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Fungus is the new computer. There's nothing like that feeling a beginning programmer has when he realizes that he can give the computer a few simple instructions and, in a matter of seconds, the computer does something that would take thousands of man-years of manual computation.

This is why biotech is such an interesting field. If we can give fungi and bacteria simple instructions and let them execute those instructions in massively parallel fashion, we can accomplish amazing feats.




I don't really see the link with computing here. The fungi changed the cell structure of the wood, chemistry and woodworking on a microscopic scale.


There is no link with computing as in running a program. The link is the perception changing technology that lets us accomplish previously difficult tasks in a simple manner.


Which is in-line with its purpose: (in this case) the cellular digestion of waste wood. Given enough time, the fungus would have consumed all the wood, rather than die off like a scientist would prefer to program it to do.


what you mean is that nature is interesting. here's a clip to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhh32JYkQPk




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