Grist | What bacteria in smoke means for our health @Grist | Uploaded January 2022 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
At a prescribed burn site in rural Idaho, a team of fire scientists are using a tricked-out drone to hunt for life in the smoke. What they discover could have big implications for our world, and our health.
Inside the cloud of smoke, amid all the dust and ash, are hundreds, or even thousands, of different bacteria and fungi. The scientists studying them are part of an entirely new field of research: Pyroaerobiology, the study of life in smoke.
The field is so new that it didn’t exist just a few years ago. Back then, there was only one published study on this subject. And it came from a high school science fair project.
At a prescribed burn site in rural Idaho, a team of fire scientists are using a tricked-out drone to hunt for life in the smoke. What they discover could have big implications for our world, and our health.
Inside the cloud of smoke, amid all the dust and ash, are hundreds, or even thousands, of different bacteria and fungi. The scientists studying them are part of an entirely new field of research: Pyroaerobiology, the study of life in smoke.
The field is so new that it didn’t exist just a few years ago. Back then, there was only one published study on this subject. And it came from a high school science fair project.
