Mass Extinctions, Evolutionary Leaps, and the Virus-Information Connection

[thorbiorn]

Here is the pdf for chapter 25.

Thank you Pierre, for this enlightening chapter.

Observations:

Actually nuclear detonation are so similar to meteorites explosions that he took a full investigation by NATO and the US army to determine what was thought at first as the nuclear explosion and was in fact a meteoritic event.

Oftentimes intense lightning bolts have been witnessed within and/or around tornadoes. For reference, one single lightning bolt generate on average 300 million Volts and 30,000 Amperes11.

Perhaps the range in power could be mentioned.

Different power leads to different effects
Some strikes apparently produce gamma rays: How Gamma-Rays from Lightning Produce Radioisotopes and Positrons
x-rays: Lightning Captured by X-Ray Camera—A First

In this article in Windpowerengeneering.com they claim:

From articles in Windpower Engineering & Development, we learn that lightning bolts carry from 5 kA to 200 kA and voltages vary from 40 kV to 120 kV. So if we take some averages, say, 100 kA and 100 kV, this bolt would carry this much power, P:

That is one estimate. Here is from the insurance industry:

How Lightning Damage Affects Insurance Markets - NARDAC

Robert Bates, Head of Claims, investigates the numerous impacts of lightning on renewable energy projects. Q: What causes lightning? Lightning … How Lightning Damage Affects Insurance Markets Read More

nardac.com

The typical lightning strike produces 55 kWh of energy. According to a recent investigation, lightning strikes may have more power than previously thought. Significant strikes can be multiples of the average. This means that a powerful lightning strike could be 20 times more powerful than an average one.

20 times 55kWh is 1100 kWh!

And there was this:

On March 4, 2019, a single lightning event in Argentina split the sky for a whopping 16.73 seconds, more than doubling the previous record of 7.74 seconds in southern France. And on Halloween last year, October 31, 2019, a single megaflash in southern Brazil stretched for more than 435 miles (700 km) between its two most distant points, branching and snaking all over the place along the way. Again, this extraordinary number more than doubled the previous record – a 199.5-mile (321-km) flash recorded in Oklahoma in 2007.

In this page, I found an image which looks at the lightning strike as a series of different stages, each with a duration.

Theoretical electric field induced by a high-altitude EMP. Burst height is 75 km.

If one did a high altitude test, one might move the thin air at that altitude, but this mass of air also has electric charge. Could part of the effect from such an explosion be the moved air in the atmosphere?
Anyway, here are some data about estimated breakup altitudes from the Wiki on Meteor air burst

In 2022, there were two listed events higher than 3kT in total impact energy.

2022-02-07 20:06:26

28.7S

11.4E

26.5

13.1

-8.9

-7.3

-6.3

348.0e10

7

2022-03-11 21:22:46

70.0N

9.1W

33.3

17.2

-11.5

-5.3

-11.7

185.1e10

4

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

Source :

A new method of lightning removal using a laser has been developed​

14:20 17.01.2023 Science

A group of French, Swiss and German scientists from the University of Geneva, the Ecole Polytechnique and other research centers have developed a new lightning rod using a laser. This technology allows you to reflect lightning for tens of meters, even in bad weather. The findings of the work are described in the journal Nature Photonics.

Existing lightning rods are tall metal piles that are limited in size. For example, a ten meter structure will only be able to cover an area with a radius of ten meters. Because of this, there are certain difficulties in protecting objects over a large area, such as an airport or a nuclear power plant.

A laser lightning rod creates channels of ionized air and directs lightning along its beam. In addition, the laser is able to expand upwards, which allows you to create the desired coverage area.

As a result of the experiments, a laser with a power of one kilowatt and one joule per pulse was used, which lasted a picosecond. It was tested on the top of Santi, which is located at an altitude of 2502 meters. The device was designed to protect a 124-meter telecommunications tower, which regularly suffers from lightning strikes. The laser was also equipped with special sensors and instruments for observing lightning.

After a year of data analysis, experts concluded that the discharge could follow the beam for almost 60 meters before reaching the tower, which means that the laser increased the radius of the protective surface from 120 to 180 meters. Moreover, such a lightning rod is able to work even in difficult weather conditions, for example, in fog.

 

[Benjamin]

Hi Pierre! My alerts didn't alert me that these new chapters were here. And now I'm a little embarrassed to say, I'm back. Another really good chapter! Thanks for sharing it!

