Scientists Discover Mushrooms Communicate With Each Other After Rain

It has been known for a while that mushrooms may communicate with each other using electrical signals, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

That fact was obviously of interest to science geeks, who decided to take things to a new level. They did another study that listened to mushrooms talking but they also discovered something interesting. Mushrooms really started chattering after a rainfall.

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Researchers from Nagaoka College, Kyoto University, and Tohoku University got together to run experiments on a mushroom cluster. They measured electrical activity in the visible part of the mushrooms.

At first, the experiment was taking place during a dry spell. The real surprise came, however, after a typhoon hit the area, drenching it with rain.

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When they first ran the experiment, the mushrooms weren’t showing much “electrical potential,” which they thought was a lack of rain. According to a press release, Yu Fukasawa, the study’s main author, said: “The electrical potential began to fluctuate after raining, sometimes going over 100 mV.”

Mushrooms connect through hyphae, a network of strands that run underground. The network of hyphae forms the mycelium. Electrical signals travel through the hyphae.

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Researchers are not sure why the burst of activity takes place, but they do have some theories. Some feel it is just a way for mushrooms to know there are others in the area. Others feel it is a way to alert other mushrooms of nearby threats.

Associate professor of biosciences at the University of Exeter, Dan Bebber, has his own theory. In a 2002 interview with The Guardian, he says that the electrical impulses aren’t random, but some may be “overenthusiastic” in calling it a language.

Beeber feels that more research is necessary before we add “Fungus” to Google Translate.

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