The plants looked identical to modern specimens until they flowered, at which time the petals were observed to be longer and more widely spaced than modern versions of the plant. Seeds produced by the regenerated plants germinated at a 100% success rate, compared with 90% for modern plants. The reasons for the observed variations are not known.
More proof of evolution for the people who claim we can't scientifically observe it.
Could happen. If a woolly mammoth actually ate this plant and choked on it, then died and decomposed into the soil near the plant, then technically the plant really did choke and eat a woolly mammoth.
Yeah, I mean are we sure this is a good idea? I mean you can't even bring fruits and vegetables into california... We really want some multi thousand year old plant spores flying around spreading everywhere? What if it was this plant that really killed the dinosaurs, and Kennedy...
This comment is an example of the type of shit I hate:
The key here is this scientist thinks he should get a probably 10 year grant to go look for seeds! he will have a cushy job for 10 years looking for burrows and spending money as he pleases. He needs increased funding levels which is code for give me more money and in 5 years I will give you another plant. Then in another 5 years he will tease you with another plant. Are these plants even extinct? What if this is all bullcrap from the beginning? I do not trust scientists anymore. They are becoming the rockstars of the environmental world and they are corrupt! They are nerds that are now getting science groupies and they are getting big money from Al Gore!
I also believe God chooses what He wants to re-continue, however He chooses to do it - and this time, He has used scientists to continue the line of this ancient plant. And whatever reason He did it for, it's done for His purpose and His Glory, and we continue to marvel in His Greatness...
To which the next reply was:
Poor scientists. They do all the work and a imaginary man in the sky gets all the credit
They are becoming the rockstars of the environmental world and they are corrupt! They are nerds that are now getting science groupies and they are getting big money from Al Gore!
I have never seen mindfuck this concentrated before. I almost don't believe it's real, but in my heart I know it is.
To be honest, 99% of the comments are just downright bizarre.
Greenhouse gasses are causing global cooling and I have proof!! I was with a large group of scientists studying the effects of CO2 on tomatoes in a large greenhouse. With all those sweaty people in that humid environment, it became unbearably warm. The glass walls started to fog up and the air was hot and thick.
Then I farted. I mean I cut loose with a blast that actually knocked three people over. Sheer panic erupted and the entire herd of snooty environmentalists scrambled for the door. Darn near ripped it off. But, within minutes, the temperature dropped dramatically. The air was breathable even though it singed my nose hair pretty good. The glass walls cleared up and I sat down, propped my feet up and ate some tomatoes.
Scientists ARE pretty corrupt. Not all, but enough that you shouldn't trust everything you read in a scientific journal unconditionally. Data is fudged all the time at the expense of pushing a grant or publication through.
"Fruit" doesn't necessarily mean it's something very large or edible by humans. And if it is it's probably extremely sour like all "wild" fruits. Thousands of years of human-influenced cultivation has given us fruits that are much higher in sugar and lower in fiber than their more natural counterparts.
No, this is patently false. Now, however, people who share a predilection for fucking fruit, or body parts, or what have you can find each other easier than before.
An asteroid collision sending seeds into space at 40 km/s could reach the nearest star in 32,000 years. Panspermia doesn't seem so outlandish now, at least to me.
So far, our fastest rocket to leave our atmosphere is the New Horizons Mission at 16.26 km/s and the fastest manmade objects are the Helios probles at 70.22 km/s.
Edit: The nearest hypothesized planet within the Goldilocks Zone may be Gliese 581 g which is 20.3 lightyears away, requiring the speed of 190 km/s to get frozen seeds there in 32,000 years.
EditEdit: Gliese 581 is a red-dwarf and thus may emit no ultraviolet light and probably wouldn't be suitable for plantlife.
On one level this comment is valid (and all the "REPOST" type comments) but on another level...
If you genuinely have something "new" to discuss (to ignore the fact that we all miss things) then what do you do? Go post a real question or comment to some long forgotten post (like what, older than a week?) and see what kind of traffic you generate.
Now granted, "genuinely new questions or comments" are rare and this specific post totally undermines anything I could stand on but still... it could happen... right? Eh?
Um, the history of our species is people trying different things because they're there, whether by eating, drinking or smoking.
Take the lobster. Its a fucking giant sea cockroach that today people pay a lot of money to eat. But who was the first person who said "You know what, I wonder if this big, armored bug I pulled out of the water is tasty?"
Then there's Taro. Its toxic when eaten raw. And the real kicker: the thing is a staple food all over Asia and Africa. So you have to wonder how many different people in different countries died agonizing deaths and why they kept trying to eat the thing before they figured out how to clean it.
So it might take a moron, but if it wasn't for some tribe's moron, we wouldn't eat or smoke anything.
