ASU Study Finds 10 Million Bacteria in a Thimbleful of Fog, Actively Consuming Pollutants
Updated
Updated · Futurism · Jun 2
ASU Study Finds 10 Million Bacteria in a Thimbleful of Fog, Actively Consuming Pollutants
3 articles · Updated · Futurism · Jun 2
Only 1% of fog droplets carried bacteria, but a thimbleful still held about 10 million microbes, and ASU researchers found they were alive, growing and dividing.
Radiation fog samples taken before, during and after fog events showed some bacteria—especially Methylobacteria—multiplied in the droplets and used formaldehyde as food.
The findings, published in Environmental Microbiology, suggest fog behaves less like passive airborne moisture and more like a habitat comparable in bacterial concentration to the ocean.
That shift could matter for air quality because the microbes may help remove pollutants, while also raising questions about proposals to harvest fog as drinking water.