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As an evolutionary biologist myself, I must say that your documentaries on Evolution are the best I've ever seen. I always tell my students to take a look. Great work! Keep it up! You certainly deserve millions more viewers!

I worked as an ecosystem restoration ecologist for over 25 years and was often frustrated at poor results from tree planting on modified soils. Then it hit me about 10 years ago that the trees we WANT to be present are highly dependent on ectomycorrhizal fungi. After that, we focused on "feeding the soil" with copious amount of wood chips, vertical mulching, and wood staking. The other strategy is to include the tougher woody plants that seem to perform well on the conpacted soils.

This is the exact kind of documentary that I've missed on National Geographic and Discovery. Excellent story-telling, and beautiful vocabulary that almost tries to transport you back in time as if you're watching the whole thing play out in real time. Keep it up!

I cannot believe this series is free. Thank you SO much for all the hard work you do

So im in my last year of highschool, and ive studied fungi in my own free time for almost 2 full years. I absolutely adore this them. Now, heres one of my favorite Fun Facts regarding the topic of fungi. A species named Entomophthora muscae, which is latin for INSECT DESTROYER regarding flies. Its a entomopathogenic mould that infects primarily house flies or fruit flies. It infects female flies circulatory and nervous system. It eats its fair share of the poor fly before it induces summiting, death and begins to sporulate. The thing is...the females infected corpse also emits chemicals called sesquiterpenes...all u need to know about these chemicals is that they sexually excite and attract male flies...the males try mating with the corpse and become infected themselves. In a scientific study, it was basically found that males preferred mating with infected DEAD females instead of uninfected live ones... TL;DR: A fungus can turn flies into necrophiles.

40:30 Cherenkov radiation does not glow because water is being split. Cherenkov radiation is caused by particles moving through the water faster than the speed of light in water. The speed of light in water is 75% of the speed of light in a vacuum. So highly energetic particles given off by radioactive decay, can travel faster than the speed of light in water, while still being slower than the absolute limit of the speed of light in a vacuum. Cherenkov radiation is similar to the sonic boom shock wave for objects moving faster than the speed of sound. Cherenkov radiation is a shockwave of light waves as particles move faster than the speed of light of water.

Psilocybin containing mushrooms are just amazing with so many health benefits. Psilocybin mushrooms saved my life honestly from PTSD and addiction to alcohol and cigarettes. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

Small correction: slime molds aren't fungi, but protozoa... they don't contain chitin, can move, some will bring food within the cell to digest it etc etc.

My son and I were recently learning about fossils and evolution of early plants and animals, and he was wondering about what early fungi were like and how they evolved. Fungi are really under- appreciated. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information (especially not in a child-friendly form). He will like to watch parts of this outstanding documentary. Thank you for producing this amazing content.

34:42 "So far as to LICHEN this activity" I see what you did there! Subtle fungi puns are the best fungi puns! 😂

I had no interest in fungi until I tripped on psilocybin. During one particularly potent trip, I "hallucinated" a discussion with the mushroom itself. 🍄 I was told how mushrooms cooperate with other lifeforms for mutual benefit, including humans, and if we only opened ourselves to this more, the fungi could help us more. I was then told about fighting viral infections and other medicinal benefits if we would use them properly. When I awoke the next day, I began researching the information that hallucination had told me, and surprisingly it was all true, especially the parts about anti-viral benefits. I cannot explain where or how this information came to me, but, there it was.

35:48 most if not all of the "lichen" showed on screen are actually just mosses, that are actually plants, in this very video I could see their sporophytes that are diagnostic of non-vascular plants, Idk why how a mistake like that happened judging by the quality of the documentary and channel too, it's a shame that the diverse group that are the lichens with their miriad of forms and coloers weren't showcased in that high quality documentary

Thank you. I enjoyed your video. I am a retired botany professor with a baccalaureate in chemistry. It is unfortunate that the study of fungi is so terribly neglected. Professor James Trapp (spelling) gave a series of guest lectures when I was at Brigham Young University for which I am grateful. Those lectures got me to do more reading about fungi. Thanks for your video.