Chapter 23:

So far we’ve seen that cometary events were the cause of most, if not all, mass extinctions and probably of the two most severe pandemics recorded in history.

- ...for...

Knowing the central role played by virus in the genetic code of life-forms...

- ...viruses...

For reference, the total annual primary production of biomass is estimated be over 100 billion tons per year[7] of which as significant amount...

- ...a...

The presence of adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil, which are the five amino acids[26] constituting of DNA and RNA, have been reported.

- ...constituting DNA...

Aromatic material extracted from the Murchison meteorite shows absorption at ~2011 Angstroms [31]

- In the PDF version, the tilde is in the upper register. I don't know if that matters.

If all the dwarf stars in our galaxy are similarly endowed with comets, then the total mass of all the comets in our galaxy, with its 10ll dwarf stars, turns out to be some 1040 grams, which is just the amount of all the interstellar organic particles..[33]

- There are 2 periods.

The list of organics found comets and interstellar grain (comet dust) keeps increasing:

- ... found in comets...

Remember this quote by the same Wickramasinghe and Hoyle:

- I wonder if you are trying to draw attention to the fact that this quote is in two different publications (see footnotes 12 & 38)? I would write this a bit differently. As it is, it makes me think that the authors were writing under a pseudonym or something. Or just remove "the same".

Since the “biological systems” are the only ones able the produce organic material in massive quantities and since organic materials are found in substantial quantities in comets, the obvious question is “Do comets carry “biological systems”, especially microorganisms?

- ...able to produce...

and

- “Do comets carry 'biological systems', especially microorganisms?"

Several researchers[39] [40]including NASA’s head of astrobiology Richard Hoover have published numerous papers showing the presence of bacteria, fossilized or not, in meteoritic material.

- Needs a comma and space after [40] and a comma after Hoover.

The diagram below shows a comparison between the spectra of bacteria E. Coli and the carbonaceous component of the Murchison meteorite.[42]It displays...

- Needs a space after [42].

In addition to cyanobacteria and to E-coli, the examination...

- Delete 'to'.

However, 13 years later, the same David McKay, published a paper tackling these arguments one by one, confirming the presence of bacteria in ALH84001, and cherry on the cake, showing...

- Move comma to after 'and'.

Many of the organized elements resemble Chrysophytes (related to diatoms) and Hystricho- spheres (fossilized dinollagellates, cysts and spore cysts of dinoflagellates).

- Delete space.

This approach also kept the original structures of the microfossils intact and the results, once again confirmed the presence of microorganism in meteoritic material:

- ...microorganisms...

In 2018, R.B. Hoover, founder and head of NASA astrobiology research corroborated Pflug's findings of diatom inside the Orgueil meteorite[58].

- ...diatoms...

A few months later, in 2013, during an experiment called "Test", Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov identified a marine-type alga (phytoplankton) collected from the windows of the International Space Station, which is at a height of 420[60] kilometers[61]

- Add period. Also (and this is a bit messy) I might move the '[61]' to behind "Test" or 'Station'. The reference is more relevant this way. But then the [61] becomes [60] and vice versa, also needing to be fixed in the footnotes.

Actually, Hoover found of a whole slew of them associated with ancient cosmic dust:

- Delete 'of'.

An indirect evidence of virus in comet is the positive identifications – as described above - of bacteria, which are eagerly colonized by virus (bacteriophages):

- Support for indirect evidence of viruses in comets is found in the positive identification - as described above - of bacteria which are eagerly colonized by viruses (bacteriophages):

It is estimated that up to 31%[65] bacteria are infected by bacteriophages.

- ...31%[65] of bacteria...

Besides the indirect evidence listed above and despite the difficulties of identifying fossilized virus, direct evidence also exist.

- ...viruses..., ...exists.

Fossilized viral particles have been found in meteoritic material first by H.D. Pflug in 1984[68] and his finding was confirmed twenty years later by NASA head of astrophysics Richard Hoover[69]:

- ...1984[68]. His... by the head of NASA astrophysics...

To strengthen the viruses-meteorites connection,

- ...virus-meteorite...

The Z base has been unambiguously identified in a carbonaceous meteorite and proposed as a nucleobase that could have been available for the origin of life[71]

- Add period.

