Sarah Wallace, Matt Ford, ScienceGoGo and Jason Stajich comment on the fungus that gets its energy from radiation. I've heard of Deinococcus radiodurans before, but this is a fungus! Well, if there is an energy source to tap into, even if it is in the middle of Chernobyl, some life form is likely to find a way to do it.
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Now that I've grossed most of you out with my last week's pick, I think I'll go ahead and make this week's pest a little easier to look at.
Are viral and fungal infections always a bad thing?
Maybe not if you're a plant.
In fact, if you're a plant trying to grow in the hot (65°; C) soils of Yellowstone National Park, you're going to need all the help you can get.
100 years ago, American Chestnut trees grew up and down the East coast. Great wood, nommy nuts, awesome!
Do you perhaps mean Deinococcus radiodurans which is extremely resistant to radiation (and desiccation, extreme heat & cold, and acid) but does not necessarily metabolize the radiation.
Yes - post in haste....thanks for the correction.
All this makes me wonder what kind of interesting biology was going on back when there was enough uranium-235 in the Earth for natural fission reactors to be operating.
You just blew my mind.
Natural nuclear reactors... radiosynthesis... MY HEAD ASPLODE!