A networking resource devoted to biological soil crusts and the researchers who study them. We will provide a means for international scientists to communicate, share their research, share important news and announcements, ask questions and find collaborators. We will also provide a space for informal writing on research, opinion, and ideas (now seeking posters!).

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Purely for your amusement: A soil cyanobacterium has made it to reality TV



Here's the premise: this is a cooking competition television show produced in the US. There are usually two parts to each episode, the first being a "mystery box" The mystery box contains several ingredients that the contestants cannot predict, and they are expected to use the ingredients in the box to cook a dish  in a short period of time.

On this episode, one of the mystery box ingredients is fat choy (which translates roughly to hair vegetable), which the hosts call "black moss" and "chinese ground moss". This is not a moss, it is the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc flagelliforme. Tune in around 5:30 to see the reactions of the contestants and judges to this ingredient. One contestant does well, all the while thinking that the Nostoc is some kind of noodle.

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