No one knows what sleeping mushrooms dream as their vast mycelial networks flash and pulsate with electrochemical reactions similar to those of our own brain cells.
But what happens to this web of impulses when given a chance, given a moment of freedom?
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Cornell University in the US and the University of Florence in Italy recently took steps to elucidate the culture of edible mushroom species. Hirata Eringi (Also known as the Eringi mushroom) It controls a pair of vehicles and can twitch and roll on flat surfaces.
Through a series of experiments, the researchers showed that the electrophysiological activity of mushrooms can be used as a means of translating environmental cues into commands that can be used to drive the operation of mechanical devices.
“By growing mycelium and turning it into the robot’s electronics, we were able to enable the biohybrid machine to sense and react to its environment.” said said senior researcher Rob Shepherd, a materials scientist at Cornell University, when the study was published in August.
Using machines to melt meat is nothing new. Evolution has had billions of years to fine-tune organic machines, so we turn to biology for shortcuts to create robust devices that can sense, think, and act as we wish. It’s natural.
Surprisingly, the fungal kingdom is like an untapped goldmine for humanity. Cyberne technology.
Easily cultivated with relatively simple requirements and a tendency to survive in places where many other organisms struggle, molds and mushrooms have a variety of robust biological components that meet almost any sensory or computational need. can be provided to engineers.
Although often hidden from view, networks of thin fungal threads respond to changes in their surroundings as they weave through the soil in search of resources.
Many species crackle with transmembrane activity similar to our own neural responses, providing researchers with a potential means of eavesdropping on secret conversations.
By applying algorithms based on extracellular electrophysiology, P. eryngii By generating mycelium and feeding its output to a microcontroller unit, the researchers harnessed the spikes in activity triggered by a stimulus (in this case, ultraviolet light) to generate mechanical responses in two types of mobile devices. I switched.
In controlled experiments, the researchers used signals from fungal cultures to control the movements of a five-limbed, soft robot and a four-wheeled, untethered vehicle.
They were able to influence and override the “natural” impulses produced by the fungi, demonstrating the ability to harness the system’s sensory abilities to achieve their end goals.
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“This kind of project is about more than just controlling a robot.” said Anand Mishra, a biorobotics scientist at Cornell University.
“It’s also about creating a real connection with living systems, because once you hear the signal, you understand what’s going on. Maybe that signal is coming from some kind of stress.” In other words, we see a physical response. It’s a signal that we can’t visualize, but the robot does.”
Although it may look clumsy, like a “robo-shroom,” the real value of this system lies in its ability to interpret complex changes in environmental cues to deliver precise amounts of nutrients and pesticides to the soil environment. This may one day be achieved with simpler mechanical setups that automatically adjust their response to elevated soil conditions. They may even measure pollutant levels or react to changes in our own bodies.
There is deeper wisdom hidden in the whispers of mushrooms that we are only beginning to understand. If given a chance, someday they may tell us what they are dreaming about.
This research science robotics.
A previous version of this article was published in September 2024.
