I, for one, welcome our new radioactive fungal overlords.
They’re not so bad. I know one, real fungi.
Melanin is how.
That took me by surprise. I had no idea melanin protected from radiation like it does from the sun.
The sun is a giant ball of radiation
And isn’t sunburn a form of or similar reaction to radiation burn?
deleted by creator
You either want to be really far away from a nuclear explosion, or right next to it.
I think the better way to understand this is to know that the melanin difference between the fairest skinned person and the darkest skinned person is way smaller than you think. Something like 2x. It makes a big difference to our eyes, but it makes almost no difference to deadly radiation.
Imagine your skin magically became twice as thick, twice as tough. This would be convenient to avoid minor scrapes and scratches, but if you get stabbed or shot you will die just like anybody else. Hence, darker skinned people fare better when fighting off sunburn, but their skin melts off just like anybody else’s when the rad levels get truly dangerous, with basically no difference at all.
Protomolecule?
My first thought, too. That scene is pure horror in both the show and book!
Come to think of it, the fediverse does kind of remind me of the ring gates.
Or Prax’s invention.
We just need to let it grow until it fills the New Safe Confinement. Then, in a century, when the NSC is due to be replaced we’ll be off the hook thanks to the nuclear shroom.
I read this, with great excitement, to my husband. He listened in terror.
I think those are the only two responses.
Seems right. My first question was “Is that just interesting? Or deeply problematic?”
Both?
haha exactly what happened here
Excellent. It has been years since I heard about these things. Sounds like they are thriving.
and this is how horror movies start.
I was going to say, I think I’ve seen this sci Fi.
It wouldn’t be so horrifying if they mushrooms were just growing around it - we’d be like “yeah, mushrooms are resilient.” It’s the “growing towards” part that makes it so unnerving, like it has a plan.
Plants regularly “grow towards” their energy source. I don’t know why fungi would be different, as it’s apparently a good evolution strategy. Get closer to what gives you energy.
This is a writing prompt if ever I’ve heard one.
Life, uh, finds a way
Honestly, if any life was going to beat radiation, I’m not surprised it’s mushrooms. They are amazing.
Also, I wonder if they have Mulberry trees in Chernobyl because I can’t kill those things it axes, poison, or digging them up. I bet they’d fare well too.
Eukaryotic life: Cancer is a bug in the programming left over from our primitive single celled days.
Slime molds: Cancer is a social construct, actually.
This made me snort out my soup from my nose. Thank you.
I’m sure that’s fine.
Shroom SMASH!
The protomolecule. Let me know when the whole plant lifts off and crashes into Venus.
