Tidbits of Grand Forks - January 12, 2023

By Janet Spencer

Fungi enter our lives in many different ways: the bread we eat; the yogurt and cheese we consume; the wine and beer we drink; the antibiotics we take for infections. Come along with Tidbits as we have fun with fungi!

A PERVASIVE PLANT

• It’s estimated that there are somewhere between 2.2 and 3.8 million species of fungi in the world, which is six to ten times more than the estimated number of plant species. It’s estimated that only about 6% of all fungal species have been discovered. To date, only about 135,000 have been named.

• The word “fungus” generally refers to a single species, but if you are speaking of many species, then “fungi” is the plural. Why? Because it’s Latin and that’s how they did it in Rome. The same does not hold true for “octopus” vs “octopi” because “octopus” is Greek, so the plural is “octopodes.”

• The fossil record shows that for 40 million years (20 times longer than humans have existed) the dominant life form was a fungus called Prototaxites which stood more than two stories tall, standing in a form reminiscent of today’s saguaro cactus. They died out when vascular plants began their ascent.

FUNGI (continued)

• About 90% of plants depend on mycorrhizal fungi, which link them in shared networks sometimes referred to as the “wood wide web.” The word “mycorrhizal” comes from the Greek word for fungus “mykes” plus the word for root “rhiza” from which we also get the word “rhizome.”

• The trees manufacture carbohydrate molecules through photosynthesis, which they share with the fungus living at their roots. The fungus is able to spread farther and faster than the tree roots, reaching water and nutrients which it delivers to the tree, in a symbiotic exchange.

• Many types of fungus can live on the roots of a single plant, and many plants can connect with a single fungal network.

• Not all strains of fungus are beneficial to plants, and there are many types that kill the tree or plant they infect.

FUNGI AS MEDICINE

• After Alexander Fleming discovered the mold that produces the wonder drug penicillin, the search was on for other kinds of molds that would also serve the purpose. Throughout World War II, pilots serving in the war effort were asked to scoop up vials of soil from where ever they landed, and return those vials to a lab in Peoria, Illinois, to be tested for possible molds. Another woman was given the job to visit the local markets in Peoria in order to gather whatever moldy fruits she could find there. She was the one who returned one day with a moldy cantaloupe. The mold that was on that melon was just as effective at killing bacteria as the original strain, but produced it in far greater quantities. Much of the penicillin produced today springs from that moldy melon.

Soccer greats Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan hold the U.S. men’s career record for goals scored in international competition with how many—45, 49, 53 or 57? What two NHL teams combined for 11 ejections and 252 penalty minutes in a fight-filled 1984 playoff game known as “The Good Friday Massacre”?

Running back Deuce McAllister played eight NFL seasons (2001-08) as a member of what team? Name the Baseball Hall of Fame catcher who was selected by the Los Ange les Dodgers in the 62nd round (1,390th overall) of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft. Name the actor who starred as diminutive golf instruc tor Derk Dorf in the 1987 comedy short “Dorf on Golf.”

FUNGI (continued)

• Historical records show that many cultures have known of the healing properties of certain molds, with evidence that moldy soybean curds, moldy cheese, and moldy bread were used in poultices to heal wounds.

• One type of medication used to treat migraine headaches is derived from a fungus called ergot, which lives on certain grains. In the past, ergot infestations caused hallucinations and death throughout entire populations when the fungusinfested grain was milled into bread. Ergot is also the original source of LSD. But when specific alkaloids are isolated from ergot, it’s an effective remedy for migraine.

• A strain of moldy fungus kills other fungi. Extracts from it are used to treat fungal infections such as ringworm and thrush.

• Yeasts are single-celled members of the fungal kingdom. If yeast is added to wheat, the result is leavened bread. If yeast is added to grape juice, the result is wine. Sake comes from rice which has been partially rotted by fungus, after which yeast is added to ferment it. Yeast plus partially germinated barley seeds results in beer.

• Mushrooms vary in protein content from 10% to 45%, but regardless of their protein level, they beat every other vegetable’s protein content. Only milk, eggs, and meat contain more protein than mushrooms.

• Half of all the mushrooms grown commercially in the U.S come from Chester County, PA. The industry began in 1886 when William Swayne decided to grow mushrooms there, because all of the horses that ran the public transportation in Philadelphia were stabled there, and mushrooms grow well on horse manure.

