Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[MelloHero]

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/duncan/17611/

Does anyone else think the "food source for astronauts or nuclear winter" thing sounds incredibly dwarfy?

[Jeoshua]

So it's basically Plump Helmets In !!SPACE!!.

Yes, I realize that "!!SPACE!!" is on fire, there. After all, they would be growing them in hard radiation.

[UnrealJake]

Oh my god.

I hate mushrooms but DAYUMN dats some fine fungus...

[Jeoshua]

It also raises an interesting science question.

If this fungus does this with melanin, a chemical that exists in the human body... would it be possible for the human body to be "taught" this chemical enhancement? Presuming, of course, that you could mitigate the amount of damage this could do to our DNA... not to mention cancer.

That's some tough, ass fungus.  Seriously, it's probably got the taste and smell of burnt rubber,

[Mel_Vixen]

Its not just food. You can actualy build with Fungy. Hehe you can actually mold them or form them like styrofoam if you have the right tools.

But now we know how Plumphelmets can grow. They feast on the decaying radon that accumulates in the caverns turning the co2 down there into oxygen and biomass!

[MelloHero]

^As much as I hate using memes in other forums, I've got to say this.

inb4 this becomes the official explanation for dwarf fortress construction.

[RF]

This is quite possibly the best thing I've ever seen.

[Lost Requiem]

I thought of the Japanese Miracle from Ghost in the Shell. Just in time to deal with the nuclear emergency in Japan right now.

[RF]

I thought of the Japanese Miracle from Ghost in the Shell. Just in time to deal with the nuclear emergency in Japan right now.

Hell, Japan could probably make a profit off it. Throw a bunch of magic mushroom spores in, grow them and breed them and then sell the super 'shrooms off to Amsterdam. Basically instant money.

[NW_Kohaku]

Researchers believe that melanin is present to protect fungi from stress, such as radiation, and that certain species use this molecule for metabolic reactions. Dadachova's lab discovered that exposure to radiation caused the melanin in these species to change shape, increasing its ability to impact metabolism and growth.

Homer: If we learned one thing from The Amazing Colossal Man and Grasshopperus, it's that radiation makes stuff grow real big, real fast.
Marge: But didn't Grasshopperus kill Chad Everett?
Homer: Only because he tried to reason with him.

Surely tossing this mutant fungus to allow its unchecked growth consuming hazardous radioactive material that will still be radioactive, but now part of a living creature's metabolism, in a way where we have very little way to shut down any out-of-control reaction without killing the people who try to perform it will have absolutely no unforseen consequences!

Why no, this doesn't sound like a bad science fiction plot opening sequence whatsoever! 

[ZachUSAman]

Researchers believe that melanin is present to protect fungi from stress, such as radiation, and that certain species use this molecule for metabolic reactions. Dadachova's lab discovered that exposure to radiation caused the melanin in these species to change shape, increasing its ability to impact metabolism and growth.

Homer: If we learned one thing from The Amazing Colossal Man and Grasshopperus, it's that radiation makes stuff grow real big, real fast.
Marge: But didn't Grasshopperus kill Chad Everett?
Homer: Only because he tried to reason with him.

Surely tossing this mutant fungus to allow its unchecked growth consuming hazardous radioactive material that will still be radioactive, but now part of a living creature's metabolism, in a way where we have very little way to shut down any out-of-control reaction without killing the people who try to perform it will have absolutely no unforseen consequences!

Why no, this doesn't sound like a bad science fiction plot opening sequence whatsoever! 

if somebody had a flamethrower...

[RF]

Why no, this doesn't sound like a bad science fiction plot opening sequence whatsoever! 

Anything that takes the world one step closer to a science fiction B-movie is something that, in my opinion, should be wholly supported.

[cerapa]

Researchers believe that melanin is present to protect fungi from stress, such as radiation, and that certain species use this molecule for metabolic reactions. Dadachova's lab discovered that exposure to radiation caused the melanin in these species to change shape, increasing its ability to impact metabolism and growth.

Homer: If we learned one thing from The Amazing Colossal Man and Grasshopperus, it's that radiation makes stuff grow real big, real fast.
Marge: But didn't Grasshopperus kill Chad Everett?
Homer: Only because he tried to reason with him.

Surely tossing this mutant fungus to allow its unchecked growth consuming hazardous radioactive material that will still be radioactive, but now part of a living creature's metabolism, in a way where we have very little way to shut down any out-of-control reaction without killing the people who try to perform it will have absolutely no unforseen consequences!

Why no, this doesn't sound like a bad science fiction plot opening sequence whatsoever! 

if somebody had a flamethrower...

We could always just nuke it.

Oh, wait...

[Dradym]

we already make vitamin d from sunlight-so if you could somehow live off of one vitamin, you could totally do this

[Wavecutter]

"using melanin raises the possibility that this chemical also converts radiation from the sun into food for our skin cells,"

I take this to mean that instead of the sun depleting our skin it would actually nourish it.