Category Archives: Immortality

Nature doesnt have to be horrible. I know thats a weird thing to say at Secret Base, where we have enjoyed exploding ants, tongue-chomping parasites and trees that kill birds for the lols. But evolution has produced some curiosities that arent a combination of bizarre and heinous, and perhaps its time to lighten up with a discussion of one of the most impressive curiosities of all: Pando.

Pando is possibly the oldest, heaviest living thing on Earth. These things are difficult to determine; its definitely one of both. It lives in Fishlake National Forest, and is a quaking aspen. Sort of.

Because we live on the macro scale, were used to thinking of living being as discrete entities. A person is a person, a dog is a dog, and a tree is a tree. But, as we encountered with our exploding ants, thats not always the most sensible way of understanding the natural world, which tends to be at least a little indifferent to the entire concept of individualism.

The oldest individual trees in the world are Californias bristlecone pines, windblown* subalpine conifers which can live for thousands of years. The oldest known living specimen, Methuselah, has been verified at a staggering 4,852 years old. No matter how you slice it, this is an impressive figure, and while its abnormally high for a bristlecone there are plenty around only a couple millennia younger.

*Fun fact: theres a word for the weird, wind-sculpted trees that you see on shorelines or mountains. Theyre called krummholz trees, and they are gorgeous.

Pando, meanwhile, is significantly older. Until recently, rough estimates had it at something like 80,000 years old; this has been revised down significantly in light of the fact that the area of Utah in which it lives was covered by an ice sheet 20,000 years ago, a problem even the most badass tree would have trouble surviving. Pandos now clocking in at a mere 15,000 or so.

Unlike the bristlecones, which can be dated accurately through tree rings, its pretty hard to get a fix on Pandos exact age. This is because Pando is a tree colony. Quaking aspens have the curious property of being able to reproduce themselves clonally, sending up new seedlings from their roots. These ramets function, for all intents and purposes, as baby trees, living and dying just like youd expect any stand-alone aspen to.

But theyre all the same organism. Pando is a 13 million pound collective of more than 40,000 stems, genetically identical and all grown from the same massive (100+ acres, easily) root system. It cares about individual stems just about as much the average person might fuss about individual hairs on their head.

How does anyone know any of this? How can they begin to guess at Pandos biology? Establishing the genetic identity of the trees is fairly straightforward these days, but the whole colony? As it turns out, quaking aspen have an extremely hard time reproducing through non-clonal in the American West, where the climate turned unfavorable several thousands years ago. As Mitton and Grant justified the age estimate in their 1996 paper, Genetic Variation and the Natural History of Quaking Aspen:

Part of the rationale behind current age estimates for aspen clones is that sexual reproduction is effectively frustrated by the rareity of a favorable suite of conditions in semiarid environments. Clonal age, in the strictest sense, truly applies only to the individual genome, which is the single element of clone identity that would be continous across such time spans. ... Perhaps DNA sequence data from various parts of the clone could be used to estimate age from the accumulation of mutations.

As far as I could find out, that last study has not actually been executed, but given the conditions in which Pando lives its very, very clear that its an extraordinarily ancient organism. And its not just ancient while bristlecone pines are studies in endurance in the face of deep time, Pandos a very different story. Instead of fortitude, it invokes dynamism. Decadent stasis might be an interesting fantasy, but nature is built from Pandos, systems that masquerade as individuals and persist into what might as well be eternity.

If the theories of the origins of life I was taught at university are correct, some billions of years ago, a chemical cell in a deep-sea volcano managed to bud off a copy of itself, and has echoed its way to chaotic, confounding immortality. The entire biosphere is, in some ways, a Pando, genetically drifting its barely-perceptible way to quaking aspens, tongue-eating lice and us.

Humanity is only just beginning to understand how biology actually operates. Darwinian evolution is 160 years old, and the structure of DNA was only determined in the early 1950s. Hell, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeks discovery of microscopic life was less than four centuries ago. For most of Pandos thousands of years existence, humans wouldnt even have been able to recognize it. Theyd literally miss the forest for the trees.

