Can Reconnecting with Nature Save Humanity From Itself? | Mr. Tachyon Episode 4

for much of human history you've done everything in our power to control nature out of fear and greed you have pushed our place on the planet to the brink there are people out there who believe they can reverse the damage by working with nature not against it this is certainly worth investigating my father was a scientist running a top-secret government project one night in his lab an experiment went horribly wrong rendering him invisible fearing he was disappearing forever he rushed home to see my mother and nine months later I was born my life's mission is to investigate concepts on the fringe of science conducting experiments to test those claims regardless of taboo or seeming improve ability searching for the clues that will make me visible I walk on the edge of science I am mr. tacky [Music] our relationship with nature has never been worse some believe that unless we find ways to connect and learn with nature across all aspects of human existence our time on earth may soon come to an end there are people out there focused on getting humans to connect with nature in a way that reinforces how vital and symbiotic our relationship is others are looking to nature as a practical example on how to solve problems from lightning and tornadoes to bioluminescence and mushrooms I'm going to start my investigation in the temperate rain forests of Washington state where I'm going to meet a man who believes mushrooms have the ability to clean up toxins save bees and kill infections my name is Paul Stamets I am part of a revolution in mycological consciousness and the consciousness about fungal networks mushrooms and mushroom mycelium digest its nutrients externally the mycelium is the roots of the mushroom and this is the mycelium see this dope the entire land masses of Earth are covered with huge sheets of mycelium so for these fungi are the molecular decomposers of nature they break down plant and animal tissue and they create soil to give rise to plants and animals obviously without soils we wouldn't exist you believe mushrooms can help us solve some of our worst environmental problems even clean up oil spills how is that possible the mycelium is producing enzymes and these enzymes are like little pac-man's that go around and they break down wood whether the same molecules that are be broken down by these enzymes are very similar to hydrocarbons that make up petroleum products and so by elegant design by chance by circumstance by opportunity by whatever these fungal networks that break down would also break down oil Paul's now been working with mushrooms for three decades he tells me his most recent project aims to stop the extinction of bees with increased travel and trade by humans foreign insects called varroa mites have spread worldwide they sucked the blood of honeybees and can transmit diseases that kill them directly or fatally weakened the colony these are undergoing a massive extinction rate and ten years we could lose all the bees we all knew that bees were attracted to rotted logs and Bears would go in the rotted logs to get the honey and the Beehive no one made the connection that bees are attracted to rotted logs because the mycelium produces antivirals and we have found that using the mycelium that generates these mushrooms doubles and lifespans of bees and dramatically reduces the viruses that varroa mites are injecting the bees why this is important 70% of your food is dependent upon pollination all fruits all nuts all berries and it goes on and on so if we don't find a solution to bees that affects food biosecurity affects political stability that affects the survival of the human species and many animal plant species throughout the world Paul tells me mushrooms don't only act as an antiviral for bees working with the US Department of Defense Paul's mushroom strains were used to create medicines to combat deadly human infections we went looking for a solution against smallpox and we found something that I think and mitigate viral pandemics across the world these fungi are now known to be a deep well of new potential antiviral medicines do you have any specific examples of mushrooms ability to heal I had a congenital stuttering habit I could not speak in public I did a massive psilocybin mushroom trip when I was about 19 20 years of age and in one day doing a lightning storm on the top of a giant tree I addressed my stuttering habit six years of speech therapy and in one day I solved my stuttering habit that's amazing it's interesting that so many modern treatments could come from such an ancient species I need to collect data on mushrooms I need to conduct an experiment over the last 10 years in the US alone at least 9 million gallons of oil and natural gas have been spilled into the soil these events cost billions of dollars to clean up and have a devastating impact on human health and the environment I want to test Paul's claim that mushroom mycelium can break down oil if mushrooms can cure infections that clean up the earth they might also hold the cure to my invisibility I found a location to conduct my experiment I've introduced the exact same amount of motor oil into two separate piles of dirt I've added oyster mushroom mycelium to one pile and left the other one untouched I'm going to take samples from the piles to check the hydrocarbon levels now and again in 30 days helping with the experiment is Olga's olga's someone who has been cultivating and growing mushrooms for 12 years what do you expect to happen during the experiment well I hope that we see a reduction in the toxicity in the land the pollutant levels it's pretty rare that moisture mushrooms don't fruit and they're pretty ferocious and resilient and they'll they'll pretty much eat anything so I have faith that they'll know fruit and do their thing my hypothesis is that the mushrooms will reduce the amount of oil measured in hydrocarbon in its pile compared to the pile of no mushrooms with my experiment under way I continued my search I found a group who have been inspired by one of the most powerful forces of nature to try and save millions of lives I have to meet I'm investigating the idea that connecting and working with nature can help us to solve some of our biggest problems well I'm testing the potential of mushrooms I want to learn more about how nature can inspire us to change the way we look at it and live with it I've connected with a man who's trying to harness two of nature's most powerful forces tornadoes and lightning there are millions of engines producing