Earth’s stratosphere is a mysterious superhighway for microbes
Some organisms found on Earth’s surface lead a double life riding high in the atmosphere
Seen from a scientific balloon 30 kilometers above New Mexico, the stratosphere is a gray zone between Earth and space. The air pressure at this height is one percent that at sea level and the ultraviolet radiation is intense. But scientists are learning that some microbes survive here, at least temporarily.
Elvis Andrés Ayala/Trinidad System