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Plants Near Chernobyl Adapt To Contaminated Soil
lbalbalba writes "In April 1986, a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded and sent radioactive particles flying through the air, infiltrating the surrounding soil. Despite the colossal disaster, some plants in the area seem to have adapted well, flourishing in the contaminated soil."
Feed me, Seymour!
Trolling is a art,
in "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind"?
Adapt or die.
...they are nuclear plants? [ducks]
In case of nuclear Holocaust, life on Earth will adapt. Plants will grow, new animal species will arise. And Humans will adapt by dying out.
I distinctly remembered that people born white in desert(ed) climates (think Michigan) would actually adapt in similar ways: their skin turned black, they developed ignorance, their hair got short and kinky, light barrels of trash on fire to keep warm, and line-up at every line of people leading into a government building to assume free handouts.
From TFA - "Scientists had to wear masks, goggles and gloves to work in the area"
Meanwhile the remainder of their body was burnt to a crisp by the radioactivity. Masks, goggles and gloves? This experiment was presumably organised by someone from the Simpsons... (My eyes - the goggles do nothing!)
dnuof eruc rof aixelsid
A rod of applause to you.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
...the cockroach population is also thriving.
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
Amazing how a Black President brought so many racists screaming out their shacks and into every forum on the web. I just can't figure out how so many of them found internet connections.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Now eat that plant... See what happens. Maybe you get 'immune' maybe you don't :P
Wow, I can't tell if you are new here or just retarded. There have been a ton of racists on slashdot long before the black president.
Did all the plants die off after Chernobyl? Maybe that happened but I don't remember that story.
Who is to say that plants like these are affected as much by radiation? They are simpler organisms, have much shorter lifespans, and obviously quite different from mammals.
Would I be surprised if moss or algae were unaffected by higher doses of radiation? no.
Also seems like this is an old story (May 2009)
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2009/05/15-02.html
Yes, evolution is alive and well. A species of bacteria evolved in the early 70s that can digest nylon.
I think this news is a nice reality check on that annoying but vocal cadre of environmentalists that are always predicting some kind of terrible apocalypse within the next couple of decades. Global cooling, for example. Not to mention a nifty "myth busted" moment for that old Hollywood trope of a post-nuclear wasteland.
I'm definitely not saying we shouldn't take care of our environment, by the way, and I'm certainly not an AGW denialist. The specific way things are now matters a lot to us fickle and fragile humans. If the sea level rises by another yard, the crabs will just move. The Venetians are the ones that would be screwed.
I'm just saying that nature is more resilient than people usually imagine.
I usually consider the BBC to be both a reliable source of info, and capable of quality reporting. I don't doubt the info in this case, but was the article written by monkeys? Or has the distinction between a paragraph and a sentence been deprecated?
I was under the impression that the English are generally more literate than your average North American, seeing as they invented the language and all. But this article is awful.
Wow, I can't tell if you are new here or just retarded. There have been a ton of racists on slashdot long before the black president.
There's plenty of reasons for someone to not like Obama that have nothing to do with the color of his skin, but anyone who speaks out against him is automatically labeled as a racist just to shut them down.
Scientist: Wow! They're thriving!
Plant: (Yeah, that's right b*tch. You better believe it.)
*weeks pass*
Plant: (Eat me. Go on, you know you want to? Look at my lovely leaves, my beautiful drupes. I'm tasty. You KNOW I am. Eat me, human.)
Scientist: Hmmmm...I wonder...
Plant: (That's right, baby. Oh yesssss...verrry good.)
[End Of Line]
Amazing how mother nature always seems to adapt to whatever man throws at it. And people still continue to say we can blow up the world. Earth took hits from asteroids, wiped out the critters, adapted, evolved and moved on. Same thing with any pollution.
Troll Alert : It boggles my mind why people still don't accept evolution as being a close approximation of the truth. I say "close approximation" because even physics is an abstract collection of ideas meant to help our human minds approximate physical laws of our Universe. As a species have had numerous examples of evidence be observed or deduced which support evolution. There is observed evidence, as in this case of plants near Chernobyl as well as others like the peppered moth, and qualitative evidence paired with analysis such as in the case of the varied forms of archaeology. These plants represent a micro-evolutionary step, as some people refer to it. Macroevolution(tau) = Microevolution(100000*t) . Differentiation within a species given enough time diverges the species into parts. Simply put, give it enough time and micro-evolution becomes macro-evolution. If you have some math background you will also deduce my other point; no matter what you call it its evolution.
