Biological Discovery Inside the Chernobyl Reactor

a reply to: Witness2008

In some instances, yes, in some instances, no.



In this case, they discovered that the catfish in question, while it looks large and healthy, is actually stunted. It's well under half the size it should be for its age, and it's very radioactive.

They did discover that the aquatic ecosystem seemed to be full of fish that appeared to be thriving. The catfish, as the apex predators may be anomalies and general indicators of how much is building up through the food chain. Also, catfish are bottom feeders. The radioactive waste may be more concentrated on the bottom where the catfish are exposed to more of it than the other fish, too.

Birds around Chernobyl have significantly smaller brains that those living in non-radiation poisoned areas; trees there grow slower; and fewer spiders and insects—including bees, butterflies and grasshoppers—live there. Additionally, game animals such as wild boar caught outside of the exclusion zone—including some bagged as far away as Germany—continue to show abnormal and dangerous levels of radiation.

This is quoted from the article I lined below, but the River Monsters episode I referenced above also alluded to this. The Dmitry he mentions also studies other organisms, and they talk about how there are fewer bird species in the area all the time, and a higher percentage of the birds they catch are sterile. Things like that.

Also, radiation interferes with normal decay processes.

The team decided to investigate this question in part because of a peculiar field observation. “We have conducted research in Chernobyl since 1991 and have noticed a significant accumulation of litter over time,” they write. Moreover, trees in the infamous Red Forest—an area where all of the pine trees turned a reddish color and then died shortly after the accident—did not seem to be decaying, even 15 to 20 years after the meltdown.

So, they devised a test to see if it really was the radiation that was stopping or inhibiting decomposition.

The results were telling. In the areas with no radiation, 70 to 90 percent of the leaves were gone after a year. But in places where more radiation was present, the leaves retained around 60 percent of their original weight. By comparing the mesh with the panty hose-lined bags, they found that insects play a significant role in getting rid of the leaves, but that the microbes and fungi played a much more important role. Because they had so many bags placed in so many different locations, they were able to statistically control for outside factors such as humidity, temperature and forest and soil type to make sure that there wasn’t anything besides radiation levels impacting the leaves’ decomposition.

So, maybe it's a good thing that they are witnessing more fungi. It could mean that nature is trying to find a way to heal and rebalance herself by using those organisms that can adapt.

originally posted by: Terminal1
In 20 more years it wil turn green, grow to about 6'6 and crush through concrete walls...

Then Sylvester Stallone will make a new Rocky movie with the mould and it wil make thousands of dollars...

"Hulk not smash, Hulk SLIIME!!!"

a reply to: ketsuko

Obviously much life was and will continue to be altered, but what fascinates me is the fact that much of the life there now thrives. Like I said in an earlier post, the Chernobyl site will prove valuable to our understanding of long term effects of fall out, but more importantly the flexibility of nature and how we may exploit her secrets in order to clean up after ourselves.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Sure, if you want The Mold That Ate Tokyo.

LOL
Exactly where I was going ! Except a larger scale.

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: Zaphod58

Sure, if you want The Mold That Ate Tokyo.

LOL
Exactly where I was going ! Except a larger scale.

It would be like skyscrapers covered in velour. Black velour.

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: ketsuko

Obviously much life was and will continue to be altered, but what fascinates me is the fact that much of the life there now thrives. Like I said in an earlier post, the Chernobyl site will prove valuable to our understanding of long term effects of fall out, but more importantly the flexibility of nature and how we may exploit her secrets in order to clean up after ourselves.

Not just that, but the space exploration applications ought to be useful, too. Now that we're thinking of colonizing Mars and finding more Earth-similar planets in the Goldilocks zones that have the potential to be habitable, it would be useful to know how to deal with radioactive environments, either by knowing what animals/plants cope best or how to survive in such an environment ourselves.

a reply to: purplemer

The fungi appear to use melanin, a chemical found in human skin as well, in the same fashion as plants use chlorophyll. -

This is pretty amazing.

originally posted by: TheProphetMark
a reply to: Terminal1

I never Star people who try to be funny when they aren't in order to earn quick Stars. A lot of people seem to do this, especially within the first few posts of a new thread. You're only just making yourself look silly.