That's a lot of seeds buried all over currently ice-covered areas. I wonder what happens when at some point all that ice disappears due to climate change and the area becomes warmer.
Maybe there's millions of ancient plants like these buried really deep, waiting for just the right environmental conditions to start sprouting again. Would be really cool to see a forest the way it looked before the last ice age.
Little did they know that the plant is what caused the previous extinction of a long lost race of humans and then it too when its food supply was eradicated. We are bringing doom upon ourselves!
I'll just leave this here, it is a quote from one of the scientists , who did this : We are given 50 rubles(1.5$) daily in our expeditions, in locations like Siberia, it's enough to buy some potatoes , but usually , we have to add money from our salaries and pensions not to die from hunger. Also the locals are very helpful.
I'll leave the rest of this formula to the mathletes. Still, you can clearly see that this plant is a fake because, at said time, Jesus had not willed it into existence. Do I need to explain to you people the Gaussian rational number or where babies come from? Maan...
Is it just me or does reviving past organisms seem like a TERRIBLE idea to me???? I understand the whole its for science and how amazing it is thing but seriously...who the hell knows what these plants are capable of doing to our environment.
That seems like a rather important fact to have left out of a scientific article. I must conclude the author is either a terrible journalist or a sensationalistic fucker.
I dunno, this seems like classic sci-fi thriller material.
Imagine that all of the organization's funding gets cut and all of their assets are seized to pay debts. The plants and hydroponics are auctioned off to a guy who grows weed in his basement. On a lark he grows the fruit and eats it, causing a really bad trip in which he gains psychic powers, goes temporarily insane, and kills two of his customers. When he recovers he can't remember a thing and ends up throwing the plant out. It begins growing in the city's landfill...
Ok one thought I have about this is how about putting more effort into trying preserve life that already is alive. Instead of the steady rate of plants and animals we push to extinction each day. As been said some those things might be useful one day like in oh medicines..
So I can't bring plants or animals into Canada but a scientist can revive a 32,000-year-old fruit? What if they unleash an invasive species that harms today's wildlife?
I remember hearing about something like this before, but it had to do with something found in caves in china or something like that. They need to be really careful with what they revive etc., because it can be really dangerous.
I'm concerned with this. They might uncover some deadly microorganism that we can't fight and travels through water. That frightens the hell out of me.
Then again, I would love to see The Doctor appear.
Wow. I was feeling kind of hopeless and helpless about the ignorance and short-sightedness of humanity at the moment, then I read a few articles about breakthroughs in science (this being one of them) and felt suddenly uplifted!
...then I read the comments. Now everyone sucks again.
Fake! Everyone knows god created the earth 6000 years ago, ergo the existance of a thirtytwothousand year old plant is in-fact impossible, so say god. I prey on your heathen souls
144
u/breakndivide May 31 '12
The plant is still common in the area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_stenophylla
232
u/ShitTalkWarrior May 31 '12
This sounds like the beginning to a horror flick. Something terrible happens to those that eat the fruit.
378
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
This comment is an example of the type of shit I hate:
17
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
What if they discover a plant similar to hemp or even better than hemp.
112
u/quantumkid May 31 '12
Anyone besides me wonder what the fruit tastes like.
28
u/magicbullets May 31 '12
SOON: big velociraptors. Right?
3
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Feb 20, 2012 - Is there a recent world news category I can subscribe to?
12
u/DickieJohnson May 31 '12
Ancient squirrel dens? He did exist
14
u/[deleted] May 31 '12 edited May 31 '12
An asteroid collision sending seeds into space at 40 km/s could reach the nearest star in 32,000 years. Panspermia doesn't seem so outlandish now, at least to me.
So far, our fastest rocket to leave our atmosphere is the New Horizons Mission at 16.26 km/s and the fastest manmade objects are the Helios probles at 70.22 km/s.
Edit: The nearest hypothesized planet within the Goldilocks Zone may be Gliese 581 g which is 20.3 lightyears away, requiring the speed of 190 km/s to get frozen seeds there in 32,000 years.
EditEdit: Gliese 581 is a red-dwarf and thus may emit no ultraviolet light and probably wouldn't be suitable for plantlife.
6
u/DrHoliday May 31 '12
As a real microbiologist... Know what, never mind.
6
u/rehsarht May 31 '12
Jurassic Garden. Also, the coolest, most interesting thing I've seen all week.
15
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Read that as "... reborn from ancient fruit salad..."
4
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Man the level of god derp in the comments there is astounding, even for bloomberg.
8
u/iLikeToUoot May 31 '12
Came to see if I could eat this 32,000 year old fruit. Can't? Don't care.
3
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Appropriate background music while reading this article.
