The Chernobyl exclusion zone may be off-limits to humans, but ever since the Unit Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded nearly 40 years ago, other forms of life have not only moved in but survived, adapted, and appeared to thrive.

That fungus is called Cladosporium sphaerospermum, and some scientists think its dark pigment – melanin – may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.

Although scientists have shown that the fungus flourishes in the presence of ionizing radiation, no one has been able to pin down how or why. Radiosynthesis is a theory, one that’s difficult to prove.

we still don’t know what the fungus is actually doing.

  • B-TR3E@feddit.org
    272·
    2 months ago

    This has been published numerous times for about a year. Also, curb your expectations - a radiosynthesizing plant is going to reduce radiation as much as grass darkens the sunlight.

    • foofiepie@lemmy.world
      6·
      2 months ago

      Nice comparison.

      Came here to ask how beneficial this is in reducing radioactivity. Love your turn of phrase.

      • arrow74@lemmy.zip
        6·
        2 months ago

        I think it’s important to remember our technology often evolves from mechanisms we observe in nature.

        Maybe it will be possible to industrialize this proccess for space travel or cleanup of nuclear sites/waste. Maybe not, but that’s the proccess

    • solo@slrpnk.netOPM
      2·
      2 months ago

      I think it’s important to clarify that radiosynthesis is just an unproven theory for now, for some fungi. For this reason, I don’t understand how you can jump into conclusions about plants, since we don’t even know if it is the case for these specific fungi.

      • 4am@lemmy.zip
        21·
        2 months ago

        …Because we know how radio waves work?

        I think the point is that even if this fungus developed a “shield” to protect itself from the radiation, it’s not doing to really do anything about the radiation.

        • trolololol@lemmy.world
          4·
          2 months ago

          Radioactivity is not related to waves of any kind.

          Radioactivity is related to particles from the atomic nucleus ( electrons, protons or neutrons ) getting free from an atom and shooting really fast in any direction. usually because an unstable atom like uranium or plutonium, or radium, split itself and there was a left over particle that’s not part of the new atoms.