Did you know fungi have a natural ability to break down toxic waste into safe and even edible elements? Researchers at LIVIN Studio have created the Fungi Mutuarium, a system that feeds fungi plastic, which is then transformed into an edible “biomass.” Hungry yet?
The prototype hosts several different pods made from agar, a seaweed-based substance, called “FUs.” Each FU is a receptacle for strips of plastic treated with UV light for sterilization. A liquid nutrient solution packed with fungi sprouts is then sprinkled into the FU and the process begins. Over a span of several weeks a fungal mass of mycelium, or the threadlike and vegetative part of fungus, slowly consumes the plastic and the agar, replacing it with an edible product.
The shape of the pod is meant to mimic mushrooms and other elements of nature, making the Mutuarium similar to the act of harvesting mushrooms in the wild. LIVIN Studio worked in collaboration with Utrecht University on the project, with the goal of changing the way we look at making food under increasingly harsh global conditions. Creating food from plastic waste is certainly a technology we should consider in a world where trash is growing and millions go hungry every year.
Mind-boggling gadget turns plastic waste into food [Inhabitat]