Summary of Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Truffles are the underground fruiting bodies of several types of mycorrhizal fungi. They are spore-producing organs that evolved to allow fungi to disperse themselves, but underground their spores can’t be caught by air currents. Their solution is to smell.
#2 The human sense of smell is extraordinary. We can detect virtually all volatile chemicals, and we outperform rodents and dogs in detecting certain odors. Smells are woven into our memories.
#3 Truffles have long been associated with sex, and they are not the only fungi that attract animal attention. Orchid bees, for example, collect scents from the world and amass them into a cocktail to court females.
#4 Humans wear perfumes produced by other organisms, and it is not uncommon for fungal aromas to be incorporated into our own sexual rituals. Truffles, which are harvested for their aroma, are worth more than diamonds.

Sujets

• Sexualité
• sexualité
• Sexualité
• Mycology
• Life science

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 10 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669383239
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Truffles are the underground fruiting bodies of several types of mycorrhizal fungi. They are spore-producing organs that evolved to allow fungi to disperse themselves, but underground their spores can’t be caught by air currents. Their solution is to smell.

#2

The human sense of smell is extraordinary. We can detect virtually all volatile chemicals, and we outperform rodents and dogs in detecting certain odors. Smells are woven into our memories.

#3

Truffles have long been associated with sex, and they are not the only fungi that attract animal attention. Orchid bees, for example, collect scents from the world and amass them into a cocktail to court females.

#4

Humans wear perfumes produced by other organisms, and it is not uncommon for fungal aromas to be incorporated into our own sexual rituals. Truffles, which are harvested for their aroma, are worth more than diamonds.

#5

The chemical basis of truffles’ allure remains unclear. In 1981, German researchers found that both Piedmont white truffles and Périgord black truffles produced androstenol, a steroid with a musky scent, in non-negligible quantities.

#6

The smell of a truffle is made up of a flock of different molecules that drift in formation. They are energetically costly, and they don’t seem to have evolved just to smell good. They serve a purpose.

#7

The truffle hunter must read the dog’s body language to find signs that indicate whether or not there are truffles buried in the ground. A wagging tail promises truffles, a still tail suggests otherwise.

#8

Truffles are the fungi’s least sophisticated channels of communication. They are a delicious smell that is penetrating and strong, and they don’t change their aroma in response to your immediate attentions.

#9

Allure underlies many types of fungal sex. Without homing, there could be no mycelium. Without mycelium, there could be no attraction between - and + mating types. Without sexual attraction there could be no sex.

#10

The mycorrhizal relationship between a plant and a fungus is a case of attraction and allure, with chemical call-and-response. Both plant and fungus use volatile chemicals to make themselves attractive to one another.

#11

The methods fungi use to hunt nematodes are grisly and diverse. Some grow adhesive nets, others produce hyphal nooses that inflate in a tenth of a second when touched, and some produce spores that can swim through the soil and attach themselves to nematodes.

#12

The prevailing scientific view is that it is a mistake to imagine that there is anything deliberate about most nonhuman interactions. However, the mycelium of truffle fungi actively senses and responds to its surroundings in unpredictable ways.

#13

The truffle is a great example of how our investigative tools are not always black and white. We are able to recognize the simple existence of another living being in the Potawatomi language, whereas in English, we cannot.

#14

Fungi have many options, and their fickle environments require them to be adaptable. They make decisions, and their trials entail errors. They are not like animals, who have a limited number of options and can only make mistakes.

#15

Dante the dog was trained to find truffles, which are the most expensive food in the world. He would dig frantically, but he never found one. He kept injuring his pads, but truffles trumped everything for him.