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Damian Goacher:
Mushrooms are good for more than just pizza toppings.
Tyler Abrams:
One ASU club brought together lovers of all types of mushrooms.
Damian Goacher:
I'm Damien Goacher.
Tyler Abrams:
And I'm Tyler Abrams, and this is State Press Play.
Damian Goacher:
Also, on this week's episode, technology from a galaxy far, far away makes its way to a campus not so far away. But first, last week, NASA launched a mission to explore a different type of asteroid. The mission is headed by ASU professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton. A team of State Press reporters were at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch it all go down. I'm here with State Press Sci-Tech reporter Sophia Ramirez, who is at the launch. Hi Sophia, how are you?
Sophia Ramirez:
Hi, I'm doing great. Nice to meet you.
Damian Goacher:
Nice to meet you as well. So, what is the NASA Psyche mission?
Sophia Ramirez:
The NASA Psyche mission is a six -year project to put a satellite near the asteroid, 16 Psyche. It was discovered in 1852, and what's really unique about it is that it is metallic, as opposed to other asteroids that we know of that are made of rock or ice. Because this one is metal, they think it's possibly the core of a planet, in which case it's really interesting to study because we don't have access to another core of a planet.
To hear more from Ramirez, please tune in to State Press Play.
READ MORE: ASU-LED PSYCHE MISSION LIFTS OFF FROM CAPE CANAVERAL: FOLLOW ALONG THE LIFT-OFF PROCESS
Tyler Abrams:
On October 5th, the Shroom Society held a meeting called the Shroom Symposium, the event aimed to educate Arizona State University students about the science and benefits of mycology. My co-host, Damien Goacher, attended the symposium to learn more about the world of functional mushrooms.
Damian Goacher:
The idea for ASU Shroom Society struck at 2 a.m. in a dorm room during a conversation between two best friends.
Jackson Parrish:
And we both looked at each other straight in the eye, and we were like, "Holy shit, we need to make a mushroom club."
Damian Goacher:
Now the club does all sorts of things to educate students about mycology.
Jackson Parrish:
We bring guest speakers who are well-educated in certain fields of fungi, lots of artsy activities as well. We're a club that's based on education, first and foremost, but also we like having social event and having fun. We also like going on forays, and we do camp out sometimes.
Damian Goacher:
That's Shroom Society co-founder Jackson Parrish. He says the club does all sorts of things to educate students about mycology.
Jackson Parrish:
On Instagram we have 688 followers. We started off with zero.
Damian Goacher:
The Shroom Symposium was held at Union Stage in the basement of the Memorial Union. ASU students and members of the public were surrounded by all things mushroom-related, including shirts, foods and pottery. Candace Lewis, the director of ASU's Brain Epigenetics and Altered State of Consciousness Research Lab or the BEAR Lab, talked about psychedelic research. Mycologist Eric Nelson talked about careers in mycology. For many people, the biggest draw to the event was Jake Plummer. He's widely considered to be the best quarterback in Sun Devil history. After he graduated in 1997, he went on to have a decade-long career in the NFL. Plummer says that mushrooms are one of the only things that helped with the aches and pains that come from years of playing a high-contact sport.
To hear more from Goacher, please tune in to State Press Play.
READ MORE: ‘Fun guy’ Jake Plummer promotes mushrooms at ASU Shroom Symposium
Tyler Abrams:
There's a new hope for Star Wars fans looking for a new hobby around campus. The AZ Saber club offers students a chance to feel like a Jedi or Sith in a galaxy far, far away. But there's more to the club than just recreating the magic of the trilogies and TV shows. I'm here with Aahir Ghosh to discuss the tight-knit and welcoming community of the AZ Saber club. Thanks for sitting down with me Aahir. So what is the AZ Saber Club? Growing up, you see kids play fight with sticks and pretend lightsaber duels. Is this something similar to that or is there something more to the club?
Aahir Ghosh:
So AZ Saber was founded in 2016 by three members from a lightsaber club up in Scottsdale. So the Scottsdale team focused more on like choreography in addition to games. But at AZ Saber, those three members wanted to make sure that this was a club focused more on games because that's what they like to do. So as ASU students, they created a club here at ASU using lightsabers to play games like capture the flag or team elimination. It's very close to fighting like a kid because they want you to like have fun and be that kid again, but they have rules for safety and play more organized games.
Tyler Abrams:
Wow, so this club really garnered a lot of popularity from Star Wars fans at ASU. Do you have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy the club?
Aahir Ghosh:
So many of us members are Star Wars fans, but so many aren't. For example, there are Star Trek fans and some who are train fighters, but you don't need to be any of those or even obsessed with Star Wars to join the club. If you want to run around, play with sticks and have fun, then you can participate. They've had children, parents, and even grandparents participate.
To hear more from Ghosh, please tune in to State Press Play.
WATCH THE VIDEO: AZ Saber gives Star Wars fans 'A New Hope'
Damian Goacher:
And that's all for this week's State Press Play. I'm Damian Goacher.
Tyler Abrams:
And I'm Tyler Abrams. You can follow State Press on X and Instagram @StatePress.
Damian Goacher:
State Press Play is produced and mixed by the State Press podcast desk editor Amber Victoria Singer. Additional editing was done by myself and my co-host Tyler. Our original music is by Jake Leroux and Ellie Willard.
Tyler Abrams:
Special thanks to our managing team Alexis Heichman and Reece Andrews.
Damian Goacher:
See you next week, Devils.
