Mycelium as a source of true randomness : exploring fungal networks for organic random number generation
Stojcheva, Vera (2025)
Kandidaatintyö
2025
School of Engineering Science, Tietotekniikka
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025081482567
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2025081482567
Tiivistelmä
The potential of fungal mycelium to serve as a source of true randomness was examined through a theoretical and simulation-based study. Electrical spike patterns observed in fungal species such as Pleurotus ostreatus and Ganoderma resinaceum have previously been characterized as stochastic and responsive to external stimuli. These characteristics suggest suitability as physical entropy sources for true random number generation.
In this work, simulated spike trains based on published fungal activity were used to generate binary sequences. The data were analysed using Shannon entropy, Lempel-Ziv complexity, and selected statistical tests derived from the NIST SP 800-22 test suite. The encoded spike data exhibited high entropy but failed key randomness tests, indicating structural patterns inconsistent with cryptographic standards for randomness.
Based on the results, fungal electrical activity was found to contain measurable unpredictability but requires post-processing to be suitable for secure applications. While the study was limited to simulation, the findings support the concept of mycelium as a biologically grounded entropy source and highlight directions for future empirical validation using live fungal systems.
In this work, simulated spike trains based on published fungal activity were used to generate binary sequences. The data were analysed using Shannon entropy, Lempel-Ziv complexity, and selected statistical tests derived from the NIST SP 800-22 test suite. The encoded spike data exhibited high entropy but failed key randomness tests, indicating structural patterns inconsistent with cryptographic standards for randomness.
Based on the results, fungal electrical activity was found to contain measurable unpredictability but requires post-processing to be suitable for secure applications. While the study was limited to simulation, the findings support the concept of mycelium as a biologically grounded entropy source and highlight directions for future empirical validation using live fungal systems.