Hi, I ended up finding some similar pics on the web. Turns out its slime mold. Pretty amazing to see and harmless.

Trailrunner recommended Tradewind, who have been making residential hoods for over 50 years, but there are lots of good brands. The Induction Site has a formula for figuring out cfms for maximum usage. You probably don't need as much as that equation says for a powerful induction cooktop as you would for the equivalent gas, but a stronger hood on a lower setting is supposed to do a better job than a lesser hood on high. Don't forget make-up air. If your house is tightly sealed (when you need MUA to prevent your furnace from being dangerously affected), or if you live somewhere it gets really cold or humid, you'll probably want to talk to your HVAC pro about bringing in make-up air that has been heated, or dehumidified or cooled. But, yes, it's best to have a real hood. There's a huge difference. That said, if you must go without, I'd do it with induction more than any other.

OK, youall have succeeded in drawing me into another argument. Let's start with the purpose of the overhead vent. The vent is intended to capture and contain effluent contained in the rising and expanding cooking plumes. It has an overlap capture requirement that depends on height, and a flow rate containment requirement that derives from plume velocities and secondary factors. It is not for capture or blockage of grease splatter, as that could require enormous air velocities to achieve. Down-draft "venting" and pop-up side-draft "venting" cannot achieve the needed capture and containment provided by an overhead hood of proper specification for these reasons: Air flow velocity drops rapidly as a function of the smallest dimension of a slot air intake (see the 2003 ASHRAE HANDBOOK, HVAC Applications, Fig. 6). The air velocity in all cases is too low to significantly change hot cooking plume momenta except those plume portions close to the pop-up, so the overhead hood depends on the natural rise of the plumes. Deviation of the upward momentum to the side, or by 180 degrees to head downward, can only work if the plume has low momentum, as in steam from boiling water. Hot oil/grease/moisture plumes from wok cooking and searing will be poorly deviated sideways or in reverse. Fume hoods can have horizontal hood configurations, but the top and sides are blocked from allowing fumes to leak out. The turbulence issue is complicated. Up-rising plumes can be disturbed by side drafts, poor insertion of make-up air into the kitchen, and cook motion. Side-drafts will be pulling air across pan and pot clutter, so some added turbulence is possible, but I don't think it will be a significant addition except close to the pop-up due to the velocity fall-off introduced above. On the other hand, a pop-up can block splatter trajectories from the burner up the the angle between pan and the top of the pop-up and as far as the pop-up sides shadow the area beyond. For this function, no air flow is needed and much of the pop-up system hardware can be dispensed with. If a blank face is used (no vent holes/slots), cleaning may be greatly simplified. Underfloor ducting, blower, external cap can all be deleted. Some cabinet space for the elevation mechanism has to be sacrificed. While a pop-up splatter blocker is a good idea if the degree of blockage is deemed sufficient for the expense, the subject raises the question of why children are sitting in range of hot grease splatter. At a minimum they would need eye protection. There are requirements (that I don't have at hand) for desirable rises and/or runs of seating countertops connected to cooking surfaces. I recommend proper desks in quiet areas for studying. The student should be fully absorbed into the material to be studied without distraction (or at least as little distraction as a post pubertal youth can manage).

I had a 6" height restriction and venting issues as well as requirement of twin fans for a 1000 cfm. Imperial hoods (manufactured in California) met all of those criteria plus additional custom features. I suggest you call the the manufacturer direct with your questions. The office folks know a great deal but will send you to their engineer if stumped. You might also try the appliance forum for assistance.