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| Science & Technology |
| Fungus that EATS radiation found thriving inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor could be used like a 'sun block' for humans to protect against deadly rays |
| 2020-02-06 |
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
A strand of fungi which spawned inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor and eats radiation could allow humans to insulate against deadly rays. In 1991, five years after the disaster which rocked Ukraine, the black fungi was found sprouting up the walls of the abandoned reactor which had been flooded with gamma. Baffled how it managed to survive the extreme conditions, scientists examined the microorganism - and were even more excited with their findings. In addition to not perishing, they discovered that the fungi actually grows towards the radiation, as if attracted to it. In the same way in which plants convert carbon dioxide and chlorophyll into oxygen and glucose via photosynthesis, the fungi sapped up deadly rays which allowed it to produce energy. This process - hailed radiosynthesis - has captured the attention of scientists because of its potentially revolutionary implications. Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a research scientist at NASA who is leading the experiments on the Cryptococcus neoformans fungi, believes that by extracting its radiation-absorbing power and manufacturing it in drug form, it could be used as a 'sun block' against toxic rays. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #10 Murcek, you own my sinuses and apology after I shot my ginger ale out through my nose.... |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-02-06 11:37 |
| #9 Thinking a good hull liner for the Mars mission. Good luck getting insurance if there's a mold disclosure in the sales agreement... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-02-06 11:28 |
| #8 Thinking a good hull liner for the Mars mission. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-02-06 10:59 |
| #7 Radiation killing all of the competition and keeping the surface toasty warm for the fungus seems more likely... |
| Posted by: magpie 2020-02-06 10:39 |
| #6 The particular fungus species has probably been around doing its thing for a very long time, just not in quantities that any human or dinosaur noticed. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2020-02-06 08:15 |
| #5 ...and I get the sudden urge to enjoy some early morning Blue Oyster Cult. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-02-06 08:06 |
| #4 Pretty sure there are some Marvel comics from the Fifties about this. |
| Posted by: charger 2020-02-06 07:35 |
| #3 'Melanin absorbs [gamma] radiation and converts it into other forms of energy (including electric). Gamma rays from radioactive decay are in the energy range from a few kiloelectronvolts (keV) to approximately 8 megaelectronvolts (~8 MeV) UV (which melanin absorbs - without turning into other types of energy) 5 eV. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-02-06 04:54 |
| #2 Fungi absorbs harmful radiation and converts it into potentially useful energy Speaking of which, whatever happened to Marianne Williamson? She could make hay out of this, methinks make hay while the isotope shines |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-02-06 02:43 |
| #1 Maybe induced by the blob below the reactor that they dubbed "The Elephant's Foot"? |
| Posted by: Unosh Hupinelet8756 2020-02-06 01:08 |