logo
'Dinosaur tree' produces seeds for first time

'Dinosaur tree' produces seeds for first time

Yahoo8 hours ago
A rare pine tree dubbed the "dinosaur tree" because as a species it is millions of years old, has produced seeds for the first time, after being nurtured for a decade in the UK.
The Wollemi pine is part of Pear Tree Garden in Wichenford, Worcestershire, and bore fruit in the form of male and female cones earlier this year.
Pam Thompson and her husband planted the tree, unaware of how it may "grow, die or thrive" in their garden.
The prehistoric tree, first discovered in Australia in 1994, is one of the rarest trees in the world and is potentially facing extinction.
Mrs Thompson told the BBC she intends to share out the seeds of the cones in an effort to get the tree off the critically-endangered list.
Mrs Thompson said: "I had been keeping half an eye on a female cone for ages as I was advised they usually drop their seeds in late August early September
"This year has been so unusually dry, it happened earlier," she said.
"I reached up to a female cone and the seeds all cascaded into my cupped hands as I touched it.
"It was very exciting actually collecting the seeds from such an ancient tree that lived when dinosaurs roamed - I shall definitely try to germinate seeds from a critically endangered tree."
Members of the public will be able to visit the tree at Pear Tree Garden on Sunday as part of the National Garden Scheme.
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
More on this story
Rare tree bearing fruit with hope of seedlings
Related internet links
Pear Tree Cottage Garden
National Garden Scheme
Solve the daily Crossword
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

New NHS bladder cancer treatment doubles survival time
New NHS bladder cancer treatment doubles survival time

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

New NHS bladder cancer treatment doubles survival time

The NHS will roll out a new treatment for advanced bladder cancer which doubles survival time. It's estimated that 1,250 people a year could benefit from a combination of drugs called enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab. The first is an antibody-drug also known as Padcev, made by Astellas and Pfizer, while the latter is a PD-L1 inhibitor, also known as Keytruda, which is made by Merck. Clinical trials suggest the combo leads to improved survival compared to platinum-based chemotherapy - increasing from an average of around 16 months to almost 34. Researchers also found people survive for longer without their disease worsening, also known as progression-free survival - going up from six months to more than a year. It will mark the first significant change to treatment of advanced bladder cancer since the 1980s, according to expert Professor Thomas Powels, director of Barts Cancer Institute Biomedical Research Centre (QMUL). Around 18,000 people in England are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year. Read more from Sky News: The new treatment was approved for NHS use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which said it was "highly promising" and could make a "tremendous difference" to people. One patient who took part in the trial said it had given him more time with his grandson. Martyn Hewett, 75, from Stratford, east London, said: "I feel very, very lucky, because if I hadn't been on this trial, I imagine I would be dead by now. "I am going to have an extra few years to see my grandson grow up - and maybe even be around to see him get married."

Scientists invent ‘superfood' they hope will save honeybees and boost global food security
Scientists invent ‘superfood' they hope will save honeybees and boost global food security

Yahoo

time5 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Scientists invent ‘superfood' they hope will save honeybees and boost global food security

Scientists have devised a food supplement for bees that they say will have a wide-reaching effect on global food security. The experts say the yeast strain will help honeybees live longer as intensive farming and the climate crisis rob the insects of flowers and pollen. It is hoped the breakthrough will stem the decline in populations of wild bees, which are important pollinators. They help contribute to the production of at least 70 per cent of major global crops such as almonds, apples and cherries. But severe declines – caused by nutrient deficiencies, climate change, mite infestations, viral diseases and pesticides – pose a significant threat to food security and biodiversity. The scientists in Oxford genetically engineered a strain of yeast called Yarrowia lipolytica to produce vital nutrients called sterols that are absent in the artificial pollen substitutes that beekeepers use. Commercial supplements, made of protein flour, sugars and oils, lack the right sterol compounds. After a three-month trial, the scientists found the colonies fed with the sterol-enriched yeast had reared up to 15 times more larvae to the viable pupal stage, compared with colonies fed controlled diets, and reared brood for significantly longer. 'The use of this method to incorporate sterol supplements into pollen substitutes will enable honeybee colonies to produce brood in the absence of floral pollen,' they wrote in the journal Nature. 'Optimised diets created using this yeast strain could also reduce competition between bee species for access to natural floral resources and stem the decline in wild bee populations.' The yeast diet provides honeybees with all the nutrients, in six sterols, that they need to survive, the researchers concluded. Lead author Elynor Moore said: 'For bees, the difference between the sterol-enriched diet and conventional bee feeds would be comparable to the difference for humans between eating balanced, nutritionally complete meals and eating meals missing essential nutrients like essential fatty acids. 'Using precision fermentation, we are now able to provide bees with a tailor-made feed that is nutritionally complete at the molecular level.' Sterols are hard to reproduce, so the experts who spent 15 years developing them said the success of the trials was a huge accomplishment. They say further large-scale field trials are needed to assess long-term effects on colony health and pollination efficacy, but that potentially the supplement could be available to farmers within two years.

They Kindled Froggy Romance and Rescued Eggs to Save a Species in Mississippi
They Kindled Froggy Romance and Rescued Eggs to Save a Species in Mississippi

New York Times

time6 hours ago

  • New York Times

They Kindled Froggy Romance and Rescued Eggs to Save a Species in Mississippi

It didn't look good for the dusky gopher frog. By the early 2000s, scientists knew of fewer than 100 adults left at a single seasonal pond in southern Mississippi, and that population faced an imminent threat: The water kept drying up before the tadpoles turned into frogs, killing them. Then, to make things worse, a parasite hit. A few survivors were taken into captivity. They refused to mate. But two decades later, the frog's trajectory has turned around. While the species remains critically endangered and still relies on intensive interventions, its numbers have grown to around 600 adults, spread out over some 15 ponds and a handful of captive populations that now produce offspring. It's been a roller-coaster ride. Over the years, collaborators — from federal and state agencies, academia, zoos and other conservation organizations — have lived through crushing lows, dizzying highs and chronic worry over the three-inch frogs. There have been brushes with disaster, like when critical genetic diversity was saved by relocating two frogs at a crucial moment. There have been quixotic quests to kindle froggy romance: Entire ponds have been constructed at the Memphis Zoo to tempt captive populations into mating. 50 States, 50 Fixes is a series about local solutions to environmental problems. More to come this year. Not to mention the mundane logistics. Some of the most important work has to happen on frog time (at night) and in frog weather (pouring rain). A pond where the frogs have been released into the wild. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times A froglet going through metamorphosis. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Frogs being released into the wild. Whitney Steinfeld/Memphis Zoo An adult frog. A pond built at the Memphis Zoo. Zoo frogs in an imitation burrow. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Glen's Pond, named for the researcher who discovered dusky gopher frogs there. John Tupy, USFWS A tortoise in its burrow, which the frogs also like to use. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Sinlan Poo at a pond where frogs are reintroduced to nature. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store