What a possibility........
Scientists have discovered that a strand of fungi in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant feeds on radiation, according to a Thursday report by Express. The fungi was first found at Chernobyl in 1991, five years after the nuclear reactor exploded, but scientists have just recently found that its properties could help protect people from radiation.
Turns out it may also be beneficial for humans -- particularly in space. The fungi contains high levels of melanin, a pigment that turns skin darker. That melanin absorbs radiation and turns it into chemical energy, similar to how plants turn carbon dioxide and chlorophyll into oxygen and glucose through photosynthesis, according to a study first published in 2007. This specific process, is dubbed radiosynthesis.
(https://www.cnet.com/news/fungi-found-in-chernobyl-feeds-on-radiation-report-says/)
I guess this stuff is referred to as "radiotrophic":
Radiotrophic fungi are fungi which appear to perform radiosynthesis, that is, to use the pigment melanin to convert gamma radiation[1] into chemical energy for growth.[2] This proposed mechanism may be similar to anabolic pathways for the synthesis of reduced organic carbon (e.g., carbohydrates) in phototrophic organisms, which convert photons from visible light with pigments such as chlorophyll whose energy is then used in photolysis of water to generate usable chemical energy (as ATP) in photophosphorylation or photosynthesis. However, whether melanin-containing fungi employ a similar multi-step pathway as photosynthesis, or some chemosynthesis pathways, is unknown.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus)
I'm no scientist, but this sounds to me like a major scientific breakthrough if their hypothesis (or theory?) pans out!
More on this story here: https://allthatsinteresting.com/chernobyl-radiation-fungi
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
Scientists have discovered that a strand of fungi in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant feeds on radiation, according to a Thursday report by Express. The fungi was first found at Chernobyl in 1991, five years after the nuclear reactor exploded, but scientists have just recently found that its properties could help protect people from radiation.
Turns out it may also be beneficial for humans -- particularly in space. The fungi contains high levels of melanin, a pigment that turns skin darker. That melanin absorbs radiation and turns it into chemical energy, similar to how plants turn carbon dioxide and chlorophyll into oxygen and glucose through photosynthesis, according to a study first published in 2007. This specific process, is dubbed radiosynthesis.
(https://www.cnet.com/news/fungi-found-in-chernobyl-feeds-on-radiation-report-says/)
I guess this stuff is referred to as "radiotrophic":
Radiotrophic fungi are fungi which appear to perform radiosynthesis, that is, to use the pigment melanin to convert gamma radiation[1] into chemical energy for growth.[2] This proposed mechanism may be similar to anabolic pathways for the synthesis of reduced organic carbon (e.g., carbohydrates) in phototrophic organisms, which convert photons from visible light with pigments such as chlorophyll whose energy is then used in photolysis of water to generate usable chemical energy (as ATP) in photophosphorylation or photosynthesis. However, whether melanin-containing fungi employ a similar multi-step pathway as photosynthesis, or some chemosynthesis pathways, is unknown.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus)
I'm no scientist, but this sounds to me like a major scientific breakthrough if their hypothesis (or theory?) pans out!
More on this story here: https://allthatsinteresting.com/chernobyl-radiation-fungi
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt