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As regular listeners may recall, CrowdScience has delved into the strange world of fungi before, as we dug down into the forest floor to reveal how plants and trees are connected to the vast mycelial network known as the 鈥渨ood wide web鈥�. But what makes this network possible and how might it have evolved? Fungi are incredibly clever, or at least , it appears that they鈥檙e capable of displaying complex behaviour that gives them the appearance of intelligence. In this episode, we speak to fungal ecologist and author of a new book, Merlin Sheldrake, about fungal 鈥渂rains鈥�, the evolution of magic mushrooms and zombie insects 鈥� the astonishing way certain fungi can take over the bodies of ants and wasps in order to sow their spores above ground.

Presented by Anand Jagatia
Produced by Rami Tzabar for the 麻豆官网首页入口 World Service.

Image: Getty Images