Fungus eats radiation for breakfast


	Fungus eats radiation for breakfast

pokkets

5-22-2007 11:56 PM

916 views

tags:

fungus, radiation, energy, fuel, melanin, spectrum

3 Comments |

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5-23-2007 10:50 PM

enbar

That's gnarly.

5-24-2007 12:22 AM

ericskiff

It's amazing what life can adapt to and thrive in. Who'd have thought that fungi would be able to harness energy from other sources of radiation?

This clip was featured on today's Clipiversity video podcast. Thanks for the great clip!

5-24-2007 2:11 AM

BitDrifter

Very interesting, great clip.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/738dbeff-220f-4d6f-8d63-410534fa4708/1F147BE7-8079-4533-8CF6-F8134D88A0BD/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm" href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">www.abc.net.au</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm"><DIV align="left" class="byline">Maggie Fox</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm"><DIV>A type of fungus can devour radiation and convert it to fuel, researchers say in a study that may offer applications from more efficient solar cells to feeding astronauts in space.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.abc.net.au/img/3664260D-130D-47EC-985F-C05D2252B03D" alt="dark mushroom" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm"><DIV>The researchers report their study in the <A target="_blank" href="http://www.plos.org/">Public Library of Science</A> journal <A target="_blank" href="http://www.plosone.org"><I>PLoS ONE</I></A>.</DIV><BR /><DIV>Dark-coloured fungi use the same compound as people do, melanin, the pigment that makes both skin and truffles dark.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm"><BR /><DIV>"Just as the pigment chlorophyll converts sunlight into chemical energy that allows green plants to live and grow, our research suggests that melanin can use a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, ionising radiation," says Dr Ekaterina Dadachova of the <A target="_blank" href="http://www.aecom.yu.edu">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</A> in New York.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1930936.htm"><BR /><DIV>Dr Arturo Casadevall, chair of microbiology and immunology at the college, says there may be further implications.</DIV><BR /><DIV>"It's pure speculation but not outside the realm of possibility that melanin could be providing energy to skin cells," he says.</DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/1F147BE7-8079-4533-8CF6-F8134D88A0BD/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>