00:01:16.540 --> 00:01:18.620
The living world is connected by

00:01:19.870 --> 00:01:21.950
a vast kingdom of life.

00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:24.450
We are only just beginning

00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.080
to discover, fungi

00:01:54.870 --> 00:01:56.950
Sometimes they reveal themselves

00:01:57.870 --> 00:01:59.950
above ground as mushrooms.

00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:07.160
Mostly though

00:02:07.250 --> 00:02:09.330
they live out of sight,

00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:13.200
as hidden networks, which have shaped

00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:16.700
life on land as we know it.

00:02:21.750 --> 00:02:23.830
Fungi are the miracle workers behind so

00:02:24.870 --> 00:02:26.950
many of our foods and medicines.

00:02:34.040 --> 00:02:36.120
Yet, we know so little about them.

00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:45.410
They are some of nature's greatest survivors,

00:02:47.370 --> 00:02:49.450
enduring through five mass extinctions

00:02:50.370 --> 00:02:52.450
in the last billion years.

00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.200
So how have they adapted to

00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:00.450
catastrophe and upheaval?

00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:04.330
And what might we learn from fungi to survive

00:03:05.870 --> 00:03:07.950
our own time of radical change?

00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:26.200
When it comes to the study of fungi, there

00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:29.450
are a few better places than

00:03:30.870 --> 00:03:32.450
Kew Gardens in London.

00:03:32.540 --> 00:03:34.620
Home to one of the

00:03:35.540 --> 00:03:37.620
most diverse collections of plants

00:03:38.540 --> 00:03:40.620
and fungi in the world.

00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:43.700
British biologist and writer Merlin

00:03:44.040 --> 00:03:46.120
Sheldrake has dedicated his life

00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:49.700
to unraveling the mysteries of fungi.

00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:54.500
We are really just at the very beginning of our

00:03:55.540 --> 00:03:57.830
understanding of these astonishing organisms.

00:03:59.870 --> 00:04:02.370
It's long been known that mushrooms can be delicious,

00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.790
but might also poison you,

00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:07.040
cure you,

00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:09.200
or give you visions.

00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.200
Neither plants or animals fungi actually

00:04:14.540 --> 00:04:16.620
make up their own kingdom of life.

00:04:17.620 --> 00:04:19.700
In fact,

00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:22.200
scientists now estimate that for

00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:25.580
every plant species, there are

00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:28.120
as many as 10 fungal species.

00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:36.620
This building is the Fungarium.

00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.450
A team of dedicated scientists called mycologists

00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:43.950
research fungi here,

00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:46.120
including Doctor Ester Gaya

00:04:46.750 --> 00:04:49.040
Hello, hi, welcome, thank you, lovely to meet you

00:04:52.250 --> 00:04:54.330
Right now we are inside the largest

00:04:55.250 --> 00:04:57.450
collection of fungi in the world.

00:04:57.540 --> 00:04:59.620
The reference collection is like a library.

00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:07.410
The collection holds around

00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:08.450
a million specimens gathered over centuries

00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:10.620
by collectors, including Charles Darwin.

00:05:11.250 --> 00:05:13.330
Each specimen helps illuminate

00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:18.120
the history of life on our planet.

00:05:26.370 --> 00:05:28.450
But much of fungal life happens on a scale

00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:31.450
too small for the naked eye to see.

00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.120
So to really understand them, we need

00:05:35.540 --> 00:05:38.040
to enter their world through the lens of a microscope.

00:05:49.370 --> 00:05:51.450
Most fungal life begins with a Spore

00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.120
from each Spore grow tubes called hyphae

00:06:02.250 --> 00:06:04.330
five times thinner than a human hair.

00:06:08.540 --> 00:06:10.620
Their most urgent

00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.540
task is to find food,

00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:15.700
so they start exploring.

00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.120
As these tubes branch and fuse they

00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:27.580
form a delicate web called mycelium.

00:06:32.750 --> 00:06:34.830
Which can grow into a network

00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:37.700
with billions of hyphal tips.

