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48 Comments
- Bukowsky, on 10/09/2008, -3/+24That's exactly what we need.... fuel that will make you hallucinate!
- stutimandal, on 10/09/2008, -0/+20This week's fuel breakthrough at Digg is Mushrooms.
- TJ11240, on 10/09/2008, -0/+18Using mushrooms instead of a valuable heavy metals should save some money as well.
- SantaBJ, on 10/10/2008, -0/+16Shroompower. Awesome.
- inactive, on 10/10/2008, -0/+14I love all the new clean fuel ideas
- mecharabbit, on 10/10/2008, -0/+11Oh, please...Mario and Luigi have been promoting this idea for the past 20 years.
- shutaro, on 10/10/2008, -1/+9Mushroom! Mushroom!
- albyliontk, on 10/10/2008, -0/+7I am glad scientists are looking into the problem of cleaner fuels and are developing new solutions such as the one descibe in this article
- lornali, on 10/10/2008, -0/+7Articles like these make one feel that there is still hope
- GarrettGrimsley, on 10/10/2008, -1/+7eek a snake!
- RudeTurnip, on 10/10/2008, -0/+6Just because it's natural, that doesn't mean it won't kill you or give you and your kids cancer in the long run.
- neoq36, on 10/10/2008, -1/+7badger badger badger badger badger badger badger badger
- gioshe, on 10/10/2008, -0/+6Hey they all do. Have you tried inhaling kerosene fumes, it's fun.
- inactive, on 10/10/2008, -0/+4Vicious Delicious!
- BXRWXR, on 10/10/2008, -0/+4How are you supposed to get them into the fuel tank?
- whatever01, on 10/10/2008, -0/+4Looking at the article that the was referenced in the blog, Zinc is likely to become much more expensive in the future as the known reserves get mined out. Lithium, too, is more limited than would be useful.
The nice thing about fungal based enzymes is that they can easily be produced en-mass, and there's probably other useful things that can be extracted from the biomass. If the stuff is commercially important, they can probably come up with a GMO to crank the stuff out like insulin or HGH which no longer have to be harvested from cadavers.
Eliminating our use of certain chemicals/compounds is a extremely good thing, especially if the purified form, the compounded form, or the byproducts of manufacture are dangerous, or if the feed stocks are rare. Look at it this way, dioxin and cyanide are incredibly dangerous chemicals to deal with, but their constiutents are benign - carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen. Heck, if you look at prions, like the one that causes Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow disease), it's not even a different compoud, but just a different folding of the same compound. Also, look at the environmental consequences of mining for metals, it's a very good thing to avoid that if you can just grow some mushrooms on a woodpile.
In short, your assertion that we're not creating something new is incorrect. Molecularly, we can create effectively new things that are exceedingly dangerous. - inactive, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3The idea is cool. love it..
- KingGorilla, on 10/10/2008, -1/+4Does that mean we'll be riding badgers?
- Frixionburne, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3you don't actually, common misconception with the article I guess. They are a replacement for the platinum in a catalytic convertor. It's all about emissions, not really alternative fuel.
I mean hell, I just get around this issue by buying cars that are >= 25 years old. No e-check means i just cut the catty off, sell it, and straight pipe the exhaust. - OoO3xOoO, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3Read this book now:
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets
http://www.amazon.com/Mycelium-Running-Mushrooms-H ... - Brainmuck, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3not if the charge lasts for 2500 hours
- IareKEVLAR, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3Did that mean that in one charge, there would be 2500 hrs of power at 400 milliamps? If so, that's insane.
- ohearn, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3Oh, you mean one of the early diesel motors, yep we don't use those at all now do we?
- ryjohn, on 10/10/2008, -0/+3This brings a whole new meaning to taking a trip.
- MeatyMcBeef, on 10/10/2008, -1/+3Next up: who's gay!
[/Dr. Horrible reference] - ratexla, on 10/10/2008, -0/+2An itty bitty bit of all species have been described. An itty bitty bit of those have been examined for useful properties such as the above.
Unfortunately and unnecessarily, extinction rates are currently about 1000 times higher than usual.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity#Human_Be ... - shutaro, on 10/10/2008, -1/+3Nope. Snakes.
- snareHead1130, on 10/10/2008, -0/+2Here's a talk by leading mycologist (fungi researcher) Paul Stamets. He's a bit hard to understand at times, but his work is astounding. He touches on cures for diseases, eco-restoration, fuel alternatives, and more.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on ... - explodingtree, on 10/10/2008, -1/+3Now we can put these countless smashed Goombas to use.
- Apostacy, on 10/10/2008, -1/+2'Dude, I ate that entire bag of batteries and I still don't feel *****!'
- HellifIno, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1Or, ya know, they could be farmed...
Heck, with the state of science now, they'll probably modify some bacteria to poop the enzyme they're interested in. - jesseber, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1They have an article about some ***** making alternative energy on here constantly. When are we gonna see one?
Probably never thanks to the oil companies - Cleve101, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1Great that we're looking at alternatives, but if this goes to scale we should be concerned about how mushrooms are getting harvested. If we're hoping to help the planet by storming through forests and blindly taking species, then it may not be a net benefit. On the other hand if we're careful, this could be a really cool alternative.
- PistolSO, on 10/10/2008, -3/+4I, for one, welcome our new, cleaner energy-producing, entheogen-containing, fungal overlords.
- abadjay, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1FTA:
"...ultimately hope to create cell phone-sized batteries created using laccase from genetically-modified fungi. Such batteries would last for 20 recharges."
is it just me or does 20 recharges really suck? - moduc, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1Just stare at your gas station's receipt
- whatever01, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1If you're lazy, check out his TED presentation:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on ...
Amazing. - sarahbara, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1negative consequences?
- HippyInASuit, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1Dug for blue mushrooms in the pic! They're not psylocibes as far as I know, but they sure look magical.
- HellifIno, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1Diesels will run on many oils, frogle. The only reason we use crude-based diesel is that there's a lot of it around, as it's essentially a side product of gasoline production. IIRC, crude-based diesel also carries a bit more energy than vegetable/nut oils.
- citizenchan, on 10/10/2008, -1/+1Can you imagine the suicide attempts... Airtight garage +Running car = PAAARTAY!
- Naglifar, on 10/10/2008, -1/+0OLD Mario discovered this a Loooooooonng time ago
- pintofken, on 10/10/2008, -1/+0Real magic mushrooms
- iamthearm, on 10/10/2008, -1/+0hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahah
- toe_cutter, on 10/10/2008, -2/+0exactly, there's probably not mushroom
- JayTee44, on 10/10/2008, -2/+0You diggers are forgetting that you hate this idea, because fuel cells generally require hydrogen to run, and Bush wants a hydrogen economy.
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