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Neptune-neptune t1_j5omsuu wrote

For some reason, I went down a rabbit hole last year and learned all about cicadas. They have a similar fungus that infects them, and they are kept in check as well. There is also a new species of bacteria called Ideonella sakaiensis, which eats plastic. My point is that the earth, or nature, has a way of balancing things out. I don’t think people realize this.

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[deleted] t1_j5ozqcp wrote

There are also bacteria that eat radioactive waste. Nature is way ahead of us.

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Nadaesque t1_j5qcidk wrote

There's fungi who like to live near it, but nothing digests and destroys radioactive waste. To do so would either involve alchemy or colliders. A radioactive atom stays an unstable isotope until it absorbs or emits something.

That's what people don't really get about radioactive contamination of soils and such. Burn it in a furnace? Radioactive smoke.

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