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FUNGI (continued)

• One species of fungus discovered amidst mining waste is one of the most radiation-resistant organisms ever found. It’s even been found inside the reactor at Chernobyl.

• Some fungi capture and consume nematode worms in the soil. When plant matter becomes scarce, they release an attractant when nematodes are nearby. Some species deploy sticky nets or adhesive branches, while others produce nooses that inflate instantly when touched, ensnaring the victim. Oyster mushrooms commonly sold in supermarkets paralyze nematodes with a single toxic droplet on the tip of a root, giving the root enough time to digest the worm. Others release spores that “swim” through dirt, chemically drawn towards the scent of nematodes. They attach themselves to the body of the worm, and then sprout, sending fungus harpoons through the worm.

• One researcher put a rotten block of wood on a surface, allowing it to become infested with a rotten-wood loving fungus. The fungus put out root-like “feelers” called mycelium, which spread out in all directions like a fine white fuzzy circle. Then the researcher put another rotten block nearby. The moment the mycelium touched the new block, all of the mycelium on all other sides of the old block ceased their growth, while the growth quickly thickened where the mycelium touched the new block.

• Then the researcher did a follow-up experiment: as soon as the mycelium touched the second block, she removed the first block and scraped all of the mycelium off of it. When she replaced it, now with only undeveloped spores attached to it, the spores sprouted into new mycelium which reached out in the original direction of the newly placed block.

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by Freddy Groves

Get Your Money Faster With Direct Deposit

If you've ever had anything stolen out of your mailbox, or if a check has just failed to show up, you know the angst, trouble and problems that follow because of that missing money.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a way to safeguard the benefit money that comes to you. The Veterans Benefits Banking Program, for veterans and beneficiaries, will do a direct deposit into your account.

According to the VA, if receiving a paper check, you're 16 times more likely to have it lost or stolen. You're 22 times more likely to have it go missing altogether and need to file a claim for it, which of course takes time. They say that since many veterans are using direct deposit, fraud has gone down by 93%.

And with direct deposit, you'll get your money faster. It suddenly just appears in your account, on time, every time, not making its way through the postal system.

Through the banking program, there are 43 banking institutions that have signed up to provide low or no-cost checking and savings accounts. You can find those banks here: veteransbenefitsbanking.org/financial-institutions. (Don't miss the FAQ. A lot of questions are answered.) Scroll down to the list of banks. (I'm a fan of USAA.) If you already have a bank account (or credit union) and you like them, you can set up a direct deposit right into your account. Call the VA at 800-827-1000 and find more information at www.va.gov/changedirect-deposit.

It can take a little while to think about this kind of change if you've never had direct deposit. But it can be rather disconcerting to have a neighbor from a block away show up at your door with a check that was mistakenly delivered to them.

You can eliminate a big source of worry and potential problems if you consider signing up for direct deposit for your benefit payment.

BIGGER BETTER

• A Cornish milkman named Steve Leech was making his rounds when he saw a shop on fire. Using 320 pints of milk, he not only extinguished the flames, but saved seven other stores in the process, earning a "Hero Milkman of the Millennium" award from the National Dairymen's Association.

• An albatross typically spends the first six years of its life flying over the ocean without ever setting foot on the ground.

• In the 1990s, a mysterious soda vending machine dispensing rare and discontinued drinks appeared in Seattle. No one knew who filled it, but sadly, in 2018, it vanished as suddenly as it came, with an explanatory note saying it "went for a walk."

• "Ergophobia" is the fear of work or the workplace. Psychologists attribute the condition to a combination of concerns about failing at tasks, public speaking and social anxiety.

• A 59-year-old man with no previous criminal record held up a bank for the measly sum of just $1. So what was he actually after? A prison sentence, so he could get free health care.

• Red is the first color a baby sees.

• If diamonds really are a gal's best friend, she might like to pay a visit to the planet known as 55 Cancri e, which is believed to be principally covered in graphite and diamond. Of course, she would also need to bring enough rocks back home to cover the cost of the $12 million spaceship she'd need to get there.

