Do you enjoy winter sports? Well you can thank microbes for that;
they play a significant role in the formation of snowflakes. Microbes, bacteria
mostly are added to snowmakers at ski resorts because they have a protein cell
wall that when they all come together forms a geometric patterns the allow snow
creation in warmer conditions. Microbiologist Brent Christner at Louisiana
State University in Baton Rouge has collected microbial samples from in 19
different mountains, including Bozeman, Mont., the French Alps, Ross Island in
Antarctica and a glacier in the Yukon's Wheaton River Valley. Christner found
that places isolated from the public had fewer microbes. He added heat to his samples and discovered that
they could no longer aid in the formation of ice. Theoretically this means that
these microbes must basically lose the ability to do this job when exposed to
dust in the atmosphere. Christner, however does not think that this is
sufficient evidence to prove that these microbes originated in the clouds.
These microbes could have picked up during precipitation according to Christner.
I found Christner’s argument to be understandable and to the
point. He performed the experiments, ran the tests and came up with the best
logical conclusion: Microbes that live in the clouds would eventually come into
contact with dust particles there for stripping them of their protein cell wall
disabling them from aiding in ice formation. Christner is appealing to logic
and authority in his argument. Science is like a big puzzle and men like
Chritner are just trying to fit the pieces together.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-microbes-make-snow/
This is a great article! Never knew that microbes had an influence on the snowflake formation. It's interesting to think that microbes live in the clouds, I've never thought about that before. This is a really awesome article!
ReplyDeleteSo, you’re telling me that when I wipeout on my skies or snowboard, I’m falling on packed bacteria? I have seen some people even eat some of the fresh powder on the mountain. Now I know that they are getting a little more then snow. I usually go skiing or snowboarding two - three times a month and I have never thought much of microbes on the slopes. Honestly I didn’t even know they used microbes to make snow. Your article made me realize that microbes are really everywhere even in the least expected places, like the snow on the mountain. I guess I should be thankful to these microbes for making skiing so much fun!
ReplyDeleteWow you learn something new every time you read these blog posts. Microbes really impact everything that surrounds us. I also had no clue these little creatures lived on clouds. Really informative article!
ReplyDelete