Andrew Adamatzky

Affiliation: University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) — Director, Unconventional Computing Laboratory
Semantic Scholar: search

Focus

Fungal computing and electrophysiology. Treats mycelium networks as living computational substrates — memristors, capacitors, distributed sensors. Studies electrical spike propagation through fungal networks and what those spikes encode.

Key papers

• "Language of fungi derived from their electrical spiking activity" — Royal Society Open Science (2021). Finds linguistic structure in fungal spike trains.
• "Propagation of electrical signals by fungi" (with Mayne, Roberts, Phillips) — mechanism paper.
• "Fungal Machines" (Springer, edited volume) — comprehensive treatise on fungal computing.
• "Fungal biohybrid substrates for resilient sensing" — fungi as distributed adaptive sensors.
• Multiple Sci Reports papers post-2018 on mycelium electrical behavior.

Relationship to Moshe

Cold email → sustained engagement. Recommends Fungal Ecology for Paper 1 submission. Thanked in acknowledgments. Open question: co-authorship or supporting letter before bioRxiv. See adamatzky-thread.md.

EarthTalk relevance

Core. His lab is the primary prior art for fungal electrophysiology. Every claim about electrical spikes in mycelium rests on his body of work. Paper 1 cites Adamatzky 2018.

František Baluška

Affiliation: University of Bonn — Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany
Semantic Scholar: search

Focus

Plant cell biology, plant neurobiology, and synaptic signaling in plants. Studies the root apex transition zone as the seat of plant sensory integration — analogous to a primitive brain. Key research areas: auxin-mediated synaptic signaling, endocytic vesicle trafficking at plant "synapses," actin cytoskeleton dynamics, and the role of glutamate receptors and neurotransmitter-like molecules in plant behavior. Frequent collaborator with Stefano Mancuso; co-founder of the plant neurobiology field.

Key papers

• "Neurobiological view of plants and their body plan" (in Communication in Plants, Springer 2006) — foundational text for plant neurobiology.
• "Synaptic-like vesicle exocytosis in the transition zone of the root apex" — demonstrates neurotransmitter-like vesicle release at plant cell junctions.
• "Plant synapses: actin-based domains for cell-to-cell communication" — identifies structural analogs to animal synapses in plant tissue.
• "Glutamate receptor-like channels in plants" — plants use glutamate receptors homologous to animal CNS receptors for signal propagation.
• "The 'root-brain' hypothesis of Charles and Francis Darwin revisited" (Plant Signaling & Behavior, 2009) — rehabilitates Darwin's 1880 proposal that root tips act as proto-brains.
• Multiple papers on auxin as a plant neurotransmitter and the cytoskeletal basis of plant memory.

Relationship to Moshe

No direct contact. Followed for EarthTalk theoretical grounding.

EarthTalk relevance

High. Baluška's work on synaptic-like signaling at the root apex is the molecular-level complement to EarthTalk's electrode-level sensing. If plants transmit information through glutamate-receptor cascades and vesicle exocytosis at root synapses, those signals propagate into the mycorrhizal network — which is precisely what EarthTalk's electrodes sit adjacent to. His framing of the root apex as a signal-integrating zone helps define where in the soil the most information-dense electrical activity should be measurable.

Lynne Boddy

Affiliation: Cardiff University, School of Biosciences — Professor of Microbial Ecology
Recognition: MBE, FRSB, FLSW; Fleming Prize winner; 50+ years in fungal ecology

Focus

Fungal community ecology and wood decay. Studies how fungal communities form, compete, and succeed across the full lifecycle of wood decomposition. How environmental factors (temperature, moisture, substrate type) shape fungal succession and competitive outcomes.

Key papers

• "Fungal community ecology and wood decomposition in angiosperms: from standing tree to complete decay" — Ecological Bulletins (2001). Seminal review.
• "Metabolic responses of two pioneer wood decay fungi to diurnally cycling temperature" — Journal of Ecology (2022). Relevant to circadian-like responses.
• Extensive work on Bjerkandera adusta and white rot fungi.
• Research on heart rot detection in standing trees — adjacent to EarthTalk's detection angle.

EarthTalk relevance

Moderate. Ecological baseline on fungal networks in natural systems. Her work on wood decay fungi community dynamics informs how fungal electrical behavior might vary across species and substrates. The temperature-cycling paper is directly relevant to understanding environmental confounds in electrophysiology.

István Cseresnyés

Affiliation: Hungarian agricultural research (exact current institution TBD — confirm on next paper lookup)
Pronunciation: "Cher-esh-nyesh"

Focus

Non-invasive electrical detection of AMF colonization in plant roots. Developed the active EIS (electrical impedance spectroscopy) lineage for mycorrhizal research — measuring impedance and capacitance as proxies for AMF presence and colonization level.

Key papers (chronological)

• Cseresnyés et al. 2013 — European Journal of Soil Biology, 54, 25-31. Maize + Glomus sp. Foundational: AMF-colonized plants show lower impedance + higher capacitance than controls.
• Takács et al. 2014 — Acta Biologica Szegediensis, 58, 55-59. Co-authored. Effect generalizes across cucumber, bean, multiple AMF species.
• Cseresnyés et al. 2018a — Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 93. Field-grown soybean, real conditions, confirmed by destructive sampling. Open access.
• Cseresnyés et al. 2018b — Biosystems Engineering, 169, 226-232. Impedance phase angle as stress indicator — extends from colonization to stress detection.
• Cseresnyés et al. 2020 — International Agrophysics, 34(1), 95-101. Substrate effects on root electrical capacitance — key environmental confounds paper. Open access.

