Just...................whatever [2]

I'll go if I can be rolled there in my barrel. And preferably not be woken before Opening Hours.

Done Kili, did half a desert and got scared of the night pests and going without water. But I am drawn to the desert, I think I want to not be afraid and finish.

Today I read that a woman burnt down a three thousand five hundred year old tree so she could see the drugs she was taking. I can't tell you how I felt when I saw that majestic tree and then the burnt down stump it has become.

I love and miss you all.

leelee!
Its a joy to have you back among us dear leelee.

Although I am somewhat confused by your story- were her drugs in the tree? Hidden behind the tree? Or was she out her head on the drugs and decided to burn down the tree?

Yes - confused me too! But then I seem to be confused a lot since I have come back to visit.... especially with that CC12 35 person!!

Leelee - nice to see you again. Hope it's not a fleeting visit?

I was just thinking only the other day that we;ve not heard from you ? Hope your ok ?

Hello Leelee!

6.30am sunday morning, off to work i go

The effort to clone Leelee's tree:
The January 16 burning of The Senator, an enormous cypress tree in Longwood, Florida, was much mourned, and rightfully so. At 3,500 years of age, it was one of the oldest trees in the world and the largest east of the Mississippi River. But the loss of the great tree does not have to be permanent, says a group dedicated to forestation. The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive wants to clone the Senator's DNA to preserve and propagate the genetics of a one of nature's greatest success stories.
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/burnt-3500-year-old-tree-florida-candidate-cloning.html

Apparently the woman had climbed the fence around the tree so she could do meth in the privacy of the hollow of the tree. She lit a small fire for light, but it got out of control and she ran...

One article said the tree had been a candidate for the 5th oldest tree in the world. Another said the woman was a 26 year old model.

So stupid! So sad.

Wasnt blonde was she ? lol, this topic got me interested, so I did a bit of googling....
A tree said to be the oldest on the planet - thought to be nearly 10,000 years old - has been found in Sweden.

Scientists from Umeaa University discovered the spruce on Fulu Mountain in Dalarna province while carrying out a census of tree species there in 2004.

The age of its genetic material was recently calculated using carbon dating at a laboratory in Miami, Florida.

Scientists had believed the world's oldest trees were 4,000-year-old pine trees found in North America.

The oldest, a bristlecone pine named Methuselah located in California's White Mountains, is aged 4,768, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Cloning

The new record contender, which would have taken root just after the last ice age, was found among a cluster of around 20 spruces believed to be more than 8,000 years old at an altitude of 910m (2,985ft) on Fulu Mountain.

The visible portion of the spruce was comparatively new, but analysis of four "generations" of remains - cones and wood - found underneath its crown showed its root system had been growing for 9,550 years, Umeaa University said.


Our results have shown the complete opposite, that the spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range
Leif Kullmann
Umeaa University

Umeaa's professor of physical geography, Leif Kullmann, said the spruce's stems or trunks had a lifespan of around 600 years, but as soon as one died, a cloned stem could emerge from the root system.

The clones take root each winter as snow pushes low-lying branches of the mother tree down to ground level, Mr Kullmann added.

The discovery of the tree has been surprising, because the spruce had until now been regarded as a relative newcomer in the region.

"Our results have shown the complete opposite, that the spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," Mr Kullmann said.

He explained that 10,000 years ago the spruce would have been extremely rare in the region and that it was conceivable Mesolithic humans might have imported the species as they migrated northwards with the receding ice cap.

The discovery also shows that it was much warmer in the region at the time than had been thought previously, perhaps even warmer than today, he added.

Wow, that's amazing Azriel! It's going to take some time for me to get my head around that. The theory of humans having transported the spruces.....hmmmm.....I don't know how you'd prove that, but it seems to me that the first thing would be to show that humans depended directly on spruces for some reason. That's too much work have been done just for landscaping!

There's always been cool stuff coming out of Umeå. When I visited there I met a paleobiologist who was working on a theory that the deforestation of the far-north had been triggered in part by overgrazing by mammoths and mastadons , similar to what's happened with the Sahara (but much older and much colder).

Wasnt blonde was she ? lol,

Afraid so.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2108028/Sara-Barnes-burned-3-500-year-old-tree-called-The-Senator-needed-drugs-doing.html

(You can always count on the UK tabloids to get the dirt! )

You can always count on the UK tabloids to get the dirt! - David

Yes, a dubious talent.

what an Amazing and weird and sad story. I hope they do clone it. can you imagine what that tree has passed' the ancient cultures that have lived and died, Egyptians, Romans, the Birth of Christ, it boggles the mind. The seasons, the weather, and then some fuckwit wanting to take drugs kills it, thats so sad.

I hope the meth addict in question gets the help she needs.

I'm not sure what cloning the tree is supposed to accomplish. Surely it already has countless offspring trees?

Not necessarily. Many trees don't spread their seeds far from the trunk, and "suckers" only grow as far away as the roots reach. Without the help of other creatures it can take certain trees a thousand years to move the distance you and i could walk in a day.

Foresters have learned the importance of replanting, at least in some countries, but they typically replant with varieties that grow to full size within a few decades or less. Because of this, the older varieties have been slowly disappearing and their gene pool getting rapidly smaller. Now increasingly rapid climate change, faster than trees can adapt to, threaten them even more. And now tweakers....

I think it's totally appropriate for people to try to save the gene pool, considering all we've done. It seems like the least we can do!

I wish I could be as compasionate as you Eldo, I am afraid I am with the Shakri on this one.

I had to Google Shakri and I'm still not entirely sure what you're referencing, but I care more about people than trees. It's unfortunate that the tree was destroyed and I'm sorry for the community that lost a major landmark, but at the end of the day, it's still just a tree. By all means give the person who burnt it community service or something as a punishment, but I hope she gets help too.

{{{I fully expect to get shit for this opinion. }}}

oh my fkn god U can't jst sA trees aren't ppl jst cuz dey don't hav skin doesn't mean dey don't hav feelings

No.... but the fact that they don't have feelings means that they don't have feelings.

I feel that losing this wonderful tree, that has quietly stood thru everything the Earth has thrown up, wars, etc, is a great pity & sad loss ! It IS such a shame that trees CANT talk ! can you imagine what they could tell us ? what we could learn ?! Its like losing an historic building or watching a rare & great piece of work destroyed. People are up in arms over things like that, why should a tree be any different ? It IS a living organism, bricks & mortar are not,neither is Art, its paint & canvas, yet the grief of loss, to some people, is akin to berevement

L%k lance im SBTA i snapped yor footloose dvd n half bt dat doesn't GIV U d rght 2 sA wot trees cn & can't hav. dey hav d rght 2 dream

I care more about people than I do about old buildings too. That said, I don't want to see old buildings destroyed any more than I want old trees to be burnt.

Theres a lot of stupid things humans do, that cant be explained ! Im NOT having a moan at Eldo at all ! everyone is entitled to their opinion, & on the grand scale of things, caring bout people should take president ! just a shame to see some of the world as we know it & enjoy it, slowly disappearing !

CC12 35 - Didn't know it was you that did that. I'm disappointed in you.

Azriel - I think it depends on the person.. but for your average, law abiding nice person... yes, people should take precedent of things. Shame that most of the time the things that are best for people are overlooked for the sake of money and gadgets. Soon there wont be anything left to make in to gadgets or people to spend their money on them.

I'm with Treebeard