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Japanese astronauts took hundreds of cherry tree seeds with them to the International Space Station in 2008-2009, after which they were planted in several locations throughout Japan. About 265 seeds were taken from a celebrated old tree outside a Buddhist temple in Gifu, in central Japan, that is thought to be 1,250 years old. One of the space seeds was sprouted near the temple, but oddly, shot up more quickly then other cherry trees of its variety (that weren't taken to space). And now the tree is blooming, at four years of age -- about six years ahead of schedule. "We are amazed to see how fast it has grown," Masahiro Kajita, chief priest at the Ganjoji temple,
told AFP. The seeds were planted at a total of 14 locations, and blooms have already developed in four locations."
"The precocious pips have baffled the Buddhist monks and scientists alike. The project was not primarily a scientific one, rather "an educational and cultural project to let children gather the stones and learn how they grow into trees and live on after returning from space," said Miho Tomioka, a spokeswoman for the project's organizer, Japan Manned Space Systems (JAMSS). For that reason no "control" seeds were planted to contrast with the space-flown ones--although this cherry variety usually doesn't bloom until the age of 10." (
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14 comments:
"Flowers from the Ganjoji "space tree" also look a bit different, containing five petals, as opposed to about 30 like their parent trees."
A fascinating but silly statement. Five petals as opposed to "about 30" is a significant difference.
This whole article blows me away. Too cool.
I expect this to end up like the Bermuda Triangle bullshit. Once it's looked at carefully, they will simply be unexceptional and statistically normal variations that have just been hyped, and after debunking the bull will continue to be believed into eternity.
I could be wrong, but this is the case nearly all the time with this kind of "mysterious unexplained phenomenon".
If it's Japanese, it's bullshit. They live lives of bullshit, produce bullshit and their emporer is a god, don't you know.
It's bullshit all the way down. Except for sumo - that shit is real!
I don't know, bags. I think it's not unlikely that exposure to low gravity could affect function. Astronauts returning to earth after extended periods of low gravity have to recuperate.
And look at the upside...maybe we'll end up with Gojira Cherry Tree!
I'm gonna build a zero gravity love den. Everybody probably looks better in zero gravity, and the position possibilities become open ended, so to speak.
You lack the technology.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
I couldn't get past "precocious pips."
deborah: There is a lot of BS in the article. Normal fertile cherries have five petals (I haven't counted but something like that). Double flowering varieties have way more (and are usually sterile and propagated by grafting). You can get a mutant double flowering from a viable seed, but it is unlikely.
I am interested, however, (if it is true) if being in space excellerated growth and maturity rates on cherry trees. But I am a bit skeptical.
Thanks, Evi, I guess it does sound like BS.
You lack the technology.
Doesn't he just need a particular type of aeroplane?
one painful syllable at a time:
sakura sakura noyama mo sato mo mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka asahi ni niou sakura sakura hana zakari
How you ring through both of my ears
I can not get you
out of my head
Pluck-y pluck-y
Pluck-y pluck
Plucky-y pluck-y pluck pluck-y strum.
Cher-ry trees
Cher-ry trees
How I wish I could stop hear-ing you.
Pluck pluck strum.
Pluck pluck strum.
Flowers are fra-ga-rant
But the fruit is a lot bet-eh ter.
With the fruit you can bay-ake a pie.
Or you can
Just eat them raw.
Cher-ry trees
Cher-ry trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK51LblcEOw @.27
@EMD: that depends on how long one remains weightless as the vomit comet falls, how fast bago is, and if they both find throwing up sexy.
What a lovely song, Chip.
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