Earth's underground fungi are seven billion times longer than the sun

Beneath the soil, a vast and nearly invisible architecture of fungal threads known as mycelium forms the foundation of the terrestrial ecosystem. These microscopic filaments, called hyphae, weave through the earth to create a complex web known as the mycorrhizal network. By penetrating the root cells of plants, the fungi exchange essential nutrients for carbon, acting as a biological pipeline that keeps forests and grasslands alive.