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Melpomene 45 points 3 years ago

I, for one, welcome our new radioactive fungal overlords.

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Followupquestion 2 points 3 years ago

They’re not so bad. I know one, real fungi.

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Spacebar 27 points 3 years ago

Melanin is how.

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exohuman 13 points 3 years ago

That took me by surprise. I had no idea melanin protected from radiation like it does from the sun.

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RandomStickman 32 points 3 years ago

The sun is a giant ball of radiation

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instamat 2 points 3 years ago

And isn’t sunburn a form of or similar reaction to radiation burn?

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gavi 9 points 3 years ago

@Spacebar Would that mean that potentially people with high amounts of melanin in their skin would likely be safer during the aftermath of a nuclear accident/attack????

@inkican

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NumbersCanBeFun 9 points 3 years ago
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kokoapadoa 10 points 3 years ago

You either want to be really far away from a nuclear explosion, or right next to it.

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dreadgoat 5 points 3 years ago

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.

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Spacebar 1 point 3 years ago

Nope. It would be like a tissue vs a paper towel.

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Bishma 17 points 3 years ago

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.

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Spaceman2901 17 points 3 years ago

Protomolecule?

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loobkoob 5 points 3 years ago

My first thought, too. That scene is pure horror in both the show and book!

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livus 3 points 3 years ago

Come to think of it, the fediverse does kind of remind me of the ring gates.

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paper_clip 2 points 3 years ago

Or Prax's invention.

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geoffervescent 13 points 3 years ago

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.

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tryptaminev 1 point 3 years ago

This made me snort out my soup from my nose. Thank you.

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MinnePuffin 11 points 3 years ago

I read this, with great excitement, to my husband. He listened in terror.

I think those are the only two responses.

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Ech 5 points 3 years ago

Seems right. My first question was "Is that just interesting? Or deeply problematic?"

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lemonflavoured 5 points 3 years ago

Both?

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val 2 points 3 years ago

haha exactly what happened here

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lemonflavoured 8 points 3 years ago

Life, uh, finds a way

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Pandantic 4 points 3 years ago

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.

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TeaHands 6 points 3 years ago

This is a writing prompt if ever I've heard one.

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livus 5 points 3 years ago

Excellent. It has been years since I heard about these things. Sounds like they are thriving.

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readbeanicecream 4 points 3 years ago

and this is how horror movies start.

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laivindil 3 points 3 years ago

I was going to say, I think I've seen this sci Fi.

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Pandantic 1 point 3 years ago

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.

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ironhydroxide 1 point 3 years ago

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.

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andrewfeeney 4 points 3 years ago

I'm sure that's fine.

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Peruvian_Skies 3 points 3 years ago

Shroom SMASH!

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dylanTheDeveloper 3 points 3 years ago

Fungus is amongus

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TimeSquirrel 2 points 3 years ago

The protomolecule. Let me know when the whole plant lifts off and crashes into Venus.

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