00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:43.950
Fungi are some of Nature's most remarkable chemists

00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:48.870
whereas animals eat by putting food into their bodies

00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:53.830
fungi eat by growing into their food

00:06:57.870 --> 00:06:59.950
digestive chemicals produced by fungi

00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:02.580
can unlock food sources,

00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:06.620
allowing them to be broken down and absorbed.

00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:14.040
despite having no eyes

00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:16.200
or nose, mycelium can still

00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:19.580
sense the world.

00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:22.540
Smelling chemicals, seeing light,

00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:24.290
feeling heat, even detecting electricity.

00:07:24.370 --> 00:07:26.450
Fungi have to be sensitive

00:07:26.540 --> 00:07:28.620
to what's going on around them.

00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.120
They have to use that information

00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:43.830
to make decisions about what

00:07:44.250 --> 00:07:46.410
chemicals to produce next, where to grow next.

00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:54.450
Fungi show that you don't have to have a brain to solve problems.

00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.290
This is one of the puzzles of mycelial networks.

00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:04.700
Their control and coordination is somehow

00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.790
everywhere at once,

00:08:07.870 --> 00:08:09.950
and nowhere in particular

00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:18.950
Mycelium can form elaborate structures

00:08:21.250 --> 00:08:23.330
and grow to incredible sizes.

00:08:28.370 --> 00:08:30.450
In the wild some fungi are known

00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:33.700
to span more than 10 square kilometers.

00:08:38.750 --> 00:08:41.040
They also act as transport networks

00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.200
shuttling water and

00:08:44.040 --> 00:08:46.120
chemicals on rivers of liquid

00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:49.580
within their cells.

00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:55.450
This makes mushroom growth possible.

00:09:03.040 --> 00:09:05.120
A mushroom forms when fungus

00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:08.450
weaves hyphae into a tight bundle

00:09:09.040 --> 00:09:11.120
and inflates this with a

00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:14.330
pulse of water.

00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:25.540
With these abilities

00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:27.700
fungi have thrived on every continent.

00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:41.330
The Australian island of Tasmania is

00:09:42.370 --> 00:09:44.500
home to some of the most ancient rainforests.

00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:56.200
The Tarkine is the

00:09:57.370 --> 00:09:59.450
second largest temperate

00:10:00.370 --> 00:10:01.950
rainforest on earth.

00:10:02.040 --> 00:10:04.120
Five times the size of New York City.

00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:11.580
These forests have existed for

00:10:12.370 --> 00:10:14.450
over 65 million years,

00:10:16.750 --> 00:10:18.830
providing a living window to

00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:21.700
the time of the dinosaurs.

00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:28.450
It's the perfect hiding place for fungi,

00:10:30.250 --> 00:10:32.330
calling adventurers from around the world

00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:35.580
to discover new species and

00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.080
unravel their secrets.

00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:53.830
Old growth forests are extremely special places.

00:10:56.250 --> 00:10:59.370
You don't get to be an old growth forest in a very short space of time.

00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:02.950
It takes waves of populations of different organisms rising

00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:05.330
and falling in each other's wake over centuries,

00:11:07.540 --> 00:11:09.620
creating the conditions for the next.

00:11:14.040 --> 00:11:16.120
Here in the Tarkine, there's an amazing

00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.200
diversity of fungi because it's so wet.

00:11:24.370 --> 00:11:26.450
Merlin has come halfway around the world

00:11:27.250 --> 00:11:29.330
to be here in mushroom season.

00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:33.580
At this time of year, there is a symphony

00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:36.580
of different colors, shapes and sizes.

00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:44.200
Most fungi don't produce mushrooms, and

00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:46.700
even the fungi that do only produce them for

00:11:47.040 --> 00:11:49.120
a small moment in a year.

00:11:53.870 --> 00:11:56.040
Fungi have long enriched and

00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:58.200
enhanced life on this planet.

