Falling
A free-falling object without any adaptation to flight can only be sustained by the wind if it is very light and falls more slowly than the wind blows it upwards.
Many mould and bacterial spores, even live bacteria, are small enough to be carried long distances and to great heights on the wind.
Some plants also use the wind for seed dispersal in this way. Orchid seeds are very small and dust-like.
Read more about this topic: Unpowered Flight
Famous quotes containing the word falling:
“Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow’s share?”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“Life stood on the top stair a moment
Waved her last gray slander down the stair,
I will not forget her absent eyes
Her other smile like one rose
Falling, falling everywhere....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)