otters_raft
@otters_raft@lemmy.ca
- Submitted 1 day ago to technology@beehaw.org | 0 comments
- Submitted 1 day ago to technology@lemmy.zip | 2 comments
- Why industry-standard labels for AI in music could change how we listen: "new industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits"theconversation.com ↗Submitted 4 days ago to technology@beehaw.org | 5 comments
- Submitted 5 days ago to technology@beehaw.org | 5 comments
- I Printed a Microchip That Runs on Air — A Nervous System for Squishy Robots | soiboi softwww.youtube.com ↗Submitted 1 week ago to videos@lemmy.world | 0 comments
- Comment on How different mushrooms learned the same psychedelic trick 1 week ago:
Yes :)
The new study, led by pharmaceutical microbiology researcher Dirk Hoffmeister, from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, discovered that mushrooms can make psilocybin in two different ways, using different types of enzymes. This also helped the researchers discover a new way to make psilocybin in a lab.
Based on the work led by Hoffmeister, enzymes from two types of unrelated mushrooms under study appear to have evolved independently from each other and take different routes to create the exact same compound.
This is a process known as convergent evolution, which means that unrelated living organisms evolve two distinct ways to produce the same trait. One example is that of caffeine, where different plants including coffee, tea, cacao, and guaraná have independently evolved the ability to produce the stimulant.
Why this is interesting:
This is the first time that convergent evolution has been observed in two organisms that belong to the fungal kingdom. Interestingly, the two mushrooms in question have very different lifestyles. Inocybe corydalina, also known as the greenflush fibrecap and the object of Hoffmeister’s study, grows in association with the roots of different kinds of trees. Psilocybe mushrooms, on the other hand, traditionally known as magic mushrooms, live on nutrients that they acquire by decomposing dead organic matter, such as decaying wood, grass, roots, or dung.
The observation that mushrooms that inhabit two different niches make the same psychedelic compound raises questions regarding the ecological role of this molecule. A possible explanation as to why both mushrooms produce psilocybin could be that it is intended to deter predators, such as insects, that may be tempted to eat their fruiting bodies. This would be similar to the role of caffeine, which is also known to act as a natural pesticide, deterring insects and other pests from feeding on certain plants.
- Submitted 1 week ago to [deleted] | 2 comments
- Submitted 1 week ago to [deleted] | 1 comment
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- A 1 hour long video showing the process of recovering a crashed truck from a US freewaywww.youtube.com ↗Submitted 2 weeks ago to videos@lemmy.world | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to [deleted] | 3 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to science_memes@mander.xyz | 12 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to videos@lemmy.world | 0 comments
- Reports: EA set to be sold to private investors for up to $50 billion - Ars Technicaarstechnica.com ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to gaming@beehaw.org | 3 comments
- Console wars death watch: Microsoft Flight Simulator coming to PS5 in December - Ars Technicaarstechnica.com ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to gaming@lemmy.zip | 3 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to [deleted] | 4 comments
- Submitted 4 weeks ago to [deleted] | 9 comments
- White mold fungi split their genome across several nuclei, with implications for future gene editingtheconversation.com ↗Submitted 5 weeks ago to [deleted] | 1 comment
- New study shows how Amazon trees use recent rainfall in the dry season and support the production of their own raintheconversation.com ↗Submitted 5 weeks ago to [deleted] | 1 comment
- Submitted 5 weeks ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- How environmental RNA can give us a real-time picture of freshwater biodiversitytheconversation.com ↗Submitted 1 month ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- Submitted 1 month ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- Momentum builds towards marine biodiversity treaty, as experts convene in New York | UN Newsnews.un.org ↗Submitted 1 month ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- Submitted 1 month ago to [deleted] | 7 comments
- Submitted 2 months ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
After a decade of death, Canadian scientists say they've found the sea star killer [which has killed "more than 87 per cent of sunflower sea stars in northern parts of the west coast"]www.cbc.ca ↗ - Submitted 2 months ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 months ago to technology@lemmy.zip | 2 comments
- Submitted 2 months ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
- Pregnancy’s 100-million-year secret: Inside the placenta’s evolutionary power play | New study identifies the evolutionary origins of the cells and molecular signals bridging mother to fetuswww.sciencedaily.com ↗Submitted 2 months ago to [deleted] | 0 comments
