A new study has found Mount Everest also freezes your sneezes or coughs!
According to the new University of Colorado Boulder-led research, climbers and travellers are leaving behind a frozen legacy of hardy microbes, which can withstand harsh conditions at high elevations and lie dormant in the soil for decades or even centuries.
"There is a human signature frozen in the microbiome of Everest, even at that elevation," said Steve Schmidt, senior author of the paper and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
Schmidt added, "If somebody even blew their nose or coughed, that's the kind of thing that might show up."
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The team also found that the microbes seemed to have evolved.
The soil samples were collected by researchers who went to Everest in 2019 to set up the planet’s highest weather station.
