Materials & Tech

·

Study

Oyster Mushroom Mycelium Naturally Performs Computer Logic

Oyster Mushroom Mycelium Naturally Performs Computer Logic

Oyster mushroom

What they found

Oyster mycelium in a hemp block produced digital logic outputs, including the NAND gate 145 times.

Oyster mycelium in a hemp block produced digital logic outputs, including the NAND gate 145 times.

The number

the NAND gate (the building block all digital circuits can be made from) showed up 145 times

How solid is it?

Field study

Field study

Materials/engineering

Materials/engineering

Evidence ladder: Lab dish → Animal → Early human → Strong human. Reviews summarize earlier research.

At a glance

Latin name

Sample size

11 electrodes, one hemp block

11 electrodes, one hemp block

Published in

WSPC Book Series in Unconventional Computing

WSPC Book Series in Unconventional Computing

Covered in Shroom Scan

Section

ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

As it ran in Shroom Scan

Logic Gates

Logic Gates

Scientists wired 11 electrodes into a hemp block colonized by oyster mushroom mycelium, fed it every combination of on/off voltage pulses, and watched it spit out structured electrical outputs that matched real digital logic functions. The big one: the NAND gate (the building block all digital circuits can be made from) showed up 145 times, meaning the fungus naturally produces "computationally complete" logic. Even wilder, because the mycelium kept growing and rewiring itself, a single block generated roughly 3,000 distinct input-to-output mappings, the kind of variety a normal chip would need a full redesign to achieve. The fungus did it just by growing.

Scientists wired 11 electrodes into a hemp block colonized by oyster mushroom mycelium, fed it every combination of on/off voltage pulses, and watched it spit out structured electrical outputs that matched real digital logic functions. The big one: the NAND gate (the building block all digital circuits can be made from) showed up 145 times, meaning the fungus naturally produces "computationally complete" logic. Even wilder, because the mycelium kept growing and rewiring itself, a single block generated roughly 3,000 distinct input-to-output mappings, the kind of variety a normal chip would need a full redesign to achieve. The fungus did it just by growing.

Shroom Scan #120: Mushrooms just built a working computer

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