Biological Discovery Inside the Chernobyl Reactor

This story is a little old but I thought I would share it with ATS. A robot was sent in to examine the old reactor and discovered a black slime mould growing on the walls. A sample was collected and it was later determined that it was a collection of several fungus. What was interesting was that this mould survived in such a hostile environment and not only did it survive it thrived.

Samples of these fungi grew significantly faster when exposed to gamma radiation at 500 times the normal background radiation level. The fungi appear to use melanin, a chemical found in human skin as well, in the same fashion as plants use chlorophyll. That is to say, the melanin molecule gets struck by a gamma ray and its chemistry is altered. This is an amazing discovery, no one had even suspected that something like this was possible.

worldtruth.tv...



I was wondering if it would be possible to use the mould to help clean areas contaminated with radiation. Perhaps they could coat the walls at Fukishima with it to help absorb radiation..

purp..

I was wondering if it would be possible to use the mould to help clean areas contaminated with radiation. Perhaps they could coat the walls at Fukishima with it to help absorb radiation..

Maybe it could.

It would be simple enough to grow some of this mould on some radioactive compound in the lab, and see if the radioactivity decreases or not.

If it does reduce and reduce by a lot, spray these mould spores all over contaminated sites and wait.

Mind you, a mutated radioactive slime monster might not be such a good idea.

a reply to: purplemer

Sure, if you want The Mold That Ate Tokyo.

a reply to: purplemer

This should be an eye opener for anyone that doubts extra terrestrial life exists.

My money is on "100% certain it exists". Pretty sure that the "goldilocks zone" is just a starting point.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: purplemer

Sure, if you want The Mold That Ate Tokyo.

My thoughts exactly. Did no one see The Blob?

originally posted by: InverseLookingGlass
a reply to: purplemer

This should be an eye opener for anyone that doubts extra terrestrial life exists.

My money is on "100% certain it exists". Pretty sure that the "goldilocks zone" is just a starting point.

Absolutely. I've always said it: Life it probably the rule rather than the exception. It is why the universe exists.

There were some reports of microbes that could thrive in highly radioactive zones. I wonder if this is one of them?

I think this is what I read.

In 20 more years it wil turn green, grow to about 6'6 and crush through concrete walls...

Then Sylvester Stallone will make a new Rocky movie with the mould and it wil make thousands of dollars...

a reply to: purplemer

OP, you say, "What was interesting was that this mould survived in such a hostile environment and not only did it survive it thrived."

Indeed, but more importantly is such a discover is scary. It has mutated. Now, dump that reactor into an ocean and what are you going to get?

Only heaven knows!

a reply to: Terminal1

I never Star people who try to be funny when they aren't in order to earn quick Stars. A lot of people seem to do this, especially within the first few posts of a new thread. You're only just making yourself look silly.

As for the OP yeah, I'm not suprised about this. I always knew life could thrive in even the harshes conditions. It would be completely ignorant to think life doesn't exist outside of our planet. The possibilities are endless.

Also the idea of using a similar slime to absorb contamination, sort of like a sucker fish which seems plausible to me. Definitely an idea that deserves to be looked at more from some of the greatest minds in the scientific community.

An interesting discovery to say the least. Wonder what other things react like this to radiation sources.

Thanks OP

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: purplemer

OP, you say, "What was interesting was that this mould survived in such a hostile environment and not only did it survive it thrived."

Indeed, but more importantly is such a discover is scary. It has mutated. Now, dump that reactor into an ocean and what are you going to get?

Only heaven knows!

I'm not sure so much that it's mutated as that the fungi in question (the article I read mentioned more than one) have melanin, and melanin apparently offers some protection from the radiation, so they are able to adapt to use their melanin and take advantage of an environment that other organisms are slower to adapt to.

Remember, the reason why people in Africa and the other tropical latitudes tend to have more melanin in their skin is that it's a survival adaptation. It blocks solar radiation more effectively than a white person's poor pallid skin does. And given that they are exposed to so much more sunlight and stronger sunlight than those who lived at the more northern European latitudes, it makes sense that dark skinned humans had an advantage.

What this really tells us is that plants and animals with dark skin will have the leg up in surviving the nuclear holocaust.

a reply to: purplemer

I don't believe the mould would have any affect on the rate of radioactive decay. The mould itself is sure to have soaked up some radiation, but that does not in any way dispute it. Whatever material the mould is comprised of is now just as hazardous as the environment itself. Everything in that area is radioactive now and will remain that way for many hundreds to thousands maybe even millions of years.

Honestly the only thing that site could be repurposed for is a world storage site for nuclear waste I don't think it could get much worse than it already is and it could become an income source for Russia. As things are right now nuclear waste is stored at the sites it is created around the world they are just disasters waiting to happen.

The facilities could be built by robotic equipment at some point.

a reply to: TheProphetMark

Well good for you..

Thing is, i couldn't care less about stars.

Also, mould grows pretty much anywhere so this is not surprising even for Chernobyl. It isn't like there is no life there to speak of. I would wager there are trees and weeds growing right outside.

The photo itself is of the operations room, not from inside the reactor.

a reply to: TheProphetMark

It seems that you don't know ironic humor when you see it. I thought my words were keenly insightful of the larger picture that this thread purports to be about. Regardless of your view on it, you got the point or do I need to spell out Fukushima?

a reply to: Grimpachi

Not entirely true. It is by default the world's first major laboratory for studying a highly radioactive environment. What we learn there could become extremely useful. It should actually be put to more use than it is for studying things. Why they aren't trying to study farming and other things there as much as they can ... I don't know.

Here is the links to the sources cited in the article.

This one doesn't add much information.

www.scienceagogo.com...

However, this search of The Albert Einstein College of Medicine has several PDF files on the subject.

www.einstein.yu.edu...

a reply to: purplemer

When the melanin is struck by radiation it can mutate into a cancerous growth.
So, with these fungii being iradiated you could have fungus cancer, rather than skin cancer.
As long as it doesn't start crawling around on it's own, I think we might be safe.

This is gonna mutate into the black oil from xfiles and consume our minds.

a reply to: purplemer

Chernobyl is a learning field for us. What I find fascinating is the fact that the Chernobyl accident did not create a dead zone, but a lush wild natural area filled with what appears to be healthy wild life.

I found this documentary very interesting. So many more questions in my mind now as to our preconceived notions of radiation.

www.pbs.org...