the.com/soot
the universe's autograph, signed in carbon on every surface fire ever touched
means The fine black powdery carbon that settles out of smoke from burning wood, coal, or oil, coating chimneys, ceilings, and anything in a fire's reach.
from From Old English 'sōt,' tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning roughly 'that which settles' — kin to the idea of something sitting or sinking down onto a surface. The deep ancestor is thought to be the same Proto-Indo-European root that gives us 'sit,' which fits perfectly: soot is, quite literally, what smoke leaves behind when it sits down.
- ancient ink
- First inks were soot mixed with water and glue
- climate killer
- Black carbon ranks second only to CO2 for warming
- snow assassin
- Settling on glaciers, it darkens ice and accelerates melting
- diamond cousin
- Pure carbon, same element as graphite and diamonds
- chimney curse
- Soot-clogged flues cause thousands of house fires yearly
great smog of london — december 1952 air pollution event killed ~12,000 people in london
bhpal bhopal gas disaster — december 1984 chemical plant explosion in bhopal, india created toxic soot clouds
chimney sweeps disease — 18th century occupational scrotal cancer in british child chimney sweeps from soot exposure