Another scientific data suggesting that virus initially from space is virtually perfect match between the optical signature of a mix Tobacco Mosaic Virus + E-Coli and the optical signature of GC IRS 6E and GC IRS 7[73]:

- Another scientific (study?) suggesting that a virus, initially from space, is a virtually perfect match between the optical signatures of a mix of Tobacco Mosaic Virus + E-Coli and the optical signatures of GC IRS 6E and GC IRS 7[73]:

This is a difficult sentence. Here is a reorganised version for comparison as I understand the infomation (which I could be wrong about):

- Another scientific (study?)[73] shows that the optical signatures of mixed Tobacco Mosaic Virus + E-Coli and the stars GC IRS 6E and GC IRS 7 are a virtual perfect match suggesting that those viruses were initially from space:

The solid curves in Figure 10 combine the effects of two types of biological material: viral type particles typified by the laboratory data for TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) and it desiccated bacterium represented by the data for E-coli. [74]

- ...and (its?) desiccated... Check original text.

[60] About 260 mph

- ...260 miles. You were making a conversion of distance rather then speed.


I'm glad there are two more chapters uploaded so I can binge read.

 

[Pierre]

And now I'm a little embarrassed to say, I'm back.

Don't be embarrassed, your corrections are useful. Thanks!

 

[Benjamin]

Thank you for the chapter! 25 viruses a day per person! It feels so personalized somehow. I guess they're 'flooding the market' trying to find what sticks.

Looks like a few others have already found some of these.

Chapter 24:

The discovery of microorganisms - including viruses – in the higher atmosphere was unexpected to mainstream science because microorganisms cannot normally be transported from the lower atmosphere to the upper one because of the tropopause barrier:

- 'Because' was used earlier in the sentence. You could substitute 'due to' for variety.

The tropopause acts a barrier to the free movement of particles above 17km...

- ... acts as a...

One of the few documented event able to pierce up the tropopause and possibly carry surface micro-organisms to the stratosphere is very large volcanic eruptions[2].

- ... events... pierce up through the... microorganisms (it's hyphenated in the pdf version)

So, not only microorganisms, including viruses, are present in cometary material as shown in the previous chapter, they are also pervasive in Earth’s the upper atmosphere.

- Delete 'the'.

Notice that this experiment already used autoclaved collection tubes discarding de facto the possibility terrestrial contamination.

-... possibility of terrestrial...

Positive detection of microorganisms at 39 km and a population density that increased with height pointed to a possible extraterrestrial[6]

- Unfinished quote. (...possible extraterrestrial origin?)

It is in the 1970’s also that the highest elevation was reached when Imshenetsky and his research team collected air sample up to 85...

- Different (and better written) in the pdf version, but needs a comma after "Still in the 1970's". In the PDF 'and' is 'at' though this may have been corrected already.
-... samples...

Not only the stratospheric air sample led to the identification of four more unknown bacteria species but some of collected microorganisms...

- ... of the collected...

In summary, we have, on one hand, meteorites directly carrying new microorganisms, including virus as demonstrated...

-... viruses...

© S. Grossmann
Microscope picture of psychrophilic (cold-loving) bacteria.

- In the PDF, the image is on one page and this description is on another.

In 1960, Fowler et al. reported a species of Pseudomonas living in a research nuclear reactor where the average dose was estimated to be more than a million rads[22][23]

- Needs a period. Needs a space between the numbers in the PDF version. The second number is italicized.

Now that we know that some microorganisms their space journey the next question is: how many them fall on Earth?

-... microorganisms survive their... many of them...

Now that we know that microorganisms, including viruses, are present in both cometary material and in the higher atmosphere the questions that are arises is:

- Add comma after 'atmosphere'. Delete 'are'.

[23] For comparison a dose of 1,000 rad is almost invariably fatal for humans

- Add comma after 'comparison'.

 

[Voyageur]

A group of French, Swiss and German scientists from the University of Geneva, the Ecole Polytechnique and other research centers have developed a new lightning rod using a laser. This technology allows you to reflect lightning for tens of meters, even in bad weather. The findings of the work are described in the journal Nature Photonics.

Only in the lab so far, apparently. Here is a video discussion and here is the Nature Photonics paper.

 

[Benjamin]

Thank you Pierre! I really enjoyed reading this chapter. Sending you good waves to finish the next one!

Chapter 25:

...how did viruses ended up in comets or how high concentration of viruses are found in the upper atmosphere?

-... and why high concentrations of viruses exist in the upper atmosphere? (?)

The hypothesis they developed is called panspermia, positing that life in the form of virus came from other planet:

-... planets:

virus particles have been found in association with clusters of an extensive array of microfossils

- Capitalise?