00:01 Intro 08:55 Part l - More Than Mushrooms 23:53 Part II - Ultimate Partnership 38:53 Part III - Fungal Earth 50:24 Part IV - The First Fungi

It cracks me up when the closed captions use "lichens" and "lycans" interchangeably. The idea that the combination of algea and fungus turn into a wolf on the full moon is just hilarious to me

After watching fantastic fungi, I am blown away by the magnificence of this fascinating organism. I’ve had my fair share of experience with golden teachers(I should add). It needs to be a humanitarian mission to get them decriminalised and regulated. The amount of ptsd and abuse studies that micro dose and get life changing results. It’s just wrong and it should be a human right to be able to explore within their own bodies without judgement.

When the histories of the Universe and and Earth narrowly pass each other by a week’s gap… great treat from both channels this week.

This entire sceries is so incredibly, jaw-droppingly well written! Huge kudos to Leila Battison, for her science poetry! I honestly don´t know any channel that does it better.

Psychedelic is the answer to most severe anxiety and depression...The use of magic mushrooms completely helps one get over depression and makes you feel like yourself...I used antidepressants for some years but it only made me feel like a zombie but with immediate use of mushroom 🍄 in few months I feel like I'm living a whole new Life.

The title sequence of this channel gives me chills at this point. This series is some of the best content on UKposts and one of my favorite documentary series. I bought a year worth of Curiosity Stream just to thank them for supporting your efforts.

I thought I’d offer some pointers on Nahuatl pronunciation. The -tl is pronounced very quickly as one sound, not as its own syllable. The L is voiceless, so it sounds like a hiss. qu is ALWAYS pronounced like k, NEVER as kw. (kw is written as cu). hu is just a plain w sound. Stress falls on the penultimate syllable: Te-noch-TI-tlan, que-tzal-CO-huatl, te-o-NA-catl, a-HUI-tzotl.

I had no idea fungi were so ancient. I thought that their rise and explosion was a by-product of the Carboniferous, but they seem to have been the original pioneers after 'Snowball Earth'!

This is a very good higher level summary about recent discoveries about the mighty fungus. It was a treat to see the Stoned Ape theory discussed. While it is a fringe theory, it seems logical that psychedelic mushrooms had at least some impact on human development. We know so little about the Wood Wide Web, hopefully we can gain a deeper knowledge before we destroy it all. We've just scratched the surface so far, with most of our knowledge about fungus gained in just the past few decades. There's so much more to know.

Just adding to the wealth of comments giving well deserved praise to your absolutely stunning videos. Their written incredibly well. Your graceful, soothing, rich pronunciation is fantastic. Thank you, I learned a lot!

Fungus. Quiet, hidden, strange. Almost alien in nature. And yet, necessary for life as we know it. This video changed the way I look at fungus, history, and life. I can't help but anthropomorphize them a little bit. Having taken fungi for granted all my life, I can't help but see them in a new light. Somewhere between wonder and terror, I can't help but think the Aztecs were right when they called one fungus the "Flesh of the Gods". With everything they've accomplished across eons, there is something almost divine about fungus, isn't there?

13:22 those are Humpback Whales, not Blue Whales, and are substantially smaller (14-15m and ~40,000kg vs 22-30m and 80,000-130,000kg for Blues). Not that it matters on the scale of the Humongous Fungus, but still

This is an inspiration. This will be an epic game setting for D&D.

I've watched this video so many times. I can't wait for the next video. These even longer ones are even greater than great!

