Wake the Lakes “Weird and Wacky Wednesday” 8-9-23

Scientists climb cathedrals to collect space dust. Old churches preserve more than just architectural history: Their spired roofs are an untouched oasis of asteroid and comet particles, and two scientists are going all “Ghostbusters-mode” to gather samples. Equipped with harnesses and vacuum backpacks, Penny Wozniakiewicz and Matthias van Ginneken plan to scale cathedrals across the UK to gather the cosmic dust lying atop. They’re trying to understand how heavily the space objects that melt into particles en route to Earth layer our surfaces. They say cathedrals are especially useful because they tend to have good construction records showing how long the roofs have been there, collecting dust.