That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".
Under the right circumstances, evolution can be quite fast. The geological history of the earth shows many massive die-offs followed by a tremendous flowering of new life forms. If there is an ecological niche available, something will adapt/evolve to fill it.
Naturally, simpler life forms evolve faster than complex ones. Germs evolve in months. Humans evolve in tens of millennia. Plants are somewhere between the two.
This is great news for the gaming industry. Now we have an actual analog to assist in making games like the Fallout series more realistic. Under normal circumstances, society would frown on creating a nuclear accident just to make video games more realistic, so it fortunate that it occurred when it did, with enough time passing for plants to adapt. Thank you Russia.
The lead photograph for the article looks *EXACTLY* like what you would expect in a game like Fallout 3 (my current love). A baby doll sitting next to a gas mask, on a concrete floor, next to a bombed out looking window with dead plants outside in the brightly lit sun. 100% video game shot.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
What does this mean for the next Fallout? I don't think it will have the same appeal if it's forested.
Read their method.
They first observe that plants start to spontaneously grow again in contamination sites despite the high radioactivity. Then they brought in seeds from uncontaminated origin. One batch goes to the contamination site, and another batch (the controlled group) goes to a decontaminated area near the site. Seeds grow fine in both batches, showing that seeds from uncontaminated origin is able to survive the radioactivity in the very first generation. The study is about the mechanism how plants naturally resist radioactivity. No evolution is taking place here.
I once had a signature.
Coupl'a things -
1) Chernobyl is not over, and not contained. The "sarcophagus" was temporary at best, is crumbling now, and it's permanent replacement has been beset by budgetary, engineering and political issues that seem irresolvable.
2) Apart from 6' trout and 10' catfish, wildlife around Chernobyl and Pripyat is absolutely not doing well. Excepting a few migratory songbirds, the place is eerily silent.
3) But it's OK, because a few plant species turn out to be radiation-tolerant?
No, not OK. I'm not against nuclear power wholesale, but maybe we should be taking a long, hard look at pebble-bed, 4S and thorium reactors?
I'm going to roll up some random mutations...
Maybe I'll get Leech Seed.
Its rather likely that plants have had to deal with huge amounts of radiation in the past, they have survived extinction events with far more numbers than creatures have so chances are they can deal with radiation better than we can dream of.
"They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn't steal!"
Could it be that whatever fauna that survived, adapted and/or now thrives might do so under conditions perhaps harsher due to radiation, yet plausibly improved by a potentially reduced presence of any predator species, whom may not have fared as well, or may have been displaced?
... any plants saying, "Feed me, Seymour!" in Russian, I'm leaving.
Have gnu, will travel.
And even neater is the plants glow in the dark! It's REALLY pretty!
They were all active that day, talking about the weather, gossiping, and walking around. And right before the scientists and researchers drove in to the site, one of the plants yelled "CAR!" and they all stood still.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
A lot of people are nonracist but don't like his policies or find him ineffective, but those who can't stand his race probably can't stand his policies either. Think "A implies B, but B does not necessarily imply A."
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Referencing this Far Side comic?
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://akbar.marlboro.edu/~jsheehy/FarSideCownCar.gif&imgrefurl=http://forums.bicycling.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/632104717/m/5131031146/p/2&usg=__YEficHbVcpMbSLHsx3z_IqK4I1w=&h=428&w=350&sz=37&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=6ED9ukKliivcdM:&tbnh=166&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3DThe%2BFar%2BSide%2Btalking%2Bcows%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DD3c%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D650%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=355&ei=yseaTMmhC4KclgegzoSSCg&oei=E8eaTPRNwrvyBpadse8P&esq=21&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=81&ty=95
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
I for one welcome our new radioactive plant overlords.
in Soviet Overlordsville(?!), plant radiates you
XD u two r a cute couple
warning pointless sig
They are not explaining why they are now working there...
The nuclear stuff is still boiling (sort of) and the concrete casting that surround what was the nuclear plant is expiring its license of security. So, they need to make a new box of cement that should surround the old one... (scientists don't know how to stop the boiling stuff!)
Besides, I saw a film of a guy who went there some years ago.