00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:01.950
But researchers think we've only described about

00:12:02.870 --> 00:12:04.950
5% of all the fungal species on Earth.

00:12:11.040 --> 00:12:13.870
I want to better understand how they've survived for so long.

00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:18.830
And what lessons they might have for humanity as we

00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:21.580
wrestle with our most urgent problems.

00:12:25.870 --> 00:12:27.950
Merlin's research has helped reveal

00:12:28.620 --> 00:12:30.700
an essential relationship between

00:12:31.040 --> 00:12:33.120
fungi and plants.

00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:37.580
Incredibly over 90% of

00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:40.200
plants rely on fungi to survive.

00:12:45.540 --> 00:12:47.790
From the earliest moments of their lives plants

00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:50.330
use chemicals to signal to fungi in the soil.

00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:55.330
Guiding them towards the roots,

00:12:56.250 --> 00:12:58.330
and even into them.

00:13:02.250 --> 00:13:04.330
A single plant can form relationships

00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:07.580
with hundreds of different fungi.

00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.160
By working with fungi, plants can

00:13:17.250 --> 00:13:19.370
gain greater access to nutrients for growth.

00:13:24.250 --> 00:13:26.330
In return fungi receive food like sugars

00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:29.330
that plants produce, extending their

00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:32.580
reach far above the forest floor.

00:13:38.540 --> 00:13:40.620
Under each footstep

00:13:42.750 --> 00:13:44.830
hundreds of kilometers of mycelial

00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:47.580
networks weave their way through the soil.

00:13:58.540 --> 00:14:00.620
More than one tree can connect to

00:14:01.370 --> 00:14:03.450
a single fungus, forming sheer networks

00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:06.830
sometimes called the wood wide web.

00:14:15.040 --> 00:14:17.120
Through these networks resources can move

00:14:18.540 --> 00:14:20.620
between plants of different species

00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:23.200
throughout the forest.

00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:30.200
Older trees with the most connections

00:14:31.870 --> 00:14:33.950
act as central hubs, allowing

00:14:35.370 --> 00:14:37.450
younger plants to take root and thrive.

00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:42.580
Fungi can teach us

00:14:44.250 --> 00:14:46.330
about the symbiotic way of life.

00:14:47.250 --> 00:14:50.370
About how all life is lived in relationships with other organisms.

00:14:53.500 --> 00:14:55.580
In this sense, life is collaboration.

00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:01.700
And collaboration is always a blend

00:15:02.540 --> 00:15:04.620
of cooperation and competition.

00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:13.700
Fungi are one of the circulatory

00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:16.200
systems of the planet.

00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:20.040
If you were to stretch out all of

00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.160
the mycelium on earth,

00:15:22.250 --> 00:15:24.330
it would span half of the width of the

00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:27.580
Milky Way galaxy.

00:15:39.750 --> 00:15:41.830
But perhaps the most overlooked

00:15:42.750 --> 00:15:44.950
superpower of fungi, is their ability

00:15:45.040 --> 00:15:47.120
to recycle life through decomposition.

00:16:04.870 --> 00:16:06.950
Fungi are some of the only organisms

00:16:07.040 --> 00:16:09.120
capable of breaking down the

00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:12.580
complex chemistry of wood.

00:16:17.040 --> 00:16:19.120
After penetrating the wood, fungi deploy a

00:16:20.250 --> 00:16:22.330
range of digestive chemicals,

00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:29.200
breaking down plant matter and

00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:32.700
releasing the nutrients back into the soil

00:16:34.540 --> 00:16:36.620
to be taken up by

00:16:37.250 --> 00:16:39.330
future generations of forest life.

00:17:10.620 --> 00:17:12.700
You think about the life of the tree as a

00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:15.160
living tree standing up.

00:17:15.250 --> 00:17:18.500
But then you think about the life of the tree after the tree has fallen.

00:17:19.250 --> 00:17:21.330
creating the conditions for other life.

00:17:23.040 --> 00:17:25.120
Without fungi dead wood and other plant

00:17:26.500 --> 00:17:28.580
matter would pile up and up.

