🧫 A black mold from inside the Chernobyl reactor appears to feed on radiation, and researchers are exploring it as a shield for deep space.
Cladosporium sphaerospermum was isolated from the ruined reactor 4 in the 1990s by Ukrainian microbiologist Nelli Zhdanova, who found fungi growing toward radioactive particles. Later work showed the mold grows faster in the presence of radiation. Scientists suspect its dark pigment, melanin, converts radiation into chemical energy, a process dubbed radiosynthesis, loosely like chlorophyll and sunlight. The exact mechanism is still debated.
In 2018 the fungus went to the International Space Station. A 1.7 mm thick layer cut radiation reaching sensors beneath it by up to about 2 percent, and the mold grew about 21 percent faster in space, though microgravity may explain part of that. Extrapolating, the team estimated a roughly 21 cm thick layer could largely negate the annual radiation dose on Mars, or about 9 cm mixed with Martian soil.
The appeal: a shield that grows itself from a few grams, self-repairs, and needs no launch mass. Promising proof of concept for Moon and Mars habitats. The idea of literally coating a spaceship exterior is still speculative.
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251125-the-mysterious-black-fungus-from-chernobyl-that-appears-to-eat-radiation
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.877625/full
#fungi #science #space
2 Spoopy 4 You
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2026-08-18 16:26:13 UTC
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"content": "🧫 A black mold from inside the Chernobyl reactor appears to feed on radiation, and researchers are exploring it as a shield for deep space.\n\nCladosporium sphaerospermum was isolated from the ruined reactor 4 in the 1990s by Ukrainian microbiologist Nelli Zhdanova, who found fungi growing toward radioactive particles. Later work showed the mold grows faster in the presence of radiation. Scientists suspect its dark pigment, melanin, converts radiation into chemical energy, a process dubbed radiosynthesis, loosely like chlorophyll and sunlight. The exact mechanism is still debated.\n\nIn 2018 the fungus went to the International Space Station. A 1.7 mm thick layer cut radiation reaching sensors beneath it by up to about 2 percent, and the mold grew about 21 percent faster in space, though microgravity may explain part of that. Extrapolating, the team estimated a roughly 21 cm thick layer could largely negate the annual radiation dose on Mars, or about 9 cm mixed with Martian soil.\n\nThe appeal: a shield that grows itself from a few grams, self-repairs, and needs no launch mass. Promising proof of concept for Moon and Mars habitats. The idea of literally coating a spaceship exterior is still speculative.\n\nRead more:\nhttps://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251125-the-mysterious-black-fungus-from-chernobyl-that-appears-to-eat-radiation\nhttps://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.877625/full\n\n#fungi #science #space",
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