As the effects of global warming are getting more visible by the day, people are trying to limit the damage they are causing the planet. One of the most common methods is taking a shower rather than a long bubble bath.

Others are turning the tap off while brushing your teeth, buying florescent light bulbs, turning off as many lights as possible in your home, using less non-biodegradable materials in your everyday life (like plastic bags at the supermarket), taking the bicycle to work instead of a car, car-pooling, stop littering and even take out chargers from the sockets if you are not using them.

Recently, using a hybrid vehicle or an electrical one limits pollution and helps the environment. Companies and scientists are constantly looking for ways in which they could decrease and limit anything that helps global warming grow stronger. One of the focal points of their research is alternative fuel.

A professor with the Montana State University has recently made a crucial discovery when it comes to alternative fuels. Apparently, one can get fuel from fungus – not any kind of fungus, but a type found in the Patagonian rainforest. So far, scientists have been able to extract chemicals from algae, chemicals which are comparable with those in transport fuel. This fungus, however, would work even better as a fuel.

The fungus was discovered by the same plant pathologist who discovered the fungus from which was extracted the basis of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, namely emeritus professor Gary Strobel. The new fungus has compounds that are normally found in diesel fuels, which makes it ideal for turning it into an alternative fuel source. The fungus and other types similar to it may even be responsible for crude oil deposits.