<story><title>Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis</title><url>https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/videos/chernobyl-fungus-eats-nuclear-radiation-via-radiosynthesis-338464</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>burtonator</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s simply no way that this type of fungus could absorb enough radiation simply because it&amp;#x27;s not dense enough.&lt;p&gt;If you want to absorb radiation you have to block it which means it has to come into contact with matter.&lt;p&gt;The only way you can do this is to have either a smaller volumetric amount of something that&amp;#x27;s dense (lead, gold, uranium, etc) or a LARGE amount of something less dense (water, concrete, etc).&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#x27;re just talking about an organic organism, sure, it can use the radiation BUT you&amp;#x27;d need to have a MASSIVE amount of it in terms of volume and weight.&lt;p&gt;Simply put, the fungus itself is sparse when looking at it from a subatomic perspective. Most of the radiation passes right through it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>chongli</author><text>I think the whole framing of this discussion is inappropriate. The interesting thing about this fungus is that it can use the radiation as an energy source to sustain life. The fact that we can’t use the fungus as some kind of miracle lightweight radiation shield is missing the point.&lt;p&gt;Here we have a life form that has adapted to make use of a very unusual (on earth’s surface, anyway) energy source. That should not be taken for granted. It’s an amazing demonstration of the adaptability of life. It also warrants a deeper investigation into how this ability works and how it came about by evolutionary processes.</text></comment>
<story><title>Fungus at Chernobyl absorbs nuclear radiation via radiosynthesis</title><url>https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/videos/chernobyl-fungus-eats-nuclear-radiation-via-radiosynthesis-338464</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>burtonator</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s simply no way that this type of fungus could absorb enough radiation simply because it&amp;#x27;s not dense enough.&lt;p&gt;If you want to absorb radiation you have to block it which means it has to come into contact with matter.&lt;p&gt;The only way you can do this is to have either a smaller volumetric amount of something that&amp;#x27;s dense (lead, gold, uranium, etc) or a LARGE amount of something less dense (water, concrete, etc).&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#x27;re just talking about an organic organism, sure, it can use the radiation BUT you&amp;#x27;d need to have a MASSIVE amount of it in terms of volume and weight.&lt;p&gt;Simply put, the fungus itself is sparse when looking at it from a subatomic perspective. Most of the radiation passes right through it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DarthGhandi</author><text>Given we are taking about space here I&amp;#x27;m quite sure water outperforms per kg compared to the others you&amp;#x27;ve mentioned.&lt;p&gt;Fairly certain there&amp;#x27;s no high-Z solid that could compete on cost to orbit.</text></comment>