#smoke

Oregon State University Researchers are Working on a Way to Keep Wildfire Smoke Out of GrapesResearchers at Oregon State University started developing innovative ways in protecting the USA's multi-billion dollar wine industry from wildfire smoke after receiving a grant. Wildfires emit smoke that affects the taste and quality of grapes used in making wine, and such wildfires are expected to be more frequent and bigger as global warming continues, according to scientists."Certainly things are changing with the climate crisis," said Christine Clair, winery director at Willamette Valley Vineyards. She added, "If there is smoke in the valley for a prolonged period of time during the growing season, it can impart compounds into the skins of the grapes which can contribute to off flavors and aromas in the wines."The grape and wine industry contributes more than 200 billion dollars to the economy of the USA, so Oregon State University Enologist Elizabeth Tomasino obtained a federal grant to find methods in safeguarding the industry.Some of these ways are application of coats acting like smoke shields and introduction of enzymes that remove the smoke taste and smell. "We're looking at creating a food grade coating that can be applied to the grapes in the field that is a barrier so the smoke isn't taken up into the grapes, [and] we're working with some people to see if there are enzymes that could degrade those compounds into something again food grade but doesn't have smell or taste to it,” Tomasino said.She added,”Everything the industry is looking for is achievable. It's just going to take a little bit of time."Image: Regenerative Medicine Center

This is What Happens the Instant a Candle Flame is ExtinguishedWe’ve all blown out birthday candles, but few of us have seen up close what exactly happened to the recently extinguished candle wick.To help us understand what happens when a candle is extinguished, photographer @Macrofying took this close-up macro image and explained that when a candle is burning, the flame breaks down the hydrocarbon of the candle wax and burns all that carbon into carbon dioxide. But when the flame goes out, the glowing wick still has enough heat to break down carbon molecules in the wax but not enough heat to burn them into carbon dioxide. Instead, the carbon is released as smoke.#MacroPhotography #candle #smoke #candlewax #candlewick #hydrocarbon #carbon #carbondioxide

The Bootleg Wildfire in Oregon is So Large It's Creating Its Own WeatherThe Bootleg fire in Oregon, which has been burning since July 6, has burnt more than 606 square miles - an area larger than Los Angeles. The fire has now become so intense that it has created its own weather.A satellite image posted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the tremendous amount of smoke that the fire generated.Fire officials noted that the Bootleg fire has shown “aggressive surface spread with pyrocumulus development.”  Pyrocumulous clouds or flammagenitus clouds are formed by intense heating of the air from the surface due to volcanic eruptions or forest fires. The intense heat causes the air mass to rise, then moistures to condense on ash particles essentially becoming their own thunderstorms, complete with lightning and strong gusts of wind.The fire is "so large and generating so much energy and extreme heat that it's changing the weather," Marcus Kauffman said to CNN. "Normally, the weather predicts what the fire will do. In this case, the fire is predicting what the weather will do."#fire #wildfire #smoke #cloud #PyrocumulousCloud #FlammagenitusCloud #ForestFire #BootlegFire #weather