And found a 'strange black fish' that was living inside the lake near the nuclear plant.
There were also old people still living at the country near the town.
The army had tried to move them to other places but they insisted in returning to their only home.
And are still living there. And seem to survive for an unknown reason.
Local people have created a sort of myth associating the disaster with some parts of the bible.
So, they believe that in part was god's will what had happened...
You should see the film!
What most ecologists mean about future dangers refer only to humans. Plants, animals and the complete ecosystem should surely endure anything. As has been happening since the begining of time.
Rwe obliged 2 save our future by choosing:O3 hole-greenhouse effect instead of accepting everydays gossip-nonsense chat?
Michael Kristopeit? Is that you?
Its Mansanto's patent!
Try mask, sunnies, and a glove.
I'll be darned if the high resistance of plants to ionizing radiation hasnt been documented since at least the 1950s ...
Du kan glomma dina ensama stunder, du kan lita paa teknikens under - Wilmer X
and how does what you say relate in anyway to:
1) The story?
2) The GPP troll?
Plants are very primitive compared to animals, and localized mutations of their cells have nearly no effect on them, so why would they be significantly affected by radioactive contamination in the first place? The whole problem with radioactive contamination and plants is that they can accumulate radioactive isotopes over their lifetime and become dangerous for humans and animals to consume.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
"flourishing" because concrete is worse. The same with the animals. They are going to be killed in a few years by damage from radiation, but until then, they'll live to breed. Whereas a wolf in the city is shot on sight, badgers poisoned, etc.
All this fecundity is proving is that civilisation and human occupation is more dangerous than nuclear fallout.
Adapt or die.
Is anyone from the RIAA/MPAA listening?
Even the shrubbery in Russia know that much.
Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
Uh, the bible DOES have 600 years old in it. It has the lineage from Adam to David and the ages of these people.
Add the ages up and then add the other-sourced date since David and you've got the earth at 6000 years old in the bible.
It DEFINITELY has 6000 years old. At least for mankind.
What's odd is that so many "Christians" (if they had real faith, they wouldn't feel the need to defend their faith) point to things that compare to things we otherwise know from science etc and claim "That PROVES the bible is correct!". Yet the Brahma year is about 4 billion years. An age that roughly equates to the age of the earth and it's solar system and three such ages (they restart, just like centuries and years do) takes us to the beginning of the universe. Yet I've NEVER heard anyone point to that and proclaim that this PROVES the Hindu Buddhist faith is correct. Probably because that would "prove" the bible wrong.
Radiation is good for you!
And makes your favourite plants glow on the dark, SO COOL!
Don't get too close to the local fauna, "feed me Simor, feed me!"
*Bender shines the F-Ray on Fry*
Fry: "Ow my sperm!"
+1 for sarcasm
+1 for responding as you would to a child
+1 for bolding the obvious, which subtly implies the obvious may be lost to ceoyoyo (59147)
-10 for not rebutting anything ceoyoyo (59147) said
Has anyone looked at the pictures for Pripyat, the abandoned city? It looks so much like any of the towns depicted in Fallout 3 or New Vegas.
Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d encule de ta mere.
ITYM "tenets", not "tenants"
It's in Ukraine. Sure, Ukraine was part of the USSR, but it's not Russia.
It's not like Genesis could have explained the Big Bang Theory and Evolution in a way that would have made sense 2000 years ago anyway.
This is one perfectly reasonable explanation for various religions that doesn't require all but one to be wrong. If God attempted to make himself known to a people, he would likely have to make himself believable to that group. Thus their differences could lead to God demonstrating himself to them differently and thus they interpret him differently.
I know that I could be called a 'different person' when I am at work or when I am at home, however the only real difference is who I am around, and how I respond to those differences.
If I take my next vacation near Chernobyl, will I come home with superpowers?
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
You do understand that it is perfectly possible for plant species A mentioned in study B to thrive while animal species C mentioned in study D to do poorly after the Chernobyl accident, right? This study and the one you cite are not producing conflicting information unless you assume all plants and all animals respond to environmental changes identically.
Life finds a way... Malcolm was right!
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
WHY is every OTHER change in an animal or plant on Slashdot a MUTATION but when plants CHANGE in a LITERAL SEA OF MUTATING RADIATION it is an adaptation -- YOU PEOPLE ARE WEIRD !?!?!?!?!?!