Welcome To Fungi Week!

Welcome To Fungi Week!

Welcome To Fungi Week! This story is part of Fungi Week, a deep dive into the myriad ways mushrooms and fungi make the planet a healthier place for all its inhabitants. It is supported by UPIC Health. Ever since The Last of Us blamed the end of the world on a parasitic fungus, fungi and the undead have become pop-culturally inseparable. Which is a shame because, the closer you look, the more it starts to seem like fungi –– in their quiet, inconspicuous way –– just might be capable of saving the world. Paul Stamets, granddaddy of all things mushroom, has called fungi “the neurological network of nature.” According to Stamets –– profiled by RTBC’s Michaela Haas later in this series –– fungi “collectively have the long-term health of the host environment in mind … devising diverse enzymatic and chemical responses to complex challenges.” In other words, not just a trippy tool for making jam bands tolerable. In fact, fungi benefit life on earth in a seemingly endless number of ways. Cities use…