00:17:34.120 --> 00:17:36.410
Other fungi specialise in recycling animal life

00:17:39.870 --> 00:17:41.950
including this fascinating species.

00:17:45.540 --> 00:17:47.620
The ghoul fungus is living in the shadow

00:17:48.250 --> 00:17:50.330
of the body that was once there.

00:17:53.040 --> 00:17:55.620
Fungi can decompose, but they can also grow mushrooms,

00:17:57.540 --> 00:17:59.620
the next stage in the food web.

00:18:06.870 --> 00:18:09.450
When these mushrooms are eaten, they provide the nutrients

00:18:09.540 --> 00:18:11.620
that other organisms can then use to grow.

00:18:17.620 --> 00:18:19.700
Connecting all life in

00:18:20.120 --> 00:18:22.200
the forest.

00:18:28.540 --> 00:18:30.620
From the smallest,

00:18:31.540 --> 00:18:33.620
to the largest.

00:18:40.370 --> 00:18:43.160
So it helps us to think about how the matter that composes

00:18:43.250 --> 00:18:45.750
our own bodies will continue its journey after we die.

00:18:58.120 --> 00:19:00.200
Forests exist thanks to the

00:19:01.370 --> 00:19:03.450
transformational powers of fungi.

00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:12.330
But fungi also offer world-changing

00:19:13.370 --> 00:19:15.450
opportunities for humanity.

00:19:18.040 --> 00:19:20.290
In the Yunnan province of China new discoveries

00:19:22.540 --> 00:19:24.660
are showing how fungi might help address some

00:19:25.250 --> 00:19:27.330
of our biggest environmental challenges.

00:19:32.620 --> 00:19:34.700
These forests are home to over

00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:37.580
6,000 species of mushroom.

00:19:38.870 --> 00:19:41.160
Making Yunnan one of the most diverse fungal

00:19:41.250 --> 00:19:43.330
ecosystems on the planet.

00:19:46.250 --> 00:19:48.330
Some of the oldest known fossils of fungi

00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:51.580
have been found here as well as the earliest

00:19:52.540 --> 00:19:54.620
evidence of mushroom farming

00:19:55.540 --> 00:19:57.620
over 2,000 years ago.

00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:16.580
Today the people of Yunnan forage and

00:20:18.120 --> 00:20:20.200
farm over 800 edible mushrooms.

00:20:24.540 --> 00:20:26.620
Other species have been used in

00:20:27.370 --> 00:20:29.450
traditional medicine for Millennia

00:20:30.870 --> 00:20:32.950
with health benefits, modern medicine is

00:20:33.540 --> 00:20:35.620
only now beginning to explore

00:20:39.040 --> 00:20:41.120
With such diversity it makes sense

00:20:42.870 --> 00:20:44.950
that Yunnan is at the forefront

00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:47.580
of fungal research.

00:20:48.540 --> 00:20:50.620
Led by biologists like Peter Mortimer and

00:20:51.370 --> 00:20:53.450
his team from the Kunming

00:20:54.370 --> 00:20:56.450
Institute of botany.

00:20:57.500 --> 00:20:59.580
Yunnan is a wonderland for fungi.

00:21:00.540 --> 00:21:02.790
It's really muddy. It's rainy. There's leeches

00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:06.160
everywhere. The mosquitoes are biting you, but it

00:21:06.250 --> 00:21:08.330
is so much fun looking for fungi.

00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:11.330
These hardships. Don't really matter.

00:21:13.370 --> 00:21:15.450
To date we've been part of describing more

00:21:16.620 --> 00:21:18.700
than 1,000 new species of fungi.

00:21:22.120 --> 00:21:23.660
Recently, Peter

00:21:23.750 --> 00:21:25.830
and his team made a discovery that might

00:21:26.620 --> 00:21:28.700
help us deal with plastic waste.

