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The Best of Our Knowledge

Hidden math and a massive fungal network

By Lucas Willard
Published July 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM EDT
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Nature Communications
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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Figures showing the geometry of leaf vein structures for the Chinese money plant                 

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.

A very common houseplant is revealing the secret math of plants.

And scientists estimate an underground network of tiny fungal filaments would, if placed end-to-end, span 10 percent of our Milky Way galaxy.

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The Best of Our Knowledge scienceresearchPlantsmoneymap
Lucas Willard
Lucas Willard is a news reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011. He produces and hosts The Best of Our Knowledge and WAMC Listening Party.
See stories by Lucas Willard
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