{"id":20491,"date":"2026-08-14T06:40:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/uchenye-obnaruzhili-chernuyu-plesen-vnutri-chernobylskogo-reaktora-kotoraya-proczvetaet-blagodarya-radiaczii\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T06:40:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:40:53","slug":"scientists-have-discovered-black-mold-inside-the-chernobyl-reactor-that-thrives-due-to-radiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/uchenye-obnaruzhili-chernuyu-plesen-vnutri-chernobylskogo-reaktora-kotoraya-proczvetaet-blagodarya-radiaczii\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists have discovered black mold inside the Chernobyl reactor that thrives on radiation."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most organisms avoid radiation. But that&#039;s not the case here. Inside the ruins of Reactor No. 4, where a lethal dose accumulates in minutes, researchers discovered dark, melanized fungi that not only survived but apparently thrived in the most radioactive areas. Inside the shelter, they identified <strong>thirty-seven species of mushrooms<\/strong> . The darkest and most pigmented of them clustered where radiation levels were highest. This isn&#039;t a coincidence. It&#039;s a pattern that deserves serious consideration.<\/p>\n<h2> What did scientists actually discover?<\/h2>\n<p> <em>The available evidence is strange enough without any embellishment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> Field research and laboratory work have allowed us to establish a number of confirmed data:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p> Inside the reactor shelter of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant it was discovered <strong>37 types of mushrooms<\/strong> , while melanized\u2014darkly pigmented\u2014species are disproportionately common in areas with the highest levels of radiation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p> One of the most common types was <em>Cladosporium sphaerospermum<\/em> , found on reactor structures in heavily contaminated areas.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p> In their work, published back in 2007, the researchers <strong>Ekaterina Dadachova<\/strong> \u0438 <strong>Arturo Casadevall<\/strong> exposed melanized fungi to ionizing radiation in the laboratory; some of them showed improved growth rather than damage.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p> <em>Wangiella dermatitidis<\/em> demonstrated a clear increase in growth under the influence of radiation; <em>Cladosporium cladosporioides<\/em> increased melanin production, but without a similar effect on growth\u2014the responses are species-specific, not universal.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p> In experimental work <strong>2020, the results of which were published as a preprint,<\/strong> <em>mushroom C. sphaerospermum<\/em> was placed outside the International Space Station; less radiation passed through the mushroom layer than through a control sample, confirming its shielding function.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Melanin may not only protect the fungus but also convert ionizing radiation into useful energy in a process roughly comparable to photosynthesis. This is a hypothesis, not a result.<\/p>\n<h2> The idea is intriguing. There&#039;s no evidence yet.<\/h2>\n<p> <em>Radiosynthesis is a compelling concept, but biochemical evidence to support it has not yet been presented.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> The proposed mechanism is called: <strong>radiosynthesis<\/strong> . Think of it like solar panels, but instead of collecting sunlight, the input is energy that kills a person in about the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Melanin\u2014the same pigment found in human skin\u2014appears to interact differently with ionizing radiation in these fungi. Scientists speculate that it may convert this radiation into metabolic energy, a rough biological parallel to how plants use light.<\/p>\n<p> The problem is the word &quot;possible.&quot; According to a critical review of the available literature, no one has demonstrated radiation-dependent carbon fixation, a specific biochemical pathway, or a measurable energy gain from ionizing radiation. The ISS experiment confirmed <strong>shielding<\/strong> . He did not confirm the collection of carbon. These are two completely different statements, and it is precisely their conflation that leads to a misinterpretation of science.<\/p>\n<p> What remains remains astonishing. A fungus that thrives in one of Earth&#039;s most hostile environments\u2014and could potentially serve as radiation shielding for deep-space missions\u2014is a very real scientific story, without any exaggeration. If radiosynthesis is ever proven, it will rewrite the definition of what counts as a viable energy source. For now, the fungus guards its secrets, quietly growing in the darkness, seeking the source of something that destroys everything else.<\/p>\n<p> <em>From the coolest cars to must-have gadgets, GadgetReview&#039;s daily newsletter keeps you in the know.<\/em> <strong><em>Subscribe - it&#039;s fun, fast and free<\/em><\/strong> <em>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most organisms avoid radiation. But that&#039;s not the case here. Inside the ruins of Reactor No. 4, where a lethal dose accumulates in minutes, researchers discovered dark, melanized\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","hvn-theme-has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imgist.ru\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}