00:21:31.040 --> 00:21:33.120
There's about 400 million tons of

00:21:34.250 --> 00:21:36.330
plastic produced annually.

00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:40.160
Much of it enters natural ecosystems and chemicals inside the

00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:43.200
plastic start leaching out into soil systems and water bodies.

00:21:45.040 --> 00:21:47.790
So plastic, it's long-lived. It's absolutely everywhere

00:21:48.540 --> 00:21:50.620
and it really is disastrous.

00:21:52.040 --> 00:21:54.120
We were collecting fungi in the forest and

00:21:55.250 --> 00:21:57.160
we came across a piece of plastic.

00:21:57.250 --> 00:21:59.330
And it was full of fungus.

00:22:00.040 --> 00:22:02.620
So we sealed it up and we bring it back to the laboratory.

00:22:07.120 --> 00:22:09.200
Lo and behold we got a whole range of fungi.

00:22:11.040 --> 00:22:13.290
Four of those are new species to science and even

00:22:14.250 --> 00:22:16.580
better, it turns out those four species are able to

00:22:17.040 --> 00:22:19.120
break down plastic.

00:22:21.120 --> 00:22:23.540
So under this microscope in the petri dish we can see

00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:26.830
how the mycelium from the fungi is

00:22:27.750 --> 00:22:29.790
penetrating this plastic sheet,

00:22:29.870 --> 00:22:32.040
breaking it apart,

00:22:32.120 --> 00:22:34.200
and then actively digesting it.

00:22:39.870 --> 00:22:41.950
Just shows how rapidly fungi adapt

00:22:42.540 --> 00:22:44.620
to a change in the environment.

00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:48.370
Plastic has only coming to existence in the last

00:22:49.250 --> 00:22:50.410
say, hundred years.

00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:52.580
Yet fungi have the chemical arsenal to

00:22:53.620 --> 00:22:55.700
digest a range of plastics.

00:22:56.870 --> 00:22:58.950
If we can just find that one species that can

00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:02.160
be very efficient at breaking down the plastic we can start

00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:04.330
doing it at scales where real-world

00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:07.580
problems start getting addressed.

00:23:10.040 --> 00:23:12.540
Other fungi studied here have produced Therapeutics

00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:15.580
used in organ transplants as

00:23:16.870 --> 00:23:18.950
well as treatments for cancer and epilepsy.

00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:26.620
The most famous fungal medicine, penicillin

00:23:28.540 --> 00:23:30.620
has saved billions of lives by fighting

00:23:31.370 --> 00:23:33.450
bacterial infections.

00:23:39.620 --> 00:23:41.750
Under the microscope, you can see penicillin

00:23:42.370 --> 00:23:44.450
holding back bacterial growth.

00:23:56.250 --> 00:23:58.750
All of this lies within the fungi around us and until we

00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:01.750
find and discover those fungi, we're never gonna know

00:24:02.620 --> 00:24:04.750
what that potential benefit could have been.

00:24:07.620 --> 00:24:09.910
But breaking down pollutants and healing people

00:24:11.120 --> 00:24:13.250
aren't the only benefits that fungi offer us.

00:24:19.750 --> 00:24:21.830
In the United States a revolutionary

00:24:22.540 --> 00:24:24.620
industry is emerging.

00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:28.330
Driven by the idea that not only can fungi

00:24:29.750 --> 00:24:31.950
break things down,

00:24:32.040 --> 00:24:34.120
it can also build them up.

00:24:36.120 --> 00:24:38.410
One company at the forefront is Ecovative design

00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.580
in Upstate New York led by

00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:44.580
CEO Eben Bayer.

00:24:46.040 --> 00:24:48.660
We want to use mycelium materials to solve problems that

00:24:49.540 --> 00:24:51.620
are really important.

00:24:52.250 --> 00:24:55.540
So for us right now that's around animal Agriculture and single-use Plastics,

00:24:55.620 --> 00:24:58.410
which are two like the biggest material related pressures

00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:00.580
on the ecosystem.

