eytanz wrote:
I must admit that mycology holds no attraction to me whatsoever- I just can't see the fascination in a form of life that can't interact with you.
They can. It's just not very obvious most of the time, as many are microscopic and generally don't do much to you that you can see (except, of course, if you get a fungal infection of some sort).
However, there are some fungi that will react to you if you do things to them, like in the
Lactarius genus, where many members will exude milk if you cut or pick them. Also, some members of the
Boletus genus may bruise pink, red, yellow or even blue if cut open or damaged.
What I find quite facinating about them is perhaps to do with a range of things. First, they don't run away when you approach them, so making for easy studying. They also come in a absolutely massive variety of different forms (it is estimated that there are several million different species in the whole kingdom), which gives me plenty to study. Fungi also have some very interesting adaptations, for example, they manage to live almost anywhere on the globe, except at the poles, (some spores can even survive in space for quite a while), and many produce chemicals that are very toxic or useful medicinally. Of course, fungi are also not very well documented compared to plants and animals, and so mycology is a rapidly evolving subject (which I find quite exciting). Finally, of course, I just like them. I don't understand that bit, but it's like I have a strange sense of innate fascination for them.
I'm curious, though, why you chose that particular fungus as the one to name yourself after and place in your sig - does it have any special significance to you?
For my screen name and avatar, I chose
Agaricus genus mushrooms to name myself after, since they are quite special to me.
The
Agaricus genus contains many species of fungi, many of which we would associate stereotypically with mushrooms, like the standard "
Button"
, or "
Cultivated Mushroom"
(
Agaricus Bisporus) and the "
Field Mushroom"
(
Agaricus Campestris). So, this genus is probably the most well-known or familiar of all the other fungi in the entire kingdom, and so, it was the genus of mushrooms that I was best acquainted with when I began to become interested in them.
As for my signature? It was not determined by anything in particular, except laziness. It has been almost static for the past 8-9 months, and really, I should have changed it by now.
I'd better go off and do so pretty quickly.
To move to your signature, Eytan, I want to ask what it is that this "
man"
is going to save helpless people from. Understandably, people helpless to save themselves will obviously need rescuing, but without a specifier, it means that everyone will need saving eventually (if there are no heroes), since everyone is going to be helpless at saving themselves from something.
____________________________
Resident Medic/Mycologist
) , and/or make you go psycho (:h.ippie). WHAT? NO HIPPY EMOTICON??? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!