A fungus growing in dung fires its spores like a tiny cannon
Pilobolus builds up fluid pressure inside a swollen cell until it bursts, launching a sticky spore sac up to two metres away at accelerations of tens of thousands of g, among the fastest movements measured in nature. The stalk bends toward light first, aiming the shot onto nearby grass so a grazing animal will eat it, carry the spores through its gut, and deposit them in fresh dung to start the cycle again.