Fungi and Invasive Plants: SciShow Talk Show

Soil ecologist Dr. Ylva Lekberg explains the connection between microscopic fungi and invasive plants, and Jessi from Animal Wonders introduces us to Sydney the woylie!
More from Ylva Lekberg: science.sciencemag.org/content...
www.nature.com/ismej/journal/v...
Meet all the animals at Animal Wonders Montana: / animalwondersmontana
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Hosted by: Hank Green
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[@jonasgrenne2569]

I really liked this episode. Ylva Lekberg was a really interesting guest with good ability to explain with enthusiasm and clarity while keeping it just short enough. Learned a lot, and the production quality of this episode was something else! Nice work

[@SpeedOfTheEarth]

Jonas Grenne +

[@ethanw2450]

I am a college student who has just picked up a second major in Environmental Science. This kind of this is fascinating! Thank you so much for this show!

[@zed1stwizard]

I have a new favorite Dr. Ylva Lekberg .

[@BillMarion]

YES! You did a show about invasive plants!

[@Lazex117]

this is a topic that need more attention, less bs on the news and more active growth for the worlds wildlife/nature in general also that little guy is sooooo cute!!!

[@secondarymetabolite5050]

Great Episode! It's always wonderful to see your own field of studies represented somewhere in the media. And what a fascinating person! She's definitely someone I'd like to meet or work with at some point :)

[@Haseeebo]

Rogan brings on some Fungus lover dude on his podcast and now we got this on Sci-show. It's a sign....time for a shroom trip!

[@poephila]

Oh yay! I love SciShow Talk Show!! :D

[@f.demascio1857]

Best SciShow yet. Bravo!

[@microbuilder]

17:45 - 18:00 15 seconds of awkward hilarity LOL

[@spiffo5349]

3 lovely ladies and a lovely gentlemen! good episode

[@hecgalher]

I LOVE THESE TALKSHOWS.

[@hecgalher]

My grad thesis is also on arbuscular mycorrhyza :) her research is so cool.

[@MtnTow]

Another great natural sciences video! Thank you.

[@chelseashurmantine8153]

This episode was very interesting. It's incredible how the field of ecology only expands.

[@WontonTV]

17:20 that thousand-yard stare is hilarious. Just sitting there, being petted by 2 humans like "This is my life now."

[@reidr7288]

Here in Virginia it's kudzu English ivy and Russian olive

[@jspear2755]

Here's a question, why did we stop needing to use mothballs? Were they so effective that the species of moth that ate clothes died off?

[@ladywolfe67]

Kulath There are still alot of clothes moths around. Moth balls do not get used as much now because they have been found to be toxic. More people are using cedar wood to deter moths. Most folks these days have easy access to laundry facilities and keep their clothes cleaner than back when. Clothes moths are attracted to dirty clothes. Keep your clothes and linens clean and there is less that attracts clothes moths

[@TommyTikal]

This show rules.

[@jamesburleson1916]

Really cool stuff, soil science is a fascinating field (no pun intended) and there's so much still we don't know about the interactions with plants and animals and the microorganisms living in the ground.

[@C-Murph]

More interviews plz Hank.

[@deepseablu91]

I really enjoyed this

[@anthonybeervor2265]

Yeah! The animal visitor is back on sci show talk show!

[@Fiifufu]

Super interesting!

[@DuluthTW]

Very interesting! I was surprised.

[@AlexxGamboa]

Hank is a stud

[@untitled8027]

i love sci show

[@redocool1]

Wow, never thought Skeletor had so much knowledge about fungi. Glad to see he's moved on in his life.

[@christopherstein2024]

Generally calling soil "dirt" always seemed strange to me. In Germany we generally talk about earth and it's only called dirt when it is functioning as something that pollutes for example clothes or floors. Earth has life associated with it. On a macroscopic scale it is the fuzzy ball that takes us through dead space and on a small scale it's where our food comes from.

[@naomilovenpeace]

My mom has a master's degree in forestry and she gets mad at me when I say dirt instead of soil XD

[@thuffman44]

Great video! This is the kind of dirt I like listening to.... "ya dig?", LOL ;)

[@TrilliumWildEdibles]

This is really interesting as many of the wild edibles I use are invasive plants. Plants like Garlic Mustard and Honeysuckle are horrible invaders which decrease native plant populations. It's been said these two plants have herbicides in them, but I wonder if that was misinterpreted because of fungus in the soil that was being studied. Great video and very informative!

