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This 400' aerial view overlooks the east slopes of the world's largest living organism, located east of Prairie City, Oregon. Known as the Humongous Fungus, it is actually a species of mushroom called Armillaria ostoyae. It grows & spreads primarily underground & has been responsible for the slow gradual death of the forest from root disease, though much of what became bare land is getting replaced w/ saplings. It was discovered in 1998, far surpassing the previous largest organism record being the blue whale. However a few years earlier in 1992, a Armillaria gallica fungus was discovered near Crystal Falls, Michigan encompassing 37 acres. From a 2008 publication, the Humongous Fungus is roughly 2,385 acres in size (or 1,665 football fields) w/ an age estimate between 1900 to 8650 years old. In the vicinity, there are four other large Armarillia genets ranging from 50 to 642 acres w/ age ranges from 900 to 4900 years old.
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The United States is one of the most diverse countries on earth, jam packed full of amazing sights from St. Patrick's cathedral in New York to Mount Hollywood California.The Northeast region is where it all started. Thirteen British colonies fought the American Revolution from here and won their independence in the first successful colonial rebellion in history. Take a look at these rolling hills carpeted with foliage along the Hudson river here, north of New York City.The American south is known for its polite people and slow pace of life. Probably they move slowly because it's so hot. Southerners tend not to trust people from "up north" because they talk too fast. Here's a cemetery in Georgia where you can find graves of soldiers from the Civil War.The West Coast is sort of like another country that exists to make the east coast jealous. California is full of nothing but grizzly old miners digging for gold, a few gangster rappers, and then actors. That is to say, the West Coast functions as the imagination of the US, like a weird little brother who teases everybody then gets famous for making freaky art.The central part of the country is flat farmland all the way over to the Rocky Mountains. Up in the northwest corner you can find creative people in places like Portland and Seattle, along with awesome snowboarding and good beer. Text by Steve Smith.
