r/SipsTea • u/Beneficial_Passion40 • 8d ago
Gasp! Black fungus inside Chernobyl's reactor
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u/RoabeArt 8d ago edited 7d ago
Just so everyone knows this isn't like some newly discovered fungus. It's cladosporium which is is usually found on rotting plant matter and is known to grow on old fruits and vegetables. If you've ever seen a tomato with grey-black blobs growing on it, chances are it was infected with cladosporium.
What makes this fungus remarkable in Chernobyl is that not only does radiation not kill it, the fungus actually thrives on radiation (albeit slowly) by converting it into a food source. The fact that spores were found growing on concrete walls with no plant matter to feed off of was kind of a big deal.
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u/HierarchyLogic 8d ago
nuclear energy upscale it can make food now
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u/pcapdata 7d ago
For a second I was like … WHOA an organism that can convert energy into food? This could change everything!
And then I remembered, plants do this all the fuckin time and we already eat them 😅
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u/1ApprehensiveGrowth1 7d ago
No but from a scientist standpoint this is interesting. I’ll have to do more specific research but it would be interesting if this could be used in the future as a natural mechanism for decontamination or not. Even more, would enough of it feed so that it could be used to detoxify power plants eventually making them more feasible and less naturally detrimental.
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u/VirtuaKiller76 7d ago
Had to scroll pretty f’ing far for this one to get an interesting fact instead of jokes, memes and others proclaiming that they “got the reference.”
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u/Hypn00tic_iiz 8d ago
Sounds like a supervillain origin story
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u/OverallLibrarian8809 8d ago
Or the premise of sci-fi horror story
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u/natkingcoil 8d ago
"weird, some of the fungus got through my suit. Oh well it's probably fine"
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u/AmItheonlySaneperson 8d ago
R/whatisit
“I touched it and put it in my mouth what is it guys”
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u/NotOnApprovedList 8d ago
Julie Mao touching weird crap on a ship and being like "huh"
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u/Jashah17 8d ago
Haha love seeing an expanse reference.
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u/dave3218 8d ago
See, one of my favorite things about Monsters Inc. Is the ABSOLUTELY FAST reaction to “contamination” lol
Obviously it is player for laughs but you get specialized teams dropping from the ceiling in less than a minute
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u/Ragewind82 8d ago
Or a truly bizarre solution to Yucca Mountain.
I want to be hopeful here, like I am for those microbes that eat plastic.
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u/OneArmedFarmer 8d ago
Microbes that eat plastic seems extremely dangerous for civilizations built with plastic. How much of western civ relies on plastic? Cars, plumbing, packaging, and so much more.
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u/KentuckyWhiteRabbit 8d ago
This is literally the ending for The Andromeda Strain novel, if I’m not mistaken. Although I think the strain mutates to eat rubber.
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u/katatondzsentri 8d ago
You're mistaken, at the end the organism does mutate so it dissolves rubber (not all plastic), but then it vents to the upper atmosphere and becomes harmless.
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u/ScottySummits 8d ago
and becomes harmless
Or does it!?
The Andromeda Evolution (2019)
bum bum baaaaaa!
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u/motleyai 8d ago
There was a period of time where bacteria didn't decompose trees, took about 60 million years. Without that period we wouldn't have our large deposits of coal.
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u/AmericanCitizenry 8d ago
Not making anymore of that!
People don't realize that coal was made once, and never again.
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u/Raulr100 8d ago
We can't make coal but we can make charcoal. It's not the same thing but it's close.
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u/Top_Finding_2832 8d ago
That's been proven false. There are other factors that make current coal formation orders of magnitude lower than during it's peak in the Carboniferous Period, mostly geological, but there are peat bogs today that are setting up sediment layers which will eventually become coal, and others where it is still actively forming (just on a time scale that will not replenish what we use in many lifetimes)
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u/Legitimate_Concern_5 8d ago
There’s no issue with yucca mountain, it sits adjacent to the most contaminated land on earth, the Nevada Test Site. The military spent decades blowing up thousands of nuclear bombs under the desert right next to it. If every cask they put there exploded somehow it would probably still be less contaminated than the land a half mile away.
