or, an organism thrives when everything around it thrives as well. Grow only as much as needed.

i have no idea what this is about, but it is darkly poetic

Theory of mind is a diverse field with many different views and consequences. I land in the 4e camp of epistemology, so I would say experience of insect are equally experiences of conciousness as human experiences. When you let go of human centric parameters the world takes on a very different visage. I liked this article about the 4e theory and it's implication on the breaking down of the divide between plants and conciousness. https://worldsensorium.com/what-plants-are-saying-about-us/

I think climate negativism is often very counterproductive in the ongoing fight for effective measures. Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will, my friend!

It looks like you have some air pockets in your mass. The aspergillus will keep making white filaments where ever there is a surface with a little oxygen present. If it is anything other, it will not survive competition with the aspergillus in the environment created by the miso so it will not survive mixing it in. There are few fungii capable of making you sick whilst also able to grow in the miso, and even then it's usually because of mycotoxins produced as a side product from the metabolic processes. This means they would have to be present in a very large amount, which inevitably makes the whole thing very easy to detect by smell and taste. Mix it in, and once the ferment is supposed to be completed, if it smells and tastes off, throw it out. But, I think more often than not you'll end up fine.

Side note, it's only since recent times people started fermenting in glass jars where everything is visible. Traditionally smell and taste were the only markers people used. Trust your senses!

Happy fermenting!

the mould can only survive on the surface. Mix it up and you'll be fine.

The dream of wooden pirate starships becomes reality!

wow these are beautiful!

Your title made me curious, is there something like learned behavior in arachids or insects?

I've had no luck getting rid of them by any other means than chemical pest control. I figured since it's indoor I at least wont harm anything else. It's important that you use a product that gets absorbed in the sap stream so that when they bite into the leave they get poisoned. They are sturdy bugs, It took me multiple treatments. I used this:

Spore clouds! I heard a podcast episode long ago on Mushroom revival that the giant mass of spores interacts with molecules in the air and influences weather patterns all over the world!