Grand #narrative of the past 500 years:#longnow http://t.co/ALkbqKVe #podcast #good #potato #malaria #slavery #nitrogen #lue #global

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Carvajal and his team resurrected a number of different yeast strains, but not a one was saccharomyces cerivisiae — the yeast used in contemporary fermentation techniques. In fact, two of the strains were a new species entirely, and beonged to the genus Candida, many species of which are known to cause skin and vaginal infections. Carvajal's team named the new species C. theae, meaning "tea."

The decision to name the species "tea" would wind up being strangely appropriate. In 2010, on the other side of the globe from the researchers in South America, two cases of bottled tea were discovered to be clouded with contamination. When Taiwanese yeast taxonomist Ching-Fu Lee compared the genes of the yeast contaminating the tea with that of Carvajal's recently discovered C. theae, he found that the two strains matched. Lee, of course, contacted Carvajal immediately and the two collaborated to publish the paper that appears in the latest issue of International Journal of Food Microbiology.

So how could a long-lost yeast strain show up simultaneously on opposite ends of the world? "I don't think this is a beverage-related yeast, I think it is a human-related yeast," explains Carvajal. "We know now that there were contacts between Polynesians and South American peoples. [Polynesians] departed from Taiwan 6,000 years ago."

"We are using yeasts to track human migration and contacts. That is part of what we call 'microbiological archaeology.'"

"A 20-foot-fungus doesn't make any sense. Neither does a 20-foot-tall algae make any sense, but here's the fossil"

The Arctic Flavours Association is a nation-wide natural products industry association specialising in wild berries, mushrooms, herbs and special natural products. The aims of the Association are to promote the gathering, processing and use of natural products as well as to improve their quality.

Doyle had a problem. In the neighborhood surrounding his Lakeshore warehouses, homeowners were complaining about a mysterious black mold coating their houses. And the residents, following their noses, blamed the whiskey. Doyle wanted to know what the mold was and whether it was the company’s fault. Scott headed up to Lakeshore to take a look.

Deep, interesting story of a random thing. Wired at it's best.

"In other words, the birth of the economic ecosystem surrounding aged liquor represents a signal moment in the early Industrial Revolution, a mile marker on the road to a more civilized world. And somehow that fungus staining the walls of Lakeshore was a byproduct of that journey."

Contact:
http://www.ecovativedesign.com/contact-us/

A stalk of the newfound fungus species Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani, grows out of a "zombie" ant's head in a Brazilian rain forest.

Originally thought to be a single species, called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the fungus is actually four distinct species—all of which can "mind control" ants—scientists announced Wednesday.