Very interesting. It also helps explain why immuno-compromised populations can be the source of widespread infection and a reason for ensuring proper nutrition for others.
Also, 'bugs' have an even better system now days, known as humans on airplanes. Not that airplanes are the major source of infection dispersal but the fact that airplanes release people all over the world. In fact, it has always been my feeling that international agencies are major causes of disease spread since male staff often have a 'girlfriend' in every port. Bill On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 01:55:35 -0400 "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > We've always believed the sky was alive with life. Now you are > proving it > for us. The next thing will be to discover conscious purpose and > the third > will be relationship and balance of all life as a necessity and then > you > will have reached Pre-Columbian science, thought and religion. > > REH > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 3:33 PM > Subject: [Futurework] The high life > > > > For those who don't want to think about a possible American > invasion of > > Saudi Arabia for the rest of the summer, here's an article that > might > > interest you. It's little to do with Futurework, but fascinating > nonetheless. > > > > KSH > > <<<< > > THE HIGH LIFE > > > > Scientists in America believe that clouds have a dark secret: > they're > > created by viruses and bacteria as a means of global transport > > > > Fred Pearce > > > > Do bugs control our weather? Can viruses travel thousands of miles > on the > > winds? Is there a whole ecosystem up in the clouds that we have > not > > discovered? The answer to all three questions could be yes, > according to > > scientists who are exploring the microbial metropolises in the > skies. > > > > There is, they say, growing evidence that bacteria, fungal spores > and > > viruses may spend large amounts of time -- even their entire lives > -- in > > the air, riding clouds across the planet. And they don't just > inhabit the > > clouds -- they may also be creating them. Certainly, many of the > clouds' > > newly discovered inhabitants are exquisitely designed to create > the > maximum > > number of ice crystals, the basic building-blocks of clouds. Some > Darwinian > > biologists even argue that the bugs may have evolved for that very > job. > > > > "The ecology of the atmosphere is one of the last great frontiers > of > > biological exploration on Earth," says Bruce Moffett of the > University of > > East London. Within the next year, he hopes to conduct the first > systematic > > bug-hunt in the clouds above Britain. > > > > Until recently, nobody believed that bacteria and viruses spent > much more > > time in the air than it takes to sneeze on your neighbour. > Scientists > > assumed that if the material got caught up in the winds, it would > quickly > > be killed by ultraviolet radiation from the sun. But Gene Shinn of > the US > > Geological Survey in St Petersburg, Florida, who has examined > their > > airborne lifestyle in detail, says that the bacteria seem to > protect > > themselves from harmful rays by becoming attached to dust > particles. In > > dust clouds, the amount of UV radiation will be lower than in > "normal" > > situations. And one of Shinn's USGS colleagues, Dale Griffin, > suggests > that > > bacteria might survive even longer if they get into cracks in the > > parades.`They can survive travelling long distances, and spread > disease on > > arrival. > > > > Shinn has discovered that bacteria and fungi carried aloft on dust > storms > > coming out of the Sahel region of West Africa can journey across > the > > Atlantic in large numbers. So far, he has isolated more than 130 > species > of > > African bacteria and fungal spores over the Caribbean. Not only > that, he > > says that they are probably responsible for a series of dramatic > epidemics > > among Caribbean coral reefs in recent years. > > > > One example is an African soil fungus called Aspergillus sydowii. > It was > > first spotted in the Caribbean in 1983. That was a year of intense > African > > drought. Huge clouds of dust billowed into the upper atmosphere > and > > travelled west on the trade winds, forming a dense haze over the > waters of > > the Caribbean. Since those clouds brought A. sydowii, says Shinn, > the > > fungus has killed more than 90 percent of the region's sea fans -- > a form > > of soft coral."Much of the decline in coral reefs in the Caribbean > in > > recent years seems to be a result of pathogens transported in dust > from > > Africa," says Shinn. > > > > Last year, Griffin dramatically raised the stakes when he > suggested that > > the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain in 2001 may have > arrived > > on winds from Africa. He noticed that the first case of the > disease was > > reported in February 2001, just a week