Lichens are things
Lichens are things
image transcript:
the lichen knowledge iceberg i have constructed on request.
jhanettesticle replies:
we cant make lichen happen in a lab? have we tried taking the parts that make up a lichen and throwing them together in a petri dish?
bogleech replies:
The deranged fucked up dark sided thing about lichen is that the exact species comprising it don't even necessarily determine the type of lichen. You can have what seems to be the same lichen in two different locations using different symbiotes, or two different looking lichen turn out to have the very same symbiotes. So it's not even that they form when the right component species meet up, because that doesn't always have a predictable result. Something in the environment tells them to build a lichen. Something that makes sense to them but has no meaning to us yet. Whatever it is cannot be imitated by us, in fact if you move a lichen indoors - or move it at all, really - it's all but guaranteed to stop being a lichen or just due, even if you try to recreate the climate you found it in!
Only one truth is certain:
Lichens are things.
end of transcript
reposted from tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/bogleech/756047802259341312
For anyone else who was curious about lichens covering "a not insignificant amount" of the earth's surface, a quick google tells me it's about 7% (according to e.g. new york times, scientific american, etc)
Edit: oh and estimating the age of an exposed surface by lichen diameter is called lichenometry. I'm seeing stuff about it being used in geological contexts but it makes sense that it could work for old buildings too
We can't even grow most bacteria in labs. It's a pretty small subset that work with the traditional agar petri dish set up.
Gotta love oligotrophy. Some lichens grow inside rocks... definitely can't replicate that in a lab (although not for lack of trying).
We can't even grow most bacteria in labs.
And that doesn't even get to the level of Archaea. Some of which we only know about because of genetic material.
Relevant MinuteEarth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VY_SBwkCjw
And I thought mushrooms were complicated...
i imagine alien hivemind organisms looking at earth and our cities upon it and thinking "what are these growths and why aren't the samples we collect producing them?"
I would like to propose an addition to the Forbidden Knowledge list:
- Do not teach crabs how to read
- Do not tell any lichen that “red wunz go fasta”
Id watch a 2h youtube video about this 👀
I'd sink a months worth of time and ADHD medication on this
oh my god @nicknonya@lemmy.blahaj.zone what gave you done. here goes my free time
I've never thought about it. I always just assumed lichen was just a specific type of moss.
Same. The more I learn about fungus and their related kin, the more I realize I don't get them lol.
For anyone interested, I really recommend the book / audio book Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake.
I liked the book so much that I later on bought the audio book. It's entertaining, filled with facts, but not overly scientific to a degree where it can't be enjoyed by a layman.
What the fuck is lichen
The short answer: fungus and algae work together and create a multi-organism structure.
The medium answer: [this meme]
The long answer: [years of graduate school]
I'm no biologist, but I'm pretty sure that this photo I took a while back has a lot of lichen:
That flakey & coral-looking stuff growing on the branches should be lichen.
Lichen deez nuts
gottem
It’s the opposite of not lichen.
And that’s both a pithy retort, as well as an accurate reflection of the ultimate gist of the infographic lol
A containment protocol for an ancient plague.
Bless you for doing the work of the Lord (Lichen Out to Read Dis)
Is a forest with a good mycorrhizal network a huge lichen..?
Technically? Maybe.
the real lichen is the friends we- oh god, oh god no jerry not you too
Meanwhile, it's BFF moss is something like 90% dead plant matter and just a derpy slow sponge. Pinky and the brain.
So, I opened this without looking at the source community. I'm on an RPG meme community as well. I was actually predicting a pun on a certain phylactery-using undead. Only as it was loading did I realize I had a chance for the science memes sub instead.
i did try to work a lich joke in the title but i couldn't think of anything natural or forced enough to be funny. submissions are open though
I fucking hate the fact that this 100 story tall image format has become the default on the internet...
For fun related fiction viewing, I recommend the horror films:
Both are about "what would happen if nature got mad?" No, not like The Happening
Does "The Last Of Us" count here?
Probably should, right?
Omg thank you, I've only seen Gaia once but I loved it and I forgot the name!
The happening. Man I’m still mad I spent time watching that. And I really don’t value my time lmao
What I got out of this is that Dax from DS9 was probably a lichen
