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monkeybus
Hare Krishna



Registered: 07/29/07
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Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone
#8516048 - 06/12/08 03:52 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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The Guardian
An ancient seed that germinated after being recovered from the rubble of King Herod's pleasure palace has been dated as 2,000 years old, smashing the record for the oldest seed ever grown.
The seed was among three recovered during excavations at Masada, an imposing 2,044-year-old clifftop fortress on the edge of the Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea.
Researchers planted the seed three years ago after treating it with hormone-laced fertilisers. To their surprise, it germinated and began to grow. The plant, dubbed the "Methuselah tree" after the oldest character in the Bible, now stands 1.5m tall.
Dates were such an important export from ancient Judea they were depicted on coins and came to symbolise the region. According to the historian Josephus, miles and miles of hand-cultivated date forests stretched from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.
Date palm grown from 2,000-year-old seed The palm two years after it germinated from a 2,000-year-old seed. Photograph: Guy Eisner/Science Magazine Writing in the journal Science, a team led by Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Centre at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, reveal how they discovered fragments of the seed's shell clinging to the plant's roots when it was transferred to a larger pot. The fragments were sent to the University of Zurich, where researchers dated them to around 2,000 years ago.
The team had not been able to date the seed until then, because they were reluctant to cut pieces off for testing.
"The exceptionally dry and hot climatic conditions at Masada may have prevented it from disintegrating and preserved its viability, but this still says a lot about the ability of seeds to survive," said Sallon.
Until now, the record for the oldest seed to be grown was held by a group at the University of California who germinated a 1,300-year-old lotus seed recovered from a sacred Buddhist lake in China.
At Hadassah Hospital, Sallon investigates traditional, plant-based medicines. "Well over a third of Israel's 3,000 species of plants have been used in traditional medicine by Jews and Arabs for thousands of years," she said.
Her work has grown to include plants that have become locally extinct, as well as those which are still found in the wild. Extracts from date palms were traditionally used to treat chest infections, gastric problems and even heart conditions.
The ancient date palm differs from modern Moroccan, Egyptian and Iraqi varieties at around half of the 399 genetic markers the researchers looked at. It will be another couple of years before they know whether the plant can bear fruit – and so whether they will be able to cultivate it. "We hope that one day, we'll be able to breed it," said Sallon.
"The fact that seeds can survive for so long under the right conditions says a lot about conservation and ways to preserve seeds for future generations," Sallon added. "Thank god some seeds can survive, because the way we're busily cutting down everything on the planet, we're sure going to need them."
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clover606
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Registered: 08/13/07
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: monkeybus]
#8516067 - 06/12/08 03:58 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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oh shit talk about a specialty food product if its fruit bearing. who doesnt want the dates moses ate?
-------------------- grassman said: I remember being in DARE when i was much younger and some of the stories they would tell you are not only ridiculous, but completely untrue. One story was that a woman was on LSD and thought her infant was a turkey so she baked it in the oven. Now I look back and think thats hilarious, but at the time I guess it scared me.
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lbtchnlgs
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: clover606]
#8516078 - 06/12/08 04:01 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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nice_ the guy in the picture has 4 beans and a tab of acid
Edited by lbtchnlgs (06/12/08 04:05 PM)
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: lbtchnlgs]
#8516199 - 06/12/08 04:34 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yep. They discovered the ancient dates and blotter cache of the biblical peoples.
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wisp

Registered: 04/13/08
Posts: 5,304
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: johnm214]
#8516238 - 06/12/08 04:47 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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That is impressive. I'm sure they have found wheat in Ancient Egyptian tombs that is still viable. Nature is incredible.
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JackthaTripper
MSME!



Registered: 01/29/07
Posts: 2,494
Loc: Mind Exploration
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: monkeybus]
#8516288 - 06/12/08 05:00 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Thats quite amazing!
Ummmm.. they found the seed in the Kings "pleasure palace" and "Well over a third of Israel's 3,000 species of plants have been used in traditional medicine by Jews and Arabs for thousands of years." It would be awesome if it was a medicinal plant like a cure for cancer or a kick ass recreational drug
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Coaster
Baʿal



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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: JackthaTripper]
#8516307 - 06/12/08 05:05 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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i remeber they found watermelon seeds in the stomach of a mummy
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NobodyImportant
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Registered: 05/04/08
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: Coaster]
#8516443 - 06/12/08 05:33 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Rly ??
Thats cool
do you know if they grew ?
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wickedsick
<(^.^<)<(^.^)>(>^.^)>



Registered: 05/08/08
Posts: 701
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: NobodyImportant]
#8516835 - 06/12/08 07:15 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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i dont believe that shit , he porb trying to get rich
-------------------- enjoy your seizure "Ninja Jar ©"Tek Mycelium Water TEK
[quote] RogerRabbit said: You don't need to drill a lot of holes. Some growers choose to fan several times per day instead. RR [/quote]
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Ermizhad
Only believers in death will die



Registered: 08/19/07
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Loc: Argentina
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Re: Palm tree grown from 2,000-year-old date stone [Re: wickedsick]
#8518607 - 06/13/08 06:19 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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wow there's hope for the future survivers
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