If Wickramasinghe or Dale Griffin hypothesis about the origin of viruses is older planets,...

- If Wickramasinghe's or Dale Griffin's hypothesis about the origin of viruses is from older planets,...

...following the daily deposit of cometary dust and their accompanying virus.

-... viruses.

So what differentiates daily drop of cometary dust...

-... differentiates the daily...

When a cometary body approaches the Earth, usually it partly or integrally disintegrates this disintegration is the source of EMPs.

- When a cometary body approaches the Earth, it usually, partly or integrally, disintegrates and this disintegration is the source of the EMP.

Does the EMP generated by comet enable the creation of viruses?

-... comets...

Kurchatov experiment:

- In the PDF version, the spacing on this page and the next are difficult.

Mass-spectra analysis of the samples obtained in more than 200 experiments revealed that “alien” elements which were absent in the original material.

- Delete 'which'.

The spectral analysis revealed that the most abundant “alien” elements were as follow:

-... follows:

Nature provides also examples of strange events triggered by EMPs.

-... also provides...

For reference, one single lightning bolt generate on average 300 million Volts and 30,000 Amperes[11].

-... generates...

A tornado surrounded by lightning bolts

- I can't actually see a tornado or funnel cloud anywhere in the image. Is it behind the lightning? It looks like there is one in the centre but I think that's just lightning-lit rain. Also, what city is this? A tornado in downtown where? Was it in the news?

Electric fields reaching more than 20 kV /m[12] have measured at the base of one tornado.

-... have been measured...

The Hutchinson Effect was discovered accidentally by John Hutchinson during attempts to study Tesla’s longitudinal waves of back in 1979.

- Delete 'of'.

The Hutchison effect induces physical objects of different composition to become inexplicably embedded in each other once these objects when blasted with electromagnetic waves[14].

-... were...

Although theorized as early as the 1930’s[16] it has never been observed during a lab experiment due to the extremely voltage required,

-... extremely high voltage...

For comparison it has been estimated that the Great Pyramid of Egypt at Giza was build with blocks averaging 2,5 tons[22] [23].

-... 2.5...

But Leedskalnin interest was not only for electromagnetism theory; he applied also his theoretical knowledge...

-... Leedskalnin's... also applied...

The first nuclear explosion occurred in 1945, also known as Trinity test, it created unknown quasicrystals considered as ‘impossible’ to scientists[31]:

- The first nuclear explosion, known as the Trinity test, occurred in 1945 which created unknown quasicrystals that were considered 'impossible' to scientists:

...the Kurchatov experiment, tornadoes, the Hutchinson effect, the Swindler effect, Coral Castle, or red trinitite.

-... and red trinitite.

The last example – an unknown element, trinitite, with an “impossible” geometry created by an atomic explosion

- In the PDF version, there are no commas around the word 'trinitite'.

Actually nuclear detonations are so similar to meteorites explosions that he took a full investigation by NATO and the US army to determine what was thought at first as the nuclear explosion and was in fact a meteoritic event.

- Actually, nuclear detonations [pl. missing in PDF] are so similar to meteorite explosions that it once took a full investigation by NATO and the US Army to determine, what was at first thought to be a nuclear explosion, was in fact a meteoric event.

Light patterns detected by the Vela satellite 6911

- In the PDF version, 'by' is missing.

At first, the US army believed or at least made believe through an official report published only a few weeks after the incident that the cause was a secret nuclear test carried out by Israel and South Africa[33].

- At first, the US army believed, or at least had convinced themselves, as shown in an official report published only a few weeks after the incident, that the cause...

Here are excerpts of the “ad hoc panel[35]” report

-... panel"[35]...

...more than one century ago, the Tunguska event generated a similar effect including a double spike:

- In the PDF version, 'a' is missing.

Not only nuclear explosion and meteorite impact have virtually the same electromagnetic signature but like project Manhattan and its red trinitite, new minerals - never before seen on Earth - have also been discovered in meteorites[39]:

-... explosions... impacts... but,...

This is a really difficult sentence. Here's a rewritten version for consideration. I'm not sure if I was successful:

- Nuclear explosions and meteorite impacts share virtually the same electromagnetic signature. Another shared trait is found in the Manhattan Project which created the new mineral red trinitite, whereas other new minerals - also never before seen on Earth - have be discovered in meteorites.

The mainstream media’s response to the increase in earthbound space rocks...

In the PDF version, the font changes at this point until "In summary, we have seen how cometary impacts like nuclear explosions...".

