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cover of episode Exploring the Hidden Life in the Air around Us with Carl Zimmer

Exploring the Hidden Life in the Air around Us with Carl Zimmer

2025/2/19
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Carl Zimmer: 在报道新冠疫情期间，我对新冠传播方式的争论感到困惑，这促使我开始研究气溶胶生物学。为了更好地理解新冠疫情和未来的疫情，我们需要深入了解我们周围漂浮的生命世界。历史上，人们对空气与疾病关系的理解经历了多次转变，从古代的“瘴气”理论到后来认识到微生物的作用，再到对空气传播的忽视和重新重视。科学的进步并非一帆风顺，生物战的发展也对气溶胶生物学产生了深远影响。我发现空气不仅仅是简单的气体，它是一个充满生命和各种可能性的复杂环境，其中既有威胁人类健康的病原体，也有可能对我们有益的微生物。我们需要重新审视我们与空气的关系，并采取更有效的措施来保护我们的健康。 Rachel Feltman: 很少有人会花时间思考自己呼吸的空气，但实际上每次呼吸都有很多事情发生。

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Chapters
This chapter explores the historical evolution of understanding airborne diseases, from the ancient Greek concept of 'miasma' to the germ theory of disease and the eventual recognition of airborne transmission. It highlights how the focus shifted from air quality to direct contact before returning to a focus on airborne pathogens.
  • Ancient Greeks attributed disease to 'miasma' or tainted air.
  • The germ theory revolutionized the understanding of disease, causing a temporary shift away from the focus on air.
  • The role of airborne transmission in diseases was not fully recognized until relatively recently.

Shownotes Transcript

Scientists now agree that COVID spreads via airborne transmission. But during the early days of the disease, public health officials suggested that it mainly did so via close contact. The subsequent back-and-forth over how COVID spread brought science journalist Carl Zimmer into the world of aerobiology. In his new book Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe, Zimmer examines the unseen life in the air around us. He joins host Rachel Feltman to look back at the history of the field, from ancient Greek “miasmas” to Louis Pasteur’s unorthodox experiments to biological warfare. 

You can preorder Zimmer’s new book)

And stay up-to-date on his work at his website)

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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Naeem Amarsy with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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