Dust from California’s drying Salton Sea doesn’t just smell bad. Scientists from UC Riverside found that breathing the dust can quickly re-shape the microscopic world inside the lungs. … Published in the journal mSphere, the study shows that inhalation of airborne dust collected close to the shallow, landlocked lake alters both the microbial landscape and immune responses in mice that were otherwise healthy. “Even Salton Sea dust filtered to remove live bacteria or fungi is altering what microbes survive in the lungs,” said Mia Maltz, UCR mycologist and lead study author.