11 comments

  • isoprophlex 1 hour ago
    Incredible! A mushroom that bruises blue, but the visions are seemingly unlike traditional tryptamines, and there's no psilocybin found in the mushroom. Also no muscimol present (the thing in Fly Agaric, the 'other' type of hallucinogenic mushroom compound) yet there's definitely a consistent syndrome of hallucinations if you eat it undercooked.

    Could this mean we're on the brink of discovering an entirely new class of hallucinogens?

    • culi 1 hour ago
      From the Wikipedia

      > In 2023, Lanmaoa asiatica received international media attention after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was reported to have eaten a dish that contained it during an official visit to China. Yellen stated that the dish had been thoroughly cooked, and she experienced no ill effects (hallucinations).

      It seems Rubroboletus sinicus, another bolete, is also suspected to have this effect. These hallucinogenic mushrooms are collectively known as "xiao ren ren" in China.

      They seem to be relatively well known in parts of China, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea but the ethnomycological work in English is just not really there.

      It also seems like it's most likely something in the tryptamine class which could explain the blue bruising. The Wikipedia page has more info

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogenic_bolete_mushroom

      • renewiltord 2 minutes ago
        xiǎo rén rén? Like “small people”? Okay, if the mushrooms are literally called little guy mushroom and you see little guys running around then surely this is an old discovery.
    • poulpy123 59 minutes ago
      > mushroom sized > blue when bruised > make see small fairy people

      did they found the schtroumpf village ?

    • ipsum2 19 minutes ago
      These mushrooms have been eaten for thousands of years. Does it really count as a new discovery? Maybe isolating the specific compound does.
      • ericmay 4 minutes ago
        I don’t think the article was insinuating that these mushrooms were a new discovery, they’ve been known not just in the region but to scientists for some time, though they did assert that this is the first time that the DNA had been sequenced.
    • bilsbie 56 minutes ago
      Or a new reality…
  • candiddevmike 1 hour ago
    SWIM would like to know how to get paid as (instead of paying to be) "an expert who explores new mushrooms".
    • dekhn 46 minutes ago
      Major in biology, do a grad program in medicinal chemistry, join a lab that already studies this.

      (I know folks who read PiHKAL and thought "Hmm, this would be a nice ML training/prediction exercise")

    • neogodless 1 hour ago
      Someone Who Isn't Me?
      • MrDrone 1 hour ago
        Yes, this was a common phrase in early psychedelic and other drug experience sharing forums. Like a verbal talisman people believe kept them from incriminating themselves. I haven't thought about it in years. Delightful.
      • mistersquid 13 minutes ago
        > Someone Who Isn't Me?

        Funny, I saw “SWIM” and reasoned “Someone Who Is Me”, thinking “is not” would be represented as “Is Not” instead of the contraction. :)

      • awesome_dude 19 minutes ago
        Yeah - I was going to ask... for a friend
    • rolph 35 minutes ago
    • airstrike 1 hour ago
      I always feel like they should bring along an artist for the trip so we can get a visual depiction of what it was like
    • optimalsolver 55 minutes ago
      Exploring new mushrooms is more likely to end in agonizing death than piercing the veil of reality.
  • astronads 3 hours ago
    It is interesting how the hallucinations consistently represent tiny people/elves to the mushroom consumer, even across geography/culture.

    I wonder what the brain is doing…

    • nospice 1 hour ago
      Could be that the mushroom just temporarily interferes with the substances the elves put in our water supply to keep us in the dark?
      • eykanal 1 hour ago
        This is some real antimemetics stuff here :) (https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/antimemetics-division-hub if you're not familiar)
      • joe8756438 1 hour ago
        exactly, the real question is what the elves are doing while they’re unseen.
        • ok_dad 1 hour ago
          They keep the universe running.
        • bell-cot 1 hour ago
          Making toys, caring for reindeer, sleight maintenance, ...

          And spook work for His Jolliness' Secret Service, to keep their Naughty and Nice databases current.

      • egypturnash 1 hour ago
        s/elves/government
    • akka47 17 minutes ago
      Since we're in the topic of elves and common hallucinations, I want to share these Salvia trip replicas that some say are extremely accurate:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2IRKuS3sSE

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65XfIpJdlEY

    • treetalker 1 hour ago
      Would be interesting if the chemical mechanism is related or similar to the DMT one that creates the "machine elves" experience.
      • astronads 1 hour ago
        Yeah, the machine elves rabbit hole is interesting for sure. I hope a lot more rigorous science delves into both mushrooms and DMT
    • tokai 54 minutes ago
      Lilliputian hallucinations are also common in mental illnesses with hallucinations. Definitely some kind of physical foundation for it in the human brain.
      • adzm 43 minutes ago
        I imagine it is something similar to pareidolia.
    • bilsbie 56 minutes ago
      Occam’s razor would say they’re real.
    • newman8r 33 minutes ago
      reminds me of trip reports from people trying Salvia Divinorum - there's even a name for these tiny people, 'Smelves'
    • flir 1 hour ago
      These mushrooms are small, these elves are far away.
  • markus_zhang 43 minutes ago
    I wish it were another dimension, or breaking through the Matrix. I never had the chance to experience such items but look forward to doing so.
  • jumperabg 17 minutes ago
    If used can we hallucinate and predict the HN news of tomorrow(especially any acquisition related news)?
  • chpatrick 54 minutes ago
    Common Side Effects anyone?
  • amanaplanacanal 45 minutes ago
    It appears there are several blue staining boletes in the same genus that grow in the US. Seems like a fertile area for study.
  • memming 35 minutes ago
    Aparently 见手青 is mildly toxic yet commonly consumed in Yunan.
  • tartoran 43 minutes ago
    It's Elves all the way down.
  • throw310822 1 hour ago
    I was disappointed that the article doesn't contain pictures of these little people.
  • spjt 47 minutes ago
    Let's ban it before anyone finds out if it's useful