logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2019
15m 52s

Lessons from fungi on markets and econom...

TED
About this episode

Resource inequality is one of our greatest challenges, but it’s not unique to humans. Like us, mycorrhizal fungi that live in plant and tree roots strategically trade, steal and withhold resources, displaying remarkable parallels to humans in their capacity to be opportunistic (and sometimes ruthless) -- all in the absence of cognition. In a mind-blowing talk, evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers shares what fungi networks and relationships reveal about human economies, and what they can tell us about inequality.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Why AI is an even bigger deal than you think | Reed Hastings
Netflix cofounder and Anthropic board member Reed Hastings joins TED's Sal Khan to give a look inside the race to build AI. Hear his take on how the technology could accelerate education — including the possibility of an AI tutor for every student — and reshape the economy faster ... Show More
19m 8s
Jul 19
Sunday Pick: Why you should try improv comedy (w/ Rick Andrews) | How to Be a Better Human
What do radio personality Ira Glass, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, and your host Chris Duffy have in common? They all have practiced an unexpected skill that makes them more human—improv comedy. And they learned it from master improv teacher Rick Andrews. Rick joins Chris t ... Show More
41m 1s
Jul 18
The Mystery of Sea Creatures (1/5): A coral reef love story | Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Over the course of hundreds of scuba dives, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love -- with a fish. In this ode to parrotfish, she shares five reasons why these creatures are simply amazing (from their ability to poop white sand to make colorful "wardrobe changes") ... Show More
8m 53s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2023
The Fungi Economy, Part 1: Just like Us, Trees Are Experiencing Inflation
Like us, plants and fungi have complex economies. By burning fossil fuels, we’ve been devaluing their currency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
14m 32s
Feb 2020
CHRISTIAN SCHWARZ on the Sublime World of Fungi /158
This discussion with Christian discusses fungal diversity, the global mushroom market, migration patterns, and invasive versus native fungi. We also look at the reality that the Earth is poised to experience a significant decrease in fungal diversity due to climate change. Suppor ... Show More
53m 20s
Jun 2021
GIULIANA FURCI on the Divine Time of Fungal Evolution /239
So often fungi are pitched as being at the forefront of innovation, whether being used to create vegan leather, pharmaceuticals, or being incorporated into various biotechnology products, but this fixation on innovation can obscure our ancestral relationship to fungi and the wisd ... Show More
1h 11m
Aug 2024
How Fungi Could Save the World!
There is an entire world - just below our feet - that defies our conventional understanding of intelligence. It’s a superhighway of fungal interconnectedness, trillions of miles of fungal networks that enable trees to recognize their families, communicate with each other and even ... Show More
42m 30s
May 2024
Fantastic and fascinating fungi
<p>Fungi have given us many gifts, from penicillin to food, but they can also be quite scary. Dr Alison Pouliot spends her time trying to explain these strange alien-like things, which do their most interesting work underground (R)</p> 
52m 42s
Aug 2023
The Fungi Economy, Part 2: Here's How Plants and Fungi Trade beneath Our Feet
Atmospheric carbon is a currency that plants use to “buy” nutrients from fungi in the soil. To find out where this economy will go next, the devil is in the details. And the details are in the dirt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
17m 1s
Jan 2021
Is a fungus intelligent?
<p>As regular listeners may recall, CrowdScience has delved into the strange world of fungi before, as we dug down into the forest floor to reveal how plants and trees are connected to the vast mycelial network known as the “wood wide web”. But what makes this network possible an ... Show More
29m 9s
Jul 2020
A Spore of Hope
Humans face an existential problem: feeding billions of people in a warming world. But there’s a ray of hope. And it all starts with microbes. For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard Want more? Microbes are everywhere! Learn about the bacteria ... Show More
22 m
Jul 2023
The Magic of Mushrooms
Brian Cox and Robin Ince find out about the secret world of fungi, hidden beneath our feet. They are joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake and mycologist Katie Field. They hear about the hidden life of fungi, including their hundreds of mating types, predatory behaviour and crucia ... Show More
42m 31s