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Radiation Loving Fungi

Started by Jolly Sapper, August 26, 2008, 06:51:00 PM

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Jolly Sapper

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/2095/silent-spring?page=0%2C0

QuoteTWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO, on 26 April 1986, reactor No 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in Ukraine, blew apart, spewing radioactive dust and debris far and wide.

Ever since, a 30 km 'exclusion zone' has existed around the contaminated site, accessible to those with special clearance only. It's quite easy, then, to conjure an apocalyptic vision of the area; to imagine an eerily deserted wasteland, utterly devoid of life.

But the truth is quite the opposite. The exclusion zone is teeming with wildlife of all shapes and sizes, flourishing unhindered by human interference and seemingly unfazed by the ever-present radiation. Most remarkable, however, is not the life buzzing around the site, but what's blooming inside the perilous depths of the reactor.

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.

But it's also the abode of some very hardy fungi which researchers believe aren't just tolerating the severe radiation, but actually harnessing its energy to thrive.

"Our findings suggest that [the fungi] can capture the energy from radiation and transform it into other forms of energy that can be used for growth," said microbiologist Arturo Casadevall from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York, USA.

Continued here..

Interesting indeed.

LARA

Thank you.  That is mind boggling, but then I guess it shouldn't be, because it's part of the fundamental nature of life to adapt.  (Here's a link to a more techy PLoS version of these findings if anyone's interested.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi ... ne.0000457)
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Faithless

That is really cool.  I'm wondering if somehow this fungus could be placed at areas with radiation.  It might take a long time for the fungus to "eat" the radiation, but it could be interesting to try.
"In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." - Carl Sagan

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