By Alec Fernandes
Researchers at Cornell University have animated a robotic exoskeleton by connecting it to a king oyster mushroom. The biohybrid machine reads electrical impulses generated by the mushroom in response to its environment, then translates these signals into specific movements. In the video above, the fidgeting fungi is seen dancing across the table when exposed to a burst of ultraviolet light.
This scientific breakthrough could allow more advanced robots to respond organically to their surroundings rather than relying on a series of hard-coded commands. It also provides a new way of interpreting nature's subtlest forms of communication, as hypersensitive strands of mushroom mycelium are better at reading environmental cues than both humans and machines.
"The potential for future robots could be to sense soil chemistry in row crops and decide when to add more fertilizer," said professor Rob Shepherd. Fungi thrive in conditions that are unsuitable for other living organisms, making mushrooms the ideal candidates for this biohybrid technology.