Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 26 : Fall 2015 | Page 72

Nelson’s team gathered drinking water in the driest
location on Earth using fog catchers to pull the moisture
directly from the air. According to Nelson’s blog, the device
can produce liters of water a day during heavy fog. The
lichens find their own water the same way, by intercepting
fog. (Image courtesy of Peter Nelson through his blog
http://chilelichenfogdesert.weebly.com/)

This species of vagrant
lichen exists only in
a small basin of the
Altacama Desert,
and is unrooted to
the ground. Nelson
said the lichens were
rolling around the
area like tumbleweeds.
(Image courtesy of
Peter Nelson through
his blog http://
chilelichenfogdesert.
weebly.com/ )
70

FALL 2015