00:25:01.040 --> 00:25:03.120
Researchers here have discovered how to

00:25:05.120 --> 00:25:07.200
grow materials using mycelium

00:25:08.870 --> 00:25:11.120
Replacing plastic products with alternatives

00:25:11.750 --> 00:25:13.830
which are fully recyclable.

00:25:14.370 --> 00:25:16.540
First step is we get agricultural byproducts,

00:25:17.120 --> 00:25:18.540
things like wood chips.

00:25:18.620 --> 00:25:20.700
That's where we add the mycelial cells.

00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:24.580
Over the next few days they go crazy,

00:25:25.120 --> 00:25:27.200
they grow all around the wood chips.

00:25:28.370 --> 00:25:31.410
When you're done growing it, you always end up with a product

00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:34.080
that's completely compatible with the planet. You get

00:25:34.750 --> 00:25:37.410
this thing that looks like Styrofoam, but you can actually compost in

00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:40.080
your garden, literally just throw this anywhere in the

00:25:40.870 --> 00:25:42.950
environment and it would actually serve as a

00:25:43.620 --> 00:25:44.950
nutrient for planet Earth not a pollutant.

00:25:45.040 --> 00:25:47.120
Mycelium materials have been used to grow

00:25:48.620 --> 00:25:50.700
everything from packaging to surfboards.

00:25:51.370 --> 00:25:53.450
Theycan even replace fabrics

00:25:54.540 --> 00:25:56.620
like leather.

00:25:57.870 --> 00:25:59.950
Researchers like senior scientist

00:26:00.370 --> 00:26:02.450
Molly Boutin are working towards even

00:26:03.370 --> 00:26:05.450
more surprising materials.

00:26:07.250 --> 00:26:09.330
We really take our inspiration from nature,

00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:12.580
so when we go out into the

00:26:13.250 --> 00:26:15.330
woods and collect samples.

00:26:16.370 --> 00:26:18.450
You look at fungi out in the wild.

00:26:20.040 --> 00:26:22.120
They might be different colors.

00:26:24.120 --> 00:26:26.200
They form different structures.

00:26:26.750 --> 00:26:28.830
The diversity of fungi is

00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:31.160
very important, because

00:26:31.250 --> 00:26:33.330
it means that there are such a wide variety

00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:36.330
of materials that we can make.

00:26:40.540 --> 00:26:42.620
When you collect these different samples

00:26:43.040 --> 00:26:45.120
and bring them back to the lab,

00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:50.620
you will see that they grow in different ways.

00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:53.200
As you do research you're seeing things and

00:27:05.870 --> 00:27:08.450
your learning things that no one's ever seen before.

00:27:08.540 --> 00:27:11.160
Micromaterials touched so many different industries,

00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:14.580
like a thousand and one things you can do.

00:27:16.120 --> 00:27:18.700
Medical applications is definitely a passion of mine.

00:27:20.040 --> 00:27:22.950
Growing things like organs with mycelium sounds way far out.

00:27:23.040 --> 00:27:25.830
But my long-term dream would be able to actually grow organs

00:27:29.370 --> 00:27:29.950
or at least the scaffolding for organs using mycelium.

00:27:30.040 --> 00:27:32.290
If materials can be reimagined in

00:27:32.370 --> 00:27:34.500
such a radical way, what other opportunities

00:27:35.750 --> 00:27:37.830
might the fungal Kingdom

00:27:38.370 --> 00:27:40.450
hold for Humanity?

00:27:55.500 --> 00:27:57.660
Back in the Tarkine

00:27:57.750 --> 00:27:59.830
fungi are shaping their environment in ways

00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:02.580
that have long been hidden from view.

00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:20.580
A single mushroom can produce

00:28:21.540 --> 00:28:23.620
30,000 microscopic spores

00:28:24.500 --> 00:28:26.580
each second.

00:28:29.250 --> 00:28:31.330
As water evaporates from

00:28:32.250 --> 00:28:34.330
the underside of the mushroom,

00:28:35.040 --> 00:28:37.120
small wind currents lift the

00:28:38.250 --> 00:28:40.330
spores into the air.

