00:03Everest is the tallest peak on the planet at 29,031 feet above sea level.
00:09And because of that, every year it draws thousands of climbers who hope to add the summit to their list
00:13of accolades.
00:14And while by now many have seen images of the trash left behind by climbers hoping to make it to
00:19the top,
00:19now experts say Everest hopefuls are leaving something else behind.
00:23Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder gathered sediment samples from Mount Everest,
00:27one of the least hospitable places on Earth.
00:29Their samples were collected at only 7,900 feet,
00:33but when they took those samples to a lab,
00:34they were able to culture microbes including ones leading to staph infections and strep throat.
00:39This is interesting because both of those infections are bacterial,
00:42and they have evolved to grow and survive in a very particular biome,
00:45the warm and wet noses and throats of living creatures,
00:48not the high-UV, low-moisture, high-altitude locations where they were found.
00:52With the senior author and microbial ecologist Steven Schmidt saying about the surprising finding,
00:57there's a human signature frozen in the microbiome of Everest, even at that elevation.
01:02If somebody even blew their nose or coughed, that's the kind of thing that might show up.
01:06And they predict that if they took samples from even higher up where Everest climbers make their base camp,
01:11they'd likely find more.
01:12A foreboding notion as the mountain is seeing warmer and warmer temperatures every year.
01:17They're the times where they catch Templia and the road into property center.
01:18I'm becoming a very Она that could never stop filming,
01:19they can't deserve this kind of thing.
01:20But also you have some efficiencies,
01:20I'm going to find people soâng and глуб care.
01:20So 33% Tester for the 20 years or the way.
01:21You think that we've been in this country!
01:21You know, 100% more and very painful.
01:21I'm 25% more fumbling here.
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