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posted by chromas on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the spores-in-space! dept.

Testing Chernobyl fungi as a radiation shield for astronauts:

[...] In this new effort, the researchers have built on research that showed some kinds of fungus are able to flourish in a very highly radioactive place here on Earth—inside the destroyed reactors at the Chernobyl site in Ukraine. Testing of several types of the fungus has showed that they not only survive in the former reactors, but actually flourish. They have the ability to absorb radiation and to convert it into energy for their own use. [...T]he researchers arranged with NASA to send a sample of one of the types of fungus found at Chernobyl—cladosporium sphaerospermum—to the International Space Station.

Once the fungus sample arrived at the ISS, astronauts monitored the petri dish set up by the researchers. One side of the petri dish was coated with the fungus; the other side had no fungus and served as a control. [...] The researchers found that the side of the petri dish that was covered with fungus reduced radiation levels coming through the dish by approximately 2% compared to the control side.

Journal Reference:
Graham K. Shunk, Xavier R. Gomez, Nils J. H. Averesch. A Self-Replicating Radiation-Shield for Human Deep-Space Exploration: Radiotrophic Fungi can Attenuate Ionizing Radiation aboard the International Space Station, bioRxiv (DOI: 10.1101/2020.07.16.205534)


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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:04PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:04PM (#1027681)

    i too am powered by mushrooms.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by fyngyrz on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:44PM (2 children)

      by fyngyrz (6567) on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:44PM (#1027700) Journal

      Send this person to the ISS!

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      • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:49PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:49PM (#1027705)

        mentally already there.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:22AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:22AM (#1027974)

          Gives "high in the sky" a whole new meaning.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:51PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:51PM (#1027733)

      Good for making RadAway.

      Could also try mycenia chlorophos [wikipedia.org].

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:38PM (1 child)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday July 28 2020, @05:38PM (#1027697) Journal

    Astronauts are tested as radiation shielding for mushrooms.

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    • (Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Wednesday July 29 2020, @08:26AM

      by shrewdsheep (5215) on Wednesday July 29 2020, @08:26AM (#1028041)

      In Trump America Russians are claimed to be mushrooms and blamed for blocking the view of the ISS (that beautiful ISS).

      Didn't you get the memo: it's "In Trump America..." from now on.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:06PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:06PM (#1027711)

    The discussion is interesting but not particularly insightful.

    https://science.slashdot.org/story/20/07/27/0258238/self-replicating-chernobyl-mold-tested-on-iss-as-a-space-radiation-shield [slashdot.org]

    Also there is a Wikipedia article on Radiotrophic Fungus

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus [wikipedia.org]

    So why couldn't they just have used radiotrophic fungi from a lab from before and perhaps either try to select or genetically engineer fungi with the most desirable properties?

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:38PM (5 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:38PM (#1027727) Journal

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Module [wikipedia.org]

      In a 2002 NASA study, it was suggested that materials that have high hydrogen contents, such as polyethylene, can reduce primary and secondary radiation to a greater extent than metals, such as aluminum. Vinyl polymer may also be used in laboratories and other applications for radiation shield garments.

      Fungi shielding sounds kewl but I doubt this is going to outperform some engineered non-biological material of the same mass.

      Once on Mars, the fungus could be cultivated on a shield structure and allowed to thicken, offering perhaps one layer of protection very nearly free of charge.

      Or you could use dirt, or ice [nasa.gov], which are freely available on Mars and don't require nutrients.

      Study Finds Metal Foams Capable of Shielding X-rays, Gamma Rays, Neutron Radiation [ncsu.edu]

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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @12:41AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @12:41AM (#1027898)

        "Fungi shielding sounds kewl but I doubt this is going to outperform some engineered non-biological material of the same mass."

        Probably not, my post was somewhat meant to be sarcastic to show how silly these tests probably are and how they're likely a waste of grant money.

        But of course some will still defend the research claiming that we know less than they do because they are astronauts and they aren't and we're not as qualified as NASA scientists or whoever the researchers are. It disregards the fact that so much research from supposedly good sources is mostly and obviously useless yet it still gets done.

        Perhaps the fungi produces a better substance or set of substances that can act as an additional useful coating but that substance would probably have to be purified or synthesized in order for it to produce better results. While the fungi themselves may have such a substance there is also a lot of material on the fungi that obviously serves other purposes other than to sequester radiation and this reduces the potential efficiency of using such fungi.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @12:43AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @12:43AM (#1027899)

          that they are astronauts and we aren't *

          That substance would probably have to be purified or synthesized and perhaps mixed with other compounds or altered in order to produce better results *

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @02:57AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @02:57AM (#1027961)

          Or rather the fungi is composed of other substances other than the desired substance

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @06:42AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @06:42AM (#1028029)

          According to Hollywood logic, i.e. the Martian, it is better to rely on stuff you can grow instead of manufactured in space..

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday July 29 2020, @02:08AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 29 2020, @02:08AM (#1027940) Journal

        Fungi shielding sounds kewl but I doubt this is going to outperform some engineered non-biological material of the same mass.

        A possibility here is that one can get somewhat better absorption with micro- to nanoscale structure in the shielding material.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @07:18PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @07:18PM (#1027743)

      So why couldn't they just have used radiotrophic fungi from a lab

      Good God, no! Can you imagine how fast radiotrophic fungi could multiply if the fall into that ball of radiation we call our Sun?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:14AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:14AM (#1027970)

        the sun might change color

    • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday July 28 2020, @08:38PM (2 children)

      by nitehawk214 (1304) on Tuesday July 28 2020, @08:38PM (#1027765)

      Because putting Chernobyl in your title generates clicks, and clicks generate votes, and and votes generates grants.

      --
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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @01:27PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @01:27PM (#1028096)

        Exactly. There is nothing special about Chernobyl fungi per se, they aren't special compared to other radiotrophic fungi that have existed before. It's just that adding Chernobyl to the title makes for better headlines.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @01:39PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2020, @01:39PM (#1028101)

          I should invent a term for this if one isn't already invented. How does headline posturing sound? Or maybe someone can invent a better term or maybe a term already exists.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by fustakrakich on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:12PM (3 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:12PM (#1027715) Journal

    Maybe you need a bigger petri dish [bibalex.org]

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:29PM (#1027725)

      I guess it depends on how much additional weight it adds and how much additional volume it takes up compared to whatever alternatives are available.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @09:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @09:36PM (#1027787)

      Exponentials are that way.

    • (Score: 2) by shortscreen on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:40AM

      by shortscreen (2252) on Wednesday July 29 2020, @03:40AM (#1027985) Journal

      When Fungzilla turns up hungry for more radiation sources, maybe someone can send him/her to Fukushima. There was a reactor there that they don't need anymore.

  • (Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday July 28 2020, @07:10PM

    by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 28 2020, @07:10PM (#1027740) Journal

    Q: Why did the mushroom go into space?
    A: Because he was a fungi.

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday July 29 2020, @12:10AM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Wednesday July 29 2020, @12:10AM (#1027871) Homepage
    Was there 2% more matter between the source and the detector after the colonies had grown?
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