I've Seen The Future, And It’s Made of Mushrooms

Posted by Garret Ohm

I hate mushrooms. As a general rule, I don’t like any form of fungus, and absolutely detest the thought of ingesting it. But a pair of mechanical engineering students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have come up with a killer technology that is making me rethink my disdain for shrooms. They’ve created Greensulate, a strong, low-cost biomaterial that replaces the expensive, non-biodegradable plastics and styrofoam used in modern packaging and wall insulation (two HUGE pollutants).

Here’s the short version of how the stuff works:

In a lab, workers grow mycelia, the roots of mushrooms that look like gobs of white and brown fiber. In place of dirt, the roots grow in agricultural by-products, which creates a series of intertwining fibers which give the product its rigidity. Then, they simply place the mixture in a mold and let it grow for a couple of weeks until it’s super dense (1 cubic inch has 8 MILES of fibers). After that they shove them in an oven to dry and presto, you’ve got a finished product.

The inventors have started a company called Ecovative Design to market the technology, and I think they’re really onto something. Just imagine if they’re able to form this product into low-cost, biodegradable auto body panels and other automotive components. Or counter tops. Or flooring. They could even conceivably figure out a way to make children’s toys out of the material. For my sake, I hope they stop short of making dishes and kitchen utensils out of them, though. I don’t eat ANYTHING that touches mushrooms. Blech.

Keep an eye on Ecovative on Twitter HERE.

Garret Ohm is a hybrid marketing/business development director. He loves cars, dogs, golf and has a strange fascination with helicopters. He blogs here.