The first experiments involved only photons over short distance.

-... distances.

The following quote report a successful experiment of entangling two ytterbium ions.

-... reports...

Even more impressive in 2010 researchers manage to create a quantum mechanical resonator,

-... impressive,...

No wonder that those discovery led researchers to posit that the quantum teleportation of viruses should happen very soon, so much that an experiment protocol is already available:

-... discoveries... so much so that...

Here we propose a method to cool down and create quantum superpositions of the motion of sub-wavelength, arbitrarily shaped dielectric objects trapped inside a high--finesse cavity at a very low pressure.

- One to many hyphens.

[33] Amato, Ivan (2001) “ Pushing the Horizon” Naval Research Laboratory

- Delete space.

[56] The name of quantum teleportation was inspired by teleportation. However, in quantum teleportation, only information is teleported. If you want to know more on information and its crucial role more fundamental than matter, see Lescaudron, 2014.

-... 'quantum teleportation'... more about... role being more...

[62] One ion of Ytterbium is 1angstrom (10-10 meter) in diameter while, for example the infectious bursal disease virus is 2.6 angstrom in diameter

-... 1 angstrom... example,...

 

[Bastian]

And it is an average of 25 viruses daily per person!

Well... not at all. You read the citation too quickly, and misunderstood it.

According to the article that you cited :

"Every day, more than 800 million viruses are deposited per square meter above the planetary boundary layer -- that's [the equivalent of] 25 viruses for each person in Canada [on each square meter]," said University of British Columbia virologist Curtis Suttle, one of the senior authors of a paper in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal that outlines the findings.

Source : Viruses-lots of them-are falling from the sky
(Please note @Pierre that this link doesn't appear in your note #29, but it should.)

So what this virologist from UBC said is that, above the planetary boundary layer,

Spoiler: Planetary boundary layer (altitude)

To avoid aerosol deposition from the part of the troposphere directly influenced by the Earth’s surface (i.e., local sources of aerosol), both collectors were installed in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Spain) on a concrete platform above the atmospheric boundary layer. In this area, the boundary layer is located at 1.7 ± 0.5 km above sea level (asl) [23] and discriminates between the local (below this layer) and the long-range (above this layer) transported aerosol.

Source : Deposition rates of viruses and bacteria above the atmospheric boundary layer - The ISME Journal

each day, around 800 million viruses are deposited for each square meter (around 10.7 sqft).

Now let's say that someone stays above the described layer (on some mountains).

Spoiler: Body surface area

According to this article :

Body surface area - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

for a male adult, the mean whole body area is around 2 square meter.
So I guess that while :
- lying, an adult body "horizontal area" is around 0.5 to 1 square meter
- standing, a adult body "horizontal area" is around 0.05 to 0.1 square meter

Then, if you would keep lying for a day, you might receive 400 to 800 million viruses.
And while standing for a day, you can divide this by around ten : 40 to 80 million viruses.
Not 25 : a lot more !

 

[Bastian]

PS : IIRC, each time we breathe in, we inhale around 50,000 bacteria...

So if there is around 10 to 500 times more viruses than bacteria (according to Nature's article cited before), it means that we also inhale half a million to 25 million viruses. Each inhalation !

Afraid of microbes ? Stop breathing : you'll get rid of them... definitively !

 

[Uperios]

PS : IIRC, each time we breathe in, we inhale around 50,000 bacteria...

So if there is around 10 to 500 times more viruses than bacteria (according to Nature's article cited before), it means that we also inhale half a million to 25 million viruses. Each inhalation !

Afraid of microbes ? Stop breathing : you'll get rid of them... definitively !

When Fauci came with the recommendation of using 2 masks: I was telling to people that the best way to be protected is to stop breathing :D (and was, IMO, a clue that authorities don't want us living.)

 

[Bastian]

Another data to get conscious of how much we are surrounded by "viruses" : in one liter of sea water, there are 100 billion virions (!) according to this article (in French) :

Virus des océans - Encyclopédie de l'environnement

Comme tous les écosystèmes de la planète, l’océan contient de très nombreux virus. Découvrez-les à travers ce focus !

www.encyclopedie-environnement.org

NB : a virion, also called a "virus particle", is a kind of spore, or seed, of a virus.
It contains the genetic code of the virus, but this is not a living (or event "dormant") cell, able independantly to produce energy (with mitonchondria or chloroplasts) and to reproduce.
(So spore/seed are not the best metaphor, because these are living, or dormant, cells.)

