Computational Cordyceps. Logic functions powered by fungi. No, it's not a "Last of Us" spin-off irony, but the actual research direction of the Unconventional Computing Laboratory, a division of the University of the West of England in Bristol, England. And it is only slightly less scary than the Cordyceps fungus brain monster.

Popular Science (opens in new tab) (via Tom's Hardware (opens in new tab)) has an article about the research being conducted by Professor Andrew Adamatzky, who heads the laboratory, and his colleagues The Science of Slime Mould (opens in new tab)" and argues that slime molds perform complex calculations, proving that "the absence of a brain does not mean that amorphous organisms lack intelligence."

"Mycelial cultures are mixed with hemp or wood shavings and placed in a sealed plastic box to allow the mycelia to settle on the substrate. Then electrodes are inserted and the electrical activity of the mycelium is recorded. That is, the stimulus causes the mycelium to become electrically active, and a response is obtained.

In terms of turning it into a working computer, it goes like this. In the animal brain, neurons use electrical spikes to transmit signals. Mycelia have a similar ability to produce electrical spikes.

Simply put, the presence or absence of a spike represents the 1s and 0s of the binary code. Furthermore, when mycelia are stimulated at two separate points, their conductivity increases and they communicate faster and more reliably, effectively forming memories. [According to Adamatsky, mycelia of different shapes can compute different functions, making them more like real computers.

"Right now it is still a feasibility study. We are just demonstrating that it is possible to use mycelia to implement computation, to implement basic logic circuits and basic electronic circuits," says Adamatzky. 'In the future, we will be able to grow much more sophisticated mycelial computers and controls.'

In fact, Adamatzky goes further than the mycelial computer idea. 'It is possible to implement neuromorphic circuits. I'm thinking of building a brain out of mushrooms," he says.

So far, the labs have come up with a number of fungi, including oyster mushrooms, ghost fungi, bracket fungi, enokitake mushrooms, split-gill fungi, and finally, yes, you guessed it, caterpillar fungi, aka cordyceps, which is the same genus as the fungi in "The Last of Us."

I'm not sure how many of these are truly imminent. Indeed, some of the images in the article contributed by Adamatzky are whimsical to say the least. The mushroom shavings littering the motherboard are silly enough to make one suspicious of the entire enterprise.

But based on Adamatzky's extensive scholarship on the subject, we'll take it at face value for now. And, of course, we will welcome any new fungal overlords that emerge.