[@tambourini]

Ya, I live in Ontario, Canada & we are totally invaded with Garlic Mustard. I heard that Garlic Mustard provides an inhospitable soil environment for fungi but I found a small amount of fungi growing under one group of plants once. I contacted someone I trust (knows fungi well) but they never commented on my finding when I asked about it. Perhaps fungi have adapted? Perhaps these plants' seeds were dropped by an animal that had eaten fungi/spores compatible to the plant? I dunno! It sure seems that fungi, plants & animals...etc. all need to co-exist to thrive.

[@crocellian2972]

Fascinating. Do more interviews. Paraphrasing is always less effective than direct testimony.

[@BothHands1]

I absolutely loved this episode!! Probably my favorite so far

[@michelenakamura3360]

This was a great episode. I'd love to see something longer. I have shown this to some young women who didn't realize "science" studying fungi and animals. They've been told that women didn't do that kind of work. Seeing women who worked in science related fields was eye opening. Thank you for opening the eyes of young women and a great episode.

[@zahnpastacremetube]

Not if you want to have a family... :-(

[@idontknowdude3021]

zahnpastacremetube as the daughter of two researchers, I can assure you that's not true ^^ but I see why people would think that

[@zahnpastacremetube]

So maybe this is only true for Europe. But here you (might) get your first permanent position as a professor. To late for a family. Besides that only a fraction makes it to get a professor. Maybe 10% of my fellow students form university are in science now, 20 years later.

[@idontknowdude3021]

zahnpastacremetube that's true, it's very harsh and difficult. but possible

[@Vulprex]

If anyone has some dirt on plants, it's her.

[@youmaycallmeken]

So is sterilizing soil (such as digging up soil from the backyard and then placing it in a pan in a hot oven) beneficial do -to use for house plants, in order to avoid bringing bugs in the house? (I know bugs can find their way to the plants at any time later. I'm guessing the plants will still grow but perhaps not as abundantly.

[@hilarymanuel]

So cute. Really I've never noticed or even heard about this species before :D

[@GranRey-0]

Haha When you were calling it Leafy spurge I had no idea what you guys were talking about, but once I saw it was 'Euphorbia' I knew it...my grandma regrets planting that one in her garden. I thought it looked cool so she bought it. >__

[@MoreAmerican]

Was that “hello” a question? Lol

[@dhdbdbdhdj520]

I have a question. when I got my ears pierced I fainted as I walked out of the place I got it done, it wasn't painful so I am unsure why I fainted. I searched it online and saw other people were experiencing the same thing, either feeling faint or fainting. why dose this happen?

[@g40rc378]

Possibly "Vasovagal syncope"? A similar thing happened to me at a doctor's office. I had several uneventful blood withdrawals over a period of time, but I had one instance where I fainted during the blood draw.

[@michelerny4820]

I wonder if there are creatures below the crust, or Atleast below the deepest part of the earth we dug.

[@ciprianolopez7559]

Michel Erny like that old cartoon with inhumannods

[@CasMullac]

Well there are organisms called extremophiles that have been found as deep as we have dug and as deep as we have dived.

[@BothHands1]

We already have scientists studying small organisms that live in the water that flows through the crust, a few kilometers deep - in the deepest hole humanity has ever dug into the Earth - a diamond mine in Africa.

[@jamesbaxterfirst]

Michel Erny if anything it would have to be microbes, we can go no deeper then the deepest we've dug, because it is 365 degrees and all alloys lose there integrity by that point

[@user-nd7rd8jo6h]

Michel Erny Kola super deep borehole. Russians found life 12KM into the earth.

[@Elidangerfield1111]

Okay so in my studies I've noticed that sometimes scientists suck at naming things, which makes it confusing for students. Such as photo system 1 and photo system 2 in photosynthesis being in backwards order. I know this particular example has to do with when each photo system was discovered, but I think it would be cool to see a video of examples of scientists choosing bad names for things. Maybe.

