https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Murasaki66 2026-04-16T11:38:54Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1664:_Mycology&diff=116620 2016-04-06T13:28:24Z

<p>Murasaki66: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1664<br /> | date = April 6, 2016<br /> | title = Mycology<br /> | image = mycology.png<br /> | titletext = Conspiracy theory: There's no such thing as corn. Those fields you see are just the stalks of a fungus that's controlling our brains to make us want to spread it.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|First cut, please help with explanation and definition of mycology..}}<br /> <br /> Cueball and Megan are studying a fungus that takes over the brains of mammals and makes them want to study the fungus. This is a reproductive tactic by the fungus, since the fungus makes the mammal whose brain it took over want to study the fungus, which means that mammal will need to produce more of the fungus to study it. Cueball and Megan are most likely themselves being controlled by the fungus, since they want to cultivate the fungus as much as possible.<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> The title of the comic refers to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycology Mycology], the study of fungi<br /> <br /> This is likely a reference to various species of [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps cordyceps fungi], which can infect the brains of insects causing behavior advantageous to the reproduction or spread of the fungus.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript}}<br /> [Cueball and Megan are talking to Ponytail.]<br /> <br /> Megan: Our lab is studying a fungus that takes over mammal brains and makes them want to study fungi.<br /> <br /> Cueball: It's very promising! We're opening a whole new wing of the lab just to cultivate it!<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

Murasaki66