Life in the clouds: Over 3,000 compounds and seven species of bacteria found in HAILSTONES (so it's probably not a good idea to eat snow)

• Researchers say clouds are teeming with life - and that bacteria could actually trigger rain and hailstorms
  
• Findings could have major implications for weather forecasting

PUBLISHED: 16:23 GMT, 25 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:56 GMT, 26 January 2013

At first glance they may look like they have fallen from the sky in a clean and perfect form - but hailstones and clouds are actually filled with bacteria and over 3,000 chemical compounds, scientists revealed today.

The Danish researchers analyzed hailstones recovered after a storm in May 2009 and found that they carried several species of bacteria typically found on plants and almost 3000 different compounds usually found in soil.

The team say their finding could have major implications for our understanding of weather patterns, and that certain bacteria may even trigger hailstorms.

However, the researchers say the hailstones had very few soil-associated bacteria or chemicals that would usually occur in plants.

Three of the bacterial species discovered were found in most of the hailstones studied, and may represent 'typical' cloud inhabitants, the study in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Tina Šantl Temkiv and colleagues from Aarhus University, Denmark found.

FULL STORY: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2268294/Whats-REALLY...