No ultrasounds detected from fungi when dehydrated

Phillips, Neil; Remedios, Samuel W.; Nikolaidou, Anna; Baracskai, Zlatko; Adamatzky, Andrew

Abstract

Many organisms (including certain plant species) can be observed to emit sounds, potentially signifying threat alerts. Sensitivity to such sounds and vibrations may also play an important role in the lives of fungi. In this work, we explore the potential of ultrasound activity in dehydrating fungi, and discover that several species of fungi do not emit sounds (detectable with conventional instrumentation) in the frequency range of 10 kHz to 210 kHz upon dehydration. Over 5 terabytes of ultrasound recordings were collected and analysed. We conjecture that fungi interact via non-sound means, such as electrical or chemical.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 15, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 31, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 1, 2025
• Journal: Ultrasonics
• Print ISSN: 0041-624X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 135
• Article Number: 107111
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2023.107111
• Keywords: acoustics, ultrasonics, fungi, dehydrating, unconventional computing
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11062182
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0041624X23001877
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: No ultrasounds detected from fungi when dehydrated; Journal Title: Ultrasonics; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2023.107111; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.