after satellite pictures > had shown > a > > huge dust storm carrying sand from the Sahara to Britain. Saharan > cattle > > are known to carry the same strain of the virus as turned up on > British > > farms. The evidence is purely circumstantial. But it is not > impossible, > > virologists admit. A previous outbreak of foot-and-mouth in > Britain was > > traced to the > > -- virus blowing across the English Channel`from France. So why > not a > > longer journey? > > > > Some researchers believe that bugs do more than hitch a ride in > clouds. > > They may make the clouds, too. It turns out that many > cloud-inhabiting > > bacteria are brilliantly designed for cloud-seeding: that is, for > > triggering the formation of ice crystals around which water > vapour > > coalesces to create water droplets. They do this by producing a > protein > > that mimics the shape of an ice crystal's surface, which could > help growth > > to get started. > > > > Many bacteria seem to be able to form ice crystals, but the best > equipped > > appears to be Pseudomonas syringae, which commonly grows on plant > matter, > > aiding the decomposition process. A single gram containing a > million > > bacteria could theoretically produce up to a million ice crystals. > It can > > trigger the formation of ice at temperatures of 13C, higher than > other > "ice > > nucleators". This ability is so well known that the bacteria are > sometimes > > added to the water put into snow-making machines at Alpine ski > resorts. In > > the atmosphere, the bacteria create clouds. > > > > All this raises some questions, which Moffett hopes to answer. "We > want to > > discover if it is true that microbes play an active role in > forming clouds > > and making rain," he says. "In other words, whether there is an > active, > > self-sustaining ecosystem up there." > > > > One intriguing piece of evidence -- barely noticed by scientists > at the > > time -- came in research done 20 years ago by Russell Schnell of > the > > University of Colorado. Trying to find out why western Kenya had > so many > > hailstorms, he stumbled on the fact that most of the hailstones > there > > contained at their heart a scrap of R syringae. > > > > How do the bugs get into the atmosphere in the first place? On > land, one > > major route is in smoke from forest and bush fires. Another is > dust > storms. > > Schnell reckoned the bacteria in his hail stones were stirred up > by the > > feet of pickers in the region's tea plantations. On the oceans, > tiny > > bacteria and plankton on the water's surface may gain lift-off > after > > getting caught in the air bubbles of whitecaps. > > > > And why would bacteria have developed ice-making skills? Or, to > put it > more > > correctly, what is the selective advantage in Darwinist terms for > bacteria > > to carry genes that trigger ice-making? This is the million-dollar > > Darwinian question. > > > > Most researchers believe that the skill first developed on the > ground, to > > make frost that decomposes leaf Utter -- thus providing the > bacteria with > > food. But why would bacteria living in the tropics retain > ice-creating > > skills when temperatures are generally too high for frost > formation? The > > answer could be in the clouds, where temperatures are cold enough > for ice > > formation. What evolutionary benefit might the bacteria gain from > this? > One > > argument is that the resulting rain helps plants grow, and makes > more > > leaves for bacteria down below to eat. > > > > But there may be another Darwinian purpose, says Tim Linton of the > Centre > > for Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh. Clouds are an efficient > > transportation system for the bacteria to spread themselves across > the > > planet. Linton and the late William Hamilton, one of the world's > leading > > evolutionary theorists, have suggested that cloud formation allows > the > > bacteria to travel farther and to be "rained out" back on to the > ground. > > > > Much of this is pretty speculative. But whatever the possible > motives for > > bacteria to make clouds, one practical spin-off of their skills is > that > > scientists might develop more efficient "organic" methods of > seeding > > clouds, using bacteria instead of chemicals. That is one reason > why > > agriculturalists and military strategists may be taking notice > when, > > probably later this year, Moffett takes a device rather like a > vacuum > > cleaner into the skies to capture and investigate the unknown > ecology in > > the clouds over England. Hopefully, this experiment will i answer > many of > > the questions raised by the intriguing notion of ice-generating > genes and > > bacteria. > > >>>> > > Independent Review 20 August 2003 > > > > > > Keith Hudson, 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath, England, > > <www.evolutionary-economics.org> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
