries past. Yet another reason is much more firmly grounded in today, as some mushrooms can be poisonous, while others have pharmacological and hallucinogenic properties that could freak a lot of people out. — Read the rest

National Geographic's Hostile Planet series focuses on the "world's most extreme environments to reveal the animal kingdom's most glorious stories of survival on this fast and continuously shifting planet." This Boing Boing exclusive excerpts beautiful and creepy time-lapse videos of day-glo colored slimes and glistening tentacled mushrooms as they erupt, spread, and decay. — Read the rest

We need fungal solutions to pollution, pandemics, and starvation, says Tradd Cotter, a microbiologist and professional mycologist

This unhappy fellow is a tarantula that has been colonized by cordyceps, a fungus that "invades and eventually replaces the host tissue." Paging Mr Mieville, your subconscious mind is manifesting again.

Tarantula infected with Cordyceps (i.imgur.com)

(via Super Punch)

Photo: David Dennis

Researchers at Harvard University are studying a parasitic fungus that infects ants, affects their behavior, then sends them to a fungus-friendly death. Here's Ian Sample at The Guardian:

The fungus, which is alive and well in forests today, latches on to carpenter ants as they cross the forest floor before returning to their nests high in the canopy.

I'm taking a road trip to points of interest in Southern California! The trip is being underwritten by Buick LaCrosse, which has also kindly provided me with the use of a Buick LaCrosse to drive during the tour. My first stop was the Griffith Observatory, in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. — Read the rest

I first read about the cordyceps fungus in Lawrence Weschler's terrific book, Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology. Here's how Weschler describes the creepy fungus:

Deep in the Cameroonian rain forests of west-central Africa there lives a floor-dwelling ant known as Megaloponera foetens, or more commonly, the stink ant.