Chernobyl Fungus Feeds On Radiation

[phantom power]

I love exaptation.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AEC) have found evidence that certain fungi possess another talent beyond their ability to decompose matter: the capacity to use radioactivity as an energy source for making food and spurring their growth.

(...)

"Just as the pigment chlorophyll converts sunlight into chemical energy that allows green plants to live and grow, our research suggests that melanin can use a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum - ionizing radiation - to benefit the fungi containing it," said co-researcher Ekaterina Dadachova.

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20070422222547data_trunc_sys.shtml

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. This has great horror movie potential.

A fungus that feeds off radiation. Excellent.

[shain from kane]

3. Coming to a theatre near you - "The Blob" n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. It would have to be "Son of The Blob."

[Javaman]

19. More like the Triffids if you ask me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids

[hatrack]

9. Shouldn't that be "Tovarich Blobski"?

:evilgrin:

[w4rma]

2. Can this fungus be used to clean up radioactive fallout? (nt)

[angrycarpenter]

10. no

things cannot be made un-radioactive. The spores of said fungus would be very dangerous as fungal spores are some of natures most enduring and breathable objects.

[phantom power]

11. That would be a different kind of function...

What these critters have done is adapt the pigment melanin to couple metabolic chemistry to a new energy source: ionizing radiation. It's a nice example of "exaptation," which is adapting an already-existing feature (melanin, which absorbs ionizing radiation), for an unexpected function (tapping energy). It's quite likely that chlorophyl came to be used for photosynthesis in the same way.

So, they tap high-energy photons. In fact, this *is* photosynthesis, just not with visible photons. Who knows, maybe they also happen to suck up the actual radioactive compounds, but it would be a different property.

[robinlynne]

5. can't tell if this is good news or bad news, or both?

[phantom power]

12. I would say, it's just life doing what life does: Moving into the adjacent possible.

[Trillo]

6. The loss of the ozone layer is going to be, ahem, "fun" n/t

[Warpy]

7. They've found bacteria at the Rocky Flats superfund site

that also seem to thrive in deadly radioactive conditions.

It seems Mother Earth has microbes for all occasions.

[Avalux]

8. A glimpse of what post-nuclear holocaust earth will look like.

Radiation-loving fungi everywhere. :yoiks:

[Raejeanowl]

13. They Won't Be Alone

You forgot cockroaches and Cher.

[Chulanowa]

16. Scary thought.

Cher and Keith Richards repopulating the earth...

[shain from kane]

14. I'm lichen it less and less. n/t

[AdHocSolver]

15. This situation provides one more reason to be wary of genetic engineering. n/t

[NNadir]

17. In about 1000 years in a continuous recycling cycle, the radioactivity of the earth

will be significantly reduced if nuclear power provides the bulk of human energy requirements, which it will if humanity survives dangerous fossil fuel depletion and dangerous fossil fuel waste.

I have often speculated that this is the biggest risk of nuclear power. Life evolved in the presence of radioactivity and this may have subtle effects of which we are not aware.

[losthills]

18. For living proof

See above...