A Mini Farm That Produces Food From Plastic-Eating Mushrooms. From WIRED:
…The tabletop set-up is a mini-factory for cultivating the mycelium (roots) of two fungi strains—Schizophyllum commune and Pleurotus ostreatus, both commonly consumed mushrooms that just so happen to have a voracious appetite for plastic. To convert the plastic into edible product, it’s first placed in an activation chamber where UV light sterilizes the material and begins the degradation process. The plastic is then placed in the growth sphere where it sits in an egg-shaped pod made from agar (a gelatinous material used to culture samples). These pods are called FUs. The diluted mycelium is added to the FUs and slowly begins to consume the plastic, growing into a fluffy, mushroom-like substance. At this point it takes a couple of months for the mycelium culture to consume biodegradable plastic, but researchers are working on accelerating the process for both biodegradable and nonbiodegradable varieties by optimizing growth conditions.
It’s a bizarre process, but the end product looks surprisingly like something you might want to consume. You could almost think of the puffy mushroom material as a bread bowl for the the agar (the jelly substance can take on whatever flavor you choose). Unger and Kaisinger came up with conceptual recipes—think a mango-carrot FU or a chocolate FU filled with yogurt—and a set of utensils to eat them with.
It’s important to note that while based in real science, Unger’s Fungi Mutarium is still somewhat speculative. Though Unger herself has eaten the fungi (“It’s quite neutral tasting,” she says), there’s still much research that needs to be done to ensure it’s totally safe for consumption. Regardless, it’s a provocative vision for this scientific research, which might otherwise stay siloed in the laboratory, out of reach of people who can give it real-world purpose….
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
