Fun Fact #34: Do you like explosions and other exciting stuff like that? Well guess what our beloved fungi do too! There is a process called “explosive spore discharge” which occurs in Ascomycota and Zygomycota (divisions of fungi). These fungi form tubes with their spores held inside. These tubes fill with water and when the pressure becomes right they launch the spores into the air. This is by no means a random event, it is carefully controlled by the fungi with precisely timed draw-in of osmolytes to increase pressure. These spores launch into the air at speeds up to 25m/s (90km/h).

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trancenova · Answer

They launch up to 2.5 meters away from the fungi. If you don't think mushrooms aren't tough then consider that these spores are withstanding accelerations between 20,000 to 180,000 g, that's a fine feat for a fungus I think.

trancenova · Answer

Source: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003237 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17784861 Don't tell me fungi aren't boring! :P Previous: http://openstudy.com/groups/biology#/groups/biology/updates/4e749a9a0b8b247045d532f9

anonymous · Answer

yepp fungi is very fun

trancenova · Answer

Glad you agree :D