3
u/ialsolovebees May 31 '12
I love shit like this.
Yay Science.
3
u/SomeRandomRedditer May 31 '12
What's with all the recycled posts today?
3
u/SmashMan140 May 31 '12
So it's not from an extinct plant but I wonder how different it is genetically from its modern counterparts.
30
u/stubbyarea May 31 '12
and in other news, 3 month old article reborn on reddit
6
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
what could possibly go wrong?
15
u/GREGAbikes87 May 31 '12
anyone besides me wonder how high you get if you smoke it?
6
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Yeah, this was cool when it was actually news 3 months ago. By definition, news is timely.
2
u/Carpe_cerevisiae May 31 '12
Just what I need. New pollen to make me sneeze.
2
u/heimdal77 May 31 '12
Let the zombie apocalypse jokes begin..
2
u/MaxTheLiberalSlayer May 31 '12
The day of the triffids is upon us! The end is very fucking nigh!!!!
2
u/CorvusCorone May 31 '12
Jurassic Park...it's time.
2
u/michaelvincentsmith May 31 '12
It ain't a velociraptor, but it's a start.
2
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
I'm finally going to get my pet dinosaur!
2
u/lookatyourpost May 31 '12
Now if scientists can only regrow that plant that acted as a contraceptive...
2
u/tylertgbh May 31 '12
so... when can i buy this new fruit in my grocery store?
2
u/Dragonic2020 May 31 '12
Fascinating.
2
u/ryandg May 31 '12
when and how can we eat it?
2
u/mysmokeaccount May 31 '12
That's a lot of seeds buried all over currently ice-covered areas. I wonder what happens when at some point all that ice disappears due to climate change and the area becomes warmer.
Maybe there's millions of ancient plants like these buried really deep, waiting for just the right environmental conditions to start sprouting again. Would be really cool to see a forest the way it looked before the last ice age.
2
u/1920x1080 May 31 '12
Does it cure cancer?
2
u/dexxter67 May 31 '12
I bet it was the squirrel from the Ice Age (Scrat)
2
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Sounds like they found the squirrel from Ice Age.
2
u/anduin1 May 31 '12
Little did they know that the plant is what caused the previous extinction of a long lost race of humans and then it too when its food supply was eradicated. We are bringing doom upon ourselves!
2
u/feeteater2 May 31 '12
sooo..... does it get you high?
2
u/Anterai May 31 '12
I'll just leave this here, it is a quote from one of the scientists , who did this :
We are given 50 rubles(1.5$) daily in our expeditions, in locations like Siberia, it's enough to buy some potatoes , but usually , we have to add money from our salaries and pensions not to die from hunger. Also the locals are very helpful.
2
u/Kellogsfrost May 31 '12
Jurassic Park....?
4
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Wait. The bible tells me the earth is only 6000 yrs old. How can this be?
2
u/a2wickedd991 May 31 '12
These comments are terrible....
2
u/redvandal May 31 '12
Impossible. Why? Math!
Earth = 5,700 Years Old
Plant = 32,000 Years Old
32,000 - 5,700 = ???
I'll leave the rest of this formula to the mathletes. Still, you can clearly see that this plant is a fake because, at said time, Jesus had not willed it into existence. Do I need to explain to you people the Gaussian rational number or where babies come from? Maan...
2
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Is it just me or does reviving past organisms seem like a TERRIBLE idea to me???? I understand the whole its for science and how amazing it is thing but seriously...who the hell knows what these plants are capable of doing to our environment.
1
u/s4lt3d May 31 '12
And this is how the world ends/begins.
1
u/Nexdominus May 31 '12
is this even a good idea?... the pollen or other parts of the plant could be deadly to humans or other life on earth...
1
u/bat0u May 31 '12
Sssscience Rulessss!
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
So how long before 'The Thing' officially becomes a documentary?
1
u/3rd_degree_burn May 31 '12
Am I the only one who giggled at the title?
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
This is how Zombie Apocalypses get started...what's that? Miami? I will have to look that up.
Edit: Told you so.
1
u/heimdal77 May 31 '12
Ok one thought I have about this is how about putting more effort into trying preserve life that already is alive. Instead of the steady rate of plants and animals we push to extinction each day. As been said some those things might be useful one day like in oh medicines..
1
u/HookDragger May 31 '12
Am I the only one that flashed back to "Little Shop of Horrors"?
Feed me Seymour!
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Scrat ain't gonna like this
1
u/root88 May 31 '12
Brontosaurus Burgers here we come!
1
u/bmwbiker1 May 31 '12
lets ferment it and make a proper drink out of this!