We are supposed to discuss the subject not each other. Who cares who stars whom.

Maybe a sense of humor wouldn't hurt some people.

Get out of here, Stalker...

en.wikipedia.org...:_Shadow_of_Chernobyl

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: purplemer

Chernobyl is a learning field for us. What I find fascinating is the fact that the Chernobyl accident did not create a dead zone, but a lush wild natural area filled with what appears to be healthy wild life.
...

It should be noted that Chernobyl did not create a lush wild natural area due to its nuclear effects, but due to the fact that it has been left wild and essentially untouched by man for decades. This could have been done anywhere if you took humans out of the loop. The high radiation has in no way sped up or encouraged this process. The resiliency of the wildlife though has at least been demonstrated at a high level, however they are beginning to find some long-term effects now that they have been able to go in for longer periods and properly study the ecology.

Look at the abundance of Bikini Atoll.

It's a shark paradise because of all the fish using the sunken, radioactive warships as reefs.



But it is mainly because no one is allowed to touch it although they do allow some limited diving now I think.

So if I exposed a certain part of my body to gamma radiation; Will it grow? Darn that would be awesome!

a reply to: Mamatus

I'm not going to post a clip of the South Park episode that comment reminds me of.

originally posted by: Mamatus
So if I exposed a certain part of my body to gamma radiation; Will it grow? Darn that would be awesome!

Yes...It will grow......Tumors and Lesions

I was wondering if it would be possible to use the mould to help clean areas contaminated with radiation.

Absolutely possible. Fungi are good at collecting all kinds of stuff that we put into our environment.

And then there’s Stamets’ plan to redeem the devastated landscape around Fukushima. Shortly after the 2011 tsunami-driven meltdown, he posted an online manifesto called “The Nuclear Forest Recovery Zone,” which was predicated on a little-known fact about mushrooms: Many species are able to remove and absorb heavy metals, including radioactive isotopes, from soil.

discovermagazine.com...

You still have to deal with the radioactive fungi but they make gathering the contamination a whole lot easier.
coalitionforpositivechange.com...

originally posted by: Mamatus
So if I exposed a certain part of my body to gamma radiation; Will it grow? Darn that would be awesome!

Absolutely. It would swell considerably.

Then it would fall off.

Good luck!

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: ketsuko

Obviously much life was and will continue to be altered, but what fascinates me is the fact that much of the life there now thrives. Like I said in an earlier post, the Chernobyl site will prove valuable to our understanding of long term effects of fall out, but more importantly the flexibility of nature and how we may exploit her secrets in order to clean up after ourselves.

life does not thrive around chernobyl at all. New animals move in and replace the dead ones. The bones which are left are so radioactive which shows "life is not thriving"

a reply to: purplemer

Does this mean that freckles which are clusters of melanin have the ability to absorb sunlight or gamma radiation?

originally posted by: Grimpachi
a reply to: purplemer

I don't believe the mould would have any affect on the rate of radioactive decay. The mould itself is sure to have soaked up some radiation, but that does not in any way dispute it. Whatever material the mould is comprised of is now just as hazardous as the environment itself. Everything in that area is radioactive now and will remain that way for many hundreds to thousands maybe even millions of years.

Honestly the only thing that site could be repurposed for is a world storage site for nuclear waste I don't think it could get much worse than it already is and it could become an income source for Russia. As things are right now nuclear waste is stored at the sites it is created around the world they are just disasters waiting to happen.

The facilities could be built by robotic equipment at some point.

You don't honestly propose that the entire world take it's nuclear waste and deposit it in Russia. How fast do you think it would be sold to the highest bidder?

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: purplemer

The fungi appear to use melanin, a chemical found in human skin as well, in the same fashion as plants use chlorophyll. -

This is pretty amazing.

The Wikipedia entry on Melanin has more information. There are actually radiotrophic fungii that use Melanin to capture gamma rays and use them as an energy source...