While antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise, you might have thought that the potentially deadly bugs would be found mostly in the places where people and other animals congregate: namely, the surface of the Earth. But researchers from Canada and France have found them in a most remarkable place.
Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and fungi are responsible for killing at least 1.27 million people worldwide every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fighting these superbugs is getting increasingly difficult, although researchers are working on some novel methods including using gold, self-assembling “nanonets,” and shape-shifting antibiotics.
1st-ever close-up photo of Mars’ moon Deimos reveals the Red Planet’s violent past
Because of the significant public health threat posed by antibiotic resistant microbes, learning as much about them and how they move about our planet is critical. That’s what researchers from Université Laval in Quebec, Canada and Université Clermont Auvergne in France set out to do when they investigated clouds floating around a dormant volcano in France’s Massif Central region. Working out of a weather station located 1,465 meters (about 4,806 ft) high on the Puy de Dôme summit, they conducted 12 cloud-sampling sessions over the course of two years.
Read more: New Atlas
