Ancient date palm is alive!

Two scientists have achieved something incredible:

They have awakened 2000-year-old date seeds from their slumber!

The date pits were already 2000 years old! Despite this biblical age, date plants could actually be grown from them!

Initially, they were able to grow a male date palm, which they named Methuselah. A few years later, they also succeeded in growing a female specimen. They gave this palm tree the name Hanna. She was also grown from a seed of this biblical age of over 2000 years. Some time ago, the first dates produced by Hanna after pollination by Methuselah were actually tasted.

Isn’t that fascinating? Nature is full of wonders and surprises. You can find out more about the two researchers and their amazing work here

In my studio, two date pits have been transformed into hymenoptera. Members of the hymenoptera family are commonly referred to as flies. There are countless species of them. These two date flies are purely plant-based. Their wings are leaves gnawed on by the caterpillars of the date borer.

For me, the two researchers and the palm trees are an inspiration! Nature gives us courage and hope with its amazing resilience! If we are attentive enough, we can experience miracles every day. But which of my date flies is Hanna and which is Methuselah? I have no idea. Will they reproduce? I’m working on it.