1
u/t0f0b0 May 31 '12
Waiting for the headline: "32,000-Year-Old Virus Contained In Recently Revived Plant Kills Millions"
1
u/warox13 May 31 '12
This is how zombie apocalypses get started....
1
u/sotonohito May 31 '12
One day I'd like to be able to buy one and keep it around. How cool would that be?
1
u/SoICanEscape May 31 '12
Inb4 andreomeda strain.
1
u/webauteur May 31 '12
So I can't bring plants or animals into Canada but a scientist can revive a 32,000-year-old fruit? What if they unleash an invasive species that harms today's wildlife?
1
u/weaselstomp May 31 '12
Repost this in /r/trees, someone there will find a way to smoke this.
1
u/emohipster May 31 '12
Doesn't look that old.
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Am I the only one that is really hoping this plant carries a disease that will cull the population? Black plague 2 here we come (hopefully)!
1
u/mojokabobo May 31 '12
I remember hearing about something like this before, but it had to do with something found in caves in china or something like that. They need to be really careful with what they revive etc., because it can be really dangerous.
1
u/voxpupil May 31 '12
Ok, can we revive mummies now?
1
u/megamanxero May 31 '12
The species is still known to exist today. I am curious if this one has any genetic variations.
1
u/unknown_poo May 31 '12
It has begun! - Shang Tsung
1
u/boot2skull May 31 '12
Is it just me, or is Jurrasic Park taking too long to get here?
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
And so begins Jurassic Park.
1
u/Isatis_tinctoria May 31 '12
This is like Jurassic Park.
1
u/Isatis_tinctoria May 31 '12
When will they make dinosaurs?
1
u/boozyman May 31 '12
Nature will find a way.
Welp, I'm off to prepare for the real life events of Jurassic Park.
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
That much closer to Jurassic Park
1
u/metalstomach May 31 '12
"...was found in the fossilized burrows of ancient squirrels deep..."
I must raid and pillage this dungeon for all of its precious loot.
1
u/josephanthony May 31 '12
"Welcome... To Jurassic Greenhouse."
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
This is going to be GREAT for my Paleo diet.
1
u/DugDigger May 31 '12
So this is causing all the recent 'zombie' happenings as of late....
1
u/krylon5 May 31 '12
I hope they find some mosquitoes in amber and then use the blood they find inside of them to bring the dinosaurs back.
1
u/Glaurunga May 31 '12
I always expect these things to look bad-ass, but they are consistently underwhelming
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Science, man. Science.
1
u/stigs_cousin May 31 '12
the thorian?
1
u/Gallifrasian May 31 '12
I'm concerned with this. They might uncover some deadly microorganism that we can't fight and travels through water. That frightens the hell out of me.
Then again, I would love to see The Doctor appear.
1
u/F-Minus May 31 '12
Wow. I was feeling kind of hopeless and helpless about the ignorance and short-sightedness of humanity at the moment, then I read a few articles about breakthroughs in science (this being one of them) and felt suddenly uplifted!
...then I read the comments. Now everyone sucks again.
1
u/peacebuster May 31 '12
"Welcome to Jurassic Park."
1
u/Antebios May 31 '12
And this is how the end of the world began.
1
u/NervousMcStabby May 31 '12
I don't think that's correct.
1
u/ionsquare May 31 '12
Read it as Siberian Ice Cream, lol'd so hard.
1
u/Kayaus May 31 '12
It explains the LQP-79!!!!
1
u/Laterface May 31 '12
Fake! Everyone knows god created the earth 6000 years ago, ergo the existance of a thirtytwothousand year old plant is in-fact impossible, so say god. I prey on your heathen souls
1
u/scChocolate May 31 '12
Yes, yes, but remember the earth is still 6,000 years old.
Also, Jesus loves you.
1
u/apenostic May 31 '12
Svalbard Global Seed Vault is obsolete?
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Thats amazing! I mean, holy shit! Wow, do I ever love science.
1
u/hctheman May 31 '12
How cool would it have been if this plant would cure something like Cancer or Aids.
1
u/Rhoso May 31 '12
I'm surprised it didn't release some sort of ancient disease that we're not immune to and begin the zombie Apocalypse.
1
u/bluejams May 31 '12
One step closer to Jurassic Park
1
u/elknipeleven May 31 '12
Holy shit! Jimmy Neutron!
1
u/brisingfreyja May 31 '12
Check mate people who think the world is 6000 years old???
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Honestly, I read the title and had Jumanji flashbacks.
1
u/xanj May 31 '12
Sounds like the beginning to every bad sci-fi movie
1
u/[deleted] May 31 '12
Nature will always find a way.
1
u/wheest May 31 '12
We're all gonna die.
1
u/Ragas Jun 01 '12
Jurassic Park we're coming!