That's really something to wrap your brain around. Those same plants that are alive today were chilling in the water when:
1) the Bubonic Plague ravaged the known world (~1500 AD),
2) the Babylonian Empire held all of the Middle East (~500 BC)
3) The Pyramids were under construction (~2500 BC)
4) People were first learning to use irrigation to grow crops(~5000 BC)
5) Grain farming started (~10,000 BC)
6) Humans first started migrating into North America (~15,000 BC)
7) Homo Erectus went extinct (~30,000 BC)
8) Humans Left Africa (~50,000 BC)
If those plants are 200,000 years old, then they are quite possibly as old as the human race.
This statement is so stupid it makes my head hurt, how does dating the age of a plant have anything to do with the accounting practices of the federal government?
To analyze a species you collect DNA samples , sequence them, and compare differences. The more a species procreates, the more changes in the DNA. Fewer changes means a new species, or a species that hasn't undergone much change. The article uses humans as its example to try and illustrate the point. The plant reproduces asexually (less genetic exchange) and clones itself (continuation of the current DNA).
because acknowledging that the information is meant to demonstrate the awesomely wide range of ages found in the collected samples doesn't allow him to sneer disdainfully.
bendvisFeb 8, 2012Buried
That's really something to wrap your brain around. Those same plants that are alive today were chilling in the water when:
1) the Bubonic Plague ravaged the known world (~1500 AD),
2) the Babylonian Empire held all of the Middle East (~500 BC)
3) The Pyramids were under construction (~2500 BC)
4) People were first learning to use irrigation to grow crops(~5000 BC)
5) Grain farming started (~10,000 BC)
6) Humans first started migrating into North America (~15,000 BC)
7) Homo Erectus went extinct (~30,000 BC)
8) Humans Left Africa (~50,000 BC)
If those plants are 200,000 years old, then they are quite possibly as old as the human race.
bendvisFeb 8, 2012Buried
Anatomically modern humans (Homo Sapiens) have existed for ~200,000 years.
You're right though, predecessor humanoid species have existed for ~6 million years, but they were strictly plant-eaters.
http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/bodies
gbudavidFeb 7, 2012Buried
I guess that makes it OLD:)
PatriceBeaulieu12Feb 7, 2012Buried
It amazes me how scientists can figure this stuff out.
angrycat70Feb 8, 2012Buried
That's when the Battlestar Galactica and fleet limped into orbit and the Colonials and the hybrid Hera were added to the gene pool.
PreferredMNFeb 7, 2012Buried
This is really incredible.
bcarl314Feb 8, 2012Buried
I think you're confusing religion with science.
caseycooldFeb 7, 2012Buried
"12,000 and 200,000 years old"
That's a f**king SWAG
kvnkaneFeb 8, 2012Buried
my blackberry feels older
MrFrogyFeb 8, 2012Buried
“Betty White is so old that on her first game show, the prize was fire!” Lisa Lampanelli
soonerdude711Feb 8, 2012Buried
lulz, confused girl is confused.
moxleyFeb 8, 2012Buried
It's not Joan Rivers?
whacklyFeb 8, 2012Buried
uh... derp
mikec1998Feb 8, 2012Buried
This statement is so stupid it makes my head hurt, how does dating the age of a plant have anything to do with the accounting practices of the federal government?
phpistastyFeb 8, 2012Buried
To analyze a species you collect DNA samples , sequence them, and compare differences. The more a species procreates, the more changes in the DNA. Fewer changes means a new species, or a species that hasn't undergone much change. The article uses humans as its example to try and illustrate the point. The plant reproduces asexually (less genetic exchange) and clones itself (continuation of the current DNA).
Unless I read a different article....
paechanFeb 8, 2012Buried
How can you not relate that statement to the distribution of the data?
whacklyFeb 8, 2012Buried
because acknowledging that the information is meant to demonstrate the awesomely wide range of ages found in the collected samples doesn't allow him to sneer disdainfully.
whacklyFeb 8, 2012Buried
this guy seems legit...
anomaly100Feb 7, 2012Buried
I thought....I thought I was the oldest living thing on Earth:-(