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There is so much we don't yet know about fungi

Fungi are perhaps the most enigmatic organisms on the planet. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake says we are only just beginning to discover how they work

By Gege Li

3 June 2020

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Conifercone cap fungi (Baeospora myosura) growing on a pine cone

Arterra Picture Library/Alamy

Entangled Life

Merlin Sheldrake

Bodley Head (Buy from Amazon*)

YOU may never look at fungi in the same way. This enigmatic community of organisms pulls the strings of life, yet we don’t know the half of what fungi get up to. Thankfully, Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures, by mycologist and author Merlin Sheldrake, is an eye-opening exploration of this mysterious taxonomic kingdom.

Nothing illustrates this better than when he casts his focus underground. Mycelia – complex, branched…

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