Bugs in the Atmosphere: Significant Microorganism Populations Found in Middle and Upper Troposphere

Bugs in the Atmosphere: Significant Microorganism Populations Found in Middle and Upper Troposphere

www.sciencedaily.com...

Jan. 28, 2013 — In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers used genomic techniques to document the presence of significant numbers of living microorganisms -- principally bacteria -- in the middle and upper troposphere, that section of the atmosphere approximately four to six miles above Earth's surface.

This is just awesome!

We have demonstrated that our technique works, and that we can get some interesting information," Nenes said. "A big fraction of the atmospheric particles that traditionally would have been expected to be dust or sea salt may actually be bacteria. At this point we are just seeing what's up there, so this is just the beginning of what we hope to do."

They are still researching the metabolic rates and implications, but I have to wonder what effects 'CO2' and other greenhouse gasses have on these microorganisms, as well their possible involvement with maintaining atmospheric levels of gasses, if any.

reply to post by retirednature


well this is pretty interesting if they are actual microbes that live all the time in the atmosphere this could mean that there are other small creatures up there

Originally posted by grey9438
reply to post by retirednature

 

well this is pretty interesting if they are actual microbes that live all the time in the atmosphere this could mean that there are other small creatures up there

I've always wondered that.
Makes my theory on the space critters seem a little more plausible.

Very awesome! I always wondered if in space we would find fauna and flora. Makes sense.

Seriously though how deep can they survive? How big do they get??

I wonder if they could be brought up in the evaporation process?

Or if they are living in floating colonies?

This lends an idea to the possibility that creatures could form on gas giants?

If even micro-organisms..

Originally posted by yourmaker
I wonder if they could be brought up in the evaporation process?

Or if they are living in floating colonies?

From what I've read, they are living, floating colonies.

The abstract for the following paper looks interesting.
aem.asm.org...

Simultaneous sampling for microorganisms was accomplished at altitudes of 690, 1,600, and 3,127 meters. The location of temperature inversions in relation to the collection altitude determined, to a great extent, the micropopulation. High micropopulations were found when an inversion was above the sampling altitude, and low populations when the inversion was below the sampling altitude. Diurnal periodicity which could be generally correlated with periods of minimal and maximal convective activity was observed. Evidence is presented showing that the micropopulation is more stable at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes.

I wonder what conditions are present at higher altitudes that are conducive to stable "micropopulation's". Any ideas?

Originally posted by samuel1990

Originally posted by grey9438
reply to post by retirednature

 

well this is pretty interesting if they are actual microbes that live all the time in the atmosphere this could mean that there are other small creatures up there

I've always wondered that.
Makes my theory on the space critters seem a little more plausible.

Haha move over man, I've been saying in my opinion there is in all possibility 'critters' up there.

We see life in the most extreme places.... space is no exception to the lack of rules life plays by.

If it weren't for the exploration of the deepest oceans, we'd still be under the impression no life can exist near sulphur vents and in extreme heat.

yet there it thrives.

reply to post by samuel1990


it helps because now wed have the begining of a food chain

Space jellyfish are real

Wow this is awesome! Bacteria in our atmosphere eh! Like previously stated, I wonder how large thay can get or have gotten? Maybe that's how those Flying Dragons that were reported a while back came from... (I'm kidding of course, but still)

thanks for posting OP. S+F

The comment about food chains is spot on, generally where there is a food source there is a predator, will this see the discovery of Tropo-plankton, and will we see a real investigation into these upper atmosphere 'worms' that are seen now and again (could these be the predators ?).

On a more scientific view, if you like, will this see us able to predict global disease and poisoning by sampling and mapping the bacteria that must inevitably fall down at some point ? (This could give a new angle on the old belief of bad-air').

Will we also find viruses up there too...so close to solar and cosmic radiation they would be ripe for fast mutations, again this could see an extension of meteorology into bacterial/viral science.

This was sort of the premise of "The Andromeda Strain". Let's go bring some back and see if we can weaponize them!

reply to post by current93


That would add a whole new meaning to ''The Sky Is Falling!!!''.

Ok, I'm going to go into speculation mode here...

These organisms must play a critical part in the stability of our atmosphere, as all eco-systems are pretty crucial on this planet.

Now, let's suppose man made global warming is a real phenomenon (which I'm on the fence about I might add), then what if all this CO2 and CFC's are killing these microbes thus weakening our atmosphere and allowing the planet to warm up? Stay with me...

What if things got so bad, we could possibly farm these microbes to produce more of them and then re-inhabit the atmosphere via high altitude planes?

Just some thoughts. They wouldn't be chemtrails, they would be bio-trails...

Any thoughts?

Micro-critters in the upper atmosphere have been known about for quite a while. What is new is that this group seems to be about to characterize what is in a specific level.

I hope this is just a start and others get involved. It would be very interesting to find out what is at what level and whether they are active or dormant.

Do I have any micro-critters in my teeth?

At the heart of hail there is often the spore of bacteria that forms the hail. This is no reason to fear hail but it is interesting. These bacteria get around the world this way and they don't even need passports.

reply to post by retirednature

This makes me wonder what could be found in the upper atmosphere on Vensus where pressures and temperatures are more earth like.

Just curious, is there anywhere on the planet that we haven't found some sort of life? If not, doesn't that mean that there could be life literally everywhere and we just haven't found the methods to find it all? I've read it before, who's to say all life is built the way we know it to be? Maybe the rocks on Mars are alive, maybe the sands, etc. There's really no way of knowing until (if ever) we find a way to determine all possible forms life could take.

RODS?

This reminds me of a topic I first came across when I wandered into this place called ATS...something about some giant, almost invisible, long, bug-like thingys that shoot real fast from place to place in the atmosphere.

LoL! I know that sounds crazy, and it probably is... but does anyone know what I'm referring to?

If there are little critters like these, couldn't there be big ones too?

reply to post by retirednature


I wonder if any of these could be bio-luminescent, like the life in the deep ocean? It would explain a lot of weird UFO type sightings over the years.

This is so cool!!