[@StoneyFry]

Very nice

[@RETYQ]

Another quick question/comment... does her research with micro-fungi include only figuring out what's destructive or do they also try to figure out why certain groups positively assimilate to their host? Couldn't we use GMO tech with a relationship to positive "root micro-fungi"?

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

I wonder what other ecological effects have resulted from introducing that fungus to New Zealand? (A good mushroom channel is Learn Your Land.)

[@madebydanilo]

The audio was a bit off in this episode :( but it was very interesting to watch and was great.

[@Roxor128]

It's not a buh-TONG, it's a BETT-ong. The emphasis is on the high-pitched syllable.

[@lazyperfectionist1]

"...and she might be a little nervous. There's a lot of bright lights here and she's nocturnal." My goodness! What did you bring her _in_ for? Put her to bed and bring in something that's _normally_ up during the day.

[@jasepoag8930]

I missed my calling as a zoologist. I want to study (and pet) all the exotic critters.

[@MikyRikker1]

Cool!

[@alexh3601]

Thought: Could you make these interviews with real life scientists into a podcast? Would you be able to interview more of them?

[@voorman534]

FINALLY!!!!

[@MtnNerd]

I know predation is a problem, but is there a way to treat feral populations for toxoplasmosis as part of existing TNR programs?

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

This whole video I was distracted by trying to figure out if that picture in the background is supposed to be some kind of targeting system from Star Wars

[@charronfamilyconnect]

30% of the soil is composed of fungal matter by the way. Fungi provide many nutrients to plants, and add fertility to the soil. Dousing the soil full of the crap I mentioned earlier will lead to less bio diversity, and eventually famine if we continue on the path we set...

[@charronfamilyconnect]

You got it!!! Nice pick up there.

[@162manoj]

"Its like a mushroom. I can point to it. I can eat it." - Hank, 2017

[@AmeyRedkar7695]

Is there a chance scishow will start a podcast?

[@lloydgush]

5sec of belly rubs, a life time of licks... That little thing reaaaaaaaaaaally loves belly hubs!

[@johnspence234]

I scrolled past this in my reccomended, then had to go back up because I could have sworn it said "Fungi invade massive planets". Not quite, Brain, not quite. Good video though

[@ahmeliawilliamson9225]

Hey why do we have/need REM sleep and non REM sleep

[@jacklandismusic]

Ahmelia Williamson There are multiple theories regarding that, actually. The general consensus regarding non-REM sleep is that it’s the part of the sleep cycle that allows us to rest and reset physically-it gives us time to recuperate from the day, essentially. REM sleep is the end of the sleep cycle. Most scientists think it exists as a sort of built-in alarm clock. We go through multiple sleep cycles every night, and REM sleep is at the end of each one. And believe it or not, you actually kind of wake up after every cycle, though you may not perceive it. The multiple theories come into play with dreams. REM sleep is also the part of the cycle in which we dream. Some scientists have theorized that our dreams are hypothetical scenarios our brains put together to prepare us for possible sensations we might have during the day. If you have a scary dream, for example, that could be your brain’s way of preparing you for the possibility of something scary happening during the day. Another theory is that dreams are just there to try and make sense of info we have hanging around in our brains. A study was done on rats in which they were trained to run mazes. Scientists measured brain activity during the maze running, and then again while the rats slept. They found that during non-REM sleep, the rats’ brains activated in similar ways to how they did during the maze exercises, only with no particular order. In other words, the mice were running random parts of the maze in their heads. During REM sleep, though, the rats’ brain activity actually really closely resembled what it looked like during the maze exercises, meaning that the rats were likely running the maze again in their heads, this time all the way through. Our brains likely do something similar, though dreams that we have tend to be pretty bizarre sometimes. Another theory (I’m not a fan of this one, it’s kinda boring) is that dreams are just there to be there. They don’t really serve any purpose other than that our neurons are firing at random and creating images that sort of resemble things that we’ve seen. I don’t like this one because it doesn’t really account for a lot of the elements of dreams. They usually have narratives, elements that are familiar to us, and of course there’s the famous fact that we reuse faces we see during the day. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. I hope that was helpful and not too long and boring!

[@OreoLoverLol]

Question: can arthropods, like insects or arachnids, get fat?