Theres something profound in that emergent reality. Theres also something perverse there too. Since the 80s, Pando seems to be struggling, unable to bring its ramets to maturity fast enough to replace falling stems. In 2019, Rodgers and ebesta produced this uneasy paragraph:

While it is clear the base cause of the current trajectory is not mature tree mortality, but chronic browsing of regenerating aspen suckers, we are left wondering how this iconic organism survived and thrived likely for millenniathe exact age is unknownwhile it appears to be dwindling suddenly during our time. Changes in ungulate herbivore management over recent decades provides the most plausible explanation, though exacerbating agents, such as increased human presence and warming/drying climatic conditions likely play a role. Collectively, both direct and indirect human impacts are negatively influencing Pando.

We live in the first age that is able to grope its way back towards the true mysteries of biology. We also live in an age that seems preternaturally gifted at disrupting that biology, and in a civilization that only barely cares about the consequences.

Pando will probably get along ok we dont let celebrities go that easy. We can fence off regions to prevent overgrazing of young stems, that sort of thing. But a Pando is just a Pando; without taking better care of the supra-organizational systems that support these miracles ... well end up killing many of them off just as were learning to appreciate them.

Read the rest here:
Pando: the aspen colony that might be the oldest known living organism - SB Nation

In early December of 2019, Laurie Pressman, vice-president of the world-famous, trend-setting Pantone Colour Institute, proudly declared to the world that classic blue would be its 2020 colour of the year.

Hindsight, of course, is a wonderful thing. Who ever could have guessed that there was a global pandemic on its way or that when we look back on this very odd, challenging and in many strange ways transformative year, it wont be the colour blue that best embodies it (except perhaps as an indicator of the nations mood) but instead the colour green.

The freshly hatched, miraculous baby green of a tray of newborn seedlings back in lockdown #1, for example, when it felt the world as we knew it might be about to end.

Or the soft, apple-green of Irish gardens bursting into new leaf in what turned out to be the loveliest, if eeriest, of springs. The box-fresh green of early summers freshly mown lawns when together we took a collective deep breath and tentatively emerged from our homes. Or the late-summer, burnished golden-green of the wild grasses that flourished in cracks in city pavements and along our roads and motorways, their growth for once unhindered.

Green, of course, represents life and hope, regeneration and rebirth. Its why so many of us have been strongly drawn to our gardens and the outdoors throughout this pandemic and why we also traditionally decorate our homes with fresh greenery at this time of year when days are at their shortest and natures pulse is at its slowest.

Examples of traditional Christmas evergreens include Irelands own native ivy (Hedera hibernica), which has long been symbolic of immortality, fidelity and tenacity (if youve ever tried removing it from an old wall or building, then youll know too well how stubbornly it clings).

Likewise holly, another native evergreen, was traditionally believed to have protective powers and to ward away evil, the reason why it was often planted close to peoples homes or farm buildings.

Other examples include the non-native semi-parasitic plant known as mistletoe (Viscum album or drualas, to give it its Irish name), which has long been seen as a symbol of fertility, immortality and healing. Similarly the pine tree traditionally used for Christmas trees as well as for Christmas or Yule logs was believed to ward away evil and ill health while the native yew is considered a symbol of eternity and good luck.

These traditional Christmas evergreens aside, theres a wealth of other evergreen plants often found growing in Irish gardens that can be used to decorate the home at this festive time of year. Examples include eucalyptus, pittosporum, ozothamnus, Scots pine, rosemary, bay laurel, fir, heather, sarcococca, juniper and ruscus, many of which are also highly aromatic.

A simple garland, swag or wreath made from any of the above is one of the loveliest, most sustainable and most meaningful of ways to mark the season. Alternatively, to add a contemporary twist, consider creating a hanging/suspended Christmas-themed evergreen installation using any/a mix of the above attached by wire or string to a garland of rope (great for a stairway) or a length of flexible piping such as oil line or insulated copper pipe. The latter, widely available from good hardware shops, has the advantage of being easily bent into any rigid shape you might want. Wrapped in a soft layer of moss, it can then be used as the concealed scaffolding for larger-scale seasonal arrangements that require some form of rigid support. Its also re-usable; simply strip away the faded foliage at the end of Christmas and store it away somewhere safe for the following year.

