Following up on my links from the other day which included the one on fungi farming animals I realised belatedly this was the fifth in a series of six Scientific American posts about civilisation, fungus and alcohol by Rob Dunn.

And being by Rob Dunn, author of The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Our Evolution, they are interesting, well written, highly readable and perfectly accessible for the non-scientist. They also offer an interesting window into the way in which mad biologists think of and undertake research projects.

The six posts are:

1. A Sip for the Ancestors: The True Story of Civilization’s Stumbling Debt to Beer and Fungus
2. Fruit Flies Use Alcohol to Self-Medicate, but Feel Bad about it Afterwards
3. Strong Medicine: Drinking Wine and Beer Can Help Save You from Cholera, Montezuma’s Revenge, E. Coli and Ulcers
4. By Looking Carefully, Japanese Scientist Discovers the Secrets of Termite Balls
5. 5 Kinds of Fungus Discovered to Be Capable of Farming Animals!
6. Exhausted Writer Discovers First Cave Painting of Yeast
   

Or you can find them all linked together here.