After a 2,000-Year Rest, a Seed Sprouts in Jerusalem

NY TIMES ^ | JERUSALEM, June 11

[TheOtherOne]

JERUSALEM, June 11 - Israeli doctors and scientists have succeeded in germinating a date seed nearly 2,000 years old.

The seed, nicknamed Methuselah, was taken from an excavation at Masada, the cliff fortress where, in A.D. 73, 960 Jewish zealots died by their own hand, rather than surrender to a Roman assault. The point is to find out what was so exceptional about the original date palm of Judea, much praised in the Bible and the Koran for its shade, food, beauty and medicinal qualities, but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.

[TheOtherOne]

My threads still there...but AP moved all the photos

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1362546/posts

[RedRover]

Great story! And great news!

[Alouette]

Some Arab will claim it was HIS TREE stolen by the eeeeeville Zionists.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[M. Espinola]

Another amazing story from the Holy Land similar to Israel being a nation again after 2000 years.

[kharaku]

And yet this incredible seed is part of a class that darwin even said likely did not experience evolution and thus couldn't explain, plants. Tough little buggers; for not having fought for survival, they survive pretty well.

[mmercier]

>> Anthrax can germinate from samples taken from a mummy then it can be possible for a plant to germinate after a very long hibernation.

In fact, where there is the possibility of life there will be life.

African fish lay eggs that blow around in the desert for decades, and hatch in puddles.

And then there is this...

Main Entry: botulinum toxin
Variant: also botulinus toxin
Function: noun
: a very powerful bacterial neurotoxin that acts primarily on the parasympathetic nervous system, is produced by botulinum, and causes botulism —often used with one of the letters A to G to designate one of seven distinct types called also botulin

Bacteria that dies in the presence of oxygen. Botulinum has been here since before there was o2 in the atmosphere, and it is still here. Mostly found in canned greens, the botulinum bacteria is not harmful to humans, just its byproduct is lethal to mammals, in the extreme.

Life only needs the possibility of survival; and life is willing to wait. That is what is so cool about this... We get to see something from our past.

A nonlinear dynamic, very rare, and very valuable.

[Thinkin' Gal]

The date palm symbolized ancient Israel; the honey of "the land of milk and honey" came from the date.

Ezekiel 37:1-6

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

The first two leaves looked odd, she said, very flat and pale. "But the third looked like a date leaf with lines, and every one since has looked more and more normal - like it had a hard time getting out of the seed."

[de Buillion]

Amazing!

[FairOpinion]

"The seed, nicknamed Methuselah, was taken from an excavation at Masada, the cliff fortress where, in A.D. 73, 960 Jewish zealots died by their own hand, rather than surrender to a Roman assault."


GGG PING

[NRA2BFree]

That's totally awesome!

[fso301]

Just one sprouted? Are they self fertile?

[Lijahsbubbe]

Seed time and harvest, quite a biblical theme, isn't it?

So many analogies.

[TheOtherOne]

she planted the date seeds at the end of January after trying to draw them out of their deep dormancy. She first soaked the seeds in hot water to soften the coat, then in an acid rich in hormones, then in an enzymatic fertilizer made of seaweed and other nutrients.

"I've done other recalcitrant seeds," she said. "It wasn't a project with a high priority. I had no idea if the food in the seed was still good, but I put them in new pots in new potting soil and plugged them into drip irrigation and kind of forgot about them."

About six weeks later, she said, "I saw the earth cracked in a pot and much to my astonishment, one of these came up."

The first two leaves looked odd, she said, very flat and pale. "But the third looked like a date leaf with lines, and every one since has looked more and more normal - like it had a hard time getting out of the seed."

[fso301]

The point is to find out what was so exceptional about the original date palm of Judea, much praised in the Bible and the Koran for its shade, food, beauty and medicinal qualities, but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.

I never heard of crusaders destroying a species of vegetation. Can someone help me out?

[fso301]

Thanks but if just one sprouted, it better be self fertile.

[glorgau]

...but long ago destroyed by the crusaders.

NT Times had to get in the obligatory shot at Christians and Western Civilisation.

[NorseWood]

I think that there were grains taken out of the pyramids that were cultivated and sprouted. Fascinating!

[Lijahsbubbe]

The date palm symbolized ancient Israel

[chariotdriver]

anthrax can germinate from samples taken from a mummy

You think that could be the source of the King Tut curse?

[Old Professer]

I'll believe this story when this woman takes off her hate suit.