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Radiation-eating Fungi

Posted by samzenpus on 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."

19 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Danger! (Evolution) by nebaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Eventually, the bacteria will evolve into this.

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
    1. Re:Danger! (Evolution) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Eventually, the bacteria will evolve into this. Why do you hate America? Evolution is a myth and is nothing more than an attack on God and the American Way of Life.
    2. Re:Danger! (Evolution) by Rei · · Score: 4, Funny

      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!"

      --
      "'If one must live then one must die.' - oh, the truth must be funnier than this..." -- MammÃt
  2. Radiation Eating Fungi by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is a huge crisis. If radiation keeps eating fungi at this rate we'll have no mushrooms left by 2040!

    1. Re:Radiation Eating Fungi by falconcy · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...and there was me wondering why nukes make a mushroom cloud!

  3. Re:hyphenation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    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
  4. Re:My foot is an extremity by The13thSin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well that depends... do you have a shower?

    --
    "This should be fun, and by fun, I mean a wholly depressing insight into the cognitive ability of some grown adults."
  5. Re:hyphenation by IQgryn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll call your grammar mastery and raise you one Venus Flytrap.

  6. Original headline was correct... by raehl · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember, Chernobyl was in Soviet Russia.

    --
    paintball
    1. Re:Original headline was correct... by weapon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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
    2. Re:Original headline was correct... by slashdotmsiriv · · Score: 4, Informative

      "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

    3. Re:Original headline was correct... by Carewolf · · Score: 4, Funny

      Baah. It is all Russia, the same way Scotland and Wales is part of England, and Rotterdam part of Holland.

      This renaming trick is just a convenient way to avoid badboy-points.

    4. Re:Original headline was correct... by daem0n1x · · Score: 5, Funny

      Scotland and Wales are part of England???

      Not only that's totally false, but I'd like to see your face minutes after you said that in loud voice at a pub in Edinburgh.

  7. Radiation Hormesis by dontthink · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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).

    1. Re:Radiation Hormesis by dontthink · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:Radiation Hormesis by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 4, Funny

      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

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
  8. possible upside? by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    so if i don't shower, that means i will be saved from this horrible cell phone and wifi radiation i keep hearing about?

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:possible upside? by djdavetrouble · · Score: 4, Funny

      You have escaped from kuro5hin ????!?!
      Quick, alert the authorities, like that guy who owns the internet !

      --
      music lover since 1969
  9. Link to Mir fungi by Joaz+Banbeck · · Score: 5, Informative

    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