"In this story, a dog introduces us to a strange creature that burrows beneath forests, building an underground network where deals are made and lives are saved (and lost) in a complex web of friendships, rivalries, and business relations. It’s a network that scientists are only just beginning to untangle and map, and it’s not only turning our understanding of forests upside down, it’s leading some researchers to rethink what it means to be intelligent."
I had downloaded this podcast and burned it to CD weeks ago, but hadn't listened to it until a road trip this past week. The content totally blew me away. For those interested in science and the complexities of the natural world, this is a must listen.
The content doesn't begin until the 2:20 mark - you can skip to there to save time. If you don't have time to listen now, you can download the podcast at Radiolab and save it for later.
Brilliant. It's fair enough that they only talk about part of the cast [of thousands] but there's a microbiome down there in the soil as much as one in our guts. One of the essential minerals they talk about is phosphate which is in the soil but largely unavailable. For calcium phosphate think teeth which last forever in the ground. Enter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate_solubilizing_bacteria and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizobacteria#Plant_growth-promoting_rhizobacteria which inter alia make plant hormones.
ReplyDeletePamela, I've deleted your comment because it included your personal email address. Please feel free to repost the comment without the email.
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