Pr. Jean-Michel Claverie, one of the top French virologists, suggests in a conference that to be clearer we should distinguish virions and virus, and call virus only the living cells "colonized" by the virions, where a specific "virion factory" was built to produce other virions — the famous process of virus infection/reproduction.

For those among you understanding French and interested by the subject, this is a highly interesting conference about viruses :

 

[zak]

Well... not at all. You read the citation too quickly, and misunderstood it.

According to the article that you cited :


Source : Viruses-lots of them-are falling from the sky
(Please note @Pierre that this link doesn't appear in your note #29, but it should.)

So what this virologist from UBC said is that, above the planetary boundary layer,

Spoiler: Planetary boundary layer (altitude)

Source : Deposition rates of viruses and bacteria above the atmospheric boundary layer - The ISME Journal

each day, around 800 million viruses are deposited for each square meter (around 10.7 sqft).

Now let's say that someone stays above the described layer (on some mountains).

Spoiler: Body surface area

According to this article :

Body surface area - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

for a male adult, the mean whole body area is around 2 square meter.
So I guess that while :
- lying, an adult body "horizontal area" is around 0.5 to 1 square meter
- standing, a adult body "horizontal area" is around 0.05 to 0.1 square meter

Then, if you would keep lying for a day, you might receive 400 to 800 million viruses.
And while standing for a day, you can divide this by around ten : 40 to 80 million viruses.
Not 25 : a lot more !

After reading your post, Bastian, I wondered how virologist Curtis Suttle could calculate the number of 25 viruses per person in Canada.
I took the number of inhabitants in Canada in 2017 (36,708,083) one year before the writing of the article, as well as for the same year the density (3.66 person/km2).
If I divide 800,000,000 viruses by 36,708,083 canadians, I get 21,793 viruses per capita.
To get the number of 25 viruses/capita, we would have had to have 800,000,000 : 25 = 32,000,000 inhabitants that year in Canada, which was not the case, the remaining variable would be density.
If there are any mathematicians around?

 

[Bastian]

After reading your post, Bastian, I wondered how virologist Curtis Suttle could calculate the number of 25 viruses per person in Canada.
I took the number of inhabitants in Canada in 2017 (36,708,083) one year before the writing of the article, as well as for the same year the density (3.66 person/km2).
If I divide 800,000,000 viruses by 36,708,083 canadians, I get 21,793 viruses per capita.
To get the number of 25 viruses/capita, we would have had to have 800,000,000 : 25 = 32,000,000 inhabitants that year in Canada, which was not the case, the remaining variable would be density.

To me it looks like a simple mistake.
I guess that he remembered that the population in Canada is around 32 millions (which was indeed the case in 2005 to 2007, maybe the last time he has learned it or checked it ?).
This quotation is from a "popularization of science" article, of a Canadian university.
As the number of 800 million viruses (by square meter and by day) is a huge number, I guess that he probably wanted to give to his Canadian readers a better "feeling" of how many that means.

And the experiment was on mountains in Spain, above the "planetary boundary layer".
I believe that most Canadians are below this altitude, inside this "boundary layer".
So we don't know how many viruses go there, from the experience results. I would guess : more.

(When I go sufficiently high in the Pyrenees, at least 1km high, I'm able to see a "brown" layer air over the plains either in France or Spain, full of dust, soil particles taken by the wind, etc. I would estimate the vertical width of this layer to around 400 m. Each time I see it, I regret living down there...)

 

[Bastian]

In another French science popularization article, the same Dr. Curtis Sutlle is quoted saying (my translation) :

In a tablespoon of sea water, there are generally more viruses than inhabitants in Europe.
"We swallow more than a billion viruses each time we go and swim [in the sea].
We are flooded by viruses."

Next we learned also that :

An article of 2011 published in Nature Microbiology estimated that there are more than 10³⁰ (a nonillion in short scale / English, a quintillion in long scale / French, cf. this WP article) viruses on Earth.
Put them end-to-end, and they would extend on 100 millions light-years, so a thousand times the width of [our galaxy] the Milky Way.

That's an astronomical number !

 

[jcsmalz]

Chapter 23:

- ...for...

Hey Benjamin. Go back and read this passage again. The word for does not replace the word of. Careful with these edits; Pierre has a certain style of writing that is not incorrect. You're providing a wonderful service with spelling mistakes and the like but sometimes adding more words to a sentence does not equate to proper or better language structure. Pierre writes with the style and tone that you would in an academic paper.