Uci news

These days, many of us find ourselves reaching for power banks and charging cables when our devices die halfway through the day. Luckily for us, luggage has caught up, and many bags now come with in-built USB ports for topping up batteries on the move. Rather than faff with wires, you can plug your charging cable into the bag’s USB port, which connects to a power bank safely stowed inside. Of course, the term ‘smart backpacks’ covers a whole range of clever bags, including innovative designs with LED screens capable of beaming messages and imagery to the world around you. We’ve rounded up the very best smart backpacks you can buy online – keep scrolling to see our pick. Need a power bank? See our favourites:  Best power banks and portable chargers to keep you fully charged The best smart backpacks to buy today Energizer Laptop Charging Bags Energizer is well-known for its batteries and power banks, but you might be surprised to discover the brand’s range of smart ru

What are fungi? Fungi are decomposing, fermenting, edible, toxic, carbon-sequestering, disease-causing, disease-curing, pollutant-busting, mind-bending, rain-generating, zombie-making marvels. They underpin almost all life on Earth, but are mostly situated underground and often overlooked. When we think of fungi, mushrooms spring to mind, but these are just the small ‘above ground’ portion of the organism. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of the fungus, like the apples on a tree. Most of the fungus is hidden underground in the form of a branching network of tubular filaments called mycelium. If you took a teaspoon of healthy soil and lined up all the mycelium within it, it would stretch up to 10km. Spread over 9km2, Oregon’s ‘Humongous Fungus’ is thought to be the world’s largest living organism. Plant or animal? Neither. Fungi belong to their own kingdom of life. It contains an estimated 2.2 to 3.8 million species, of which only 148,000 species or so have been described.