The land, water and air around us are chock-full of DNA from fungi that scientists can’t identify

The land, water and air around us are chock-full of DNA fragments from fungi that mycologists can’t link to known organisms. These slippery beings are so widespread scientists are calling them “dark fungi.” It’s a comparison to the equally elusive dark matter and dark energy that permeates the universe.

  • vegeta@lemmy.world
    211·
    6 days ago

    Now if they would also discuss dark algae, that is something I’d really be likin’

  • 555@lemmy.world
    7·
    5 days ago

    I’m actually fine with a “The Last of Us” dystopian/apocalyptic future. Beats the hell out of “The Handmaids Tale” route we are headed down.

    • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      6 days ago

      All those dark entries. Must be growing in them thar hollow hills. Best go tell telegram sam, because nobody wants to kick in the eye.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        2·
        5 days ago

        Look, if you people have a better “fungi are goths” joke, you tell it.

        Because I’m proud of mine, damn it!

        • EarthShipTechIntern@lemm.ee
          2·
          18 hours ago

          It made me grin. And then get defensive: am I listening to too much Bauhaus? When is too much?

          Though I actually listen to them rarely. They’re just imprinted on my mind. Probably play their songs on guitar & bass more than listen to them.

          Next time they’re touring…

    • treefrog@lemm.ee
      42·
      6 days ago

      I listen to Bauhaus and grow gourmet mushrooms.

      Unidentified fungi are not equivalent at all to dark energy.

        • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          6 days ago

          That would be more along the lines of what’s the difference between Joy Division and new order. One dead body. Rip Ian.

          Or what’s a Goth’s default mode? Depeche.

        • treefrog@lemm.ee
          21·
          6 days ago

          I figured but still wanted to correct the dark matter/dark fungi metaphor in the article and saw an opportunity to do so with my favorite squid as I used to listen to Bauhaus as a kid.

          Twenty years ago most biology books still classified fungus as plants. That’s how young mycology is as a science. So, there’s lots of unidentified fungus on the planet, but we still fundamentally understand microbiology as a whole.

          Much different than dark matter/energy as we’re not sure really what they ‘are’. We only know them by their effects.

          • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            6 days ago

            I went to college in the '90s. Fungi being classified as plants is new to me. Though perhaps it is part of some Mandela effect or misremembering on my part. But it is inarguable that we’ve learned tons more over the last 20 to 30 years about them.

            • treefrog@lemm.ee
              3·
              6 days ago

              I’m sure it depends on the book. I have a mushroom field guide published in the late '90s that still calls them plants. Which was really weird to me considering it’s a mycology book.

              • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
                3·
                6 days ago

                That could just be down to the author and their aptitude. Lot of people writing field guides aren’t exactly scientifically minded or trained. Because fungus really are kind of anti plants in many ways. It’s sort of like the distinction between fruits and vegetable for tomatoes. For most people tomatoes have always been and will always be vegetables. Despite having long been classified scientifically as a fruit. And pineapples are berries.