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Radiation-eating Fungi 192

Posted by samzenpus from the writing-the-script-now dept.
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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Radiation-eating Fungi More

Radiation-eating Fungi

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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.

      • 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!"

        • "Look! Pikachu is being intelligently designed!"


          Thank you, you just made my day !

          (And, as a side note, I'm sure such groups do indeed exist somewhere in the bible belt... see SIG)
      • And it seems that the Holocaust is a myth and is nothing more than an attack on God and the Islamic Way of Life.

        http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/05/24/1326241.shtml [slashdot.org]

  • hyphenation (Score:3, Informative)

    by onemorehour ( 162028 ) * on Wednesday May 23, 2007 @08:06PM (#19247173)
    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

    • 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.

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

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

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by caluml ( 551744 )
        No, it was in the Soviet Union, in the Ukraine.
      • Seeing that you know so much about the Chernobyl area -- could you help me find this guy named Strelok? He should be around there somewhere. It appears that I have to kill him for some reason, but I can't really remember why...
  • Do we need a giant fungus, among us?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You shouldn't talk about Ballmer like that...he's likely to throw a chair or something.
    • Could you please cut out that kingdomistic crap? The fact those fungi aren't sentient are no justification for harrassing our poor, evolution-impaired friends!

  • Radiation Eating Fungi (Score:5, Funny)

    by MillionthMonkey ( 240664 ) on Wednesday May 23, 2007 @08:08PM (#19247197)
    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 what will happen next time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Himring ( 646324 )
      You entirely failed to mention that keith richards is radiation resistant too and would continue to exist along side the fungi....

    • Melanin is the class of pigments that makes skin dark. It's long been known that it blocks UV radiation, hence the lower incidence of skin cancer in darker-skinned populations.

      The interesting thing here is that fungal cells with melanin in them apparently show increased enzyme activity when exposed to ionizing radiation. If I read the paper right, the melanin absorbs the radiation, giving it energy to transfer an electron to NADH, a biological catalyst important in metabolism, which in turn boosts the me
    • that implies some sort of race or contest with a predetermined outcome. NO, it will continue with a new set of parameters.

  • 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.
        • 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 any idea why cancer rates are down in higher radiation?

          • 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 natural level of ROS in the body is about 3 orders of magnitude greater than that caused by background radiation). This response subsequently increases the rate that natural ROS are removed, resulting in a net decrease in damaged DNA in the system. Damag

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Belial6 ( 794905 )
              Thats interesting. Not being even a layman in the field, my first uneducated guess would have been that the cancer cells are more sensitive to the radiation. Isn't that how traditional radiation treatment works? The radiation kills the cancer faster than the healthy cells? Of course what do I know, my knowledge of the low dose radiation issue falls into the 'Yeah, I've heard that before' category.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by JDevers ( 83155 )
                Well, it isn't that cancer is inherently less tolerant to radiation, but it is closely related. Basically, cancer is usually more rapidly replicating than the tissue around it so radiative damage to DNA will hurt them faster than surround tissue. This is why radiation is generally a second round treatment following surgery and maybe following chemotherapy depending on the cancer of courses. If you can get most of it my surgery then you don't have to dose the radiation (or chemo) as high...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Omkar ( 618823 )
          This is interesting - I remember reading somewhere (probably Wikipedia) that some poisons actually decrease mortality rates in very low doses, the idea being that your body works to get rid of them and this has some benefits. Alcohol, as far as I understand, was a good example. (I vaguely recall something about a U or J shaped curve, but quick googling doesn't get me much). Assuming this is actually true, would the radiation effect fall into the same category?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by jandrese ( 485 )
            Well, I'm not sure how accurate alcohol testing is since it's typically mixed with other chemicals that can be beneficial or harmful. For instance, the benefits of the antioxidants in Red Wine outweigh the possible detriments of the alcohol when taken in moderation (on the order of half a glass a day IIRC).

        • 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.
          Does this apply to all forms of radiation, or only ionizing radiation. Also is it specific to a certain form of ionizing radiation? If it applies to non-ionizing radiation as well could be a nice counter point to the "OMGWTFBBQ WiFi Radiation in teh Schools!!11!One!!" FUD piece that was posted the other day.

    • 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 influenced by radiation).

        Back on an earlier topic, I've seen documentaries about soviet programs to distriube train loads of grain and have it mixed togehter in hopes of getting new seeds with better yeilds. The project would have be interesting. The breakup

    • 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

      • 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) and fungi (also Scorpio) playing out as a problem (jock itch, yeast infections), and there are some serious problems with foot-based fungal infections (infected toenails, athlete's foot) that align with the Pisces (foot) and Scorpio trine, what about the bre

        • 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.

          • Mamalian glands (I love that word - glands) start around the armpit.

            No they don't. Mammary glands, OTOH...

    • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by caluml ( 551744 )
      First off, IAAMP (I am a medical physicsist).

      Even though you can't spell it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Himring ( 646324 )
      Didn't the japanese know this with the first godzilla movie?
    • +5 on your first post ever. Well done, and welcome to slashdot!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by arete ( 170676 )
      I'll bite, send me the study please : )

  • 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 know.

    • 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".

    • Humans are the only living things that we know of that have been able to split atoms. Life as we know it is built on top of atoms; life breaks down and builds up molecules, but it doesn't break or combine atoms. (It's a safe bet that nuclear reactors are irreducibly complex.)
      • I can't find the citations easily, but I have seen that there are suggestions that chemical processes may be able to moderate nuclear reactions.
  • 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.
  • Will I turn into Fungus-man? Or will I suddenly grow twice my size? Or will I get an extra life?

    • Or will I get an extra life?
      Actually these are the black mushrooms introduced recently. If you eat one of these you die. Also, be careful, these will follow you around as well, although if you can harvest one they're really handy at taking out koopas.

  • 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 by organisms.

    I'll leave it to others to find the additional flaws.
  • I for one welcome our new mutant fungi overlords.
  • When I was working as an intern at a nuclear power plant ten years ago, they were in the process of dismantling a decommissioned reactor block. One of the unexpected issues that popped up was having massive algae growth in the old reactors pressure vessel (highly radioactive due to having been activated over the course of a few decades of use).
  • So what do you do with the fungi after they "eat" the radiation? You get a bunch of radioactive fungi. It's not as though the fungi break down beta particles.
    • ... of the radioactive material.

      You get a bunch of radioactive fungi.

      Yes. And that's much better than having a really big heap of radioactive soil, because the fungi have a smaller volume and are therefore much easier to dispose of.

  • This is not "radiation eating", this is "radiation enabling".
    Eating radiation implies that the radiation is removed or converted. There is no mention of that.
    That's the same like saying "solar rays eating fungi discovered".

  • 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...

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