Tiny mushrooms found by Australian scientists can produce pure gold.

Tiny fungi Fusarium oxysporum were found by scientists in an Australian mine in the west of the continent. They can

use gold dissolved in watercompounds by treating them with highly reactive hydrogen peroxide molecules. Fungi cause gold to oxidize - this leads to the fact that it begins to cover the entire surface of the mushroom - the mycelium.

It is not clear for what purpose the mushrooms use thisprocess. Scientists note: during the observation it became clear that the strains actively using this process grow larger than normal. Probably, gold particles are somehow processed in Fusarium oxysporum, but it is not clear what happens to them inside the fungus.

The study also notes thatFusarium oxysporum somehow affect the formation of gold deposits. In addition, in the future, scientists will be able to use the pores of fungi to search for new deposits and, probably, to clean them of impurities.

Recently, scientists managed to turn copper into a material that is almost identical in composition to gold. At the same time, new material can withstand high temperatures, oxidation and erosion.