Oldest living tree is in Sweden
Last updated 07/12/2008 21:24:41
Oldest living tree is in Sweden
Yesterday, as I was hunting for good news to give my readers, I stumbled upon a few months old news that cheered me up very much indeed!
My adoptive country, Sweden... in fact, it is even better than that; my adoptive county, Dalarna, is the host of the world's most ancient tree known to man.
In fact, it was found in 2004 at an altitude of 910 meters and the roots were said to be 9,550 years of age... the tree itself is not that old, but to us, poor frail human-beings, it is quite old anyway (less than 600 years, scientists say). It is a 4 meters high "Christmas Tree" that survived the Ice Age ;-)
Professor Leif Kullman, of the University of Umeå, explains that the tree's ability to clone itself is what saved it from certain death.
We are such a clever species, are we not. We thought our scientists discovered how to clone living-beings (at least in theory)... yeah, it seems that once again, we have a lot to learn from Mother Nature, before claiming we discovered how to create life (artificially)... It is utterly refreshing, is it not.
I am no scientist, but I find this pretty amazing and if you wish to read more about it, I advise you to check out my favourite magazine on the matter National Geographic. You may read also from the first source about it: University of Umeå.