As usual your documentaries are fantastic. I always love seeing them come up in my feed. My one major qualm was during the discussion of LICHEN, the only things being shown are MOSS species. Not a single lichen was actually shown, and for a documentary like this, that's unfortunate considering just how fascinating lichen are. Not to mention makes the information provided highly inaccurate in a visual sense :(

My favorite topic. I was a mycologist for the state of NC dept of agriculture before moving to the research triangle and working with a huge laboratory research corporation. Has been quite a treat and I’d say we’re even less appreciated than the Lepidoptera enthusiasts. Also, Stamets is not the end all be all expert on fungi. He’s done more grifting and profiteering then most in this field and has created ridiculous ideologies toward progress in fungal advancements that can benefit us. The groups working on intestinal flora and its links to our health and spikes in autism rates are much more beneficial and don’t need to be seen on social media with a cult like following blurring the line between realistic achievements and exaggerated fairytales and non peer reviewed research and locked away patents sold to the government.

Currently 2.1 million views... Shows how much people are loving this kind of quality content. Thank you! It's so well done. I genuinely hope it makes you rich!

Wonderful, lads and lassies. Now in semi-retirement and exploring your channel, I didn't know how far behind I had slipped while blithely teaching school science for decades. Your u-tubes make me feel like an undergrad again. Keep it up!

Fungi freak me out a little. They're stupendously aggressive, and their method of predation is the stuff of horror movies.

Fungus is amazing. From its ability to hold together forests, to gardens, as well as some of their more…psychoactive abilities.

What a fantastic documentary! Huge thanks for the information, the gorgeous shots and the wonderful narration.

History of the universe and now this channel as well are by far my favorite channels to watch. The voice and script writing is top notch

Giant fungi reminds me of how, eg, corn starch jumps around on an audio speaker. I can’t help but think that that’s what is happening with giant mushrooms on pre-historic earth…. especially now I know mushrooms make their own music. I could cry with the beauty of it all. They terraform, they dance, they make music, they create fractals… mushrooms are incredibly beautiful. I listen to them now. I’ve learned so many secrets since I began to listen to them.

Thank you for making these great free documentaries for us all, we are so lucky for such an amazing channel :)

Fantastic video thank you for this. The prospect that fungal like organisms have been around for 2.4 Billion years is absolutely astonishing. You also said something that made me shiver: "fungi have experimented with minds for as long as there have been minds". I don't know what to do with that information 😅

The narrative quality of this channel is just the finest seen in documentaries. A beautiful marriage between science and literature is what I call this content.

What an incredible channel... Super informative with little interuption. Beatifully narrated.. just cannot say enough how much this channel is appreciated. Thanks again

I'm so happy to see some fungi love! I definitely believe they are underappreciated!!

Hats off to you guys on this one! Massive piece of work, so much information brilliantly presented. The jaw dropping, mind blowing story of the fungi! All the possibilities for science, technology and mental health! Thank you writer Leila Battison and all the crew!

One can learn so many new and useful ideas and concepts here. I knew from Paul Stammets that fungi were not just mushrooms in one's salad, but much much more. This really lifts the fog on the fungi!

Very nice doc. I only have to comment about the images of "lichen" from 00:35':48'' or so: what we are seeing is not a lichen but a sphagnum, which is a plant (moss, also called peat moss when dry and fermented) and not a symbiote.

Honestly one of my favourite channels. Great content as always can't wait for the next one already!

Amazing! Thank you for producing this!

I have so many compliments not only for this video, but for this channel. I’m a fan of the whole family of “History of the” channels. I love how the music seamlessly leads into the next, the narration, the interweaving of natural and human history that ties it all together as one profound story. Thank you so much for your research and presentation of accessible science education.

Whoever he was, he got it from his parents. You can tell it was a fun family. Any couple who would be the first to ever name their child Gus, has got to be a good time!

The first fungi and its respective mycellium could have made it possible for much of the diverse life that followed to thrive! This first fungi could indeed be the, "Mother of the soil".

In my mid 50s (about 20 years ago) I found myself doing a basic degree in plant knowledge and gardening. (By accident). I loved it. I already loved gardening Until then I had no idea how amazing fungi were. Love this video.

incredible!! I am definitely going to have to rewatch to understand more! Thank you for this!

