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Inside Chernobyl, a strange new lifeform is blooming

cosmosmagazine.com

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Re: Inside Chernobyl, a strange new lifeform is blooming

#2

Post by nazgulnarsil »

The team looked to the example of photosynthesis as a model, said Casadevall. If plants can use the green pigment, chlorophyll, to absorb energy from the Sun and produce a usable form of chemical energy, they reasoned, fungi might be able to use their melanin pigment and radiation energy in a similar way. They even devised the snazzy moniker, 'radiosynthesis', for the process.

let me be the first to say: Holy Shit there's no telling what this could lead to in our understanding of how radiation affects living cells (cancer)

Re: Inside Chernobyl, a strange new lifeform is blooming

#5

Post by chandler »

>> This is a more radical version of the panspermia theory of Crick and Ponampurama ... I think in a hundred years if people do biology they will think it quite silly that people once thought that spores could not be blown from one star system to another by cosmic radiation pressure.

Fungi adapt to feed off radiation? Terence McKenna would be amused.

Re: Inside Chernobyl, a strange new lifeform is blooming

#7

Post by Bjoern »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #2

The team looked to the example of photosynthesis as a model, said Casadevall. If plants can use the green pigment, chlorophyll, to absorb energy from the Sun and produce a usable form of chemical energy, they reasoned, fungi might be able to use their melanin pigment and radiation energy in a similar way. They even devised the snazzy moniker, 'radiosynthesis', for the process. let me be the first to say: Holy Shit th…

>Sitting at the centre of the exclusion zone, the damaged >reactor unit is encased in a steel and cement sarcophagus. >It's a deathly tomb that plays host to about 200 tonnes of >melted radioactive fuel, and is swarming with radioactive >dust

No kidding. Currently they are planning to drill holes into the mantle and to insert steel rods to stabilize the structure. (I think a british company is doing this.) Would be pretty bad if the cooling water would reach the ground water which is directly connected to the river.)

>let me be the first to say: Holy Shit there's no telling >what this could lead to in our understanding of how >radiation affects living cells (cancer)

In order for cells to be called cancer we need to have at least 5 or 6 different alterations of cell rna. This makes our physiology quite resilient against cancer compared to more simple lifeforms where maybe 2 alterations are enough for cancer there. Referring to the article though I am quite astounded how something can cope with the constant cell destruction/alteration.

Btw. I have seen pictures of the wildlife, its incredible how beautiful nature can be if humans keep their fingers away. (even if this region is radiated at immense levels.)

People living in this area are still having serious effects on their metabolism. Lack of finanical support from the goverment forces the people to rely on food which they harvest in the surroundings. This often causes a lot of trouble to kids and adults.

Coming back to the article again.... behind this research:

- Dee Carter, U. of Sidney http://www.mmb.usyd.edu.au/research/academic_profiles/dcarte...

Q: Has anyone a good pointer where to find more info on "pigment electronic structure" ?

Q: Somebody has a link to a paper or study about this?

Sorry for digressing so much...

Re: Inside Chernobyl, a strange new lifeform is blooming

#9

Post by rbanffy »

Nuclear reactors are somewhat too complicated, fragile and have not the most perfect safety track record. If we could develop an efficient technique to directly convert such radiation into electricity, we could have much cleaner and safer radioactive power generation that can also provide some very tasty fungi.

I say we should look into this.

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