• There are more historic artifacts under the sea than in all of the world's museums. ***

Thought for the Day: "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear." -- Rosa Parks

ROBERT EARL HUGHES

• Jon Minnoch has held the world record for the heaviest human ever to live since 1978 when he died at the age of 42, weighing in at 1,400 lbs. But before him, Robert Earl Hughes held the record at 1,071 lbs. .

• Robert Earl Hughes was born in 1926 and grew up in Fishhook, Illinois. He weighed 9 lbs. when he was born.

• When he was a few months old, he came down with whooping cough. Although he recovered, doctors theorize this illness damaged either his thyroid or his pituitary gland. His mother gave birth to two more boys. Robert’s brothers grew normally, but Robert grew extraordinarily fast.

• By the time Robert entered the first grade at age seven, he stood a few inches taller than his classmates, but weighed 225 lbs, about the same as his teacher, a grown man.

• At ten, he weighed 378 lbs. A doctor predicted he’d be dead by the age of 15 due to the stress on his heart.

• Still, Robert was phenomenally intelligent, reading everything he could get his hands on, and never forgetting a thing.

• At 14, Robert weighed nearly 550 lbs. and could not move well. He quit school because he could no longer walk there, and his family did not own a vehicle to drive him.

• By 16 he weighed 600 lbs. and stood 5 feet, 9 inches. He was unable to perform simple tasks. Yet, all who knew him said he ate normal amounts of food and was never a glutton.

• A local news reporter visited with Robert and described him as a wonderful conversationalist, full of humor, with a pleasant personality.

• In 1946 when he was 20, he and his family attended the local Fall Festival, where he pushed the scale past 700 lbs. He attracted a crush of observers, and sold 160 photos of himself. By day’s end, he had grossed $240. In 1947, Robert decided he wanted to see the world.

• He began with local fairs and festivals, travelling in a horse-drawn wagon, and earning up to $100 for an appearance. Throngs paid 25¢ to see him, and another 25¢ for a photo. Newspapers covered his appearances. Newsreels featured him. One fan built a reinforced chair for him which he used for the rest of his life. His brother’s wife sewed his enormous clothing. By the age of 23, he tipped the scales at 800 lbs. and a single shirt required a length of fabric 9 feet wide and 18 feet long.

• For seven years, Robert travelled the country, transported in the back of a pick-up truck.

• In 1954, at the age of 28 and weighing 946 lbs., Robert signed with a carnival and became a sideshow. He bought a carnival trailer that had once belonged to the travelling Siamese twins, which allowed him to perform at one end and live in the other end. By now he could only walk 20 feet without resting, but he was earning more than ever before.

• While on tour in Indiana in 1958, he complained of a rash and fatigue. Doctors connected three blood pressure cuffs to fit his arm. A doctor diagnosed measles. Within hours, he died. His body was shipped home and he was buried in Fishhook, next to his parents, in a specially made casket the size of a piano case. He was 32 years old, and weighed two pounds lighter than his heaviest weight ever: 1,071 lbs.

by Matilda Charles

A Heads Up at the

The time has come to study the labels of foods you buy, even if you've used those same products for a long time. Not only are manufacturers changing the size of the containers, they're changing the ingredients. At this point we need to take a very close look at what we're actually eating.

Changes to the ingredients in products we've always trusted might well be blamed on supply chain problems. If a manufacturer can't easily get one ingredient, they might substitute something else.

But it means that what you assumed you were getting might no longer be true.

If, for example, you have to keep an eye on your sodium levels, you might discover that the amount of salt in a particular food has increased. You might have to adjust how much you eat or look for a different product.

We can no longer grab a dozen eggs and assume all will be well. If you're baking, too-small eggs won't work in your baked goods recipes. You need to open the carton and look at them. If you're watching your cholesterol, you need to squint and read the fine print on the nutrition panel.

However, a warning: At the beginning of the pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration issued a temporary respite to food manufacturers. To help them keep producing food, the FDA said manufacturers didn't have to put certain new information on labels when "minor formulation changes" were made to food. The policy, started in January 2020, was intended to remain in effect only for the duration of the Covid pandemic and has been renewed every 90 days. It was to expire January 2023. Since they have to give 60 days notice to end the designation, it's not likely that it will end until April, if that.

•

On Jan. 16, 1547, Ivan IV Vasilyevich (aka "Ivan the Terrible") crowned himself the first czar of Moscow. But was that nickname really deserved? Yes and no: "Terrible" more accurately meant "strong," "menacing" and "impressive" in his day, but there's no denying the ruler had a pretty fierce, and on occasion murderous, temper as well.