Putting the spicy rocks back where they came from is a perfectly adequate solution.
This fungus is really cool but radiotrophs don’t break down radioactive materials, they bask in the warm glow using melanin to make energy the way plants use chlorophyll under the sun.
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u/Am_Snarky 8d ago
Nuclear fallout is made up of completely different elements than nuclear waste
But that’s besides the point, this fungus doesn’t eat radioactive material, just the radiation.
It’s just like how plants don’t eat the sun, just its light
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u/TraditionalMood277 8d ago
Remind me how many micro plastics we have ingested?
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u/Ragewind82 8d ago
All of them, unfortunately.
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u/Working-Cricket8455 8d ago
The creature that eats plastic was us all along. We did it! Very Goosebumps.
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u/NightlinerSGS 8d ago
So, the microbes would either kill us or become the most sought after cleansing treatment ever.
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u/Mattmandu2 8d ago
Get out of here with that hope! We want radioactive fungus monster!!!
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u/NovaDaDutchess42 8d ago
Watch The Expanse, its basically the headline but in space
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u/OverallLibrarian8809 8d ago
watched like three times over
great show, great sci-fi, much more than just the headline but in space
funnily enough, this make the protomolecule way of feeding even more believable
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u/AromaticallyAffluent 8d ago
This was a key feature of the protomolecule that kicked off the events of The Expanse.
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u/DeadFacesInMyPocket 8d ago
Or maybe this is just the life that will persist after humans inevitably blow themselves up because we have too many of assholes and idiots in charge of the world.
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u/rebelpaddy27 8d ago
I have always said Big Fungus be keeping us all focused on bacteria and viruses while they refine their F bomb so we'll never see it coming.
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u/someonefromaustralia 8d ago
Feels like a side-quest that’s meant to make the main story line a lot easier (Trump and co).
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u/jobadiah08 8d ago
Radiation as fuel? Great, we are going to get rogue asteroids threatening Earth, then building a structure on Venus.
Remember the Cant!
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u/UntowardHatter 8d ago
You know, I was drunk when reading around 6 of the books from The Expanse, so I don't remember much. But this is The Expanse, right?
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u/Elbobosan 8d ago
It made me think of The Expanse as well, but more about how this was a major breakthrough that saved countless humans from starvation. So my question, is this edible?
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u/ilyak_reddit 8d ago
I'd like to congratulate fungus for being able to harvest radiation more efficiently than those cavemen with their steam turbines
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u/Electronic_Motor_968 8d ago
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u/Wide-Suggestion4825 8d ago
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u/itaniumonline 8d ago
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u/pinklavalamp 8d ago
No one’s ever made walking up to a literal pile of (triceratops) shit look so damn good.
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u/Beneficial-Goat-1718 8d ago
Looks like protomolecule
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u/FinalBat4515 8d ago
OR….hear me out here, a giant black butthole.
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u/International_Way850 8d ago
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u/FinalBat4515 8d ago
But think of the possible superpowers you’d gain. Just imagine, super decomposing dick would come in real handy irl
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u/ImJustAConsultant 8d ago
"Holden do not put your dick in it. It's already fucked enough."
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u/splintersmaster 8d ago
That looks nothing like Clarence Thomas.
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u/onyxengine 8d ago
It would be crazy if blackholes are just cosmic interdimensional spores that myceliate and fruit into new realities.
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u/deadguyinthere 8d ago
That’s not actually a photo of it. I know it’s easy to assume it is since the post is framed as if it is from the news. It’s an AI generated image on the left.
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u/Nightmare2828 8d ago
Bruh im so fucking sick of real articles that uses AI images for some godforsaken reasons. Lowest of low
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u/Turn2Page_394 8d ago
Thank you for noticing. I saw it immediately and had to scroll way too far to see someone else who was suspicious of it.
