Scientists have been stunned to find a strange, pitch‑black fungus thriving inside one of the most radioactive buildings on Earth - the structure built around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The weird, velvety mould has been seen clinging to the interior walls of the infamous reactor's shelter, where radiation levels are so high that they would normally spell doom for living things.
Now experts think it might be the key to keeping astronauts safe from radiation in space and could be used to protect people living on the Moon and Mars.
Chernobyl exploded in 1986 in the worst nuclear disaster in history, one that cost thousands of lives over time. Clean-up to make the site totally safe will take until 2065 to finish.
Discovered during late‑1990s surveys of the exclusion zone placed around the plant, cadosporium sphaerospermum was part of a whole community of fungi seen loving life in the fallout of the disaster.
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Scientists logged 37 species, many of them dark as night thanks to melanin - the same pigment that colours human skin and hair, but one fungus in particular caught their eye.
Cadosporium sphaerospermum outgrew its rivals under radiation that would normally shred DNA and derail biochemistry.
When blasted with more deadly rays in the lab, the mould didn't wither but grew better.
The melanin in its cells didn’t just seem to shield it but appeared to be helping the fungus tap into the energy around it - powering itself not by sunlight but by radiation.
A previous study proposed that fungal melanin might play a role similar to chlorophyll in plants, potentially helping the organism convert environmental radiation into usable energy.
In 2022, researchers launched black fungus into orbit and attached it to the exterior of the International Space Station.
Sensors beneath the petri dishes recorded less radiation passing through the fungal mat than through a control sample, suggesting real shielding potential.
If a living, self‑repairing, easy‑to‑grow coating can dampen cosmic rays, it could mean that future space habitats could be lined with bio‑armour.
Spacecraft, lunar bases, or even Mars outposts might sport a thin, living layer to blunt the effects of radiation.