Magical and fascinating as always. And as usual, you go deeper than any other "latest research" news I've seen, even when I've been tipped off by somebody in the field. (The recent work on lichens being composed of multiple fungi + algae.) Also, while I appreciate the History of the Universe, you keep getting beyond what my poor little classics major brain can fathom. I need terra firma, quite literally, even if it is an illusion. I want stories about things. The idea of fungal networks being sentient in some alien, subsurface way is fascinating. In a way, they're like the mind of the soil. It also puts the Permian Extinction into terrifying perspective. In Michael J Benton's book When Life Nearly Died, he talks about the evidence that the rivers lost their banks, lost their meanders, and were carrying down rocks and boulders in torrents and floods- basically reverting to Earth before soil. I think he stated that it was evidence that trees had pretty well died off; without their roots, there was nothing to hold the soil together, and it was almost all washed away. But that means the fungal networks were losing their grip on the soil as well, and there were probably whole swaths of the planet devoid of fungus. Truly dead. (Do deserts have fungus? Not soft deserts like the Sonora, but sand seas like the middle of the Sahara. That might be the true definition of desert: no fungal web beneath the surface.)

I thought this was gonna be just a brief history of fungi, but (especially with the Chernobyl stuff) it was so much more- just wanted to say thanks!

As an amateur mycologist from 1978, I applaud you perceptive discussion. My interest has always been in the fruiting bodies, the edible parts, plus of course all the marvelous uses of various yeasts. Fascinating evidence of micorhyzal relationships deserve much more study. I look forward to discoveries to come.

I'm a paleontologist AND I actually learned something today. Thank you for that!!! 👍👏♥️

Leila's writes beautifully. And you already know your reading style hypnotizes and keeps my rapt attention. Evidently, thousands agree.

The only problem with this channel is that it always leaves you crawing more. Great stuff as always! Thank you so much!

This documentary was amazing. Thank you very much for sharing this series.

Thank you for taking the time to teach in such a way that lay people not only understand, but seek to know more.🎯👏🏾

What an absolutely amazing documentary. The production and the effort put in are simply outstanding.

Studied fungal biology as subject part of 1st year of my degree. Thanks to great lecturer I have had a background interest in fungi. This was was a great update and look forward to find out more. As an introduction to science of subject is excellent. Thank you for added motivation

Great presentation, really loved to watch this! Thanks a lot for sharing.

One of thee best documentaries I have ever seen about Fungi. I highly recommend this to everyone, it's fascinating! ❤

this was a masterpiece. Congrats to the team or individual behind this youtube channel, but mostly thank you for putting it out there for the masses to watch and learn about our beautiful planet.

You out did yourself on this one. What an absolutely intriguing piece of entertainment.

This video has some of the most beautiful visual content I have ever seen

It has always baffled me that people could believe in an all powerful being capable of bearing the fruit of all creation, and prefer to believe that everything they see was essentially pounded out of lumps of clay and instilled with anima, rather than give credence to the incredibly complex interconnected reactions from fundamental particles and quantum fields, to the biochemical reactions taking place within this thin layer of scum coating a ball of rock hurtling through some unknown substance filling the void of space... Like, what seems more magical? To me it is the cosmic dance, that seems to dictate everything including life... just blows my mind.

This is absolutely phenomenal - extremely well done

Absolutely beautiful work on this ❤ amateur mycologist here and this just made me tear up. I loved this so much. Never heard of the stoned ape theory, sounds so interesting. I had no idea evidence of fungal structures have been dated back to almost a billion years or MORE ago! That’s so amazing! Thanks so much for this! I already have curiosity stream and I will be adding your shows onto my watch list!!

Around 40 years ago. we learned at school, how the solar system and life developped; it was very interesting to learn from these 24 clips, how science progressed, and i hope for more! Thank You!

