68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi

A hidden circulatory system pulses just beneath the planet’s surface. Embedded in soil, dense networks of microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, attach to plant roots. Laid end to end, these filaments would extend for 68 quadrillion miles. Great work by Toby Kiers @spun.earth Gift link 🍄

Protect grasslands & fungi at all costs. This mapping project shows mycorrhizal fungi revitalizes soil & stores 300 megatons of carbon - 5x as much as the carbon contained by all humans. These fungi webs stretch 730 million times longer than from the Earth to the Sun www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

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Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

From the paper’s abstract: arbuscular mycorrhiza estimated to be “4- to 6-fold the biomass of humans” 68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Don't forget fungi. The largest fungal communities inhabit grasslands. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

#Soil is amazing! Here's a link to a gift article on the NY Times about soil fungi: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

I plan to get a few blocks of mush this week. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Not just trees - grass lands can also store lots of carbon and help stave off climate change. 68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Discovery's spore drive and it's real-world analog. Black Alert! www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... www.thecompanion.app/star-trek-sp...

WHY WE LOOK? Because with machine learning and a high-res imaging robot, scientists measured and mapped the extent of Earth’s carbon circulatory system in 68 quadrillion underground miles of fungi:  www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

More than 70 percent of Earth’s terrestrial plant species rely on the fungi, which — in addition to transporting nutrients and storing carbon — also help stabilize the soil www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

420 TWEETZ: IMAGINE EVEN LIKE JUST ONE QUADRILLION AND THEN THIS IS 67 MORE QUADRILLIONS www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... [GIFT LINK]

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Science is so much more interesting and important than the conspiracy theories and pseudo science of the wackadoodles appointed by this administration to pretend to be scientists. This story is going to send the whole wackadoodle echo chamber into cardiac arrest. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... 👍👍👍

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68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... I just don't know how important this is!

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That key plot point on The Last of Us... moreless. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... I’m glas to learn that grasslands are great carbon sinks. But they are talking about wet grasslands and large swaths, not your average lawn. Plant bushes and trees and try to mimic natural landscapes rather than formal gardens.

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www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... “More than 70 percent of Earth’s terrestrial plant species rely on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which — in addition to transporting nutrients and storing carbon — also help stabilize the soil and protect plants from environmental stress.”

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of #Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s... #mycorrhizae

So cool! www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Science is incredibly cool and important. Here's one of my favorite recent research projects. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

(I love the insatiably curious folk in this world ) www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/s...

Feed: "NYT > Science" By: Emily Anthes on Thursday, June 11, 2026

okay, this is wonderful and amazing https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/science/ecology-mycorrhizal-fungus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pVA.ErOB.GjNoAz6iWmDn&smid=nytcore-ios-share