Bizarre Chernobyl fungus that feeds on radiation may be key to space travel

Inside one of the most radioactive reactors in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a fungus has evolved a bit of a quirk.

It can gobble up radiation.

Cladosporium sphaerospermum has been found growing on the walls of the notorious No. 4 nuclear reactor, where the highest levels of radiation have been detected.

What is the Chernobyl fungus? The fungus was discovered in the late 1990s by microbiologist Nelli Zhdanova of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences.

It was one of some 39 species discovered growing on the walls and other parts of the unit/

A reactor at the plant melted down in 1986, releasing smoke and causing thousands of deaths from radiation.

An entire city, Pripyat, was evacuated and is abandoned to this day, lying within a 19-mile exclusion zone.

Cladosporium sphaeros