21
“I study fungus,” he says.
“Fungus?”
“Specifically the neural networks of underground fungi in woodland environments, and their role in conveying information and nutrition among clonal colonies and differing species of trees.” He pauses to give me time for that to sink in. “Fungus.”
“Whoa,” I tell him. “Back up. Give that to me in bite-size chunks, please.”
Daniel smiles. “Now you know how I feel sometimes when you rattle off physics phrases that seem perfectly clear to you and sound like gibberish to me.”
“Sorry. Now’s your chance to do better.”
“All right, then let me give you some context first,” he says. “A few years ago I attended a lecture by Professor Lacksmith. He described a phenomenon whereby trees under attack by a particular beetle in one part of a forest are able to