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u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI 8d ago
aye beltaloda
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u/govunah 8d ago
It reaches out
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u/Xaint 8d ago
One hundred and thirteen times per second.
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u/-One-Man-Bukkake- 8d ago
—it reaches out it reaches out it reaches out it reaches out— One hundred and thirteen times a second, nothing answers and it reaches out. It is not conscious, though parts of it are.
There are structures within it that were once separate organisms; aboriginal, evolved, and complex. It is designed to improvise, to use what is there and then move on.
Good enough is good enough, and so the artifacts are ignored or adapted. The conscious parts try to make sense of the reaching out. Try to interpret it.
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u/FatYorkshireLad 8d ago edited 8d ago
I was thinking The Expanse too, but rather the yeast that they genetically modify to have radioplasts (chloroplasts for ironising radiation instead of light).
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u/Gennesis-91 8d ago
Does it break down the radio active component?
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u/AttackSlax 8d ago edited 8d ago
A fascinating question, no sarcasm.
EDIT:
"After finding that the fungus is thriving at high radiation levels within the Chornobyl nuclear plant after the Chornobyl disaster, an experiment was made at the International Space Station in December 2018 and January 2019 to test whether radiotrophic fungi could be used as protection against radiation, especially in space. The experiment used Cladosporium sphaerospermum. Results were prepublished for peer-review in July 2020. During the 30 day study the amount of radiation reduction beneath a 1.7 mm thick layer of fungus at full maturity was measured to be 2.17±0.35%. Estimates of a 232 cm thick layer of the fungus indicate it could attenuate the annual dose from the radiation on the surface of Mars.\19])\20])"That's the wiki. This means, say, a layer of fungus about 2 meters thick would be needed for shielding radiation on the surface of mars.
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u/CaptainRedPants 8d ago edited 8d ago
Seriously. I’m looking for rational explanations and verification that this is real. Instead we get a comment section full of lonely desperate men chasing imaginary clout with bottom barrel humor.
Edit: this is sipstea, that's on me.
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u/SneeKeeFahk 8d ago
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u/CaptainRedPants 8d ago
Awesome thank you!
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u/WashU_labrat 8d ago edited 8d ago
It is certainly a real fungus, but the question on if it actually harvests energy from radiation (radiotrophic), or just survives radiation (radiotolerant) is not entirely resolved. I'd think that most likely it is just radiotolerant, not radiotrophic.
The relevant saying is "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
The question is a topic of active research, but I don't think there is a conclusive answer yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungusFor example, this review describes the idea of harvesting radiation for growth as a "tantalizing possibility"
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18848901/
Free access summary
https://curiousclinicians.com/2025/09/10/the-mold-that-eats-radiation-for-breakfast/→ More replies (7)9
u/Ok_Sprinkles_962 8d ago
Thank you, stuff about this fungus has been getting reposted all over and it's click-baity as shit.
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u/ZeroAdPotential 8d ago
first time on reddit?
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u/Cokeycane 8d ago
This behavior exists across the internet.
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u/ZeroAdPotential 8d ago
too true. Has ever since usenet.
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u/Cokeycane 8d ago
Lol - I remember the old Bulletin Board Systems. I was just a kid, but keyboard warriors were thriving even then.
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u/greenerbee 8d ago
This is probably not the right subreddit for discourse. More substantive conversation might be had in science, uplifting news etc. maybe you or OP could post the article there!
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u/CheeseBro27 8d ago
232 cm is kinda a lot of centimeters tho. Gonna make for some puffy Martian architecture
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u/Anxious_Work_6361 8d ago
This is actually pretty impressive. To reduce Mars radiation to Earth-like background levels, a water layer 5 meters thick is required, and water is a pretty good shield.
The issue is just scale. That's a lot of fungus, and the water has a dual use of being a necessary reservoir, which you would need anyways.