• On Jan. 22, 1930, excavation began for the Empire State Building. Completed just a little more than a year after construction started, at 102 stories it held the record for world's tallest building until 1972, when it was succeeded by the city's World Trade Center.

• On Jan. 17, 1949, the first Volkswagen Type 1, or Beetle, in the U.S. arrived from Germany. It was designed by Ferdinand Porsche at the request of Adolf Hitler and sold well because it was not just well built, but reasonably priced, soon becoming "America's budget car."

• On Jan. 19, 1977, citizens of Miami received a jawdroppingly unexpected gift from the sky -- a dusting of snow for the first time in the city's history. To date, it was also the last occurrence. Well, maybe next year ...

• On Jan. 18, 1996, Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson. Speculation as to the cause of the split ran as rampant as the questioning of the rather bizarre coupling in the first place, but Presley herself laid the blame simply on "irreconcilable differences."

• On Jan. 20, 2010, the Chinese government banned the movie "Avatar," claiming its plot mirrored the nation's forced land evictions. Officials feared the fictional indigenous Na'vi race's revolt could prompt a similar uprising among real-life citizens.

• On Jan. 21, 2014, activist Kanstantsin Zhukouski nominated his pet parrot in a local council election in Belarus. Unfortunately, he never found out whether the parrot could have actually won, as he soon withdrew its candidacy, probably to avoid a penalty after proving his aimed-for point on the uselessness of his country's politics.

• A single acre of reasonably fertile cropland can yield an annual harvest of 6 tons of potatoes. Because they grew so well in Ireland, they became a staple crop. They were easy to grow even in difficult soils; were impervious to invading armies who tended to burn down wheat and oat fields; did not require a trip to a mill but could be taken directly from the ground to the cookpot; kept well all winter long; and were nutritious.

• By the late 1700s, a typical Irish family of six consumed about 250 lbs. of potatoes every year. It was the mainstay of their diet.

• The Irish were so dependent upon the potato for sustenance that when the potato blight first hit in 1845, killing one-third of the crop, they were left vulnerable. When the blight spread over the course of the next two winters, leaving potatoes blackened and mushy, the populace began to starve, and became vulnerable to diseases.

• It’s estimated that half of Irish people born between 1830 and 1930 left Ireland, fleeing from the famine. It wasn’t until 1996 that Ireland reported a net gain in population instead of a loss.

• Although the potato blight also hit the U.S., there were so many other crops being grown in America that no one starved.

• It was years before researchers understood that a fungus was responsible for the potato blight. When potato farmers piled old potato vegetation at the edges of their fields, they were unknowingly stockpiling the source of the infection by providing an unending source of spores. When the weather warmed in the spring and fresh new potatoes were planted, the spores blew in the wind. If they landed on potato foliage while the leaves were wet, they infected the new sprouts.

• Once the fungus landed on a potato leaf, it bored into the plant, releasing enzymes that digested the plant to provide nourishment for the fungus, which also killed the potato plant.

• The potato tubers were safe as long as they remained underground, but would turn to mush as soon as they were dug up and exposed to the fungus spores floating in the air.

• Because the fungus needed to land on wet leaves to survive, the blight was particularly bad during the extra rainy season in 1846, tapering off somewhat during dryer years. Blights recurred in 1872 and 1879, but by then Irish farmers had grown less dependent on potatoes and had other crops growing.

• By 1890 it was discovered that the blight was killed if a field was dusted with copper sulfate, ending the blight for good.

• Today, about 20% of the U.S. population claims at least partial Irish history due to the blight.

• In 1914, German authorities ordered that all surplus foodstocks were to be stored in the cities. Thousands of pounds of potatoes were subsequently stored in damp, warm, humid basements. A few of the spuds carried spores of the blight with them, where they found conditions perfect for replicating. The entire supply turned into a back mushy mess. A year later, as Germans struggled to feed the country during World War I, copper was in such short supply that there was none available to create the copper sulfate needed to keep the blight at bay. The crop failed two years in a row and the populace began starving. Some historians feel that the population was so weakened by shortages caused by the blight that their downfall was already in the making by the time the U.S. joined the fray in 1917.