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Puffball Fungi Exploding In the Rain Is Oddly Soothing

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Between climate change, elections and the persistent threat of another Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, modern life can be full of stress. Throughout it all, however, gentle natural processes soldier obliviously on, including the lifecycle of the humble puffball.

Once mature, the spherical fungi will puff at the slightest impact, emitting a cloud of dust-like spores. During a recent rainstorm, YouTube user Cid Freitag managed to capture one mass puffening near the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

In many ways, we’re all just fungi exploding in the rain. Like puffballs, all men are given life, then grow round and, in the end, shoot out a giant cloud of mustard-colored spores.

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