Re: Re: [Aroid-l] OT: Fungi that eat ionizing radiation?

From: <garbird at bellsouth.net> on 2007.05.24 at 19:31:42(15702) I beleive they are discussing this right now on NPR.If you hurry you may be able to here the rest of the broadcast. Garland > +More > From: ted.held@us.henkel.com > Date: 2007/05/24 Thu AM 10:37:39 EDT > To: Discussion of aroids > Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] OT: Fungi that eat ionizing radiation? > > I looked a little at this reference and I am putting myself down as a > skeptic. This paper looks to have been published without peer review > through funding from George Soros. Neither of those is proof by itself, of > course, but it makes the scientifically minded put on the brakes a little > bit. I was interested in the claim that living fungi were found growing > inside Chernobyl and I clicked on the reference indicated in the paper, at > the NIH, and no article was listed there. The site was, in fact, the NIH > site, but there was no article. This blunder would never happen in a > peer-reviewed paper. > > Then there's the whole idea that some living thing (defined according to > how that is understood by those of us who live on Earth) can not only > survive ionizing radiation but utilize it to perform life functions. I > have watched certain effects of ionizing radiation (x-rays) on formerly > living materials and would be surprised if melanin could even withstand > ionizing radiation without charring all the way to carbon, much less "eat" > it. Then, of course, the life form would have to have some cell structure > to support the melanin and make use of the energy products therefrom. Big > doubts. > > Ionizing radiation is severe stuff. And my understanding of the Chernobyl > reactor is that it is now encased in concrete and nobody with any sense > goes anywhere near it. But they have robots in there that are able to > retrieve samples? And some researchers at Albert Einstein have these > samples and are conducting research, also using ionizing radiation? And > word of such a discovery did not make it onto the evening news? > > I don't have time to pursue this further, but it smells like "fringe" > science. That is to say, a hoax. There is a lot of this kind of stuff on > the internet. You have to be careful. > > Ted. > > > > Steve Marak > Sent by: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com > 05/24/2007 12:03 AM > Please respond to > Discussion of aroids > > > To > Aroid list > cc > > Subject > [Aroid-l] OT: Fungi that eat ionizing radiation? > > > > > > > A bit off topic, but I know others on the list like these things too ... > > A post today on one of the bulb lists I follow gave a link to a > "fascinating-if-true" paper on the possibility that some fungi can use > ionizing > radiation as a direct energy source in a way similar to plant's use of > visible > light. > > An abstract is at: > > http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/aeco-erd051607.php > > and the full paper seems to be available online at PLoS ONE at: > > http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0000457 > > Ok, it's not exactly "The Blob", but the part about melanized fungi > colonizing > the walls of the damaged Chernobyl reactor has at least a bit of those old > 1960's science fiction "B" movies about it. If it were April 1, I'd assume > it > was a joke ... but I admit I hope it's true. > > Steve > > -- Steve Marak > -- samarak@gizmoworks.com > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-l mailing list > Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > > _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l Attachment: reply Description: null _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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