There is one difference here that may be in the fungi favour.
The fungi uses the energy to create molecular bonds, water for example just turns it into heat.
Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
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Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#42You know where this leads?
The blob. A 1959s sci fi horror movie in which a radioactive fungus takes over the world.
If not today then very soon.
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#43>> Scientists are thinking of shielding astronauts and space objects with a layer of this radiation-absorbing protective fungus.
This reminds me of Adam Stone's discovery in Cordwainer Smith's Scanners Live in Vain [1]:
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
Adam Stone has basically discovered that the radiation that causes the Great Pain of Space not only affects life, it is absorbed by it. So, surrounding yourself with other living creatures will prevent you from feeling the pain yourself. He eventually settles on building a shield out of live oysters, since they lack any central nervous system to experience pain with.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/ScannersLi...
END SPOILER ALERT
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Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#44I am skeptical that this fungus absorbs radiation significantly more than the equivalent amount of water would. The paper [1] isn't very clear about possible inaccuracies in the results and I don't understand why this experiment hasn't been repeated down on Earth. The mass attenuation coefficient of the fungus is 0.234 cm^2/g at 100MeV whereas water is 0.0166 cm^2/g according to this paper [2]. [1] https://www.biorxi…
still worth for the conversion of radiative energy to biological activity
nuclear waste may become green :)
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#45[deleted]
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#46>> Scientists are thinking of shielding astronauts and space objects with a layer of this radiation-absorbing protective fungus. This reminds me of Adam Stone's discovery in Cordwainer Smith's Scanners Live in Vain [1]: SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT Adam Stone has basically discovered that the radiation that causes the Great Pain of Space not only affects life, it is absorbed b…
Yes! Ever since I read that I’ve caught myself thinking of cosmic radiation as ‘the pain of space’.
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#47Interestingly enough this resilience of fungus, and even mold [0], to radiation has been a bit of a problem on the ISS [1].
[0] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190627121252.h...
[1] https://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/2019/11/01/mold-space-nas...
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#48>> Scientists are thinking of shielding astronauts and space objects with a layer of this radiation-absorbing protective fungus. This reminds me of Adam Stone's discovery in Cordwainer Smith's Scanners Live in Vain [1]: SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT Adam Stone has basically discovered that the radiation that causes the Great Pain of Space not only affects life, it is absorbed b…
Haha, yes that was the first thing that popped into my head too.
I remember thinkig how ridiculous (but entertaining) an idea that was, like many of his very unusual thoughts. Maybe not so crazy after all!
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#49You know where this leads? The blob. A 1959s sci fi horror movie in which a radioactive fungus takes over the world. If not today then very soon.
I think this speaks to a common fear of technology taking over and incidentally/consequentially killing everyone. Like the Terminator series, and many others as well. IRL you might recall the torrents of fearful articles and posts about the world being consumed by a human-triggered black hole when they started building the massive colliders. And every few years, someone predicts AI will do us in. And HAARP killing us with bad weather and earthquakes. So many examples abound.
Re: Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis
#50[deleted]