Some fungi eat radiation and I mean like really radioactive things like the walls of the Chernobyl reactor. Now, normally strong radiation is not considered food for organisms because it kills them at high enough doses, but not these fungi. They grow even bigger and faster when they are eating radiation now when I say eat they're basically chewing and swallowing radiation-filled dirt, Then the radiation exposure kicks the fungi' metabolism into high gear. It's likely their color that allows them to do this, particularly melanin, the molecule responsible for skin color and other pigmentation. Studies have shown that after radiation exposure, cells with melanin in them increase their metabolic activity. Some scientists speculate that melanin might be able to absorb radiation and redirect that energy for other functions in the cell, so researchers are studying these unique fungi to potentially use their melanin to solve problems like radiation exposure from traveling and living in space.