[@jacklandismusic]

Is there a correct way to pronounce “fungi”? I noticed she and Hank both pronounced most fungus-related words with a hard g (fungus, fungal), but that they also both pronounce “fungi” with a soft g. Since I’m an English major and general nerd, I’m a bit confused by this. I will yield to the knowledge of scientists, who tend to create the words used to formally describe living things. However, I did want to point out that most word sets with a common root word are pronounced with the same system (in this case that would either mean pronouncing the words “funjus” and “funji” or “fungus” and “fungi”). So is there a particular reason this is different, or does it just come down to regional difference/personal preference?

[@user-nd7rd8jo6h]

Ticks, the off meta 1 trick of nature. I can just hear it now "Tick, swap or I will throw" - Tree

[@thekidfrankie9]

This release has to do with the recent Joe Rogan episode. They know people are going to be looking up mushrooms more!

[@HarryHelsing]

Ecology 😍

[@DeathBlade93]

"If the dirt isn't right, like, plants wont grow." ... :D

[@absentmindedprof]

In the multiverse, would there be universes composed of antimatter?

[@thomasdavies3271]

yeah

[@talideon]

There would be one major benefit to there not being (at least certain kinds of) saprotrophes around, which we've benefitted from, which is.... fossil fuels! Coal only exists because there was a long period of time where nothing could fully break down the plant matter, leading to massive accumulation of peat, and subsequently, with time and pressure, coal.

[@romankozak8728]

And it only takes a few hundred million years.

[@jebadiahjackson]

I live in Australia and can confirm most everyone here has no idea that creature exists.

[@carnsoaks1]

Queensland's Prickly Pear & Cane Toad release interesting sedgway w predator introduction failure

[@philtripe]

oh nice...real, non anus related science

[@FBI-ov7lb]

Why does Hank get invited to parties a lot? Cuz he's a fungi

[@LuisReyes92]

Hassan DM your comment was the best part of this video !

[@secondarymetabolite5050]

That joke is so overrated, especially because it doesn't work. Fungi is the plural of fungus, so this is like saying that Hank is a funny persons. And you could even pull the joke off with sth like "Why did the mycologist leave her boyfriend? -Because of the fungi." (yes, bad example)

[@marcusday7196]

We are studying classification and my teacher told this one yesterday :D

[@microbuilder]

Gotta be careful going to a party like that...never know when theres a fungus among us...

[@MarkShaneHansen]

The pun is only funny if you don't just steal it from the video. You're not Master Therion, you'll never be Master Therion!

[@sciencesimplified2350]

Can you do a video about what happens when you eat raw biscuit/ raw dough and why it is bad for you

[@raraavis7782]

Ariauna Stewart That's easy ☺ You could potentially get Salmonella from the eggs, E.Coli from the flour (rare but possible) or simply a stomach ache from whatever raising agent you use continuing it's work in your intestines. But really, it's not any more dangerous than a lot of stuff most of us are guilty of in the kitchen...I mean, who really follows every single safety measure there is all the time? An episode about baking related chemistry would be fun though!

[@SaucerJess]

💜

[@Creeper0sitter]

the woylie kind of sound like Australia's squirrel with the seed dispersal thing.

[@greensteve9307]

WOYLIE!!! :D

[@RETYQ]

Does anybody remember ever reading a book called the fungus; not until I got older did I realize best horror novel ever because it could happen.

[@paulspringer9909]

Hey SciShow. For your next video, could you do about what would happen if a hydron atom was touched by electricity? I'm very interested on what would happen, and I can't seem to find anything online about it.

[@VillagerJeff]

Paul Springer I think you have some misconception. A hadron is any elementary parical made from quarks(the most common ones being protons and neutrons). The bits if matter that aren't a hadron are leptons (an example being electrons). So saying a hadron atom make little to no sense. All atoms are made of hadrons. If you meant an atom that was exclusively hadrons it's probably H- (just a proton) or a beta particle (2 protons and 2 neutrons). If either was put into an electric field my best guess is that they would capture electrons in the field and become unionized. Nothing more. If you meant something else reply with clarification and I'll try to answer.

[@paulspringer9909]

Villager Jeff Sorry, I meant hydron. Lol. Btw, H- isn't just a proton, that is H+(hydron), and an alpha particle is 2 protons and 2 neutrons.