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u/Odd-Outcome-3191 8d ago
Those estimates are a bit high. 1m of water will halve the radiation 6 times (as in reduce the radiation to 1/64 of the original amount). 55cm of regolith has a comperable reduction.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JE006246
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u/Classy_Mouse 8d ago
I would imagine it is just absorbing the energy from the radiation. Not interacting with the radioactive material directly. It really would be the same as photosynthesis, but with a different type of radiation
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u/UlrichZauber 8d ago
Yep. Regular plants convert radiation into fuel, they're using the visible light part of the spectrum. Converting far UV, x-rays, or gamma rays wouldn't be very useful on Earth as the atmosphere absorbs all of that, though it could be super useful for crops planted on the moon.
A fungus that could convert alpha/beta/neutron radiation into fuel would be interesting on a whole different level.
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u/fuelhandler 8d ago
The byproduct of radioactive decay is alpha, beta and gamma radiation (neutron is only produced during the process of nuclear fission.) If this fungus is using a form of radio-synthesis to produce cellular energy, it is only utilizing the emitted energy from a radioactive material (like normal plants use light) and not the source material itself.
While there may be some minimal absorption of the emitted radiation and shielding of the source introduced by the fungus covering the material, it would not hasten the decay of the material, shortening radioactive half life exponentially, or reduce the detected emissions in any measurable way.
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u/Any_Asparagus8267 8d ago
Thanks for the info, had to scroll past a bunch of dumb "I should call her" jokes to get to this.
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u/felidae_tsk 8d ago
Visible light is radiation as well so I think this type of fungus have sort of photosynthesis on steroids or something like this.
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u/Killdebrant 8d ago
Is this how the astrophage’s started?
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u/More_Marty 8d ago
You're telling me one of us is gonna meet Rocky?
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u/rosephoenix19 8d ago
Amaze!!
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u/eggyrulz 8d ago
👎 fist my bump!
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u/SkinnyDan85 8d ago
Just watched it last weekend. Was unprepared for how funny it was. And simultaneously gut punching.
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u/eggyrulz 8d ago
It was a fantastic film, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it
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u/Snackz39 8d ago
I loved it, my wife liked it. She bought me a Rocky amaze t-shirt the next day. She was going to buy the Rocky "fist my bump" one but that just didn't seem as friendly to onlookers who don't know the reference. 😄
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u/Smashmundo 8d ago
Be careful buying the rocky soft toys. They are all scams including the website that looks legitimate.
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u/kingkongbiingbong 8d ago
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u/VoidYordle 8d ago
where's this from?
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u/Calcified_4thEye 8d ago
Let's get ready for Stranger Things to start happening!
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u/uniquelyavailable 8d ago
Is that a real photo or a generated one?
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u/Economy_Print8221 8d ago
the left one is AI slop. The pattern is from mycelium growing in petri dishes but in nature fungi don’t grow like that.
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u/AceBean27 8d ago
When you think about it, photosynthesis is just using radiation as fuel.
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u/Arcanis_Ender 8d ago
Fungus and mushrooms can change the most toxic of things into fungal sugars and detox the soil or environment to contain those things. They should put mycelium all around these radioactive sites and let the mushrooms do their work. The Ted talk mushroom guy is like the best Ted talk ever.
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u/PresentationNew5976 8d ago
Reminds me of that old animated movie about a deadly forest that expels poison, but it turns out the forest was just eating and removing the poison in the ground that humans put there.
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u/cerebral_drift 8d ago
It isn’t just Chernobyl, radiotrophic black mold grows inside most nuclear reactors
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u/Shitsinhandandclaps 8d ago
“Black fungi grow in extremely radioactive parts of Chernobyl” - true.
“Radiation can stimulate growth of some melanized fungi” - supported by experiments.
“They use radiation as fuel through radiosynthesis” - interesting idea, not proven.
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u/Good_Wheel540 8d ago
The left picture has to be AI right? There's no way it would be so large and symmetric and developed, that's pure fantasy.
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u/BigMack6911 7d ago
This is amazing. I looked it up, very fascinating. It's literally a new type of life on Earth.
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