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In Frank Herbert’s Dune, fungi are hidden in plain sight

There is more lurking below the surface of Arrakis than sandworms. Dune author Frank Herbert had a keen interest in fungi, and so should we, says Corrado Nai

13 March 2024

New Ů��С��Ƶ. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine. — Advancing sandworms in Dune: Part Two
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic sci-fi novel Dune, is out in cinemas. For almost six decades, fans of the epic space saga have looked at it from many angles, from colonialism to religious fanaticism, but I was blown away to discover, on reading mycologist Paul Stamets’s book Mycelium Running, that “much of the premise of Dune […] came from his [Herbert’s] perception of the fungal life cycle”.

Let’s start with his language. When explaining the complex life cycle…

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