What a great and pleasant surprise, so close to a new video on your sister channel last week. I am claiming this as a late birthday present. Thanks to all involved 👍

So appreciative of the work you guys are doing!

this is amazing. such a good narrator and amazingly interesting show

Huge fan of Mycology here!! Mushrooms and fungi are some of the most interesting things to me. Well done on this!!

Cherenkov radiation isn't caused by the breakup of water moleculers, but due to the fact, that the dacay produces charged particles which are travelling faster through the water than the speed of light in water (which is only ~75% of the speed of light in a vacuum).

I always massively appreciate your videos and all the effort that goes into making them! ♡♡♡

Whoaaaaaa! Spectacular science story telling! Subscribed! I loved watching every minute of it

Quality video eloquently produced. I enjoy this material. Thanks for the effort.

fungi are a vastly under studied, yet incredibly significant organism on our planet. we will learn much from understanding them

Wooh. Finally a new episode. I like these even better than the ones about the history of the universe. Can't wait to watch it!

When you got to the lichen portion of the documentary I’m pretty sure most of the examples you showed was moss. Miss and lichen are similar but they aren’t the same thing

Extraordinary. We owe so much to fungi! Closer to animals than plants, they paved the way for life..

Humongous fungus

Fungi can solve mazes and other problems using a principle called tug-of-war. It basically involves checking all the possible options near-simultaneously. Other physical phenomena have been observed using the same principle to make decisions at the picosecond level. This is an entire order of magnitude quicker than the fastest digital computers, which operate at the nanosecond level. They are utilizing completely novel methods of information processing. Researchers are just beginning to grasp exactly how it works but initial studies into natural intelligence (NI, as opposed to AI) indicate the potential is on the level of quantum computing. Search “researchers investigate decision- making by physical phenomena” for some examples

I use to hate watching these type of videos in High School and having to take notes on them. Sadly, I slept through most of them. I’m 29 yo now and I’ve been watching a lot of these and I can’t stop.

This was such a treat, a morsel, you might say~ Thank you very much for this

It's hard to belive that ancient fungi grew so tall for no reason. Either they were competing with vegetation, or trying to catch air currents to spread their spores. Evidence is lacking for both possibilities.

4:20 Gaspé! That’s my hometown lol fun fact: the name « Gaspé » is derived from the native Mi’gmaq word « Gespeg » meaning "land’s end" :)

25:05 Wow. It is surprizing how well you pronounced Ahuizotl's name. Even some mexicans have trouble with it. Thank you. Also, the documentary has been very interesting.

That was fascinating. Thank you!

*Me, holding a gun to a mushroom:* "Tell me the name of God, you fungal piece of trash." *Mushroom:* "Can you feel your heart burning? Can you feel the struggle within? The fear within me is beyond anything that your soul can make. You cannot kill me in a way that matters." *Me, tears in my eyes, cocking the gun:* "I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU."

Tyty I've been looking for nice long info videos to help calm me before bed! Subscribing rn

Lichen are truly incredible and blanket the mountains in some areas, turning the gray to black rocks into vibrant hues of green, yellow, orange, red.

Wouldn't early precipitation have carried microbes for life onto the land as well? I feel that would have been the most likely mechanism for seeding land with life.

So happy when you post!! I just love your videos ❤️

I remember mixing some potting soil with organic nutrients and storing it in a tote indoors. Within days it was covered in mold. Frustrated, I threw it all out. I learned after that I just threw away time and money. That fuzzy white mold really is a beautiful thing to see on soil now that I have been educated that it is just further composting. Plants love it and thrive.

I love Mycology! I picked it up a few years back as a hobby. Oh boy, it was tough at first cuz of all the extra cleaning and sanitizing and prepping. But its truly worth it! It's amazing to see the spores evolve thru their life cycle. Mycelium is absolutely incredible! It fascinates me. And when they start to fruit, you can almost literally watch them grow by how fast they progress. Amazing video👍🏼👍🏼

vids are so well done and dialogue is great aswell