Fungal Electronics

Fungi just crashed tech Twitter/Reddit with “fungal electronics” — living circuits made from mushroom roots (mycelium) that change their electrical resistance and send tiny voltage “spikes” when stimulated. Think: materials and wearables with built‑in, living sensors. The science is wild — but the comments are wilder.

One camp is starry‑eyed. Folks are dreaming up jackets that feel the weather and walls that sense leaks. Another camp slammed the brakes hard: user observationist dropped a reality check that mycelium “clock speeds” could top out around 6 kHz — that’s thousands of steps per second, while your phone does billions — and pitched hybrids that pair a fungus mat with a regular circuit board. Translation: don’t expect a mushroom MacBook, but maybe a smart, squishy sensor.

Meanwhile, the vibe shift: contingencies went full museum‑wall with a Picasso line — “Computers are useless, they can only give you answers” — flipping the thread into an art‑vs‑utility brawl. Is this tech or a bio‑installation? Then khrbrt detonated a crowd‑pleaser with mushroom synth jams — cue jokes about “DJ Portobello” and the “shiitake shuffle.” Practical minds like butterlesstoast wondered about medical uses: living bandages that feel infection? Others countered with “cool, but do I want spores in my hoodie?” It’s equal parts lab notebook, rave flyer, and philosophy seminar — and everyone’s arguing over who gets the aux cord.