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  "path": "/science/science-uncover-fungus-network-earth-sun-trees",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-12T09:37:10.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Scientists puzzled as to why humans have strong 'anticlockwise bias'",
    "Scientist breakthrough reveals new way to tell whether your dog is left or right-pawed",
    "European astronaut to join lunar mission for first time ahead of planned Moon landing in two years",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
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  "textContent": "\n\n\nScientists have calculated the staggering extent of underground fungal networks to be 700 million times the distance from Earth to the Sun.\n\nThe research, conducted by the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun) and published in the journal Science, mapped what is often called the \"wood wide web\" – the hidden fungal systems linking plant roots across the globe.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThey revealed the network spans 68 quadrillion miles beneath Earth's surface.\n\nTo grasp this extraordinary scale, the network could span the gap between Earth and the sun more than 735 million times over or wrap around our planet 2.7 trillion times.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThese subterranean connections enable trees and plants to share nutrients and chemical signals.\n\nThe fungi responsible for these vast networks are known as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which extend thin tubular strands called hyphae through the soil like delicate filaments.\n\nThese organisms create specialised structures called arbuscules inside plant root cells, establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.\n\nThrough this partnership, the fungus delivers water and essential nutrients to its host plant, while receiving sugars and lipids in return.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nApproximately 70 per cent of all plant species on Earth are believed to maintain these symbiotic connections with AM fungi.\n\nThe networks dramatically extend a plant's reach, drawing resources from an area 100 times greater than roots alone could access.\n\nThe researchers analysed 16,000 soil samples collected from locations worldwide.\n\nIt then combined this data with computer modelling based on laboratory observations of 300,000 AM-fungi filaments.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Scientists puzzled as to why humans have strong 'anticlockwise bias'\n  * Scientist breakthrough reveals new way to tell whether your dog is left or right-pawed\n  * European astronaut to join lunar mission for first time ahead of planned Moon landing in two years\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nJustin Stewart, from Spun, said: \"It is hard to overstate the importance and enormity of these fungi.\n\n\"There could be up to 10 metres of mycorrhizal network in just a teaspoon of soil.\"\n\nCo-author Corentin Biso, of the Amolf Biophysics Institute in Amsterdam, said: \"With the emergence of new technologies in high-resolution imaging, machine learning, and robotics, we are starting to reveal what has long been hidden under our feet.\"\n\nThe study estimates these fungal networks absorb roughly one billion metric tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe total mass of the underground network is equally remarkable, weighing up to six times more than the combined weight of every human being on the planet.\n\nDespite their significance, much remains unknown about these ancient organisms.\n\nMerlin Sheldrake, a mycologist and study co-author, said: \"Mycorrhizal fungi have shaped life on Earth for hundreds of millions of years, but we still understand too little about how the infrastructure of these living transport systems is distributed across the planet.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Scientists uncover fungus network 700 million times distance between Earth and Sun"
}