⛅️ When we look at the clouds, we rarely think about life, but dream ourselves away into our own world of imagination. Suddenly, I'm telling you about an ocean in the sky where life is spread out. What lives in the clouds? Birds? Insects? Angels? Probably not. So high up, in the harsh conditions of cold and radiation, there is only very special life. I will now open your eyes to the fantastic world of microorganisms.

🦠 One of these many microorganisms is Pseudomonas syringae, a plant pathogen. It likes to live on and in plants and has a special trick to attack them. The bacterium forms a structure on its surface that acts as an ice nucleus, causing water above the freezing point to freeze. This means that ice crystals form more quickly at low temperatures, damaging the plant tissue and making it more accessible to the bacteria.

❄️ Many microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, are transported into the upper layers of the atmosphere by atmospheric buoyancy and strong winds. Some species have adapted to survive these conditions. The ability of Pseudomonas syringae to form ice crystals even influences cloud formation and precipitation. In this way, microorganisms not only influence the weather but also reach new places, encountering new plants and new genes.

🧬 Bacteria are an important factor in horizontal gene transfer. This means the direct transfer of genes to other life forms without reproduction, for example, from bacteria to animals and plants and vice versa. In very rare cases, this even influences the germ line and thus the evolution of more complex species.

♻️ Microorganisms are often only visible to us when they cause disease. However, they play a crucial role in our ecosystem. Infected plants, for example, are made accessible to other living creatures.

🌍 In other words, countless highly complex processes take place, influenced by the dynamics between life and climate - above our heads, under our feet, and within us.

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Happy Seven Sleepers!
✨😴😴😴😴😴😴😴✨

The Seven Sleepers is a medieval legend about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around AD 250 to escape one of the Roman persecutions of Christians and emerged some 300 years later.

🌥️ A weather lore says:
"The weather today will remain the same for seven more weeks."

It has a kernel of truth. From the end of June to the beginning of July, the weather conditions usually stabilize. Actually, the Seven Sleepers Day is on July 7th, if you transfer it to today's calendar. In southern Germany, where the rule seems to be originated, for the first week of July, it has an accuracy of about 70 percent.

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Just step outside and feel a warm breeze blowing through your light clothing 🥰

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Inescapably beautiful sunset on Monday evening 🥰🌇

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Trapped post-apocalyptic toilet paper in the wind

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A glow after the thunderstorm.

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On Monday morning, the Taunus presented itself in a fashionable cloud dress. 🌫🌫 The left mountain is the Altkönig ("Old King"). Around 400 BC, the Celts settled there. Remains of the settlement and several ringwalls can be visited. It's the third highest mountain in the Taunus (798 m). The right mountain ist the Großer Feldberg ("Great Field Mountain"). On its top you can see the Feldberg/Taunus transmitter and the observation tower. It's the highest elevation of the Taunus mountains and of the entire Rheinish Massif (879 m). There, too, you will find interesting traces of the past. For example, there are parts of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes and other significant remains of the Romans. You can also visit the Brunhildisfelsen ("Brunhild's Rock"). This name is said to go back to the legend of Sigurd, as there Brunhild once said to have been put to sleep by Odin. Sigurd fulfilled the requirements to wake her up again.

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