Didn’t know what specific flair this called for. I saw some post on fb, which I never taking at face value, but I also do not have the knowledge to dispute it or confirm it. I did a bit of research myself, but didn’t find the answers I was looking for. All I managed to find, or think I learned, is that it just thrives in radiation but isn’t decreasing it. Maybe not? Help? lol
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If you are asking whether it is preventing the radioactive material from emitting radiation, then no. The fungus can’t change how radioactive its surroundings are. Even if it absorbed the radioactive material, it wouldn’t stop it from emitting radiation. (The fungus could absorb some of the radiation, but so can any other material.)
From what I’ve read (e.g. this article in [The Science News](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dark-power-pigment-seems-put-radiation-good-use)), the fungus seems to grow faster in the radiation field, which is surprising and counterintuitive. Gamma radiation is destructive to living tissue; the fungus can’t extract energy directly from the gamma rays. (This is mostly true: after attenuating the gamma rays enough, they could be low-energy enough to absorb. Of course, other plants and fungi could do the same thing, although maybe not as effectively, or in the same energy ranges.)
However, not all living things react to damage the same way. It’s possible that the fungus reacts to damage by increasing the melanin it produces, or by producing a different variety of melanin. Scientists think that the melanin in the fungus helps it, perhaps by increasing its ability to absorb nutrients.
I don’t think anybody understands what is happening completely, but it is really interesting.
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