Posty

A new theory about the cause of Alzheimer's disease

 Since 1906, people thought that this disease was caused by clumps of protein in your brain, as that is what Alois Alzheimer said in his report. Recent studies have shown, that it is actually connected to the amount of amyloid-beta 42 in your brain, which is also a type of protein. The outcome of these studies is that patients with an increased level of this protein are less likely to have Alzheimer's, even if they have clumps of protein in their brain. It turns out, that regardless of whether you have them, or not, they're not the ones that decide if you'll develop this disease. This study can help find better medicine for people with Alzheimer’s, and I think it is very great news. You're likely to develop the disease if someone in your family has it, and the thought of it can be pretty terrifying. Of course there are various ways to train your brain and memory, but I believe it only slightly slows down the process of developing Alzheimer's.It is not only hard to l...

The on-going floods in Pakistan

 For some time now, Pakistan had been dealing with on-going floods, mostly caused by climate change. The damages from them are huge and many people had died or had to were injured. I think this is a really big problem, especially because of the financial and political state of Pakistan. The cost of fixing all of the damage is huge and probably can't be done, as there isn't enough money for it. People had to leave their homes, because they couldn't live in them anymore and probably the majority of those people are not able to afford a lot of things. It was mentioned in the article that the floods are mostly caused by changes in our climate and will only get worse. Pakistan is one of the countries, which are in the biggest danger, when it comes to natural disasters like floods. This means it could happen more frequently and I believe that could be really bad news to the country, as this would mean more things to repair and there is no money for it. People living there now hav...

Energy produced from mushrooms

 A new way of producing energy was discovered by researchers from the Stevens Institute of Technology located in New Jersey. What's even more interesting, they are simple button mushrooms, which can be found in many of our day-to-day foods. The key to creating a source of energy from them is using cyanobacteria, an organism living all around the globe. It can produce energy from sunlight, even low amounts of it. The only thing about it, was that the only way it can survive is on surfaces already rich in other living organisms. It can't produce energy while living on an artificial surface. That's why the researchers thought that they could place them on mushrooms, which are rich in many other bacteria. They placed an amount of the bacteria on the mushroom and then attached graphene strips to it. A single mushroom can't produce much energy, but a few of them would be able to even light up a lamp or an LED light. This could be a way of an energy source much better and heal...

Fungi and their role on Earth

 Fungi are actually one of the main things that create the Earth. They have been there since the beginning, as one of the first organisms to ever live on land.  There have been discoveries, that they probably existed before trees did. Scientists have found a fossil of a fungi called Prototaxites. They were around more than 300 million years ago and could grow up to 8 meters high and about 1 metre wide. Most people were sceptical about the theory that they’re not trees or other organisms, but it has been proven they’re closest to mushrooms. Apart from that, fungi play a big role in forest life, not only through communicating with other plants(their mycelium networks), but also in decomposing organic matter. They also help in cleaning the oceans, by taking care of various marine organisms, which are already dead, or transporting nutrients and oxygen through the water.

Mushrooms that can glow in the dark

 Scientists have discovered about 80 species of mushrooms that can glow in the dark. They can be found in temperate or tropical climates, for example in Africa or Asia. These mushrooms, thanks to a chemical reaction, can produce a green light. This process is called bioluminescence. The fungi contain a substance called luciferin, which can be found in various species of plants or animals(like jellyfish) that also have the ability to glow in the dark.  Although we know about the whole process of how it works, scientists are not sure about why it really happens and whether it is beneficial to the fungi. One of their theories as to why this might happen, is that fungi use light to attract different insects. They can help mushrooms to grow in quantity, as they will carry their spores all around. It could be most helpful for fungi that are more hidden, as the wind can’t really help them with this.

Plastic-eating mushroom

 Some types of fungi have been found to be able to break down plastic. In 2011, students from the Yale university have found different types of fungi, that are capable of digesting a certain type of plastic even without oxygen. During the research, it has been discovered that it takes a few weeks to get rid of the plastic. This is a great discovery, as we know, that plastic can take hundreds of years to fully decompose. Another great thing about it, is that it can survive in different conditions, which can be especially helpful in certain landforms, like the ocean. Some of the fungi, after decomposing plastic parts, could still be eaten after the whole process. Using fungi to fight plastic waste can be an easier, cheaper alternative that we might use in the future, and some reports even say it can happen in  about 5 to 10 years.

Fungi and communication

  Trees and other plants, just like us humans, are able to communicate. They have their own network, which is placed under the ground. It is entirely made from fungi and is called a mycelium. The fungi forms a branch-like structure, which is beneficial to plants in many ways. Thanks to the mycelium, plants are able to exchange substances that they need for their survival, like sugar or carbon. It turns out, that older, bigger trees often give smaller plants a variety of nutrients, which travel through the fungi network. Scientists have actually tested, whether the theory of communication between plants is true. One of the experiments consisted of tagging different parts of the mycelium with a fluorescent substance. After some time, they checked it under a microscope and it turned out that the substance has travelled into many other parts of the fungi and plants. Thanks to fungi, plants and seedlings can grow better and survive.