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Radiation-eating Fungi

Posted by samzenpus on Wed May 23, 2007 08:01 PM
from the writing-the-script-now dept.
Science News
SEWilco writes "Fungus growths have been found in many extreme environments, including the Chernobyl reactor walls. Some fungi have been found whose growth is enhanced by radiation. I wonder if someone saved samples of the MIR-eating fungi."

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[+] Space Fungus Eating Mir (Really) 285 comments
dublin writes: "The Boston Globe has a good article about how Mir is being eaten alive by virulent fungi. The fungi, which are found both inside and outside the aging space station, are rampant to the point that a cosmonaut has said, "There were areas you wouldn't want to stick your hand in." NASA reports that some of these fungi can attack and weaken plastics and even metals. "
[+] Radiation Absorbing Mineral Found In the Arctic 351 comments
An anonymous reader writes "A mineral has recently been found that exhibits the astounding property of being able to remove radiation from water-based solutions. 'After coming into contact with the mineral, radioactive water becomes completely safe. Had this mineral been available to physicists after the Chernobyl or Three Mile Island disasters, the consequences might have been very different, as both accidents resulted in contamination from radioactive water.' Also, the article notes that although only grams of the material have been found, tons of it are needed; they are confident they could artificially reproduce it."
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  • My foot is an extremity (Score:4, Funny)

    by Timesprout (579035) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:03PM (#19247149)
    not an extreme environment you insensitive clod

  • Danger! (Evolution) (Score:5, Funny)

    by nebaz (453974) * on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:03PM (#19247153)
    Eventually, the bacteria will evolve into this [google.com].

    • Re:Danger! (Evolution) (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 23 2007, @09:03PM (#19247591)

      Eventually, the bacteria will evolve into this [google.com].
      Why do you hate America? Evolution is a myth and is nothing more than an attack on God and the American Way of Life.
      [ Parent ]

      • Re:Danger! (Evolution) (Score:5, Funny)

        by Rei (128717) on Thursday May 24 2007, @01:46AM (#19249345) Homepage
        Wake up -- America is already in the hands of the Darwinists. Haven't you watched any TV or movies lately? It's everywhere, treated as fact.

        Want to help change this sad state of affairs? Join my project; we're redoing popular video games to remove the ungodly influences imposed on them by modern society.

        "Look! Pikachu is being intelligently designed!"
        [ Parent ]

  • hyphenation (Score:3, Informative)

    by onemorehour (162028) * on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:06PM (#19247173) Homepage
    Radiation is eating Fungi? I think you might have wanted: "Radiation-eating Fungi," especially in a headline. Consider: "Insect eating plants."

    • Re:hyphenation (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:21PM (#19247283)

      Radiation is eating Fungi? I think you might have wanted: "Radiation-eating Fungi," especially in a headline. Consider: "Insect eating plants."
      Don't be silly. You would want radiation to eat fungi. Think of it this way: when you find mildew in your shower all you have to do is pull out your 20 curie Co-60 test source and it would go away. And as an added benefit you could perform radiography on your pipes* and have a full dental x-ray at the same time.

      *pun intended
      [ Parent ]

    • Re:hyphenation (Score:5, Funny)

      by IQgryn (1081397) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:28PM (#19247323)
      I'll call your grammar mastery and raise you one Venus Flytrap.
      [ Parent ]

    • Original headline was correct... (Score:5, Funny)

      by raehl (609729) <raehl311@noSpaM.yahoo.com> on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:32PM (#19247371) Homepage
      Remember, Chernobyl was in Soviet Russia.
      [ Parent ]

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by caluml (551744)
        No, it was in the Soviet Union, in the Ukraine.

        • Re:Original headline was correct... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by weapon (783054) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @10:32PM (#19248167)

          Er, Ukraine. Chernobyl is in Ukraine. Ukraine most definitely is not Russia.
          Yes these days Chernobyl is in Ukraine, which is not in Russia, but in 1986 when the melt down occurred, it was in Russia and back then it was Soviet Russia, the the GP was correct:

          Remember, Chernobyl was in Soviet Russia.
          and that's my two cents
          [ Parent ]

          • Re:Original headline was correct... (Score:5, Informative)

            by slashdotmsiriv (922939) on Thursday May 24 2007, @12:01AM (#19248733)
            "Er, Ukraine. Chernobyl is in Ukraine. Ukraine most definitely is not Russia.", "Yes these days Chernobyl is in Ukraine, which is not in Russia, but in 1986 when the melt down occurred, it was in Russia and back then it was Soviet Russia, the the GP was correct: Remember, Chernobyl was in Soviet Russia. and that's my two cents" Er, Ukraine was a _state_ in the Soviet _Union_, thus Chernobyl was in Soviet Ukraine, not Soviet Russia
            [ Parent ]

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Zantetsuken (935350)
            WHAT?!? A /. post involving the words "Soviet Russia" that isn't a backards Russia joke? Heresy!

