A Southern California artist has broken a world record by completing a marathon-length ocean crossing on a kayak grown completely from fungus, the Guardian reported. The feat offered further hope that the world will one day be able to replace plastic with natural, biodegradable materials.
Artist-scientist Sam Shoemaker made the record-breaking trip from the Catalina Islands to the coastal city of San Pedro in roughly 12 hours, but its impact could be felt for decades, if not centuries, to come.
'It was just like a psychedelic experience," Shoemaker said of the crossing, according to the Guardian.
Unlike commonly used plastic kayaks, the fungus-grown boat Shoemaker paddled across the open ocean was completely biodegradable.
"People hate Styrofoam plastics in the water washing on to shore," said Phil Ross, Shoemaker's mentor and founder of MycoWorks, a company that has sought to expand the use of fungus-based materials. Unlike plastic, the material used in Shoemaker's kayak "is biodegradable," yet it "acts a lot like the material that everyone seems to hate" in terms of strength and buoyancy.
For decades, increasing amounts of plastic pollution have posed a growing threat to both public health and the environment. Rather than biodegrading like natural materials, petroleum-derived plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming microplastic particles that have permeated the world and our own bodies.
Shoemaker's successful, record-breaking 26.4-mile voyage by mushroom-grown kayak was just the most recent example of innovative individuals finding new ways to use fungus to replace more harmful, less sustainable materials.
For example, Ross's MycoWorks has invented a leather alternative that uses fungus rather than animals as its source material. Similarly, Stella McCartney, an English fashion designer, has created a line of garments using Mylo, a fungus-based leather replacement.
Additionally, using a process similar to how Shoemaker grew his mushroom kayak, the Dutch company Loop Biotech has created biodegradable coffins.
All of these examples serve as important reminders that, if human innovation led to the world's current plastic problem, human innovation also can be used to find creative solutions out of it. The creators themselves hope to inspire the next generation of outside-the-box thinkers.
TCD Picks » Upway Spotlight
💡Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands
|
Would you live in a house made of fungus? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Heck yes 👍 Shoemaker himself found his motivation in the efforts of Katy Ayers, who still holds the record for the longest fungus-grown vessel, which she used to traverse a lake in Nebraska in 2019, according to the Guardian.
"There's probably some 19-year-old kid out there who thinks, 'I could do that,' and they can," said Shoemaker, according to the Guardian. "The biggest compliment that they could pay me is to go and build a better boat and attempt a crossing even more ambitious than mine."
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
