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a dead fly

The Insect-Fungus War: Behavioral Fever

Fungi, heat, and height all figure into an insect phenomenon called behavioral fever.

jar full o stink

Phallus ravenelii: the common stinkhorn, Ravenel’s stinkhorn

Stink stink stink, we love stinkhorns. A little about their sordid history and biology here. What’s not to like?

A tribute to Carl Sagan

I’m fortunate to work in the same place Carl Sagan did. On the 10th anniversary of his death, a brief remembrance, and a celebration of a couple of other science communicators who influenced me.

Hydnum umbilicatum

Hydnum umbilicatum, the sweet tooth

A pretty, tasty little fungus. With lots of teeth.

Pilobolus

Pilobolus and the lungworm

Pilobolus is interesting enough all by itself, because it can shoot a big black bullet. We’d also like to introduce you to the lungworm. The lungworm takes an unusual route to get back into a cow. It travels through snot, dung, and–most surprisingly–by fungus.

Russula

$#%!&! Red Russulas

Beginning mushroomers often think a field guide is the key to all knowledge. But there are some kinds of mushrooms that even intrepid field guide authors fear. The little brown ones (LBMs, we call them), yes, but also these big handsome red Russulas (JARs: sigh, Just Another Russula).

Pycnoporus dye

Dyeing with Lichens & Mushrooms

Dying with lichens and mushrooms! We gave it a good shot with help from a local expert on natural dyes. It was fun.

froggie

Frogblog2: Origin and spread of the frog chytrid

Part deux of our two-part series on the frog chytrid, a fungus that is wiping out amphibians all over the world.

what the?

Mystery liverwort fungus, chapter two

Part 2 in FAM’s series on the mysterious liverwort fungus. What the heck is this? Mycology is hard.

About

Most people don't pay much attention to fungi, which include things like mushrooms, molds, yeasts, and mildews. Here at Cornell we think they're pretty fascinating. In fact, even the most disgusting foot diseases and moldy strawberries are dear to our hearts. We'd like to talk to you about fungi, so that like us, you too can tell gross stories at the dinner table. Afterwards, maybe you'll notice some things you would have overlooked before, and we think this could be good for the planet.

Kathie T. Hodge, Editor

Beneath Notice, our book of borescopic mycology.

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