soot around the world every minute of every day thousands of people die from disease caused by emissions in the US every year millions more are killed around the world diesel engines can burn the soot but only after they're running at high temperatures Garrett Hill believes that it's possible to take the most powerful forces at work within lightning and tornadoes and combine them inside a smog destroying reactor and it took a brush with death to give him the idea one year I was with a team of researchers and we were looking to catch up with a storm in Colorado an f2 tornado and so we caught up to about 105 110 miles an hour and saw that the tornado started to veer and come in our direction the bottom of the tornado soon came over us you know you could see the geometry you can see the electrical discharge is happening you could see incredibly beautiful dynamics just incredible Garrett's experience inspired him to investigate the main forces inside a tornado he helped start a company called thrival tech to explore the properties of plasma the powerful form of matter and lightning bolts and on the surface of the Sun Garrett's colleague Andrew offers to tell me more about plasma and show me how they created and studied it in the lab this benchtop reactor uses an electric current a vacuum tube and magnetic fields to create and control the plasma plasma is an ionized gas it's considered the fourth state of matter and what that means is that if you take a solid and put energy into that it becomes a liquid if you take that liquid and put even more energy into it becomes a gas and if you take that gas and put even more energy into it it becomes a plasma whether inside lightning or a fluorescent lightbulb the principles of plasma are the same plasmas power lies in its ability to become excited and highly reactive and so much so that it can easily break apart other molecules Garrett wondered if they could create a reactor to eliminate small created by diesel engines thrival tech came up with a prototype that seemed to do just that using a plasma tornado our mission is to reduce pollution all over the world by applying natural principles to our technologies to be more efficient and effective than industry standard we call this t1 we are injecting air an air stream into this zone with a magnetic field placed around it Garrard has essentially created a mini plasma tornado by applying a magnetic field and a vortex of air into a plasma arc so it's sort of this efficient self-contained system absolutely I asked Garret to show me the reactor in action the plasma tornado is a key part of a larger reactor that could hold the key to turning all the diesel engines in the world smoke-free and so a common issue and in industry is that there is incomplete combustion with the diesel fuel and so a big puff of that smoke or that set comes out every time you start up your diesel engine really small particulate matter which gets lodged in your lungs and ends up becoming a carcinogenic issue Garret has switched on the engine he shows me the emissions before and after he activates his plasma reactor the co2 did increase and emissions appear to drop Garrett tells me that inside thrivers v6 reactor soot in the exhaust is essentially vaporized by the small plasma tornado then reformed into earth-friendly molecules so no more smog ends up in our lungs the reactor can eliminate hood at much lower temperatures and cut emissions almost completely to do this thrive will research the influence of electric fields on soot and determine how best to apply it in a plasma reactor so we call this v6 which is a hybrid plasma reactor and that right there is a diesel engine we send air through a hybrid plasma reaction a hybrid meaning multiple plasmas are not just one and then we reform the air into a gas that's good for reforming the suit into co2 plasma vortex dynamics whatever we can draw from nature we use rivals work with plasma reactors is a great lesson for how we can learn from nature it's too early to tell if Garrett and his team will be able to rid the world of smog but I believe they're on the right path if we can discover new antiviral medicine from mushrooms and clean up smog with lightening inspired technology is it possible nature also possesses a cure for my invisibility I'm going to conduct another experiment I want to know a spending time in nature has a measurable impact on our well-being can being in nature actually change us and can I measure the results I'm running a 30-day experiment to see if mushrooms can digest and clean up soil contaminated with motor oil and while I wait on that to finish I'm going to start a new one I've learned about something called forest bathing Japanese researchers have found that those who practice it experience a boost to the immune system and a number of other health benefits I've reached out to an expert in the field my name is carolyn trolley and I'm a forest therapy guide mentor and trainer forest therapy is about slowing down in nature and being able to connect on a deeper level through our senses I see mother earth is a very powerful teacher and a healer to find evidence that a more harmonious relationship with nature is beneficial I've asked five volunteers to participate in this experiment none of them have spent time in the wilderness recently I'm a city person I considered myself I don't really do outdoor stuff I haven't done anything like this before not an outdoorsy person at all the participants will be taken on a forest bathing session led by Carolyn I've asked each of them to provide a blood sample prior to the experiment I will compare this what blood samples take in ten days after the session I will measure their level of cortisol and white blood cells my hypothesis is that each participant will have lower cortisol levels and a higher white blood cell count today's walk is inspired by the work that's been happening in Japan's known as shinden yoga which translates to forest bathing and supporting wellness by being immersed in forested areas and so what we're going to be doing is we're going to be moving at a very slow pace and to notice what's in motion around you you know it's an ancient practice that we all used to sit on the land and just invite you to find a spot and just be at that spot and observe that spot with all your senses I leave Carolyn and my participants to complete the forest bathing session I'll wait on blood tests before I can analyze the results of my experiment [Music] I want to meet with someone who's actively unpacking lessons from nature and re-engineering them for human society I've come to Rotterdam to investigate since World War two the city has rebuilt itself into one of Europe's preeminent design sinners it's home to an innovative collective that looks at our relationship with nature technology and our cities all right so here we are welcome to The Dream Factory The Dream Factory so what is this place do we make landscapes of the future my name is Dan Rose card I'm an artisan and an innovator my mission is to upgrade reality and to use creative thinking new technology to step-by-step improve life our nature is great there are a lot of principles or fascinations that we can learn from it that we need to apply to the world we live in I'm more interested how can we use principles of nature and not copy-paste them but copy more of them sort of use them upgrade them and to improve the life you and I live in what aspects of nature are you working with at the moment so glowing nature that's one of our most recent projects by luminescence the algae is really a living material but they have this beautiful capacity that when you shake them when they wake up they become light-emitting so we teamed up with a lot of biological people and they in my opinion the most light-emitting algae in the world if you touch it they sort of wake up and they emit light pure nature pure light no electricity bill no maintenance contracts what if we would start apply that to the streets of tomorrow can make environments which do not have light pollution can we bring nature back into the city it's the future of light you can literally drink it and if you want it's it's pure nature it'll be interesting to see if dawn can take this idea from the small-scale something larger it tells me about some of the other ambitious technologies they're working on for a more sustainable future Lotus ism is a high-end mylar a double-a in my arm and based on the heat of your hands or the light it folds open and like I could flower and this is a very basic principle when something becomes warm and expands when it gets cold it shrinks and the prototype that you've seen below is a small prototype reacting to your hand heat and we're actually applying it now to buildings to facade Don hopes this technology can help buildings regulate their heating and cooling very interesting I just came back from from Shanghai this is a small free tower so basically this is the largest small convection cleaner in the world it's sucks up polluted air from the top cleans it on the on the nano level and it releases the clean air so you have parts like these which are 20 to 70% more clean and then the rest of the city this here I have it with me this is Beijing smoke this is the stuff we were sucking up from the skies 42 percent of this is carbon carbon under high pressure you get diamonds diamonds yes so we decided to make smoke-free rings to be compressed it for 30 minutes and we're sharing a ring you donate a thousand cubic meter of cleaner to the city where the towers in as with Paul Stamets ed Garrett Hill Tom's work shows me there's great potential for working with nature as opposed to simply exploiting it I'm eager to collect the results for my two experiments to see if I have any data to back up this potential I'm exploring the idea that nature is a critical source of answers for some of the world's greatest problems as well as a cure for my invisibility first I want to check out the results for my forest bathing experiment I start by reviewing some of the anecdotal material the forest therapy guide opens the door and the forest is actually the therapist sitting in the squad right next to me is a clump of feathers from a young bird profound sense of belonging came over me my mom passed away five years ago somehow her spirit just was there with me and it was was pretty amazing it was like she was sitting next to me the first thing I felt was just this immense gratitude I felt a lot more centered it was a moving moment for me the rule that nature should play when we think about progress is to kind of shift our perception and to see ourselves as part of that natural world and so that we can be in better relationship with the land there's so many teachings that come out of being in nature next I check on the results of my blood tests the data shows white blood cell counts at three out of the five participants increase indicating a possible boost to their immune systems cortisol levels also drop for 3:05 indicating a possible reduction of stress based on my quantitative and anecdotal data forest bathing seems to have had an overall positive effect on the participants while my sample size is small these results do seem to back up years of research done by Japanese scientists studying the impact of forced bathing [Music] now on to the results of my final experiment I left two piles of soil saturated in oil for 30 days one pile was left alone the other was seated with oyster mushroom mycelium I've taken samples from the active and the control piles to analyze the impact of the mushrooms on hydro carbon levels in the soil visual evidence at the site was compelling the soil seeded with oyster mushrooms has sprouted and the mycelium root system has clearly done well in soil that was soaked in motor oil the results from the lab indicate that the levels of hydrocarbons dropped by 85 percent in the piles seen it with oyster mushroom mycelium the control pile saw a reduction of 64% which can likely be attributed to the natural degradation of oil due to factors like the weather sun and other microbes the presence of mycelium appears to have sped up this natural process the results of my experiments and investigations have shown me that concepts from nature can be used to restore the environment and provide a less destructive way forward immersing ourselves in nature also seems to have beneficial effects I still haven't found a cure for my invisibility but it is possible that nature can hold the key to unlocking it whether we work directly with the earth or let it work on us my research and experiments indicate that the natural world is a promising source of untapped potential what else is possible I need to do more experiments you you

Channel: Motherboard

Views: 10,617

Rating: 4.1743121 out of 5

Keywords: motherboard, motherboardtv, vice, vice magazine, documentary, science, technology, tech, sci-fi, artificial intelligence, AI, virtual reality, VR, vice videos, future, cryptocurrency, privacy, security, cyber, APCLPWCL124153118, nature, mother nature, healing, covid-19

Id: TzV7bDivSp4

Length: 22min 27sec (1347 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 21 2020