Critical methodological constraints (from his work)

• Soil moisture dominates the signal — must control or condition on it
• Substrate composition changes baseline independent of biology
• Results only comparable within same species/substrate/moisture — deployment must break this via ML

EarthTalk relevance

Critical for Paper 4 (AMF experiment). His lineage is the closest existing prior art to what EarthTalk is building — except he uses active EIS and lab equipment; EarthTalk uses passive recording and commodity hardware. The comparison to his measurements is the benchmark EarthTalk needs to clear.

Toby Kiers

Affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam)
Organization: Co-founder of SPUN (Society for the Protection of Underground Networks)

Focus

Mycorrhizal trade networks — applies economic and game-theoretic frameworks to how fungi and plants exchange resources. Studies how fungi optimize nutrient allocation across networks, how plants select fungal partners, and the global distribution of mycorrhizal networks.

Key work

• SPUN "fungal highways" paper (2025/2026) — two-way traffic in AMF networks. Won the 2026 Tyler Prize.
• Research on cost-benefit dynamics of mycorrhizal partnerships — plants "sanction" fungi that underperform.
• Global mapping of underground fungal networks.

EarthTalk relevance

Strategic. Kiers's work establishes the scientific credibility and public salience of AMF networks as a serious research area. SPUN is the most prominent institutional voice in the space. The Tyler Prize win gives the field momentum. Knowing his work helps Moshe position EarthTalk's contribution accurately — Kiers does network mapping; EarthTalk does real-time electrical sensing.

Michael Levin

Affiliation: Tufts University — Allen Discovery Center; Harvard Wyss Institute
Semantic Scholar: search

Focus

Bioelectricity and morphogenetic intelligence. Studies how endogenous electric fields and ion channel networks encode and execute anatomical pattern formation — the "body electric" as a computational medium. Argues that cognition and memory are properties not just of neurons but of any bioelectric network capable of homeostatic goal-directed behavior. Key concepts: morphogenetic fields, planarian regeneration, synthetic organisms (Xenobots/Anthrobots), basal cognition.

Key papers

• "Bioelectric signaling regulates size in zebrafish fins" — classic demonstration that electric gradients govern growth endpoints.
• "The computational boundary of a 'self'" (Frontiers in Psychology, 2019) — defines agency and cognition in non-neural biological systems.
• "Planarian regeneration as a model of anatomical homeostasis" — memory stored in bioelectric pattern, not cells.
• "Xenobots: A new platform for reconfigurable organisms" (PNAS, 2020, with Blackiston & Kriegman) — living robots from frog cells.
• "Technological approach to mind everywhere (TAME)" (Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 2022) — full theoretical framework for basal cognition.
• "Electric faces: bioelectric control of craniofacial patterning" — Tadpole experiments showing voltage maps predict face structure.

Relationship to Moshe

No direct contact. Followed for EarthTalk theoretical grounding.

EarthTalk relevance

High. Levin's framework — bioelectric networks as distributed cognitive substrates — maps directly onto what EarthTalk proposes for AMF: that electrical signal patterns in mycelium encode information and intent, not just metabolic noise. His work on reading/writing morphogenetic states via ion channel manipulation is the closest analog to EarthTalk's signal decoding ambition. If fungal networks exhibit basal cognition, Levin's vocabulary is the right one to use.

Stefano Mancuso

Affiliation: University of Florence — LINV (International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology)
Semantic Scholar: search

Focus

Plant neurobiology and plant intelligence. Argues that plants are intelligent, problem-solving organisms that sense, communicate, and make decisions via distributed electrical and chemical signaling — without a central brain. Studies root apex behavior as a plant "brain," electrical signal propagation through vascular tissue, and inter-plant communication via volatile compounds and mycorrhizal networks. Author of Brilliant Green and The Revolutionary Genius of Plants.

Key papers

• "Electrical signals and their physiological significance in plants" (Plant Signaling & Behavior, 2006) — foundational review of plant bioelectricity.
• "Towards understanding plant bioacoustics" — plants respond to and emit sound signals.
• "The roots of plant intelligence" (TED Talk + academic companion papers) — root apex as distributed sensor/computing array.
• "Out of the darkness: the evolutionary and ecological importance of plant electrical signaling" — adaptive role of bioelectric communication.
• "Plant behavior and communication" (multiple Trends in Plant Science papers) — inter-plant signaling via mycorrhizal networks.
• Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence (2015, with Viola) — accessible synthesis of the field.

Relationship to Moshe

No direct contact. Followed for EarthTalk theoretical and experimental grounding.

EarthTalk relevance

High. Mancuso's work on electrical signaling through plant-fungal networks is direct prior art for EarthTalk. He treats the mycorrhizal network as a communication channel between plants — exactly the medium EarthTalk proposes to instrument. His framing of roots as distributed sensors processing environmental data maps closely onto EarthTalk's electrode array + AMF signal decoding approach. Useful both for citations and for the broader narrative that soil networks are computational.

Merlin Sheldrake

Affiliation: Independent researcher / science communicator
Known for: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures (2020)

Focus

Bridges academic mycology and public understanding. Covers fungal networks, mycelial intelligence, ecological roles of fungi, and the "wood wide web." Research background in mycorrhizal ecology.

EarthTalk relevance

Narrative/strategic. Not a primary scientific source for electrophysiology, but his work shaped public and investor awareness of fungal networks as something worth caring about. Useful framing reference when explaining EarthTalk to non-scientists. Knowing his work means knowing the popular narrative around fungi — and where EarthTalk diverges into harder science.