“That fungus is called Cladosporium sphaerospermum, and some scientists think its dark pigment – melanin – may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.”
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39553283 https://libretechni.ca/post/483480
Does this fungus “eat” the radiation, as in we can use it to clean up radioactive areas? Cause that’d be nice.
Sadly, no. Radioactive processes happen without any external control (at least not on this level, they don’t run a reactor or accelerator), and this fungus only harvests the energy.
Akin to how plants photosynthesize without doing anything to the sun.
At least there it does provide shade, though I doubt the fungus would provide a whole lot of shielding…
It eats the radiation, not its source though. The emitter would have to be removed. Maybe it could be used in shielding ? Like in space where background radiation seems to be a problem.
It needs carbon to grow, so it would be a CO2 scrubber AND a source of food assuming it’s edible. 🤔🤔🤔
I would not be eating something with a radioactive-based diet in space… that’s like 2 steps away from opening the gates of hell of something like that xD
bonus: you won’t need eyes?
Damn that was a rough one
Fantastic thing though: It doesn’t “eat” radiation in the sense that it becomes radioactive itself. It just absorbs the energy from the radiation, like plants absorb sunlight, to power a synthesis that lets it convert CO2 to organic material.
BFG Division intensifies