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve (949321)
            Yes these days Chernobyl is in Ukraine, which is not in Russia, but in 1986 when the melt down occurred, it was in Russia and back then it was Soviet Russia, the the GP was correct:

            I'm going to say this in a way that even a geographically challenged Amer

  • Radiation Eating Fungi (Score:5, Funny)

    by MillionthMonkey (240664) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:08PM (#19247197) Journal
    This is a huge crisis. If radiation keeps eating fungi at this rate we'll have no mushrooms left by 2040!

  • I can't resist... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Pinkfud (781828)
    I'M IN UR REACTOR EATIN UR FUELZ! Now to be serious, radiation resistant bacteria are also known. If mankind ever wipes itself out with nukes, it's comforting to know the world won't be a totally dead place. Everything will start all over, and who knows w

  • Radiation Hormesis (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dontthink (1106407) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:32PM (#19247375)
    First off, IAAMP (I am a medical physicsist). This is sort of radiation-induced growth stimulus was actually studied extensively in the first half of the 20th century. A great reference for this behavior is a paper published in Human & Experimental Toxicology called "Radiation hormesis: its historical foundations as a biological hypothesis" by Calbrese and Baldwin, which examines the dozens of studies examining the effects of low dose radiation on plants, fungi, and insects - fascinating stuff. Over 2/3 of the studies in this time period showed increased growth with radiation, while the other 1/3 used relatively high doses (which is known to have net detrimental effects). People were actually interested in putting radioactive isotopes in fertilizer to encourage crop growth, but results weren't great and the A-bomb happened... and we all know where the public's perception of radiation went after that. I've got a PDF of that paper if anyone is interested (the online version requires a subscription, I believe).

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by jandrese (485)
      Yeah, it's pretty freaky to read some of the ads in the back of comic books and women's magazines from the early 20s where they were touting Radium as some sort of miracle drug for whatever ails you.

      • Re:Radiation Hormesis (Score:5, Interesting)

        by dontthink (1106407) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:50PM (#19247499)
        Yup, I sometimes feel like I missed out by being born after the golden age of radium enemas. On a more serious note, the concept that low doses of radiation can be beneficial has been a pretty hot topic of debate in the radiological science community lately. There was an incident in Taiwan where radioactive Co-60 (is there really any other kind?) was accidentally recycled into scrap steel that was used in over 200 buildings, giving the occupants low doses of radiation. The standardized incidence ratios (the ratio of observed cancers to expected cancers based on the entire population) in these occupants was on the order of ~0.8, or a 20% reduction in cancer incidence. Also look at studies of cancer incidence between regions of high and low background radiation - rates are lower in high background regions. There are all kinds of problems with these epidemiological studies (confounding factors like socioeconomic status and such), but not always. One study compared 100 years of cancer incidence and mortality data of British radiologists - their life expectancies and cancer rates were significantly than other British physicians (also by ~ 20%). If interested, the Nuclear Shipyard Worker Study also has some very interesting results in this vein. Good, controlled research on the topic of low-dose radiation with respect to humans is hard to come by, however, considering the major stigma attached to radiation. Other than worker and background radiation studies, you've pretty much got to wait until an accident happens.
        [ Parent ]

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gnuman99 (746007)
          I guess good news for people living in Easter Europe that got a nice dose of strontium-90 for entire life. And I guess then moving and living on clay soils with all the extra uranium may help too. :)

          But this is very interesting observation. Do they have an

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by dontthink (1106407)
            They do have ideas why low-dose radiation can be beneficial. One possible mechanism is damage prevention. After irradiation, there is an increase in levels of proteins and enzymes that scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) (As a point of reference, the

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by dontthink (1106407)
            Yep, Cameron was extremely gung-ho about radiation hormesis... and it really isn't a new debate - it has been ongoing for the past century. The linear no-threshold model of radiation dose-response (endorsed by most regulatory agencies) was essentially dev

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by James McP (3700)
      Huh, I wonder if that's where the idea for the "giant mutant animal" movies of the 50s came from.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MBCook (132727)

        That's how Godzilla came about. The film was originally more of a warning/etc, but was re-cut with an american in a few scenes and turned into a monster movie. I know there are others like you were talking about (I think the ants in the movie THEM was infl

    • Re:Radiation Hormesis (Score:5, Funny)

      by Max Littlemore (1001285) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @09:11PM (#19247645)

      This is sort of radiation-induced growth stimulus was actually studied extensively in the first half of the 20th century.

