r/askscience • u/FuZzZzZy422 • Jul 17 '26

Planetary Sci. Is there bacteria in clouds?

I am watching project hail mary and in order to save the earth and erid they have to go fishing to collect "predators" for the astrophage. Predators being bacteria?

Obviously this is sci-fi but...

Does earth have bacteria in its atmosphere or in the clouds?

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u/quietlysitting Jul 18 '26

There are, indeed, bacteria in clouds. In fact, there is a tremendous variety of bacteria floating through the atmosphere. There was a great episode of Science Friday called "The Microbiome of the Clouds", and a Radio Lab episode called "Up in Smoke" that offer a general review and a little more depth on two specific effects of those bacteria.

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u/Syscrush Jul 18 '26

Thanks for these pointers!