FWD: RE: radioactive fungus email from grandma
I received this email from my grandma on Feb 11, 2020. The mentioned link is now dead, but archived here. And while you're there, don't forget to donate to the Internet Archive.
WHAT?! Chernobyl Radiation is Being EATEN by Organism Growing Inside Reactor - Red Right Patriot
Whoa! This is very interesting! My question: is the fungi now radioactive?
Sent from my iPhone
“Radioactive decay” is just a fancy way of saying that atoms are breaking apart. This is happening to everything all around you, and it’s really nothing to worry about.
But certain versions of elements (like uranium and plutonium) decay in a way that’s harmful to all living things. The particles falling off of uranium and plutonium go really fast and hard and tear right through your body.
If you sit around uranium for long enough, some of these particles might damage your DNA. That’s what “radiation sickness” is! It’s just damaged DNA.
Cancer is just a particular form of DNA damage. When you sit out in the sun too long, you increase your chances of skin cancer, because the light particles from the sun are damaging the DNA in your skin cells.
So why do our bodies get darker after we get sunburnt? Our bodies produce melanin to block some of the radiation particles, because the radiation particles get absorbed by the melanin. Remember how you learned that white things reflect all the colors and black things absorb all the colors? Well this is literally the same thing. Radiation is really just complicated light particles, and all the same concepts apply.
Sooooo these fungi are evolving right now, just like all other living things. These fungi are probably resistant to DNA damage in a ton of different ways, because after years and years the only fungi that survives and reproduces are the ones that survived! The ones that weren’t resistant to radiation literally died off, and the ones that had more and more melanin kept on breeding. This is literally the fundamental concept of evolution, playing out right before our eyes :)
Our DNA is always getting damaged, but it usually gets repaired before anything bad happens. But sometimes the damage can actually be a helpful mutation, and can be passed on to children! So these fungi might be evolving faster, thanks to the radiation. Did you know food scientists expose fruits and vegetables to harsh radiation in order to introduce mutations? Most of the fruits and vegetables die, but sometimes we got redder tomatoes or juicier peaches!
The world is a beautiful place! Never stop being curious!!
tt
PS: Did you know that bananas contain dangerous radioactive elements? And old soft drink bottles?