[@honetaoinshrdlu]

It's called helium. You can breathe it in and speak funny!

[@paulspringer9909]

Actually, it's hydrogen. To be precise, a positive hydrogen ion.

[@purpy333]

I'd say it's a great candidate for domestication.

[@thebigerns]

Fungorini. Fungolia. Fungalicious.

[@PinkChucky15]

Sidney is such a cutie.

[@AlexxGamboa]

PinkChucky15 the beauty matches the brains

[@elwoodsherman2386]

Did hank just have a seizure at the beginning? Wtf did he say? Dub a dud bub dub bub du

[@CheshireTomcat68]

It's like she's sitting there with a thylacine, will this be the a rare final look at a disappearing species?

[@sheelabhaskar9364]

What happens if we drink petrol instead of water???

[@freespuddy]

You remove yourself from the gene pool.

[@CasMullac]

Breed them as pets, those things would never go extinct.

[@KarlRamstedt]

Only problem with that is that they're nocturnal, but hey, I doubt they're worse than Chinchillas.

[@CasMullac]

I had a pygmy hedgehog and they are supposed to be nocturnal and shy but she would come out to play as soon as she heard me walk down the stairs. She'd sleep more in the day of course but would just nap and run around like a cat. She had the whole kitchen to run around in as I couldn't bare putting her in a cage as she would just rattle the door as soon as I put her inside.

[@GuyWithAnAmazingHat]

They might not go extinct, but if we removed their nocturnal behaviour, they might just become a new breed/species instead.

[@user-nd7rd8jo6h]

Karl Ramstedt Be a good pet for people who don't get out much that are on a night schedule. Give them something easy to love :3 and give something that could use more love a home ^_^

[@PulseChainBrowser]

Hank seemed stoned at the end.

[@scottywhittaker988]

Hey whats up with all these ladybugs/ Asian beetles goin crazy at my house?

[@ZennExile]

Fungi and Bacteria act like our own intestines, flipped inside out. The roots are the digestive organs that absorb nutrients. The Fungi and Bacteria break down soil material into those nutrients. The exact same process happens in your own intestines. Fertilizer kills off the Rhizosphere in order to do a piss poor job of simulating what the Rhizosphere was already doing. Like killing off all your gut microbes and force feeding yourself solution you can only partially digest. Not a good recipe. That is the real reason Organic farming is important. We are killing the living soil we depend on for our own life.

[@MrFlexNC]

Why do we get bags under our eyes?

[@charronfamilyconnect]

Why don't you ask this scientists smarter questions such as does dousing the soil full of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides affect the soil bio diversity, and fertility long term?

[@Christopher-N]

This is like Joan Embery on The Tonight Show.

[@sleutelj]

#woylie

[@anthonybeervor2265]

Hank looks like he really needs to pee.

[@kurtoogle4576]

Yep - right from the start too. LOL

[@stupid737]

He can be a bit awkward

[@edy18719]

How can animals like geckos regenerate limbs but we can't?

[@seanp4644]

This is a guess btw, hopefully someone writes back with more info, but here I go. Geckos limbs were getting caught a lot on predators, and so they evolved to be able to detach them to escape. Then the evolved to grow them back, because limbs are important. Their limbs got bitten off and attacked way more often then ours do, so it wasn't important to be able to detach and regrow them

[@AidanRatnage]

If the ticks help woylies then they aren't parasites.

[@anythingwithanabv7517]

mhm yeah right mmmmhm hmm right dude hank you gotta like. not do that as much lol.

[@recoverybeer8165]

Fun jye. I always thought it was pronounced fuhn gee.

[@Dunkle0steus]

Why do I dislike the pronunciation of fungi with a 'j' sound so much?

[@jacklandismusic]

Dunkleosteus Probably because it seems to conflict with how the word “fungus” is pronounced, with the hard g. Most word sets follow a pattern of similar pronunciation. I guess this just doesn’t? It’s weird, though, since I’ve always pronounced the word like “fun guy”. I’m an English major and I’m not even sure which is correct. Go figure.

[@IKaros_Hunter]

#question why do pistachios cost so god damn much man

[@PikaPetey]

fungus and species may invade environments. but notification squad invades the comment section!

[@quentintubb]

dont forget about the notification SQUID!