6 ms·
I mean why not? Hard radiation tends to destroy whatever it hits on a molecular/atomic level. If you have a biological shield which is constantly refreshing its
by kortex 5y ago
I mean why not? Hard radiation tends to destroy whatever it hits on a molecular/atomic level. If you have a biological shield which is constantly refreshing itself, you can possibly have a much lighter assembly. Mycelium has also been used to purify water. It might be possible to integrate shielding with water storage/buffer and recycling.
It'll probably require layering different types of material to convert higher energy radiation (like cosmic rays) to more manageable spectra.
- FredPret 5y agoIf we had a fungi that could purify water and block out deep space radiation, that would be one sweet mushroom. Better hope it doesn’t die halway to Mars!
- kortex 5y agoYeah, that would be something we'd want to do long-scale simulation tests of before setting sail. Build a simulated spaceship, probably in orbit for maximum accuracy, and see how everything holds up. Tbh I'd be more concerned about the humans cracking psychologically before the fungus dying. They are hardy buggers.