Embrace Death with the Mushroom Death Suit

Noemi Twigg — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:00:38 +0000

No, I am not feeling morbid on this overcast Friday, but who can resist reading up on something called mushroom death suit? Inventor slash artist Jae Rhim Lee has taken on an immense project that crosses boundaries. On the one hand, she tackles the scientific aspect of training fungi to eat dead bodies. On the other hand, she tackles the prevailing attitudes of people towards death.

Lee was interviewed at the New Scientist, where she talked about her mushroom death suit, which is part of the Infinity Burial Project.

The premise: we live in a culture of death denial, where the norm is to preserve – albeit temporarily – the bodies of the dead with materials such as formaldehyde. She talks about the negative effects of this practice on the environment and people.

The solution: toxin-cleaning edible mushroom to eat the body.

The method of delivery: mushroom death suit.

Mushroom Death Suit

That’s the Lee herself wearing the suit at a TED talk. Obviously, the suit is not entirely made of mushroom. The diagram below shows how it is supposed to work.

Mushroom Death Suit Diagram

As Lee has explained, the mushroom death suit is made of organic cotton (it has to be organic, of course!), which is covered by a crocheted netting. This netting is supposed to resemble the growth of mushroom mycelium and is also the medium for the infinity mushroom (the ones that will eat your body) to grow. She also does admit, however, that the netting might not serve the purpose as mushroom spores are difficult to cultivate outside of petri dishes. Her possible solution? Gelatin as a second skin.

This is really interesting, but I have to admit that I am feeling my stomach stir as I write. Lee’s ultimate goal is to increase awareness for her cause – environmental stewardship that does not necessarily end when you pass away. I applaud her for that, but I think I will stick to my original plan – the hottest of fires. I may be acting like a wuss here, but isn’t fire just as environment-friendly as the mushroom death suit?

Your Very Own 1UP Mushroom

Noemi Twigg — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:01:29 +0000

Super Mario fans, rejoice! You can now have your very own 1UP mushroom right on your desk. No need to play the game anymore hoping and wishing that the powers that be in Marioland will send a 1UP mushroom right down your way. With this officially licensed Nintendo collectible, you can grow your own 1UP mushroom and power up yourself.

The 1UP mushroom comes with a pot in the form of a green sewer pipe. All that you need to do to display this collectible is get some potting soil (just a tad) and put it inside the pot. You can then prop up your 1UP mushroom for all the world to see. Where to get soil? Let’s see… go to the nearest garden center and buy some. You might have to throw away the rest of the bag though, as you only need a little bit of it – unless you order like 50 of these babies. A cheaper and more practical alternative would be to go to your yard and get some. If you don’t have one, go to your neighbors yard; heck, you can even find any plot of land in the city jungle and get a scoop!

Our friends from Think Geek alerted me to this, and for a discounted price of $5.99, you can get your hands on one!

You might not be able to stir fry this mushroom but you will certainly be the envy of your Super Mario fan colleagues!

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Embrace Death with the Mushroom Death Suit

Your Very Own 1UP Mushroom