THE EARTH
PLANTS
· The community that
turned out to be a single plant
It was first discovered in 1969, but it was another 27 years before the unique biological importance of a mile-long expanse of king’s holly shrub, Lomatia tasmanica, was realized. Scientists originally assumed that it comprised an entire community of separate plants, which occupy two river gullies in southwestern Tasmania and stand up to 8 m high. In Oct 1996, however, Australian botanist Dr Stephen Harris and colleagues revealed that this ‘community’ was actually a single plant, composed of numerous genetically identical clones. Moreover, its leaves are identical to those of nearby fossils dating back 43,000 years, thus making it the world’s oldest plant.
· Lost palm of the
Pharaohs is alive and doing well
In ancient Egyptian times, a species of palm tree called Medemia argun was several thousand years ago, and this species was thought to be extinct. In March 1996, however, palm tree experts Martin Gibbons and Tobias Spanner revealed that, after driving across the Sudanese desert from Khartoum, they had met an old camel herder who led them to s single living specimen, standing out side a remote abandoned town called Murat Wells.
· Wise plants know
when the storm is coming
Botanist Dr Andrew Goldsworthy from London’s Imperial College is researching the remarkable possibility that plants can actually predict the onset of thunderstorms and thus increase their metabolism in readiness for an accelerated period of growth, harnessing the impending downpour of rain. Goldsworthy believes that their powers of prediction involve detecting the atmospheric electricity accompanying a storm and this is their cue for growing.
EARTH
MYSTERIES
Forgotten aerinite blue
rock that exists after all
While visiting Morocco in 1981, geologist Anna Grayson purchased a beautiful piece of intensely blue rock, but was unable to identify it. For the next 15 years, it remained forgotten at her home near Watford, UK, until she decided to show it to experts at the Natural History Museum, London, UK. In March 1996, they announced that this mineral might be new to science, but Dr Mohammed Bensaid, of the Moroccan Ministry of Mines, revealed that was actually a little-known type called aerinite.
· Beaches and the
sound of singing sand
Many stretches of beach or sand around the world are famous for the mysterious musical sounds they emit. Now, doctors from Laurentian University. Ontario, Canada, believe that they have found out how. They took some normal sand and converted it into the singing variety by repeatedly grinding, separating and polishing. In addition, they discovered that the presence of silica gel coating the sand particles is required if the sand is to sing they even found that a bottle of commercial silica gel will sing if shaken.
