• Synapse@lemmy.world
    36·
    11 months ago

    What about the “weird black mold” ? Is this something real ? Like some radiation resistant mold that has been observed ?

    • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      81·
      11 months ago

      It might not be related, but they’ve found mold inside the reactor room of Chernobyl. Apparently it’s evolved a chlorophyll like molecule that captures gamma radiation. It’s literally living of the energy that makes the environment lethal to almost anything else (organic or electronic).

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus#:~:text=Radiotrophic fungi are fungi that,the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

      Edit. Just checked and it’s not confirmed how it’s growing. They do know it grows significantly faster in a high radiation environment. They haven’t pinned down the exact biological mechanism.

      Oh, and yes, it’s black in colour.

      • Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        11 months ago

        Badass. Was reading that thinking what about space applications. Sure enough there is a whole section on that in the wiki.

        Appreciate you sharing this. Was super interesting to read.

      • MonkderZweite@feddit.ch
        3·
        11 months ago

        Wasn’t there some bacteria found in an uranium mine, enclosed for millions of years, that lives off gamma radiation too?

        edit: yep. Those things could survive without the sun.

        • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          11 months ago

          Unlikely. Biochemistry, as we know it, relies on a carbon-carbon backbone. That breaks down long before the temperatures on the sun’s main outer layers. The electrons get stripped off, and chemistry, as we know it, stops working.

        • BluesF@lemmy.world
          4·
          11 months ago

          Eating radiation is one thing, surviving those temperatures is another. I don’t even think tardigrades can survive that hot.