To give a little more textural or sculptural interest to your seasonal, evergreen Christmas arrangements, you could add dried flowers (for reasons of sustainability, try to source Irish-grown or use your own, good choices include honesty (Lunaria), strawflowers (Helichrysum bracteatum), hydrangeas and the silver plumes of pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana), as well as ornamental seedheads (examples include nigella, opium poppy and teasels), berries, pine cones and the elegantly twiggy branches of deciduous trees such as larch, contorted willow and contorted hazel. For a little extra Christmas bling, add some battery-powered fairy lights.

Alternatively, you could use one or two of those same bare twiggy branches (or some very large stems of dried lunaria) as a simple but very ornamental scaffold/ rigid support from which to suspend a variety of individual dried flowers, seedheads and cones. For best results, use the very fine-gauge floristry wire known as bullion wire, which is available in a range of colours from good floristry suppliers and some hardware stores, to do this. Placed at a height above the Christmas table or in a hallway (make sure that its safely out of reach of any candle flames), it will make an enduringly beautiful seasonal arrangement for the weeks ahead.

Which brings me to my last few words of advice: dont be at all surprised to find yourself falling so in love with your hand-fashioned seasonal Christmas decorations that youll be loathe to ever take them down. You have been warned

View original post here:
How to add gorgeous greenery to your home this Christmas - The Irish Times

We are halfway through the last month of this long and very strange year. Its time for me to order a new month-at-a-glance calendar with room for notes in which I have recorded for decades my activities and important things that I have learned. Last year when the traditional black, my favorite choice, was unavailable, I had to settle for the sparkly, silver-leather covered calendar that will be added to my stack representing years of ministry, and I am certain it will stand out in a myriad of ways for the rest of my life.

When I first opened the pages, I felt such hope and promise for 2020, the beginning of a new decade. I believed that God would lead in exciting and fresh ways. Never did I imagine that we would experience Gods provision and faithfulness in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic. I could not have projected that after a few weeks our church would never gather in a building together in one place, that we wouldnt be able to touch or hug, or share a meal or hear the beautiful voices lifted in shared worship, and that something called Zoom would be our new normal. And I certainly wouldnt have seen that, in spite of the distancing and physical separation for the remainder of the year that God would bring our hearts closer together than ever, that we would expand our circle of family and friends, and that we would reunite with others, and that we would experience the power of prayer in such profound ways.

We have lit the first three candles of our Advent wreath: the candles of hope, peace, and joy as we carry on this ritual that began centuries ago. I know of more people than ever this year who are gathering candles and starting a new family tradition. No matter how make-shift or humble our Advent wreaths are, or even if it is in our minds eye, the wreath which has no beginning and no end assures us of the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life we find in Christ. The light in our candles reminds us who Jesus is. In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:4-5).

According to U.S. Center for Disease Control reports, the United States has the most confirmed COVID infected people, and this country is at the top of the graph of number of deaths. The pandemic is hitting home; we are hearing more and more of sick people and ones that we know being impacted. Mobile morgues are now used in cities in the state of Ohio.

In this darkest time of the year when mornings first light comes so late and the sun falls behind the horizon in afternoons, we long for Christmas light. We need candles of hope and the promise of peace that passes understanding and the source of deep joy. We are grateful for the anticipation of the celebration of the coming of the light of the world. The one whose birth was announced by angelic harbingers in a dark sky over a seemingly inconsequential town in Palestine with the words, Peace on earth!

In some traditions, the second week Advent candle which we call peace is called the Bethlehem candle. It is hard to believe that just a little over a year ago before COVID was a thing and the pandemic never entered conversations, a small group from this area worshipped in a trilingual service at Christmas Lutheran Church just off of Manger Square in Bethlehem. After the service and a quick visit to the crowded Church of the Nativity and a traditional Palestinian lunch, we loaded our big van to travel a short distance to the Shepherds Field located behind the Bethlehem YMCA.

