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Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

lbc.co.uk

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Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#52

What is recommended reading for getting started with mushroom foraging? It seems like such an interesting activity.

I recommend this [1], you'll be foraging like top Russian rocket scientists in no time.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Astrodynamics-Dover-Aero...

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a "funny" story in Bulgaria how the most famous mushroom foraging expert in Bulgaria a few decades ago died because he made a mistake when foraging. Do you have a citation or evidence for this? I ask because a while ago another commenter on HN said that the president of a mushroom society in Boston died from the same thing, and when I looked and searched I could find no mentions of this. Without additional…

> Do you have a citation or evidence for this? If I've understood the previous commenter correctly, he's talking about a виц (comes from German witz, cognate of wit in English) which is a funny story joke that spreads by word of mouth. Here is the one in question: https://kvo.bg/vicove/vicOTJK1I/vapros-koi-sa-poslednite-dum... Roughly: > Q: What were the last words of the mushroom forager? > A: I hadn't tried that ki…

Yeah, if I understand your point and link: this is not something that actually happened, it's just a joke, but after enough retellings for some reason people think that it is real.

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#54
post #3

I am curious, does similar 'mushroom posioning' starts happening in last few years, or does similar incidents happened across last decades?

Wild mushroom foraging is pretty common in Eastern Europe. Warnings about it in elementary school was why I was scared of eating mushrooms for a decade (admittedly a rather childish overreaction ;). Every few years I will hear about someone getting severely ill. Context: growing up in Bulgaria in the 90s and 00s.

in other words something like 30% of population goes foraging for mushrooms at least once a year and once a year someone dies. It's so rare that they write about it in the newspaper

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#55

What is recommended reading for getting started with mushroom foraging? It seems like such an interesting activity.

As a note, information you learn from one place doesn't really apply to another (ie: it's non fungible haha). In Oregon someone from the old country went foraging and died because a fungus here (poisonous) looked like a fungus there (edible).

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#56
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not remotely what the "common knowledge" about mushroom foraging is in Eastern Europe. There is a "funny" story in Bulgaria how the most famous mushroom foraging expert in Bulgaria a few decades ago died because he made a mistake when foraging. Plenty of edible mushrooms are just "twins" of poisonous mushrooms, using animal's knowledge to not eat them, without expending the metabolic cost to actually produce…

Your counter example is one guy dying from poisoning, in a country that does a lot of shroom foraging (берем гъби у гората). The Russia rocket expert was likely killed.

You are reading too much in what I said. Of course weird things are happening in an unstable dictatorship like Russia and this guy might have been assassinated for one reason or another. That does not mean it is not nice to give people context about the culture in that end of the world though.

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not remotely what the "common knowledge" about mushroom foraging is in Eastern Europe. There is a "funny" story in Bulgaria how the most famous mushroom foraging expert in Bulgaria a few decades ago died because he made a mistake when foraging. Plenty of edible mushrooms are just "twins" of poisonous mushrooms, using animal's knowledge to not eat them, without expending the metabolic cost to actually produce…

> There is a "funny" story in Bulgaria how the most famous mushroom foraging expert in Bulgaria a few decades ago died because he made a mistake when foraging. Do you have a citation or evidence for this? I ask because a while ago another commenter on HN said that the president of a mushroom society in Boston died from the same thing, and when I looked and searched I could find no mentions of this. Without additional…

It is very much an old wives tale. I was not trying to make it sound otherwise. It is just representative of the attitude locals have to foraging: it is popular, but it is understood to be dangerous and mishaps still happen.

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you have a citation or evidence for this? If I've understood the previous commenter correctly, he's talking about a виц (comes from German witz, cognate of wit in English) which is a funny story joke that spreads by word of mouth. Here is the one in question: https://kvo.bg/vicove/vicOTJK1I/vapros-koi-sa-poslednite-dum... Roughly: > Q: What were the last words of the mushroom forager? > A: I hadn't tried that ki…

Yeah, if I understand your point and link: this is not something that actually happened, it's just a joke, but after enough retellings for some reason people think that it is real.

> after enough retellings for some reason people think that it is real

I do not think anyone thinks it's real; you might be getting caught up by the word "story", just some dark Balkan humor.

Re: Top Russian rocket scientist dies from ‘mushroom poisoning’

#60

What is recommended reading for getting started with mushroom foraging? It seems like such an interesting activity.

Whatever you do, make sure your source is relevant to where you live. Every so often there's a tragic story about immigrants going foraging and poisoning their families because what they could safely identify and eat in their home country doesn't transfer to North America.
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