Everything is revived, there is a breath of life everywhere, and everything looks very beautiful.
Until - the poplar willow tree began to scatter seeds...
Image source: I took it myself
The flying feathers in the sky flutter with the wind, making people avoid it. Just as Zhu Guangquan, a famous CCTV dan player, said: "The road is long and its cultivation is far away, and I will go up and down, front and back, left and right, from the inside to the outside, seeking a place without flying feathers."
And the people who walk on the road full of flying feathers are roughly divided into three factions.
Mind Protectors:
As the name suggests, it is purely dependent on willpower to resist the flying feathers.
But this party has high lung capacity requirements and is easy to become a B-box performer.
Image source: Visual China
Key Defensive Faction:
Isolate the accentuated nose and mouth, which can avoid inhaling flying feathers.
But ignoring the protection of the eyes, it is easy to think that it is emo.
Image source: Visual China
Heavily armed faction:
Make clever use of the things around you for comprehensive protection.
It is the most leisurely walk on the road.
Image source: Visual China
I just don't know, will they feel a little breathless?
Image source: Self-drawn
The only consolation might be...
In fact, most of the country suffers the same Yang Shu flying dance as you. (including but not limited to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia...) ）
There are also some places such as Anhui, Jiangsu, Guangdong, etc., although there are no willow trees, but... Plane trees and kapok trees also grow flying!
What's even more troublesome is that the flying feathers are not just annoying.
Flying flop is "dirty" than you think
The flying feather looks like a lump of hair, but it is actually a complex "big package".
The hair that flutters in the wind is the product of the female tree bursting apart after fertilization. In addition to the white flocculents and vegetable oils, there are also small seeds.
It can be understood that this is a plant that gives birth to a baby, afraid that the baby will not live, so he creates a "flying carpet" for his baby that can fly farther.
Image source: Network
On the mainland, poplars, willows, etc. are the most common tree species that start distributing their own cubs on the side of the road.
These hairs will flutter with the wind, and when the wind stops them, they stop. Once the wind rises, the hairs that fall on the ground will float back into the air, and so on, until they are swept into the trash can, washed into the sewers, or burned (danger do not learn).
And every time it flies again, the "flying carpet" is likely to be wrapped in the pollen of various plants in the spring (mainly from cypress trees, birch trees, etc.), and the bacteria, fungi, dust on the air and ground, and may even be wrapped in metal particles, animal fur, etc., have become what we call flying feathers.
Image source: Document 1
To summarize:
Flying Floc = Fiber + Seed + Vegetable Oil + Pollen + Bacteria + Fungi + Other Particles
It's not a big deal to have just one lump of hair, but in fact, the amount of flying feathers is measured in tons.
Willow poplars are widely cultivated in China, with 4.9 million hectares planted alone, accounting for 73% of the world's total poplar area.
Taking Beijing as an example, according to the statistics of relevant departments, there are currently 2 million female willow plants in Beijing. Each tree can produce about 25 kilograms of flying feathers. This means that Beijing can produce about 50 million kilograms of flying feathers per year!
It is so many "dirty hairs" that fly every year that make people grumpy enough to want to cut down trees!!
A thousand people, there are a thousand kinds of flying filders
In the face of this fluttering fly mixed with various things, different people may have different pains.
If you feel itchy skin, throat, and eyes on the way, but you seem to be fine when you go back indoors, then congratulations, you are only temporarily uncomfortable with contact.
The main component of flying feathers is fiber. These villous fibers have a cross-section of only 10 microns, and are likely to rub into the eyes, skin, or burrow into the mouth or nose during the period of floating in the air. Although it generally does not enter the lungs, the fibers may also irritate the respiratory tract and make you uncomfortable for a while...
Image source: Oriental TV (uncle and aunt said this is like a layer of ash)
But if you can't help rubbing your eyes hard, and you still have red eyes, discomfort, fear of light, tears, and even vision loss, it may be contact keratitis that has come to the door.
