{"id":4238,"date":"2018-11-10T11:55:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-10T11:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/climate-change-bug-covered-bionic-mushroom-generates-clean-energy\/"},"modified":"2018-11-10T11:55:40","modified_gmt":"2018-11-10T11:55:40","slug":"climate-change-bug-covered-bionic-mushroom-generates-clean-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/climate-change-bug-covered-bionic-mushroom-generates-clean-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change: Bug covered &#8216;bionic mushroom&#8217; generates clean energy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"Mushroom\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/632F\/production\/_104219352_e1fae03d-d3f0-49f6-84cb-c91c3ec85d12.png\" width=\"976\" height=\"700\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">American Chemical Society<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    A button mushroom coated in bugs and nanowires can produce electricity from light<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">US researchers have successfully tested the rather whacky idea of producing electricity from a mushroom covered in bacteria.<\/p>\n<p>The scientists used 3D printing to attach clusters of energy-producing bugs to the cap of a button mushroom.<\/p>\n<p>The fungus provided the ideal environment to allow the cyanobacteria to generate a small amount of power.<\/p>\n<p>The authors say their fossil-free &#8220;bionic mushroom&#8221; could have great potential.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-45881551\" class=\"story-body__link\">Which green energy is the cheapest?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-46098118\" class=\"story-body__link\">Large hydropower dams &#8216;not sustainable&#8217; <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As researchers the world over search for alternative energy sources, there has been a sharp rise in interest in cyanobacteria.<\/p>\n<p>These organisms, widely found in the oceans and on land, are being investigated for their abilities to turn sunlight into electrical current. <\/p>\n<p>One big problem is that they do not survive long enough on artificial surfaces to be able to deliver on their power potential.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s where the humble button mushroom comes in.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Sudeep Joshi<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    Cyanobacteria show great potential in turning light into energy<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This fertile fungus is already home to many other forms of bacterial life, providing an attractive array of nutrients, moisture and temperature. <\/p>\n<p>So the scientists from the Stevens Institute of Technology in the US developed a clever method of marrying the mushroom to the sparky bugs.<\/p>\n<p>Appropriately enough, they came up with the idea while having lunch!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One day my friends and I went to lunch together and we ordered some mushrooms,&#8221; said Sudeep Joshi, a postdoctoral researcher and author of the study.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As we discussed them we realised they have a rich microbiota of their own, so we thought why not use the mushrooms as a support for the cynaobacteria. We thought let&#8217;s merge them and see what happens.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Using a special bio-ink, the team printed the bacteria on the cap of the mushroom in a spiral pattern. They had previously used an electronic ink to embed graphene nano-ribbons on to the surface of the fungus to collect the current. <\/p>\n<p>When they shone a light on this magical mushroom, it caused the cyanobacteria to generate a small amount of electricity.<\/p>\n<p>Not quite a lightbulb moment but proof that the idea works. The researchers say that several mushrooms wired up together could light a small lamp.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are looking to connect all the mushrooms in series, in an array, and we are also looking to pack more bacteria together,&#8221; said Sudeep Joshi. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These are the next steps, to optimise the bio-currents, to generate more electricity, to power a small LED.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A big plus for the experiment was the fact that the bugs on the fungus lasted several days longer compared with cyanobacteria placed on other surfaces. <\/p>\n<p>The researchers believe that the idea could have potential as a renewable energy source. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Right now we are using cyanobacteria from the pond, but you can genetically engineer them and you can change their molecules to produce higher photo currents, via photosynthesis,&#8221; said Sudeep Joshi.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a new start; we call it engineered symbiosis. If we do more research in this we can really push this field forward to have some type of effective green technology.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The leap from fossil fuel to fungus fuel may not be that far away.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1021\/acs.nanolett.8b02642\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">study has been published<\/a> in the journal Nano Letters.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Matt on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattMcGrathBBC\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">@mattmcgrathbbc<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-46127318\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright American Chemical Society Image caption A button mushroom coated in bugs and nanowires can produce electricity from light US researchers have successfully tested the rather whacky idea of producing electricity from a mushroom covered in bacteria. The scientists used 3D printing to attach clusters of energy-producing bugs to the cap of a button &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}