Suzie McMurtry designs mycelium “spore cannon” to regenerate soil after wildfires

By Jennifer Hahn
Dezeen
November 25, 2022
Category: Forestry
Region: International

American designer Suzie McMurtry has developed a mushroom-spore dispenser that is automatically triggered during a wildfire so the fungi can detoxify the soil after a blaze. The Living with Wildfire system consists of a flame-retardent mycelium pod, protecting a steel vessel filled with water and sealed with a cork containing billions of dormant oyster mushroom spores. In the event of a wildfire, this water would evaporate and build pressure in the vessel, eventually launching the cork into the air and floating the spores far and wide in the hope that they can take root in areas where the fire has subsided. The fully functional prototype has not yet been tested and was designed first and foremost to spark discussions around living with the effects of climate change as wildfires are already becoming increasingly frequent and intense.

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