Chernobyl Microbes Are Heading to the International Space Station
SpaceX and NASA are ready to send the next cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, which contains over 250 different research investigations that the space station crew will carry out over the next few months. Tucked in among the various experiments are several strains of fungi straight from the world’s worst nuclear disaster: Chernobyl.
Thirty years ago, on April 26, 1986, technicians at Chernobyl’s infamous reactor number four were conducting routine systems testing when the reactor was struck by an unexpected power surge. This led to a chain of events that ultimately caused a completemeltdown, which blanketed the surrounding area in harmful radiation.
As a result, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster turned the area into a barren wasteland. During the incident, scientists estimate that the power plant released as much radioactive material into the environment as 400 atomic bombs, like the one that devastated Hiroshima, Japan.
Three decades later we are still witnessing the damaging effects of radiation exposure in local wildlife, plantlife, and residents of neighboring areas. However, among all the devastation, scientists are starting to see a glimmer of hope.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes that once was Chernobyl, several species of fungi were the first organisms to spring up, and are actually thriving in the radiation-soaked environment. These hearty extremophiles could be the key to developing new radiation therapies.
Kasthuri Venkateswaran (Venkat for short), a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is leading the charge to send colonies of these fungi up to the space station.
Samples of the Chernobyl fungi were collected at the site of the accident and at an area outside the fallout zone. Upon inspection, scientists noticed that a portion of the species collected at the site were not only thriving but actually growing towards the radiation.
“Berkeley National Lab has an agreement that allows them to collect samples from the Chernobyl accident site,” explained Venkat. “Following the accident, fungi were the first organisms to pop up and scientists wanted to understand how they can thrive in such an environment.”
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Data: 19.07.2016
Fonte: www.motherboard.vice.com
SpaceX and NASA are ready to send the next cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, which contains over 250 different research investigations that the space station crew will carry out over the next few months. Tucked in among the various experiments are several strains of fungi straight from the world’s worst nuclear disaster: Chernobyl.
Thirty years ago, on April 26, 1986, technicians at Chernobyl’s infamous reactor number four were conducting routine systems testing when the reactor was struck by an unexpected power surge. This led to a chain of events that ultimately caused a completemeltdown, which blanketed the surrounding area in harmful radiation.
As a result, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster turned the area into a barren wasteland. During the incident, scientists estimate that the power plant released as much radioactive material into the environment as 400 atomic bombs, like the one that devastated Hiroshima, Japan.
Three decades later we are still witnessing the damaging effects of radiation exposure in local wildlife, plantlife, and residents of neighboring areas. However, among all the devastation, scientists are starting to see a glimmer of hope.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes that once was Chernobyl, several species of fungi were the first organisms to spring up, and are actually thriving in the radiation-soaked environment. These hearty extremophiles could be the key to developing new radiation therapies.
Kasthuri Venkateswaran (Venkat for short), a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is leading the charge to send colonies of these fungi up to the space station.
Samples of the Chernobyl fungi were collected at the site of the accident and at an area outside the fallout zone. Upon inspection, scientists noticed that a portion of the species collected at the site were not only thriving but actually growing towards the radiation.
“Berkeley National Lab has an agreement that allows them to collect samples from the Chernobyl accident site,” explained Venkat. “Following the accident, fungi were the first organisms to pop up and scientists wanted to understand how they can thrive in such an environment.”
Read all...
Data: 19.07.2016
Fonte: www.motherboard.vice.com
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