The Last of the Fungus

Plus: the call of the liar; why a scientist must always doubt; this week’s Facts So Romantic; and more. [View in browser]( [Join Nautilus]( Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( This Thursday, your free member newsletter includes the editor’s note from Print Issue 51, below, by Kevin Berger. After that, be sure to check out this week’s Facts So Romantic. EDITOR'S NOTE The Last of the Fungus A scientific coming of age in the Himalaya. BY KEVIN BERGER In issue 51’s cover story, “The Last of the Fungus,” author Zhengyang Wang (Yang) writes that he feels like he has slipped into the plotline of Rudyard Kipling’s Kim. Yang, a biology student, has been in the Himalaya trying to fathom the ecology of a caterpillar fungus. He has scoured the mountains with secretive fungus hunters, met shifty dealers, and visited labs where scientists are attempting to synthesize the fungus, prized for its reputed healing powers; it’s known as “Himalayan Viagra.” Yang takes up residence in a monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. He wants to brush up on his Tibetan and pick up whatever information he can from the fungus dealers there. Nearby is the Russian Embassy. At the monastery, Yang suspects people are watching him with a wary eye, as if he was the wily Kim, who goes undercover on behalf of the British government to investigate Russian agents in India. Finally, Yang convinces his monastic neighbors that he is “more of a quixotic wanderer than a serious security threat.” Yang, 32, is now a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. “The Last of the Fungus” is his first long journalistic feature and can be read as his own coming-of-age story. The fungus is essential to Tibet’s economy and a big part of Yang’s quest is to help the villagers whose lives depend on it. Yang grew up in Chengdu, China, tucked in the eastern Himalaya. His mom works in forestry and agriculture and his dad is a mushroom forager. When he was growing up, his parents took him on field trips to the Himalaya. “This part of the world is always very close to my heart,” he says. Yang says he did come of age during his research. “It taught me that science is a human endeavor,” he says. “Now I always keep that in mind when I develop my research questions, and hopefully that has made me a better biologist. Many of the organisms I study have deep human impact. On the other hand, the process of doing science is a messy entanglement with other scientists and many stakeholders. When I’m bogged down by details of research, I usually think about people I meet and how my research could potentially impact their livelihood, and that gives me motivation to work.” During seven years of traveling to and from the Himalaya, from 2016 to now, Yang learned that staple of growing up: patience. “I could have been more patient seven years ago and more understanding of alternative ways of making a living,” he says. “My younger self tended to project what I think is correct onto other people’s lives. I really didn’t think caterpillar fungus, from a medicinal point of view, makes much sense, and I tried to convince other people of that. Now, although my stance on the issue remains the same, I don’t try to convince anyone about how they should live their lives.” Although, when Yang looks back at his seven years in the Himalaya, not everything is about grand life lessons. “I can’t even believe it myself,” he says. “But I spent most of my 20s studying caterpillar fungus!” More from Nautilus: • [Call of the liar]( • [The invisible impacts of calamities]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [JOIN TODAY]( Wake up to Good News [Nice News]( filters through 100+ sources each day to send you the most uplifting, relevant, and entertaining stories. Stay both informed and inspired with their 3-minute daily email digest. Join for free and begin to re-envision your relationship to news. [SUBSCRIBE]( FACTS SO ROMANTIC The Best Things We Learned Today People harvest some 100,000 kilograms of dry caterpillar fungus along the Himalaya each year. Nautilus Microbes can be aerosolized by fire and survive in the smoke that circulates far from the origin point. Nautilus When a lyrebird mother feels threatened by a pied currawong, an egg eater with bright yellow eyes, she will often imitate the calls of larger avian predators, possibly to frighten or confuse, and draw the burglar away from the nest. Nautilus Francoise Barre-Sinoussi was so engrossed in her work at the Pasteur Institute on HIV in the 1980s that she almost missed her own wedding. Nautilus In the Philippines, boys and young men collect, train, and play with spiders, often for money. Nautilus A person’s body gives off a certain aroma shortly before a seizure. Nautilus P.S. The German physicist and perceptual psychologist Hermann von Helmholtz was born on this day in 1821. The neuroscientist Anil Seth called it “a major landmark in the 19th century” when Helmholtz talked about visual perception as a process of the brain making a “[best guess]( an inference about what’s out there in the environment. Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher BECOME A MEMBER Back to School Discount Nautilus tells the stories that connect the classroom to the broader worlds of art, science, and philosophy. Our unique brand of science journalism explores the bigger questions. The type of questions that inform late-night dorm room musings and faculty lounge debates. In anticipation of your return to the school, we’re offering you a 25% discount on an annual membership. Join Nautilus and read the stories that, we hope, inspire the conversations and connections you remember long after the classroom lectures have faded away. [JOIN NOW]( Thanks for reading. [Tell us](mailto:brian.gallagher@nautil.us?subject=&body=) your thoughts on today’s note. 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