We parked and then followed our guide down a meandering path around rocks and scrubby trees that few tourists traverse to the small opening of a cave overlooking the rocky hillside that looked impossible to sustain any flocks. It was that location that the local descendants of the shepherds identified as the place where generations before their sheep-tending relatives related how suddenly a dark night was interrupted by bright lights and angels declared the end to fear and announced that the promised Prince of Peace had been born in their neighborhood, the place where we had just walked.

We can be confident that the most important thing in human history happened that night long ago, and it is worth celebrating in every way possible, even if we are physically isolated and our gatherings are from a distance. This Advent, we are learning so much about how God takes us by surprise and uses the unexpected to accomplish his plan and purpose. In a time of unprecedented stress and anxiety, confusion and disorientation, we need the hope that God is still breaking into our dark places. What happened in Bethlehem certainly did not stay in Bethlehem!

Let us hear the words of assurance from heaven that echo throughout time that we do not need to be afraid! This dark year may we find the good news in the midst of all we are experiencing. We light the Advent candles of hope, and then peace which is our own Bethlehem candle, and add the light of joy and look forward celebrating the coming of the one who is love incarnate. The Savior child born so many years ago in a dimly lit little town in Palestine will be born over and over again in each one of our humble hearts.

Rev. Ginny Teitt is pastor of Concord Presbyterian Church in Delaware.

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Lighting candles of hope, peace and joy - Delaware Gazette

Pro Football Hall of Famequarterback Kurt Warners journeyto Canton, Ohio, is a legendary one.

Before he became a star gunslinger for theSt. Louis Ramsand Arizona Cardinals, Warner had to prove himself in the Arena Football League. After failing to win a job backing up Brett Favre on the Green Bay Packers, Warner constantly tried getting back into the NFL.

Instead of joining NFL immortality, Warner could have starred for the Chicago Bears. That is, if not for a wedding and a spider.

RELATED: Kurt Warner Sent a Message of Support To His NFL Colleague

After going undrafted in 1994, Kurt Warner spent that years preseason with the Green Bay Packers.

With Brett Favre already starting at quarterback, Warner had to beat out Mark Brunell and former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer for a backup job. However, Green Bay cut Warner before the regular season began, and he went to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to stock shelves at a grocery store for $5.50 an hour.

Warner signed with the Iowa Barnstormers, an Arena Football League team, in 1995. He quickly became a star quarterback there and earned first-team All-Arena honors in 1996 and 1997.

The St. Louis Rams signed Warner to a futures contract after his brilliant 1997 season.

RELATED:You Wont Believe How Many ChildrenKurt WarnerHas Fathered

All Kurt Warner needed was an opportunity, and he more than took advantage.

Warner spent the 1998 season backing up Tony Banks on the St. Louis Rams. When new starter Trent Green suffered an injury in the 1999 preseason, Rams coach Dick Vermeil stuck with Warner and named him the starter.

Football fans can recite the rest of the story by heart. Warner won the NFL MVP Award and led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory over Steve McNair and the Tennessee Titans a few months later.

Warner held onto the starting job until he and the Rams parted ways following the 2003 season. From 1999-2001, Warner completed 67.2% of his passes for 12,612 yards, 98 touchdowns, and 53 interceptions in a Rams uniform.

Warner earned first-team All-Pro honors in 1999 and 2001, two seasons, which won him the MVP Award. Warner also nearly led the Rams to a second Super Bowl victory in February 2002.

Tom Brady and the Patriots famously began their first dynasty with a game-winning field goal to knock off Warner and the Rams.

RELATED: Antonio Brown Will Never Touch His FathersFootballRecord

In an alternate universe, Kurt Warner became an NFL legend in the Windy City rather than the Gateway to the West.

In a 2018 appearance on Undeniable with Joe Buck, Warner explained how he landed an opportunity with the Chicago Bears in 1997. Azcentral.com transcribed Warners comments.

I ran and told my wife that next Friday Im going to Chicago for a tryout with the Bears. She kind of looked at me funny and I asked her why arent you excited for me. She goes, Well, cause were getting married on Saturday, youre not going to Chicago the day before our wedding. When the Bears called, I forgot all about it!