      Of course now we know that the reason fungus survives in relatively high raditaion environments like nuclear reactors is because fungii are ruled by Scorpio and the most influencial planet for Scorpio is Pluto. Pluto of course has dominion over "unseen forces", such as ionizing radiation, and its metal is plutonium - the link is so obvious I don't see how this is newsworthy.

      Let me know when the manufacturers of tinea medication realise that the harmonious 120 degree seperation between Pisces (which rules the foot) and Scorpio (which rules fungus) abandon their business because they cannot overcome what's written in the stars

      [ Parent ]

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by thephotoman (791574)
        I don't know whether to moderate this +1 insightful or +1 funny, because while astrology is hardly a topic of truly serious study, you did at least get the right associations for everything. Though, while I can see the conjunction of genitals (Scorpio) an

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by Max Littlemore (1001285)

          ....what about the breasts/chest (Cancer)?

          Answer 1:
          Mamalian glands (I love that word - glands) start around the armpit.

          Answer 2:
          Cancer is ruled by the moon. To moon is to flash ones bottom. Bottoms are rich environments for bacteria and fungi.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by TortiusMaximus (719234)
      Ra-dii-aation.

      Yes indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everyone it's bad for you. Pernicious nonsense! Everyone can stand a hundred chest x-rays a year. They oughta have 'em too.

        • IAAMP is... (Score:3, Informative)

          by DrYak (748999)

          I would really like to know what a medical physicist is.


          As the name could show you, it's a physicist (someone with a PhD in physics) working in the medical fields (his colleagues are MD, just like me).

          There's a field of medicine where we needs the a lot, f
  • I thought this would be something interesting like fungus that ate and destroyed radiation. It would be great for getting rid of nuclear waste. I don't think such a thing could actually exist, but I'm not a nuclear physicist, or a biologist, so what do I

    • Re:I thought this was news (Score:4, Interesting)

      by 4e617474 (945414) on Thursday May 24 2007, @02:51AM (#19249671)

      I doubt it's possible to get living organisms to shorten the half-life of radioactive materials, but fungi that abosrb radioactive materials can be very useful. When radioactive waste contaminates the ground, fungi can extract and concentrate it. The mushrooms can then be harvested for disposal as radioactive waste, leaving the soil in the area less radioactive. Paul Stamets describes it in Mycelium Running (there're good facts in between the hippie/druggie/mystical stuff) describing this and other similar applications of fungi as "mycoremediation".

      [ Parent ]

  • possible upside? (Score:5, Funny)

    by circletimessquare (444983) <circletimessquare.gmail@com> on Wednesday May 23 2007, @08:42PM (#19247453) Homepage
    so if i don't shower, that means i will be saved from this horrible cell phone and wifi radiation i keep hearing about?

  • Link to Mir fungi (Score:5, Informative)

    by Joaz Banbeck (1105839) on Wednesday May 23 2007, @09:11PM (#19247639)
    The link for mir-eating fungi goes to an old slashdot story which itself points to a dead link. A usable link to the original story is here: http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/space_fungu s_000727.html [space.com]
  • Run-away growth can lead to starvation, so the fungus might normally hold back a bit. If weird damage is occuring though, the situation changes. Doing nothing leads to quick death; reproducing fills the voids left by those who've died.

  • I'm confused ... if I eat these ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by SpeedyDX (1014595) <[speedyphoenix] [at] [gmail.com]> on Wednesday May 23 2007, @10:12PM (#19248019)
    Will I turn into Fungus-man? Or will I suddenly grow twice my size? Or will I get an extra life?

  • Flawed paper (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    From the article:

    "Irradiated melanin manifested a 4-fold increase in its capacity to reduce NADH relative to non-irradiated melanin."

    Sorry! NADH is the reduced form, NAD+ is the oxidized form. NAD+ can be reduced to NADH. NADH can't be further reduced b

  • Well... (Score:2, Funny)

    by kitsunewarlock (971818)
    I for one welcome our new mutant fungi overlords.

  • Better stay clear of this stuff... (Score:3, Funny)

    by MS-06FZ (832329) on Thursday May 24 2007, @10:10AM (#19253823) Homepage Journal
    Before you know it there'll be a big forest of this stuff emitting deadly lung-rotting spores, and the forest will be home to a legion of giant, deadly, and extremely vindictive insects...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You shouldn't talk about Ballmer like that...he's likely to throw a chair or something.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SEWilco (27983)
      It might be even worse than not proofreading, as I'm pretty sure that I included the hyphen in the headline which I submitted.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Secshunayt (976978)
      Radioactive isotopes can emit alpha particles, which are helium nuclei, beta particles, which are an electron emitted from the nucleus when a neutron changes into a proton and an electron, or gamma particles (more accurately rays) which have no mass or cha
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