00:28:45.620 --> 00:28:47.700
Fungal spores are the largest source of

00:28:48.040 --> 00:28:50.160
airborne living particles on Earth, equal to

00:28:51.040 --> 00:28:53.120
the weight of half a million

00:28:54.250 --> 00:28:56.330
blue whales each year.

00:29:09.540 --> 00:29:11.620
As the spores rise, they attract

00:29:12.540 --> 00:29:14.620
water vapor.

00:29:17.620 --> 00:29:19.700
Eventually forming rain drops

00:29:20.540 --> 00:29:22.620
by the billions

00:29:30.540 --> 00:29:32.620
At least 16,000 species

00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:35.580
of mushroom release spores

00:29:36.250 --> 00:29:38.330
this way.

00:29:39.120 --> 00:29:41.200
Hoping to stimulate rainfall in forests

00:29:42.620 --> 00:29:44.700
all around the world.

00:29:46.040 --> 00:29:47.950
It's a win for fungi,

00:29:48.040 --> 00:29:49.540
not only do they succeed

00:29:49.620 --> 00:29:51.700
in spreading far and wide,

00:29:52.620 --> 00:29:54.700
they also nurture the moist environments

00:29:55.500 --> 00:29:57.580
necessary for fungal life.

00:30:16.040 --> 00:30:18.120
The forest feels different at night.

00:30:18.870 --> 00:30:21.120
It feels like it's inhabited in a different way.

00:30:25.620 --> 00:30:28.410
The whole forest is the outgrowth of fungal relationships.

00:30:34.250 --> 00:30:36.330
Everywhere you look there are stories

00:30:37.370 --> 00:30:39.450
unfolding around fungi.

00:30:45.500 --> 00:30:47.580
Long Nosed Potoroos here in the

00:30:48.120 --> 00:30:50.200
Tarkine have adapted to eat over

00:30:51.870 --> 00:30:53.950
60 species of fungi.

00:30:58.540 --> 00:31:00.620
Potoroos rely on smell to find the fungi

00:31:01.040 --> 00:31:03.120
that they need to survive.

00:31:06.620 --> 00:31:08.700
Underground fungi produce powerful odors

00:31:09.370 --> 00:31:11.450
that can travel through layers of

00:31:12.040 --> 00:31:14.120
damp soil out into the air.

00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:19.660
By producing aromas to attract animals, fungi

00:31:20.250 --> 00:31:22.330
which live out of sight can make

00:31:23.620 --> 00:31:25.700
themselves known.

00:31:27.750 --> 00:31:29.830
Ensuring their spores are spread.

00:31:39.250 --> 00:31:41.330
Some fungi have figured out another way

00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:44.580
to attract attention at night.

00:31:48.250 --> 00:31:50.330
This is the ghost fungus.

00:31:52.040 --> 00:31:54.120
It's one of around 90 species of mushroom

00:31:55.870 --> 00:31:57.950
known to glow in the dark.

00:31:59.120 --> 00:32:01.200
Bioluminescence is

00:32:02.120 --> 00:32:04.200
another example of the chemical

00:32:05.370 --> 00:32:07.450
wizardry of fungi.

00:32:08.750 --> 00:32:10.830
Oxygen reacts with

00:32:11.250 --> 00:32:13.330
chemicals made by the mushroom

00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:16.580
producing light

00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:31.580
It's really exciting to see these

00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:34.160
bioluminescent fungi glowing.

00:32:34.250 --> 00:32:36.330
And when your eyes adjust to the dark,

00:32:37.540 --> 00:32:39.620
they become more striking and vivid.

00:32:44.870 --> 00:32:46.540
Some species glow to attract insects,

00:32:46.620 --> 00:32:48.750
helping the fungi by spreading their spores.

00:32:57.120 --> 00:32:59.200
Why other species glow

00:32:59.620 --> 00:33:01.700
remains a mystery

00:33:04.500 --> 00:33:06.580
Mushrooms have been Illuminating these

00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:09.200
forests for millions of years.

00:33:12.120 --> 00:33:14.200
But that light may soon be fading.

00:33:27.040 --> 00:33:29.370
Fungi may be some of nature's greatest survivors,

00:33:30.250 --> 00:33:32.330
but never before have they faced

00:33:33.370 --> 00:33:35.450
a threat like us.

00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:50.580
Forests, like the Tarkine where fungi

00:33:51.540 --> 00:33:53.620
are most diverse are being cleared

00:33:54.120 --> 00:33:56.200
at the rate of one football field

00:33:57.750 --> 00:33:59.830
every two minutes.

00:34:04.540 --> 00:34:06.620
Of the old growth forest that once existed

00:34:07.370 --> 00:34:09.450
around the world only one fifth remains.

00:34:15.250 --> 00:34:17.330
Some trees in the Tarkine can

00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:20.580
live for over 2,000 years.

00:34:24.750 --> 00:34:26.950
Ripping out these ancient trees

00:34:27.040 --> 00:34:29.120
disrupts the Wood Wide Web.

00:34:34.040 --> 00:34:36.120
De forestation interrupts other crucial

00:34:37.870 --> 00:34:39.950
benefits fungi provide the world

00:34:40.500 --> 00:34:42.580
Each year, mycelium draws down more than

00:34:43.370 --> 00:34:45.450
5 billion tons of carbon from the

00:34:46.040 --> 00:34:48.120
atmosphere which would otherwise drive

00:34:56.250 --> 00:34:57.660
climate change.

00:34:57.750 --> 00:35:00.250
When I'm in these burnt clear-cut areas. I'm reminded

00:35:00.750 --> 00:35:01.540
of the Library of Alexandria

00:35:01.620 --> 00:35:03.700
which burned down and much

00:35:04.870 --> 00:35:07.000
of the knowledge and the wisdom of the ancient

00:35:08.620 --> 00:35:10.410
world was lost. Imagine that,

00:35:10.500 --> 00:35:12.580
but on a much greater scale.

00:35:13.120 --> 00:35:15.450
We're burning the library, a library of different

00:35:16.120 --> 00:35:18.200
ways to rise to the challenge of living.

00:35:25.040 --> 00:35:27.500
What aspects of this library might be crucial for the

00:35:29.040 --> 00:35:31.370
planet's ecosystems and for humans in the future?

00:35:58.540 --> 00:36:00.620
We risk losing entire branches of

00:36:01.250 --> 00:36:03.330
the fungal tree of life to extinction

00:36:05.370 --> 00:36:07.450
But if

00:36:08.620 --> 00:36:10.700
fungi have taught us anything.

00:36:12.870 --> 00:36:14.950
It's that those who can adapt, survive.

00:36:40.250 --> 00:36:42.330
In a world rapidly changing it makes

00:36:43.500 --> 00:36:45.580
sense to study the most resilient players.

00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:51.580
Merlin and other scientists are working together to

00:36:52.540 --> 00:36:54.620
map the earth's fungal networks.

00:36:57.250 --> 00:36:59.330
A vital step in better understanding

00:37:00.540 --> 00:37:02.790
the behavior of fungi,

00:37:02.870 --> 00:37:04.950
and a critical tool in protecting their

00:37:05.620 --> 00:37:07.700
ecosystems.

00:37:08.370 --> 00:37:10.450
Every sample collected builds on the

00:37:11.120 --> 00:37:13.200
knowledge already gathered by scientists

00:37:14.040 --> 00:37:16.120
and traditional cultures.

00:37:16.870 --> 00:37:18.950
Knowledge we pass on to

00:37:19.750 --> 00:37:21.830
generations yet to come.

00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:44.580
With millions of fungi still to discover

00:37:49.040 --> 00:37:50.950
It's a journey

00:37:51.040 --> 00:37:53.120
we're just beginning.