Mycobacterium vaccae

They say that everyone gets their fix. There is always that one thing that gives you a burst of satisfaction, of happiness. Everyone has their thing, whether it be exercise, food, religion, alcohol, drugs, tinkering, whatever. We all need that little burst of serotonin to stave off depression.

For some people, though, being outside, specifically in nature, is the drug of choice. There is even a group on Facebook called Gardenoholics Anonymous. This time of year, they mostly talk about pouring over seed catalogs with longing. The rest of the year, they wax poetic about the wonders of dirty hands and conquered weeds. We have all known the outdoor enthusiasts, as well. The ones who couldn't imagine a weekend without camping and go for a hike in the nearby wooded area almost daily. I have known lots of both kinds and have noticed that overall, they tend to be a pretty happy lot. But what if the key to happiness for both groups is the same? What if they are getting their high from an all-natural source?

It turns out that they just might be doing just that. Scientists have discovered a bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae. M. vaccae has been shown to trigger the release of serotonin in the brain when live bacteria are inhaled. Scientists aren't quite sure why just yet, but the results of studies have been undeniable. And the release of serotonin is significant enough that it is referred to as antidepressant. Is it harmful? It doesn't appear to be even a little harmful. It might actually be very beneficial. Is it addictive? Well, probably. Just about anything that can trigger the release of serotonin is potentially addictive. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Exercise can be addictive.

So, you might ask, this sounds like some pretty good stuff. Where might I get some? It turns out that M. vaccae is a bacteria that commonly occurs in healthy, living soil just about everywhere in the world. It also tends to aerosolize easily, becoming suspended in the air we breathe with minimal disturbance of the soil. Cool stuff, right?

Now do me a favor, please. Scroll back up and look at the top of the page. What is this blog called? Mad Bioneer, right? So you KNOW we aren't going to leave well enough alone. Now that we know something new, how can we use it? There is an air filter some brilliant soul (no, it wasn't me) invented several years ago called the Andrea Air Purifier. It puts a plant inside a clear plastic case, with vents at the top. Air is pulled down through the vents, over the plant, down through the soil, over a water source, and then through the fan that pulls it all through and back out into the room. Not only does the plant help purify the air, but the soil helps as well, through both filtration and microbial action in the soil.

What if we were to modify this wonderful piece of technology just a little. First we find out what the M. vaccae uses as a food source in the soil and make sure there is plenty of it. We get the soil good and alive. But with just a few design and maintenance tweaks, the air wouldn't just filter out the bad stuff. It could also be used to load the air inside a building with all that wonderful M. vaccae goodness. You get the wonderful benefit of breathable, healthy antidepressant filling your home.

But who is to say we need to stop at home? Want people to come to your coffee shop? Get them addicted to the antidepressants you pump into the air! The uses are endless. But the benefits, if something like this were to be put into widespread use, would be to increase happiness on a broad scale. How awesome would that be?

Amazing Nature: Lobster Mushrooms

Most people think of mushrooms in terms of “poisonous” and “edible.” There, is, however, a much larger third category that can best be called “inedible.” Inedible mushrooms are not poisonous, but still cannot be eaten because they are too small, too fragile, too tough, or just unpalatable. They just have no culinary value at all.

This is where the lobster mushroom comes in. It is not actually a mushroom at all. It is a parasitic mold. As an inedible mushroom (often members of the Lactarius or Russula family) reaches maturity, the red mold infects the mushroom. It takes over the mushroom’s functions and uses them for its own functions, covering the entire outside of the mushroom, turning it red like a lobster. Most interestingly, the process turns a normally inedible mushroom into a choice edible.

Photo courtesy Joe Mabel via Wikipedia licensed under a Gnu Free Documentation License.

Amazing Nature: Ladybug Weathermen

Here's one for Groundhog Day: In England, scientists have discovered that a particular variety of ladybug is actually really really good at long-term predictions of winter weather. When they hibernate for the winter, they choose their location based on how severe the weather is going to be. If it is going to be a mild winter, they pick a relatively unprotected location. If it is going to be a harsh winter, they pick a secure location deep in some sort of protective structure. Since scientists have noticed this behavior, the little beetles have never been wrong. If we can just figure out how they are doing it, maybe it will give us a few hints on how to improve our long term forecasting techniques.

Amazing Nature: Defending Against the Japanese Giant Hornet

The Japanese giant hornet is a fearsome predator. At nearly 2 inches long and built like an insect body builder, it is a force to be reckoned with. Let's put it this way: yellow jacket:Japanese giant hornet::Hugh Jackman:Andre the Giant. It is also a picky eater and will kill thousands of bees just so it can eat the tastiest bits of each bee. In fact, it is the bane of beekeepers in Japan. A coordinated attack of 2 dozen or so hornets will descend on a hive of European honey bees and destroy it in a matter of hours. The bee stings can't penetrate the hornet's armor and the hornets are quite capable of simply biting the bees in half. When the battle is over, the hornets take some of the honey and whatever tasty bits they feel like and go home. The hive usually doesn't recover.

For some reason, though, this isn't really a problem for the native honey bees. This is because the native honey bees have evolved an ingenious defense. They know two crucial facts about how the hornets opperate: 1) the raiding party is always preceeded by a scout that returns to the hornet colony with information about the location of the hive and 2) the hornets die of thermal death at 115 degrees F, while honey bees can survive to 118 degrees. So when the scout shows up looking for a likely target, hundreds of bees pounce on the intruder and hold it down. While they are doing this, they frantically vibrate their wings, generating heat. The heat in the pile builds up to 117 degrees or so, killing the hornet. The bees then stumble off to cool down, having saved the colony.

Amazing Nature: Lobster Mushroom

I am going to start a new series on some of the amazing stuff in nature. Nature is founded on the evolutionary principle of “find something that works and exploit the hell out of it.” The thing is, beyond this simple principle, there really are no rules. Thus, every organism out there is looking for a niche, a hole to fill, an angle to play. With billions of different species exploring this concept every day (whether they realize it or not), nature comes up with some seriously amazing stuff. I’ll start off with the lobster mushroom.

Most of us think of mushrooms in two categories: poisonous and edible. However, there are a large number of mushrooms that are neither. While eating them won’t kill you, they are either too tough and fibrous to eat or taste simply awful. Some of those are even nice and big and meaty and would make a great meal if you could stomach them. That’s where the lobster mushroom comes in. You see, the lobster mushroom isn’t actually a mushroom at all. It is a mold. When spores from the lobster mushroom mold land on a mushroom, typically of the Russula or Lactarius genera, they quickly colonize the mushroom, covering the exterior in a reddish coating, which is about the same color as the shell of a cooked lobster. This renders the original mushroom unidentifiable, but more importantly, turns an inedible mushroom into a choice edible.