If Warner had any hopes of meeting with the Bears after the ceremony, nature went and interfered. A spider bit Warner on his throwing elbow that weekend, and he couldnt throw at a tryout.

Warner later tried rescheduling with the Bears, but he never heard back. Less than a year later, Warner joined the St. Louis Rams, and the rest is history.

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Link:
A Wedding and a Spider Bite Cost Kurt Warner a Chance to Star for the Chicago Bears - Sportscasting

THE unbritaining of GB continues apace. Yet, one must wonder how long this metamorphosis will take. The Tory press and the Tory government seem to be in a delusional, faux jingoistic revelry at present. The jester stands up in the Commons and makes quips, refusing to answer in detail, which he can do with impunity because of the Tory English majority. The cudgels will come off through the power grab after December 31 as there will be no holds barred in centralising power again.

The US experience from the 18th century should be instructive. The blame for US independence was put on the monarch of the day, but it was the taxation power grab back by Westminster from the colonial assemblies think devolved legislatures in the US which gradually lit the fuse.

The same gung-ho psyche is beginning to come to the surface here. Johnsons attack on devolution, Rees-Moggs dream to restore the (unwritten) constitution and the rampant chumocracy, along with UK ministers increasingly autocratic decisions are disturbing.

In Scotland, the attack on Holyrood reveals that Labour and the LibDems, the two Unionist upholders of the devolved settlement, are showing either timidity in the face of the Tory onslaught or are willing to see Holyrood downgraded as they see this as an attack on the SNP, not on elected government of Scotland! Therein lies their mistake. It also reveals an underlying feeling that they know they are not going to take over in Holyrood in the immediate term.

They fail to see that they are equally despised by their Tory fellow Unionists. And so they are festering in a no mans land, hoping for the best.

Their kamikaze-reverence for the Union will be their continued demise, however, and they are blind to the dilemma they are in.

They cling to a vague hope of the Vow 2, when in reality England does not show any inclination to federate within itself, let alone across the UK. The old relics such as Brown

and others seem to believe their own political immortality and fail to see their days and nostrums are pass!

The test of GB cohesion among the population here, and the economic captains of industry and commerce, will be broken with the chaos at macro and micro level after December 31 irrespective of deal, low deal or No Deal.

READ MORE: UK goes ahead with Internal Market Bill without consent from Wales or Scotland

The worries being expressed now by industry across the piste are rather late in coming. They are answered by the totemic utterance that we will have full control of our most important, overarching resource: fish.

In perspective, we cannot all relearn and relocate to fish. Without being pejorative, compared to our economic gross product it is a minnow.

If the macro planners do not evolve an integrated plan relative to all economic sectors, then fishing communities will also decline.

The present UK Government is not interested in the country, it is only aiming to enrich its chums and hangers-on and retain total power.

Scotland rejected at the last election totally the Tories and the Union. Let the band of non-Tory Unionists at Holyrood realise that their future and our future lies in leaving the Union.

Northern Ireland is already separated by an internal border which will become an international border between itself and England, and we need to follow on.

If not, then await the destruction or Balkanisation of Scotland ruled over by a Great England.

John Edgar

Kilmaurs

Read more:
Northern Ireland now has a border with UK we must follow suit - The National

This offseason, leading right up to the 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame announcement, were counting down the 100 greatest eligible players not in the Hall of Fame and ranking them in the order in which I would vote them in. Each player will receive a Hall of Fame plaque based on the pithy ones that the Hall used to use back at the start. We continue our essay series with No. 23, Fred McGriff.

Frederick Stanley (Fred) McGriffTorontoSan DiegoAtlantaTampa BayChicago CubsLos Angeles Dodgers, 1986-2004

The Crime Dog is one of the most consistent power hitters in baseball history. He hit between 30 and 37 home runs 10 times in his career and knocked in between 102 and 107 RBIs eight times. Beloved player with a whirly-bird follow through, he also gained fame as the pitch man for the Tom Emanski baseball instruction videos.

Lets talk for a minute about Harold Baines. He has been hovering over this entire series...

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The Hall of Fame Outsiders: No. 23, Fred McGriff - The Athletic