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Story Archives of 'fungus'
The Fungus Among Us
By Chris Martin on Thursday, October 15, 2009.The lowly mushroom is often scorned as a pest, but as Chris explains fungi perform a unique and useful function in the natural world.
Eco-Insulation: Filling Your Walls With Fungi
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, October 7, 2009.
If you peel back the walls of a typical American home, you’ll find several inches of insulation. Whether it’s blown into drafty attic floors or tacked to wall studs, most insulation is made out of fiberglass or cellulose. Although cellulose is made out of recycled newspaper, it’s treated with sodium borate or boric acid to make it flame retardant - not what you’d call “green.”
A pair of entrepreneurs from Troy, New York have come up with a new solution: mushrooms. Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre came up with a rigid insulation material made from billions of interlocking mushroom roots. It can also be used as a packing material that’s grown, not manufactured. For our next green thing series, we’re talking with Eben Bayer, co-founder and CEO of Ecovative Design.
Popular Science: Invention Awards: Eco-Friendly Insulation Made From Mushrooms
Scientific American: Staying Cool: Green Insulation Gets Warm Reception
(Photo courtesy Ecovative Design)
The Bat Mystery is Solved.....kind of.
By Mark Bevis on Tuesday, November 18, 2008.A mystery has been lurking in bat caves across the northeast.
Late last winter and early spring, wildlife biologists reported that thousands of bats were dying of a mysterious ailment.
They called it white nose syndrome, because the dying and dead bats' noses were covered with a white powder.
In some caves, 90 percent of the bats were affected.
Emily Brunkhurst is a biologist with the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game.
She's with the non-game and endangered wildlife program.
She tells NHPR's Mark Bevis the mystery has been solved....at least partially.
Lichen and Robots
By Liz Bulkley on Sunday, September 25, 2005.Ralph Pope may know everything you ever wanted to know about lichens but were afraid to ask. His new book explores the down and dirty clingy tree huggers in exquisite detail. We'll find out why tenacious flora thrive in such lousy weather, and what's so cozy about a rock.
We'll also talk with Bruce Donald, a Dartmouth researcher who's helped create the world's smallest untethered, controllable robot. You can read more about the tiny machine and watch videos about it by clicking here.
We end the show with a song by The Everyday Visuals. The New Hampshire band's album "Media Crush" addresses the difficulty of getting radio play in an increasingly overcrowded industry.
