| Chernobyl Shrooms Devour Radiation |
| Written by Hank Green | ||
| Thursday, 31 May 2007 | ||
 The ruined remains of Chernobyl have become a source of several environmental mysteries. Rapid adaptation of rodents, the swift return of nature and now extremely happy fungi that seem to be feeding on waste radiation. According to the research of some folks at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cryptococcus neoformans is converting radiation into fuel. This could mean that fungus is the solution to two of our greatest environmental problems, lack of fuel and too much radioactive waste. All we need to do is surround our nuclear waste with this radiation-eating fungus and then harvest it every once in a while to produce some kind of bio-fuel. I doubt we have enough radioactive waste to feed enough fungus to run America's automobile fleet, but that's hardly something to complain about. It looks like melanin (the same melanin found in human skin) plays the roll of chlorophyl in this 'radiosynthesis.' After taking in the radio waves, the melanin starts off a reaction that allows the fungus to grow. The scientists speculate that the fungus could be used for bio-fuel farms in high-altitude areas with low-light and high-radiation. Or they could be food for astronauts on long-haul, nuclear-powered missions. In any case, now we know that life will continue even if the light of the sun disappeared, because fungi in Chernobyl will continue to eat left-over radiation for centuries. And isn't that just the beginning of a wonderful sci-fi novel. Via Technology Review
Comments
(16)
Shrooms for Newman!
written by Remy Chevalier , June 01, 2007
Maybe Paul Newman should import these wonderfully tasteful "organic" mushrooms and use them for his new brand of nuclear safety salsa!
Readergirlz
written by Little Willow , June 01, 2007
Hey Hank! EcoGeek is linked in the newest issue of www.readergirlz.com I thought you'd like to know.
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written by Maria Surma Manka , June 01, 2007
WOW...I am awed...
wow - look at those shrooms!
written by Mike Morris , June 02, 2007
On the other had - are you tripping? Sorry - had to go there.
A Great 1952 movie
written by Jim Johnson , June 02, 2007
"The Attack of the Giant Radioactive Mushroom", starring (insert your choice of names of the idiots in Hollywood).
Inference?
written by Xetheare , June 02, 2007
Can't find anywhere that shows anyone converting radiation from nuclear waste into anything much less usable energy.
Is there anything mushrooms can't do?
written by Johnny , June 02, 2007
Could the melanin in the skin react with radiation to produce a mushroom human?
there is nothing mushrooms can't do!
written by James Stillion , June 04, 2007
check this article that ran in a local Seattle magazine back in July of 2004 -
Paul Stamets has been studying this for years. http://seattle.consciouschoice.com/2004/07/mushroomview0407.html
hmmmmmmmm
written by joshua , June 15, 2007
Ok first, fungi does not eqaul mushroom. Mushroom does = fungi.
now that that's out of the way, Life would continue on earth, but not for very long. It would get to be pretty damn cold without the sun, and I'm not quite sure if mushrooms are known to grow in the arctic. Even if they could grow in such cold conditions, eventually they would simply consume all the food that there is because nothing else can live without it, so it would be a broken, dying life cycle. But it was an interesting thought. What boggles me is how people have viewed mushrooms as toxic, radioactive, glowing things. They must have come from an earlier time in earths history when perhaps there was lots of geological nuclear fission taking place. We've seen places in africa which used to be natural nuclear generators, so this story fits along nicely with it.
Im surprised
written by Crimefaction , June 20, 2007
that so many cool ways to solve our problems are not being used right away, oh wait, crazy religion always gets in the way
About Time
written by Celia , June 20, 2007
Duh! Of course! I should have seen this coming miles away. Mushrooms of all things. :-
Something Good from Chernobyl
written by Uncle B , May 09, 2008
Hell! and I thought we red-necks knew it all about radiation!
cold mushrooms
written by poiesis , June 12, 2008
re: mushrooms in the arctic: I'm not sure if fungi can propagate in cold climates, but the spores of certain species of mushrooms can survive in a vacuum.
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written by Jack , August 25, 2008
I call bullsh*t on this one! Surely a system such as this couldn't evolve in such a short space a time - and there isn't enough energy in the radiation levels there to provide anything useful! Dream on.
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written by kirst , September 10, 2008
It hasnt just evolved jack. Radiation using fungi have been in existence for milleions of years. They have found more specimens deep in south african goldmines feeding off the radiation from nearby uranium ores
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written by kirst , September 10, 2008
and they wont be able to help neutralize radioactive waste. They just harness the radioactive energy for their own growth. Saying these fungi can neutralise radioactive energy is like saying photosynthetic plants can decrease the light in the world.
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