IDTF: Living Micro-Artillery

CEH editor David Coppedge discusses
ingenious tactics used by plants
and fungi to launch their spores.

In a recent audio podcast, CEH editor David Coppedge chatted with Andrew McDiarmid of the Discovery Institute about wonders of the plant world. For their platform ID the Future (IDTF), he shared excerpts from a paper in Current Biology that describes “plant microballistics”— techniques used by fungi and ferns to launch spores many times their own length. One of them is even dubbed the “artillery fungus” and another the “hat thrower” fungus.

Coppedge describes how various mechanisms, including cavitation and turgor pressure, enable these organisms to launch their spores effectively, turning them into short-range, medium-range, and even long-range missiles that travel great distances relative to their size in order to further life. The conversation also touches on the engineering principles behind plant root systems, and how studying these natural designs can inspire advancements in human technology through biomimetics.

The podcast was based on his article at Evolution News about this subject, posted 2 Dec 2024. The conversation continued with a discussion of another paper that revealed how plant roots become miniature “jackhammers” to penetrate hard soils. This portion was based on his article at Evolution News on 16 Aug 2024.

Read about this podcast here and follow the links to hear it. The 26-minute podcast itself is found at ID The Future, posted March 26, 2025.