There are a lot of bacteria and fungi wrapped in the flying feathers, although it is generally harmless to the body, but it is difficult to say if it comes into contact with the wound. Under normal circumstances, there is a protective cover on the surface of the human cornea - "corneal epithelial cells", and violent rubbing of the eyes, eye injuries or surgery may accidentally destroy the corneal epithelial cells.
At this time, the bacteria or fungi wrapped in the fly can invade the human body, causing inflammation, and if you do not go to the hospital for treatment in time, it may also endanger long-term vision.
Of course, the most "bitter lord" must be allergy people. If you've walked down a rough road and you're feeling unwell when you get back indoors, you might have to consider whether you're allergic.
Pollen wrapped in flying feathers is a very common allergen. The oils and polysaccharides contained in pollen are inhaled and attached to the respiratory mucosa, or simply exposed to, triggering a strong, over-extreme immune response in some people.
If you have allergic rhinitis, your nose will become a leaky faucet and your nose will continue to run down. When lying down to sleep, in order to avoid the spread of snot, you have to pile the pillow with tissues, and then exhale with your mouth to barely sleep.
If the skin is allergic, the body will itch as if thousands of ants are on the body, and it is eager to scratch the skin on the body, and it will also be accompanied by erythema, rashes and so on.
If you suffer from allergic conjunctivitis, your eyes will itch so much that you want to dig them out and wash them, and you will keep crying, and you won't be able to open your eyes.
Image credit: giphy (I'm just conjunctivitis, nothing sad!) ）
Pollen allergies can become serious and can also cause laryngeal edema and severe asthma that are life-threatening.
There are even some people who, because they really can't stand the April fly, choose to change cities.
A small handful of hairs in the flying feathers makes people feel what is called "each has its own misfortune".
The revelation of flying in the sky to mankind
Seriously, although the flying feathers are disgusting, they may not be useless in some strange fields.
Many people will walk on the road with full arms in order to protect the flying feathers, and before the epidemic is over, it may be a good way to urge everyone to wear a mask.
Image source: Figureworm Creative
There are also people, when doing scientific research, may really not be accustomed to these flying feathers, collect them all and put them in their own research topics to energize, the flying fluff conduction effect may not necessarily be the best, but the good villains also sent an article by flying feathers.
Image source: Document 2
There are also some scientists who have carefully analyzed and reproduced the structure of the flying feathers and developed new antibacterial materials. Of course, articles were also posted.
Image source: Document 3
Of course, for most of us ordinary people, the inspiration brought by the flying feather is:
"Yuck!"
(Not swear words here, just spitting hair)
This year's flying feathers, though, are a little different.
For some, it is no longer a nuisance, but sweetness and happiness. Because when a flocculent floats to the face, it can mean:
"I've finally unsealed it."
This article is co-authored by experts
This article is reviewed by experts
bibliography
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[2] Li, Dongdong, et al. "Fabrication of conductive silver microtubes using natural catkin as a template." ACS omega 2.4 (2017): 1738-1745.
[3] Ye, Jing, et al. "Cicada and catkin inspired dual biomimetic antibacterial structure for the surface modification of implant material." Biomaterials science 7.7 (2019): 2826-2832.
[4] Wang Cheng. "Plant-based pollution in urban forest construction." Chinese Journal of Ecology 22.3(2003):32-37.
[5] Yan Liping, et al. "Responding to the impact of Willow Shallow Health Education as an entry into health policy will be understood by all." 33 （ 2019）.
[6] Wan, Xiaoming, et al. "Bioaccessibility of metals/metalloids in willow catkins collected in urban parks of Beijing and their health risks to human beings." Science of The Total Environment 717 (2020): 137240.
[7] http://yllhj.beijing.gov.cn/ztxx/zlylfxgcyjhj/ylfxqy/201510/t20151013_119732.shtml
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